'Pergo' flooring and tank move

[KAS]

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago in one of the forums concerning the installation of laminate wood flooring. Coincidentally, Costco is having a sale on their laminate flooring for the next week. So, I've been thinking and I have some questions.

The system they are selling is Harmonics Uniclic. It has a 25 year guarantee even for water applications. It is a glueless system. They also sell an underlayment that unfortunately I couldn't see.

How important is the quality of the underlayment? Is it like rugs where the pad is VERY important?

Also, from reading all the packaging, it seems like the floor basically 'floats' on the underlayment/sub-flooring. Is that right?

Did you guys replace all your baseboards with the laminate baseboards when you did your floors?

Originally, I was going to floor around my tank but I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea. What do you think? How much trauma will I suffer (and corals lost) by moving the tank 5 feet and then back in a few days? How would I go about doing something like that? (It's a 75 gal)

Last question, how important is the thickness of the subflooring?

Thanks in advance for all of the advice and thoughts. For the record, the search function is disabled so if I asked a question that was answered in the other thread, I'm sorry.
-Karen

[CrystalAZ]

How important is the quality of the underlayment? Is it like rugs where the pad is VERY important?

VERY important. It dampens sound and stops the floor from moving when you walk on it. Don't skimp on it.

Also, from reading all the packaging, it seems like the floor basically 'floats' on the underlayment/sub-flooring. Is that right?

Yep.

Did you guys replace all your baseboards with the laminate baseboards when you did your floors?

Yes. We took our baseboards off, and put new ones on over the flooring. IMO, the edge would look cruddy just hitting against the baseboard.

What do you think? How much trauma will I suffer (and corals lost) by moving the tank 5 feet and then back in a few days? How would I go about doing something like that? (It's a 75 gal)

People do it all the time using trashcans or rubbermaid tubs. But anytime you move stuff around, you run the risk of causing stress and losing stuff. If you do this, I'd suggest getting that section done ASAP.

If you decide to be lazy, they have nice "moulding" look ends that could go around your tank. If you are doing the non-glue ones, you can easily fix it later if you decide to sell the house.

BUT... be very careful about this stuff around water. It is prone to swelling.

Last question, how important is the thickness of the subflooring?

The thickness? Not sure. But get good quality stuff.

Lastly, before buying at Costco, check the prices at www.fastfloors.com. I got the Uniclick floors for $2/sq ft, and right now, they have some for $1.85 or something like that.

Crystal

[CrystalAZ]

Oh I just read your post again and you asked about replacing baseboards.

We didn't use the laminate baseboards. We just replaced them with regular cheapo baseboards from Home Depot.

Crystal

[frank2926]

I just added half round molding to the bottom of mine .