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Just realized I was cutting laminate wrong for years after a job in Phoenix
I was doing a big condo install in Phoenix last summer, about 1200 square feet of that click-lock laminate. The homeowner's friend, who claimed he did some DIY floors, kept telling me to score and snap the planks for the end cuts. I was doing it that way for speed, but halfway through the job I noticed a tiny gap forming at a seam every time. I switched to my miter saw for every single cut for the rest of the job, even though it took longer. The finish was perfect. Now I never score and snap laminate for a final piece, the tear-out is just not worth it. Anyone else completely given up on that method for a clean look?
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barbaramurphy6mo ago
My last big laminate job was a 900 square foot basement in Cleveland and I had the exact same problem! I used a scoring tool for the first day to save trips downstairs to the saw. Every single snapped piece had that little rough edge that left a hairline gap. I switched to the miter saw for every cut after that and it made all the difference. The clean cut just locks together so much tighter. I don't even keep a scoring knife in my flooring toolbox anymore.
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noahclark4mo ago
Nobody's talking about the subfloor prep though. If your floor's even a little uneven, that scoring tool is gonna snap the boards at weird angles every time. Miter saw is more forgiving with a bad underlayment.
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wren_rodriguez6mo ago
Scoring tools work fine for a quick job, @barbaramurphy. You just need a really sharp blade and a clean snap on the right kind of laminate. That rough edge usually means the tool was dull or you were fighting the material.
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