DK - Do It Yourself Home Improvement, 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited Most laminate and real wood floors are laid by dry-clipping boards together. Clipping mechanisms vary, but the principles are the same. Whether you need a vapor barrier or underlay will depend on the type of floor. If in doubt, install one. Where possible, lay flooring before installing baseboards or door casings so that they can cover the expansion gap. Wooden flooring needs to acclimatize for two or three days before being laid. Open packs and lay out the boards. Some flooring will need to be oiled after installation. DK - Do It Yourself Home Improvement, 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited Roll out the foam across the floor’s surface. Tape the seams together between the sheets of underlayment (Image 1). Trim the foam to size, ensuring that it fits precisely at the junctions between the walls and the floor. Use a utility knife to cut it (Image 2). Position the first board in a corner of the room.

However, if your room has a cased doorway, you may choose to start at the door. The information box opposite shows the different solutions to installing the first board at a cased doorway or the last board at the doorway. The steps shown here result in the last board being installed in the doorway (Image 1). Make sure the grooved side of the boards is against the wall. Insert plastic wedges between the board and the wall (Image 2).Australian Shepherd Mix Puppies For Sale Illinois To place the next board, engage it with the end of the first board by holding it at roughly 45 degrees to the first board (Image 3).Blue Bully Pups For Sale In Phx Az Press down on the second board, and lock it into place. Used Bobcat For Sale In North Carolina

Continue joining boards in this way to make the first row (Image 4). Insert wedges at regular intervals. As you near the end of the row, you will probably need to cut a board to finish: see next step (Image 5). Use the offcut piece from the end of the first row to start the second. Engage it at a 45-degree angle to the edges of the first-row boards (Image 1). Tap the board with a knocking block to tighten. Place another board beside it. Leave a slight gap so you can clip it to the first row, then knock fully into place. Repeat along row (Image 2). You may need a pry bar to tighten the joint for the last board in any row. Hook the pry bar over the end of the board, and tap its other end with a hammer (Image 3). Check that boards are “square” across the room. If not, adjust them by cutting the first row to fit against the wall, as below for a doorway. Continue across the floor (Image 4). In the doorway, boards should extend to the threshold. Keep laying boards until you near the final wall, and a whole board is too wide to fit.

Cut some wood to the width of a board, and sharpen one end. Loosely position a board over the previous whole board fitted. Run the pointed end along the wall, using a pencil at the other end to draw the profile onto the loose board (Image 1). Cut along the guide line of the wall’s profile with a jigsaw, then position the board in the doorway (Image 2). Install the board, using a pry bar to tap in the clip-together mechanism. Use this method to cut and attach all boards against the wall (Image 3). Install a threshold strip in the doorway. Choose a suitable one for the types of flooring that will meet here (Image 4). Finish off the room with lengths of edging (shoe molding), pinned or glued (with contact adhesive) to the baseboard. This is to cover the expansion gap (Image 5). Coping With a Casing If you start at the doorway, trim the base of the casing, as shown below, and slide the first board underneath it. Clip to the second board and work across the floor.

If you finish at the doorway, you may need to trim off the last board’s tongue with a jigsaw or hammer and chisel so that it will fit against the wall. Then install the board. Cutting Around a Pipe If the fixture is not in place, or can be removed, drill a hole in a board and slide it over the pipe. Use a pipe cover to cover the seam at the base.Embargoed until 7:01am EST: April 22, 2015A new study found that most vinyl flooring tested contained toxic phthalates, a number of which have been banned in children’s products since 2009. The flooring samples tested were purchased from major home improvement retailers including Lowe’s and Lumber Liquidators. Researchers found that, of 65 vinyl flooring tiles tested, 38 (58 percent), contained phthalates. Phthalates are commonly found in flooring at levels which exceed U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) children’s product standards for phthalates. The study also surveyed major retailers to assess whether they have adopted policies to eliminate phthalates in flooring. 

