Americas Mission Olive Laminate End Cap

We installed this product in our kitchen over existing vinyl sheet flooring. We found it interesting to find that the new laminate floor is actually more "flat" than our existing floor. This causes some areas to have a gap between the laminate and the actual floor. Since this product has such a thick foam, we don't hear tapping when the floor flexes down, but you can feel it a little bit. So the advice on this website to make sure the base floor is very flat is good advice - and not just for basements.

Our room shape was quite complicated, with an angled cabinet and three appliance niches we had to work around (including moving the appliances). As a result, this was a lot harder to do than we had expected. We had about 200 square feet and the floor itself without any trim or transitions took us a good 14 hours. I think the folks who say they did a "whole room" in 3 hours are not telling the whole truth! Be realistic about how much time you'll need for this, especially if it is your first time.

Since you work left to right, it is easiest if the left side wall is perpendicular to your board direction. We had an angled cabinet on the left side and it caused a lot of headache keeping the boards tight to each other because the shims don't work at an angle.

I read a lot of reviews where people finished a row and looked back to find boards in the previous row had separated. I noticed this too, and fixed it by having my husband provide "ballast" to hold the adjacent boards in place while I tapped the new board in. That fixed the angled wall problem too. Working this way also allowed me to stay on the floor while he ran in and out to make the cuts - saving my knees and speeding up the process.

I noticed it was much easier (and probably provided a tighter fit) when I used the block to help me "tap" the new board into it's "clicked" flat position instead of pushing it against the existing row and jamming it down. Just a little tap and it lays flat almost by itself without any pushing.

In the "fit kit", there is a metal bar to use when you're fitting that last board into the row. I found that bar easily damaged the edge of the last board, so I used an old rag and placed it between the bar and the board. This helped a lot. I also always avoided ending a row with a long board, since the extra friction demanded some heavy hits on that metal bar and made it almost impossible not to damage the end - even with the rag.

We started to recognize certain features in the pattern of the wood picture, and worked hard to plan at least 5 rows ahead at a time so they wouldn't end up too close. You will find the "identiknot", the "Bisquit", and the "tiger stripe" to be pretty easy to work around once you know what you're looking for.

Good luck and enjoy your floor!

Could use better installation instructions.
Installation instructions printed on the piece recommended screws that were too small for the pre-drilled holes.
End-cap was significantly lighter in color than the planks, detracting from the overall appearance of the floor.