Laminate flooring and metal jambs

[mdod]

I am putting Wilsonart laminate tile in a room with commercial metal door frames and I'm getting conflicting information about cutting the frame. The Wilsonart instructions specifically say that you should not cut metal door frames. Instead, you should leave a 1/4" gap between the tile and the metal. When I mentioned that to the floor retailer, he said he cuts the metal. I then asked the construction super and he said you can't cut the metal frames because they hold up the whole door. I went back to the flooring retailer and he still stood by cutting the frame, but not a lot. Obviously, I'd rather not have 1/4 " of caulk at the edge of the door frames so I'd like to believe the retailer but I don't want to mess up the door. I'm thinking that if we just undercut the section that is the metal equivalent of the trim against the actual jamb section, we should be alright. Does that seem safe or should I stick with the 1/4" gap and leave the metal alone?

Marcia

[Floorguy]

Is this a fire door?

[kwfloors]

Also do you need to floor thru the doorway or just to one side or the other? I wouldn't cut the door and cut the laminate close and caulk. By close I mean within an eighth of an inch. If you have expansion space around the rest of the room, if it grows it can slide away from the doorway. I've never had any thing move or grow that much but I'm not in a very humid climate here or had anything buckle.

[mdod]

Floorguy: No, it's not a fire door.

kwfloors: No, it doesn't have to go through the doorway and it's a small room, 7' x 11.5'. The 7' side is the one that is perpendicular to the doorway so I was also wondering how critical the 1/4" gap is there.

Also, I found a contradiction about glue in the directions. It said that if you glue any of it, you should glue it all. Then it said to just glue the first row of tile (to keep the corners even when laying corner to corner like VCT tile). There is a sink in the room but I'm not expecting any spills that couldn't be cleaned up immediately. When I asked the retailer about it, he first said glue it all. When I picked up the tile he asked what kind of water exposure there was and then said he wouldn't glue any of it. So now what?

I just noticed that you're supposed to glue all cut edges too. I didn't find Wilsonart adhesive on the Lowes or HD website and the flooring place is pretty far away. Is there a brand that they do carry that I could use instead?

Marcia

[kwfloors]

Glueing the cut edges keeps moisture from wicking into the edge. I've used several different laminate makers glue with each other so if they carry another brand of glue for laminate flooring it should be fine. I haven't installed any Wilsonart for a while but don't use too much glue and since the room is small, the doorway shouldn't be much of an issue, cut the trim piece net and the flooring spaced a little away from the metal and caulk.

[mdod]

Thanks kw!

[kwfloors]

Thats what we're here for, let us know how it went for you when you get er done.

[Jim McClain]

Mdod,

The metal casing of the door is a structural member. It should be anchored to the stud walls, but the construction supervisor may feel that the carpenters may not have secured it well enough to chance undercutting the casing. But he is worried about total undercutting, not the partial undercutting you would need to do in your particular situation.

My suggestion would be to undercut the casing just to the point that marks the center of the thickness of the door when it is closed - or possibly just shy of that - including the metal trim that is on the room side. Cut the transition trim that falls at the edge of the flooring at the doorway so it fits net and falls directly under the door when it is closed. Cut your flooring so that it falls just under the casing about a quarter inch and also under the edge of the transition trim. This will give you a very nice finished look as well as provide enough expansion/contraction room for the flooring.

I would not advise cutting the flooring net to anything. If there is any, even slight, expansion, that will cause the flooring to buckle. It's possible you wouldn't have any problem at all, but you will be gambling the hundreds of dollars and all the time you put into the project on that possibility. Are you willing to do that? You could, of course, go with the quarter inch gap and caulk it, but even a pro good with the caulking gun will tell you that's the ugly way out (well, they might not tell you, but they will tell each other).

Good luck and do keep us posted.

Jim

[Jim Dandy]

Never heard of any one recommending to cut a metal door!
Check with contractor you may have to buy it!
Not sure why any one would seek installation directions from a retailer. Is he accepting liability for the installation?

If in doubt call Wilsonart and have them explain what your unclear on. They also have a great training program.

Every day I learn new things!

[Darian Brown]

I’m not a wood man but Is there any way you could paint magnets to match jams and cover the gaps at the door jams.

[Jerry Thomas]

If you need to know if a metal jamb/ solid core door system is a fire rated door... they all carry "UL label" minute ratings ...... 20,60,90, ect. On slabs the labels are usually placed on top of the slab. On jambs the label will be behind one of the hinges.... usually the center or top hinge.

If we see a label we are not allowed to do any altering or cutting. Only the General Contractor can get approval and then have his/her people do the altering for us.

There is a little more to it than that, but the gist of it is if you spy anything with a UL label... stop and ask the person in charge.

[mdod]

Well...we put the floor in over the weekend so we're stuck with what we've got regardless. We did not cut any of the frame. We left about a 1/8" gap at the door trim. The flooring fits under the gap of the sheetrock on the opposite wall 7 feet away so, hopefully, if it needs more expansion that that, it will go backwards. It's in a lab so it's not going to be seen by the public.

We did get a little chip at the edge of a tile when tapping in the next row!?!? It is under the cabinet so we didn't bother taking everything out to replace it but should we put caulk or something over it (laminate adhesive?) to seal it in some way?

Marcia