Laminate floor

[singomann]

I'm filling a cheap laminate floor into a small room. While I'm happy to fit it understand expansion gaps etc. I'm at a bit of a loss about what to do with the radiator pipes.

The radiator has the usual pipe at each end which go into the floorboards. Can anyone advise the best way to cut these out of the lamiate and if I need to make the hole much bigger than the pipes for expansion. Also any advise on making this all look tidy and professional greatly appreciated.

Cheers

M

[Tweed]

You do not need to make vastly oversized holes for this. The expansion is only relevant when taking the whole area of the room into account. For each pipe, cut parallel lines on the laminate, perpendicular to the wall, the width of the pipe. Cut this out and use the waste bits to fill in the hole behind the pipes. A hacksaw is good for cutting straight lines and a coping saw is good for curves. If this is still too unsightly, you can buy round plastic covers which are specially designed to fit around the pipe and hide imperfections.

[kwd1954]

To add to Tweeds answer, I carefully measured where each pipe was and drilled a hole where the centre line of the pipe would be and then used a hacksaw to cut from the edge and fit the piece behind the pipe as Tweed suggests. This way you get a nice round hole rather than possibly an odd shape with a coping saw.

[inicholson]

You can buy wood effect discs that fit round teh bottom of the radiator pipes at places liek Floors 2 Go or B&Q which finish the job off nicely.

The only other tip I was given was to cut the length of laminate so that the rad. pipes are near the end of the length so that the u you have to cut out goes under the skirting. The discs then hide the bit round the pipes and to the skirting.