A utility knife rests on a workbench beside a plank of engineer wood that has been cut in half. If a person perform one wrong tug with the utility knife, the blade will wander off of the edge of the plank and create one jagged edge. That jagged edge will cause problem for every future footstep that will cross the room that is to be floored.
Installing flooring require precision, and many people tend to underestimate the precision that is required of flooring installation. Using the appropriate cutting tool for each type of flooring will allow for the best possible outcome of a flooring installation job. The difference between a professionally install floor and an amateur installation is the difference in how a person slice the material.
A person may work with solid hardwood floor. A person may work with laminate flooring that feature click-lock planks. A person may work with luxurios vinyl plank flooring.
Or, a person may work with delicate porcelain tiles. Each of these flooring type requires different cutting technique to ensure that the installation is even and visually pleasing. If an individual use the wrong cutting tool for a given flooring type, the individual will create problem in the form of chipped flooring edges, wasted flooring planks, and additional hour required to sand the damaged edge.
However, if an individual understands each of the steps of the cutting process, they will know which tool will best perform the job of cutting the specific type of flooring that they are installing. You should begin with the utility knife as this is one of the most useful tool for flooring installations. The utility knife’s hooked blade can easily cut thin luxury vinyl plank flooring if you follow the pencil line that you mark with a straightedge tool.
The utility knife will follow the flex of the flooring rather than fight against the wood to create an even cut that will not crack the vinyl plank. Use this tool dozens of time in a room as it can trim flooring next to door jambs and vent. Always keep a pack of utility knife blade in your toolbox as the blade will dull during the cutting process.
Using a dull blade can create torn edge that will not snap as nicely into place. To use a utility knife effectively, score the floor twice with the blade and snap the plank once with the utility knife. This method work effectively when using luxury vinyl plank flooring.
Essential Cutting Tools For Flooring Installation
1. Utility Knife
The next tool to use is a manual guillotine cutter. The manual guillotine cutter may look like a tool from a medieval dungeon, but it work like a surgical tool when cutting laminate or engineered wood flooring. Place the plank into the cutter and pull the long handle downward with the flooring saw to create a clean cut.
2. Manual Guillotine Cutter
This tool produce no sawdust, no noise, and no injuries if use correctly. These tools are helpful for flooring under five hundred square feet in area. Manual guillotine cutters cannot cut flooring plank that are over twelve millimeters in thickness.
Knowing the type of flooring that you are working with will help you rent a manual guillotine cutter to assist with flooring installation job. These tools are best used in cutting click-lock flooring in hallways and bedroom. For solid hardwood flooring, the thickness of the planks will decide which tool will be used for the job.
For hardwood flooring that is over half an inch in thickness, a miter saw will be required. Using a carbide cutting blade at four thousand rpm will enable the miter saw to easily cut through solid hardwood like oak. Using a miter saw with a negative hook angle blade will make cutting easier for the installer; the negative hook angle cut the hardwood downward, not upward.
3. Miter Saw
This will ensure that there is no need to sand the hardwood sawn edge. Always support the hardwood on both side of the saw to ensure that no splintering occurs on the underside of the plank. You will lose some of the hardwood while cutting test plank until the miter saw is properly adjusted to the hardwood thickness.
Once adjusted correctly, the miter saw will be easier to use for hardwood flooring. The saw will fill the dust bag very quickly, so wear a respirator to remove sawdust from the work area. For the fastest possible installation of hardwood flooring, use a flooring track saw.
4. Flooring Track Saw
The flooring track saw will ride on the plank and guarantee that the cut is straight. The plunge saw feature will allow the flooring track saw to make a cut in the middle of a plank. The flooring track saw’s downward saw blade and the track on the floor will prevent any sawdust from the track saw from damaging the hardwood floor.
The flooring track saw is more expensive and has a learning curve to master the saw properly. However, once the saw is mastered, it will save the installation professional money due to less wasted flooring material. For porcelain tile floor, a different mental approach is used when cutting the floor.
Use the manual snap cutter to score the tile with a tungsten carbide wheel. Then use the manual snap cutter to break the porcelain tile along the scored line with a firm push of the manual snap cutter. Manual snap cutters are best used for creating straight cut in the bathroom floor for even showers and tiles.
5. Manual Snap Cutter
For corners or edge, use a wet saw. The saw will water the diamond blade when cutting porcelain tile and will also water the saw to prevent silica dust from entering the installer’s lung when cutting tile. Additionally, the water will make the cut line visible to the installer as they follow the pencil line.
Practice using the wet saw on scrap porcelain tiles first to learn how to apply the proper amount of water and pressure to the porcelain floor. A jigsaw is useful for cutting even more complex shape than a saw can accomplish. Use a jigsaw to create curve in the floor around vents or other obstacle in the path of the floor.
6. Wet Saw
Use a fine-toothed jigsaw blade to cut laminate flooring. Run the jigsaw at a medium rpm speed and let the jigsaw do the work of cutting the floor. The base plate of the jigsaw saw must be even with the floor for the saw blade to remain perpendicular to the floor.
Apply painter’s tape to the area to be cut to reduce tear-out of the laminate flooring. This extra step will ensure that the cut will be even and that the installed floor will look good next to the other plank. For more complex job, use a multi-tool with a plunge-cut blade to cut through installed flooring.
7. Jigsaw
The oscillating action of the tool will allow it to make a straight cut through vinyl or hardwood flooring without damaging the flooring. The narrow saw blade will allow a professional to cut into corner of the area being treated by the floor installer. The saw blade of the multi-tool will dull quickly when cutting subfloors with nail in them.
Always keep a few spare blade in the toolbox. The vibration from the tool will travel up the installer’s arm after twenty minutes of use. Professionals use anti-vibration glove when using the multi-tool to cut installed flooring.
8. Oscillating Multi-Tool
Aviation snips are used on aluminum or metal flooring. Aviation snips will make clean cut in the metal flooring and will not leave the same distortion as a hacksaw blade. Aviation snips will also cut plastic reducer strip for metal flooring to the correct size.
Aviation snips have a compound leverage system that allow them to cut metal effortlessly. Always keep a dedicated pair of aviation snips for flooring work. Do not use aviation snips to cut wire or metal in other task as the edge of the snips will get damaged.
9. Aviation Snips
By mastering each of these flooring tool in the order that has been presented, a person will find themselves ready to take on any flooring installation job. The knowledge of each task and tool will allow a person to see the floor as a series of cut rather than a project of massive proportion to complete. When installing the last plank of flooring, the sawn edge will feel great against the next plank of flooring.
At this point, an individual will understand how much flooring professional take their time with. Professionals who install flooring understand the importance of having the right blade for each job. You should pick just one tool and learn it inside and out before you learn the next tool.
Your floor will last for years if you learn these tool properly.
