Hi there, I have just joined the forum to see if I can get some sensible advice about my floor. Back in March 2010 I had a beautiful (I thought!) oak floor laid across the entire downstairs of my house. The house had just had a new extension completed across the back and the subfloor is concrete throughout. The builder assured me that he had put down many floors successfully and that with engineered 'click and lock' flooring it was almost impossible to go wrong. The floor was laid in one piece. The DPM was put down (polythene sheeting) and then a thin green underlay from Wickes was put over the top. This came in squares and was not taped together just laid loose. The flooring was then assembled over the top and went down very quickly and easily. The boards just locked together, no glueing. I noticed immediately that there was a slight 'creaking' when the floor was walked on but it was very subtle and the builder said the floor needed to 'bed down'. How I wish at that point I'd got him to take it all up! Anyway needless to say I didn't and the kitchen went over the top, granite worktops and everything. The floor creaking and popping has got worse and worse and now drives me nuts! Even the cats walking on it makes it creak. You can see the floor going down when anyone steps on it so it is quite evident that the problem is an uneven subfloor. This needs to be levelled. This is a MAJOR job due to the kitchen. It was idiotic in retrospect to lay the floor under the kitchen units but the flooring had already been ordered so it was easier to just lay it before the kitchen had even arrived. What I really want to know is this, can the floor be cut under the units to get it up as it is all locked together. It is not possible to take the kitchen out. Is there a tool for the job? The plan is to leave what's already done under the units and relay the rest separately.
you can remove the plinths and end panels then cut round the flooring with whatever means. just dont disturb them units with that granite resting on them. laminate snaps quite well, just be careful with the legs on the units and use a decent (min 8mm) laminate.
My suggestion is the Bosch PMF180E All Rounder with wood cutting blades which is a vibrating saw for plunge cuts in awkward areas. You can get one for about £70 in a well known diy shed. I'm guessing your oak is about 14mm thk with a ply base so no chance of snapping. You'll be able to get this saw in at an angle but it will be a slow process and may use a lot of blades.
I have taken floors out around kitchens using a fein saw or multimaster tool. You will need a good few blades as they blunt quickly
Re: Engineered oak floor squeaking and popping adv I ordered a couple of those shark blades to try in my fien and found they vibrated a bit more than normal ones and you can't push them into things with as much force as normal ones but for the price of them I am quite willing to allow an extra couple of minutes per architrave
