Installing Laminate Flooring Under Refrigerators
Installing laminate flooring under refrigerators can be difficult at times. You have the choice of either removing the refrigerator from the room or working around it. Its fine if you can remove the refrigerator from the room easily, but a lot of times its just easier to work around it.
Refrigerators usually only roll one way forward and backward, but not side to side. Sliding the refrigerator sideways on laminate flooring can mar the floor. If you need to slide it sideways use something to slide it on such as thin pieces of plywood or something similar.
I have done laminate in kitchens where the kitchen was kind of small, and to get the refrigerator out would require that I remove the door handles. What I had to do is to roll the frig out of its spot then install the laminate in that area. The main problem was the kitchen was too narrow to slide the frig to the side so I had to install the laminate under the frig where it sat. Thats not easy.
The easiest way is to install the laminate up to the frig and roll it straight onto the laminate.
Before rolling it on to the laminate you will need to protect the edge of the installed laminate so it doesn't get chipped. I find the best thing to do is to use some scrap pieces of laminate and click them in along the edge temporarily and roll the frig over them.
Here I have rolled the refrigerator onto the installed laminate flooring. This leaves the area behind it free for me to finish installing the laminate.
I may have to slide the frig to the side and then roll it back. I will not slide it sideways unless I have something under the rollers on the frig. A lot of refrigerators have ice makers. The water lines are usually either copper or plastic. When rolling the frig out you need to check to see how long the ice maker water line is. If it is long enough to roll the frig out and to the side, that will make it a lot easier. I try not to disconnect the water line if I don't have to. I'm not crazy about plumbing. I don't like leaks.
When installing laminate flooring under refrigerators, water leaks from ice maker lines can occur just from rolling the frig out. The fittings may be old and the movement may be all it takes to make it start leaking.
Keep a close eye on the fitting, and any other areas that could leak.
After you get everything done, its a good idea to check it for leaks before you roll it back and maybe the next day just to be sure.
