How To Cut Laminate Flooring
If you’re planning to install a laminate floor, there are two things you need to understand about cutting this material.
- First is that the precision and smoothness of most cuts isn’t usually critical. That’s because the cut ends are typically hidden underneath baseboard and quarter-round along the perimeter of the room. I use a jigsaw to cut most pieces of laminate to length and it works well while kicking up a minimum of dust.
- The second issue comes as more of a surprise and it has to do with the toughness and abrasion resistance of laminate flooring.
For those times when crisp, accurate and smooth cuts are required, even a few cuts with an ordinary carbide chopsaw blade will make the blade completely dull. This is an issue wherever lengths of laminate stop in visible locations like doorways, staircases and transition from one floor area to another. The abrasion resistance of the laminate coating is so strong that a brand new blade will be dull enough to burn wood after half a dozen cuts. I learned this the hard way, and it’s why I was interested to discover the Freud TK806L laminate flooring blade. It’s designed specifically to stand up to the extreme dulling power of laminate flooring, and I now know first-hand that it works well on two counts.
- It stays sharp for hundreds of cuts
- The quality of cut edge is exceptional
I’ve never experienced anything other than smooth, chip-free results in several different kinds of laminate. This blade is also excellent for general use in a mitre saw, so you’re not spending money on a specialty tools. Home Depot is one place where you can see it online.