Prev. owners covered floor register w/ laminate, how do i locate it and correct issue.?

Question

The previous owners of our house covered one of the floor vents when installing laminate flooring. We need to locate this vent and open it up before winter comes. What is the best approach and do we need to rip up the whole floor?

Answer 1

If you can see the duct fitting (called a "boot") from below, you could drill a very small hole - less than 1/8" - right next to it, as close as you can get.  Then measure to the 4 corners of the duct boot from the hole and mark off on the laminate.  Cutting the floor could be tricky.  Probably the best way would be to use a circular saw and set the depth of cut to just a fraction less than the thickness of the flooring, and cut INSIDE the rectangle you marked off.  Then use a chisel to finish the cut so you don't ruin your saw blade on the steel register.  If you cut the hole too small, you can always enlarge it.  If you cut too big, weeeelll, then you'll be replacing some flooring.

Answer 2

  If locating it from below is out, You ll have to take off the trim and or baseboard ..  Draw a pencil line across boards or number  them  to redo them..Unsnap the laminate and I m hoping the boards are layed the length of the room to go parallel  w/ the vent.. Cut the correct boards w/ table saw or a saw that works for you and resnap together.. It s not that  hard to redo.. GL

Answer 3

turn on the heating give it time to heat up and feel around the floor

Answer 4

how dumb was that? i don't know that you will be able to feel the heat through the floor, but you might be able to detect the air blowing around the perimeter.  the vent will probably be within 12" or less from a wall. locate the direction of the floor joists, it might be in line with another vent in the room, or in an adjacent room. you are looking for a rectangular hole under the flooring, so tap around the perimeter looking for a 'hollow sound'. when you find it, drill a hole, confirm the vent, and use a jigsaw to cut out the flooring. quite the delimma! good luck.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

If you can access the boot from below you can use a stiff straight piece of coat hanger wire as a drill bit in a cordless drill.

Run the wire along side the boot for reference.

The wire will not snag on anything and will be long enough to go through.

Cut the wire on a diagonal or grind it to a point.

Once located mark the opening, drill the corners and cut out with a sawzall.