Hi Everyone,

First, thank you to all of the people who have posted helpful comments here...they inspired me to do this on my own.

I thought I would add a cent or two about choosing flooring. I recently purchased a foreclosure townhouse and all of the floors (including upstairs) was concrete. I decided to use laminate--basically for the price. I first purchase the Trafficmaster Smooth Ash on sale at Home Depot. For .88/sf I thought it was a good deal. However, after spending time on this site, decided I could use it for the upstairs where there will be limited traffic and use something of a higher quality/thickness in the downstairs common areas. I chose Shaw's Coastal Collection in Teton Cherry and got it from Travis at Floormania (shameless plug!).

First, let me say, I am a 100% beginner. I finally decided to use my jigsaw with a metal blade for cutting the pieces, because once the rip fence on my table saw got misaligned, I could not realign it and it kicked back everything I fed it. Scared the crap out of me...but didn't stop me  :wink:

So far, I've put down the family room and dining room in the Cherry and the Master Bdrm in the Ash. My observations are as follows:

1. Both are stunning! They look great and feel wonderful to walk on. That being said, I managed to saw without hurting myself, but that first slide on the Shaw in my socks... :shock:
2. Both were easy to "click" together...that being said, the Shaw actually clicked together, whereas the Trafficmaster required tapping for the short joint.
3. Both chipped easily on the ends when using the pull bar...luckily, that is what quarter round is for (so I've heard). The Shaw chipped more easily using the tapping block.
4. The Shaw can be taken apart very easily, if you need to, and nothing gets damaged; the Trafficmaster went together fine, but it seemed as though the tongues were easily compromised through repeated refittings (how do I know? accidentally covered the floor vent in the master)
5. Tell the delivery man not to drop them on their edges--yeahs, sounds easy, huh? The Shaw stood up better to that abuse.


All in all, so far--half of the house done--I'm happy with both decisions. Someone tried to charge me $4000 for the privilege of putting down this floor. I'm a law student...I have far more time (right now) than money. I decided to do it myself and I'm a little more tired than I was a month ago, but, I am proud and $4k richer!

Oh...a couple of tips for beginners:
1. Wear knee pads! Lowes sells them with gel inside...they felt good. I put washcloths behind my knee to stop the chaffing from the straps.
2. Use a sharpie for marking cuts---they write on anything and seem to never dry out.
3. When you get tired...stop! Tired=more reliance on pull bars and blocks=more chips.
4. When you get finished, celebrate...I am more proud about this than my first year law school grades!
5.No sliding in socks!  :wink:

Good luck and again, thank you to everyone who posted helpful info on this site. Anyone wants to see pictures of the products on the floor, send me a PM and I will send a link.

NJ