Saw blade for laminate flooring

This winter I will be finishing my basement and it will have laminate flooring. I was wondering if it would be smarter to get a new blade (80-90 tooth) for my 8.25" table saw or my 12" miter saw.

The whole area is about 1100 sqft and will have about 5 rooms, so I'm expecting to do quite some cuts.

Any suggestions?

If you have a good miter gauge, the table saw will do almost everything. A jigsaw or oscillating tool will do the occasional odd cut.

I actually just use a jig saw for the whole job.  Any cuts you do should be hidden under trim so they don't have to be perfect.  And many are notches or creative cuts that you need to use the jig saw for anyway.  Lastly, you can do all the cutting where you're working without kicking up much dust or noise.

It depends on how close the workshop with the table saw is to the room where you are working. If you can set up a chop saw much closer, you may save considerable time running back and forth. A jig saw is convenient for one cut, but doing a number of cuts will add up and the nearly instantaneous rate for multiple cuts on a chop or table saw can overcome that. It also depends on the room - if there are many odd irregular cuts, the jig saw may win out.

I will second the idea of the oscillating saw for the occasional odd cut.  The saws themselves are not expensive, the blades cheap and they can make most any type of cut.

Some type of miter or chop saw is probably invaluable for the majority of cuts though.

Eric

I just installed one of those floors. I would have wasted a lot of time had I not used my chop saw. It makes the job so much faster. You will use your table saw but for relatively few cuts.

Normally I would say, use the saw you are most comfortable using.  Do keep in mind you will, most likely, have some ripping to do.  

I think for most rooms, the great majority of cuts will be easiest and fastest with a chop saw. You would most likely need to rip a whole set of planks to width at the end of the job when you reach the far wall, and a table saw will work best then. Along the way, there will probably be some irregular cuts that might be quick with a jig saw, but neatest if you can do them with the clean precision of a chop or table saw. You can even cut holes in a plank with a table saw by raising the blade into the middle of the plank, and get a precise square straight edge. This may be important at doorways where you are butting to jambs etc.

Depending on the laminate, your standard circular saw will be fine. I've found that on some of these products you will get a better finish cut if you cut it upside down. Because the teeth are pulling upward towards the plate on the bottom of the saw, if the finish is up it can chip some, if it's down the chipping happens on the back of the piece.

Thanks for all the replies. I already set up all my tools and saws in the basement so distance isn't a factor. Today my table saw got delivered and I have never used one before, so I'm more comfortable with my miter saw when it comes to that. I might indeed just try the standard blade first, I'm always surprised how smooth they cut. If it doesn't work out I can always get get another blade, I noticed you can get blades specifically made for cutting laminate flooring (e.g. Diablo).

I haven't done flooring, but I can imagine cutting pieces to fit the contour of the room.

Still, I haven't found many reasons to use anything other than my ryoba handsaw 99% of the woodworking I've done. It's quick, portable, doesn't need electricity, doesn't kick-up dust all over the place, and it connects you to your work.

If you're doing woodworking professionally and repeating cuts all day every day, then powertools will save you time and make you money, but if this is a one-off job, I doubt you'll see much difference.

Your mileage may vary though, just thought I would give my perspective.