Preparation

• The best way to foolproof your installation plans is to make sure that you are completely prepared before beginning your project. Preparing will help you avoid the pitfalls and complications of doorway transition flooring. Never stray from the manufacturer's instructions, and make sure you have all the tools before starting. Transition bars are essential for properly installing flooring in doorways, so you will want to make sure that you have screwdrivers and masonry drill bits to simplify the process. Before attempting to install the flooring, leave the laminate in unopened packs on the floor of the area where you will be installing it. The laminate will need to acclimate to the environment of the house so that it does not expand or contract after it has been installed. Expansion and contraction can particularly create problems around doorways or other transition areas.
  
  

Installation

• For easiest access and accuracy, pull out the hinge pins and remove the doors. Undercut the door jambs so that the laminate runs under the door trim. To undercut, draw a horizontal pencil line according to the thickness of the laminate and undercut it with a coping saw. You will need to install a correction transition bar in doorways, but the type of bar that you use is determined by the type of flooring that the laminate is edging up to. The manufacturer's instructions should provide a guide to adjusting the bar to the appropriate flooring. Just make sure that you leave the proper expansion gap against the transition bar. You may run into problems when attempting to fit and snap flooring planks underneath the door jamb. If this happens, try using a utility knife to trim away the locking part of the edges, but make sure to leave the flat part of the connector intact. This will allow you to custom fit the planks, but you will have to secure them with a small amount of wood glue to ensure that they do not become detached. Make sure that you use high-quality wood glue so that it won't foam out of the joint as it dries. You can try cutting a poster board pattern from a traced area in the floor of the doorway, and cut the flooring piece according to the pattern, but you will likely still need to trim the flooring to get an exact fit.