How to Use Abalone Laminate

Importance of Underlayment

• Ceramic, wood or slate tile designs can have abalone laminate covering the surfaces. This design adds a shimmering, reflective quality to the tiles. Installing abalone laminate tiles as flooring requires a homeowner to remove all pre-existing carpet and remaining glue from the floor surface. Installing a foam laminate underlayment is necessary to provide moisture protection and impact absorption. Purchased underlayment appears as rolled sheets that a homeowner unfurls over the entire floor surface where she plans to install the abalone laminate. Depending on the size of the floor, multiple sheets of underlayment may be necessary. A plastic strip along one side of the first underlayment butts against a given wall during the installation process. The other side of sheet has a strip of tape covering an adhesive edge. Plastic strips of subsequent underlayment sheets connect to this adhesive strip. This action joins the sheets together.

Installing Floor Tiles

• Each floor board -- abalone or otherwise -- has a tongue side and a groove side. Opposite ends fasten together to create longer panels. These panels sit together lengthwise to create the entire floor. It's necessary to cut the tongue from the long side of floor boards when installing pieces in corners of a given room. Protect the abalone face of floor boards during the cutting process as any scuffs could ruin the surface. Point the abalone face in the opposite direction of the cutting blade's action. For example, a jigsaw has an upward cutting motion requiring the abalone laminate to face down.

Abalone Room Accents

• Abalone laminate can also function as an accent to existing tiling within a room. The shining quality of the crushed shells can break up a solid bathroom counter or washing area. Installing laminate requires a groove cut into the surface to lay the abalone. The depth of the groove depends on the thickness of the abalone laminate. Measuring the laminate before cutting into the surface is essential to avoid recessing the abalone to the point that it's no longer visible. Thin laminate may only be 0.12 of an inch thick, according to laminate manufacturer Aqua Blue Maui.

Laminate and Instruments

• Luthiers use abalone laminate to accentuate lines and curves on acoustic guitars. Carving a thin channel along the shell purfling or edge allows a luthier to inlay long strips of abalone laminate into the guitar wood. Abalone can also accent the guitar's sound hole in a similar manner. The precision necessary to make these incisions requires a hand-routing tool. Commercial machine tools are too powerful for this delicate work. Avoid routing a channel into the guitar's binding or adhesive during the carving process. The binding literally holds the guitar's parts together. Installing abalone laminate on the guitar's fingerboard is possible but may interfere with playability.