Lock & Fold flooring

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ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
LOML wants to put hardwood in a couple upstair bedrooms now the nest is pretty much empty. We were looking at Lock & Fold flooring made by Bruce Harwood. It installs without glue or nails for the most part. Has any one used this product and can commment on pros and cons. The rooms are rough 11 x 14. PM if you don't want your post public.

Thank you.
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
I have not used that brand but have used dupont brand clicklock flooring. I't easy to do and goes down fast. stay off the baseboards a 1/4" or so all the way around and use shoe mold to cover the gap. dont nail the shoe into the floor. only in the base. the floor has to move freely. use the foam sheating under it.
 

Splinter

New User
Dolan Brown
I haven't used the Bruce brand but have used two other brands. Like Fred said leave about 1/4" space at the baseboard, break the joints (should be instructions in each box for recommended spacing). It is really kind of easy to put down. Just be careful when you have to cut a piece to start a run, to cut the correct end of the plank so the tongue and groves will work. Also be careful if you have to tap the plank to get it to go together to not damage the tongue of the plank or the next one will be harder to snap in.

I put it down in my new shop (30x32) and the only problem I had was when I got to an area where the concrete had a slight dip it was a little harder to get the planks to snap together.
 

Mrfixit71

Board of Directors, Treasurer
Rich
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Corporate Member
I haven't used Bruce, but my son and I just put ~850 sq ft of another brand in his house with no problems, and I put a different brand in my office 2 years ago. Like the others have said, leave the space around the edges. I used a scrap piece to tap the plank where I needed to (a trick I learned doing real hardwood floors).
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
I also used another brand called "Quic Clic" from Lumber Liquidators. The installation is the same. They tell you on some brands to allow the floor materials to acclimate to the room 24 - 48 hours before installation. We didn't wait & had no problems. A couple of tips:
1. Try & measure the room width & rip a starter piece so it will be even on the opposite side. You don't want to end up with a 1" sliver.
2. Stagger the joints out so you can have 3 -4 different lengths to begin with - i.e. if your materials are 72" long, cut 1 starter 'full', another 54", 36", 18". The drops from these cuts can make the finish of a run on the other end. Then the beginning run's drops can be cut & used as 'starters' again with the same pattern.
3. Allow 15% waste. You don't want to go back for more to finish.
4. Use a soft wood for the hammer block. Better to make several than damage a piece of flooring. I used the skid sticks the flooring came on.
5. Be sure the underlayment is sound & eliminate any squeaks with wood screws before you start. Squeaks may give an old home 'character' but they're a nuisance in a newer one.
 

Charles Lent

Charley
Corporate Member
How good are your knees? You're going to spend a lot of time on them.

I have knee problems (one was replaced last fall, one to go), but I put down 600' of hardwood flooring almost 2 years ago. It was the standard full thickness type and it was a tough job! I did most of it by crawling on my belly because my knees hurt too much (even with knee pads). One son helped me the first day, but couldn't move very well the next day, so I finished it myself. The type of flooring that you are planning to use goes down easier, but you will still be spending a lot of time on your knees, on a very hard floor. Get some good knee pads for you and your wife before you start.

Charley
 

PChristy

New User
Phillip
Scott, LOML works at Quick-Step and we have that brand in our house - Follow the advice that the others have given to you and you should have no problem
 

ScottM

Scott
Staff member
Corporate Member
Thanks for the advise. I sounds so easy even a scroll sawer like me can even do it.

Charles, my knees are not the best. I have OK knee pads. What does work in by favor is I have no real time schedule so I can work in short intervals.I also have lots of Advil.
 

NCPete

New User
Pete Davio
all good advice. As Dolan noticed doing the floor in his shop, a not so perfectly level floor can complicate things. When I was installing floors years ago, we had an 8 ft straight edge that we checked every floor for flatness with, after we had it clean of all debris. I encourage you to do the same, and if you find a low spot, or three, get a bag of lightweight self leveling concrete - perhaps a liquid gypsum - and level out those low spots. Where squeaks can be annoying, imagine how it feels to walk across the floor, and have it move up and down underneath your feet. In two years, I only got one call back for that kind of problem, and I wasn't the lead on the job I had to go back to.

BE VERY CAREFUL with the corners. repairing chips is a skill that you don't want to learn on the newer click-together products.
 
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