The survey found that The Home Depot is far ahead of its  competitors by requiring its suppliers to eliminate ortho-phthalates in all virgin vinyl flooring by the end of 2015. Download Complete Phthalate Test Results The company has been working with the Safer Chemical Healthy Families’ "Mind the Store Campaign".  campaign to develop this policy since the spring of 2014.   (a project of the Michigan-based nonprofit organization, the Ecology Center) on harmful chemicals in consumer products and co-released with Mind the Store. “We congratulate The Home Depot on this landmark initiative,” said Andy Igrejas, director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families,  “As the world’s largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot’s new policy sends a strong signal to the marketplace that retailers want healthier building materials free of harmful chemicals like phthalates. We call on Lowe’s and other major home improvement retailers to join Home Depot in phasing out phthalates in flooring.”

Over the last six months, the Ecology Center researchers tested 65 flooring tiles for substances that have been linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity, and cancer. , Lowe's, Lumber Liquidators, and Menards.  Samples were acquired from retailers in seven different states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New York and Vermont. Highlights of Findings from Flooring Study: Most Vinyl tile flooring samples tested contained one or more hazardous chemicals.   Fifty eight percent of vinyl flooring tiles tested contain phthalate plasticizers, which are hazardous and are subject to a pending ban in the European Union.  Moreover, almost all (89 percent) of vinyl flooring samples tested contained organic tin-based stabilizers.  Over half of the samples tested contained multiple plasticizers. Home Depot has made a commitment to phase out phthalates by the end of 2015, and has a more comprehensive policy than the competitors surveyed.

As of their first quarter of 2015, Home Depot had accomplished 85 percent of the phase-out.  Lumber Liquidators reported it is working with suppliers to transition to alternatives but has not set a deadline.  , Lowe’s, and Menards, did not respond to letters and have no publicly available policies on phthalates in flooring. Some retailers, manufacturers and brands are better than others. Healthier flooring alternatives are available.  The study allows consumers to identify phthalate-free options.  Also, many of the retailers surveyed sell non-vinyl flooring alternatives.  Healthier flooring options included bio-based linoleum, natural rubber and ceramic tile. “, the organization that conducted the product testing.  “We also identified the beginnings of a market shift, with one-third of the products tested already using less hazardous plasticizers.” tested the products for chemicals based on their toxicity. Researchers used high-definition x-ray fluorescence (HDXRF) spectrometry, a non-destructive method that allows for the rapid screening of toxic chemicals in consumer products. 

Plasticizer identification was conducted using FTIR spectroscopy and a third party CPSC-certified laboratory. “With this commitment, The Home Depot demonstrates outstanding environmental health leadership,” said Mike Belliveau, executive director of Environmental Health Strategy Center and Senior Advisor to Safer Chemicals, Health Families; “This is a major next step in the global effort to phase out all phthalates in commerce in favor of safer substitutes.” Belliveau led the team that presented alternative plasticizer options to The Home Depot. "Home Depot's decision will make a hugely positive impact on indoor environmental quality," predicted Bill Walsh, executive director of the Healthy Building Network. HBN's 2014 report, Phthalate-free Plasticizers in PVC demonstrates these alternatives' availability and growing use in vinyl flooring, and was a key resource in the coalition’s dialogue with Home Depot. A growing body of credible scientific evidence has linked exposure to phthalates to serious threats to human health including asthma, harm to male reproductive organs, brain development, and the immune system.  

Phthalates can migrate out of flooring materials and get into the air and dust inside homes.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 90 percent of Americans have measurable levels of phthalates in their bodies.   Government regulators around the world are increasing scrutiny and restrictions on the use of some phthalates. The United States is expanding its ban on phthalates in toys and childcare articles and considering further actions on other products.  Several states, including California, Washington and Maine require warnings or disclosure for several phthalates in consumer products. New research by the Healthy Building Network, also published today, reveals that legacy toxic hazards are now being reintroduced into our homes, schools and offices in recycled vinyl content that is routinely added to floors and other building products. Legacy substances used in PVC products, like lead, cadmium, and phthalates, are turning up in new products through the use of cheap recycled content.