How to Install Laminated Floor Strips in Doorways
- 1). Remove the door from the doorway so that you'll have clear access to the doorjamb at both sides of the doorway. Use a screwdriver to remove the screws from the hinges holding the door in place, then gently lower the door to the ground and move it away.
- 2). Examine the bottom floor strip to determine if it already has an underlayment in place or if you'll have to place an underlayment onto the floor between the doorways, before placing the strip. If there's a soft foam strip as the final layer of the laminate, that's the underlayment.
- 3). Cut a scrap piece of underlayment wide enough to cover the width of the laminate strip and about 4 inches long if there is no underlayment layer. Use the utility knife to cut the scrap piece from a larger piece of underlayment.
- 4). Flip the end of one of the flooring strips onto its face so that it's upside down and place it onto the scrap piece of underlayment if it doesn't have its own already. Just lay it onto a piece of newspaper if it already has the underlayment layer.
- 5). Place the strip or strip/underlayment combination piece against the doorjamb on one side of the doorway. Mark the height of the piece against the jamb with a pencil. Move to the other side of the doorway and mark the height of the piece on that side. Move the laminated strip clear of the doorway.
- 6). Cut through the doorjamb completely at the marked line with a handsaw, until you reach the wall surface on which the installers placed the doorjamb. Use a small prybar to remove the cut piece of wood from the bottom of the doorjamb. Test the height of the cut with the laminate strip or strip/underlayment combo. The piece should pass smoothly beneath the doorjamb with the new jamb height.
- 7). Place the rest of the laminate floor strips onto your floor until you reach the doorway. Cut the underlayment, if needed, with a utility knife and roll it through the doorway.
- 8). Measure the width of the wall space between the two doorjambs with a tape measure, subtracting 1/2 inch to allow for expansion room. Cut the strip to match the measurement with a circular saw. Apply any adhesive needed to the rear of the strip, or remove the backing paper on self-adhesive strips, and slide the strip beneath the jambs, locking it together with the rest of the strips in the room at the edge. The doorjambs will cover the 1/4-inch expansion gap along each side of the strip.
- 9). Use as many strips as necessary to make it all the way through the doorway, and then continue with full-sized strips in the room on the other side if desired. If there's a different flooring material on the other side, place a transition strip designed for the laminate and flooring type between the two.
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