5 reasons why the laminate "walks" and pops

Recently, such a floor covering as a laminate is gaining more and more popularity. This can be easily explained: the laminate is quickly and simply laid on the floor, the price does not “bite”, and it looks good outwardly. However, like other flooring, it has its own problems. The most common of these is the difference between laminate flooring and creaking when walking. And today we’ll talk about the reasons why these problems appear.

Why does the laminate creak when walking?

1. When laying the flooring, they forgot to leave a gap between the board and the wall.

A very common reason. You can fix it yourself. It is enough to unscrew the skirting board, remove the extreme board and saw off the excess part from the board. Next, the bar is installed in its original place and the baseboard is screwed on.

1. Locks are not completely closed.

First you need to find exactly the place where the laminate makes a creak. After that, the coating is disassembled, the locks are closed and put back.

1. Old or improperly made screed.

Getting rid of this reason is quite difficult. You will have to remove the entire laminate, remove the concrete chips from the floor and primer again. If necessary, a new screed is made and the laminate is re-mounted. During installation, the old backing is changed.

1. Too thick backing.

Probably the workers, in order to save time, leveled the floor by increasing the thickness of the material. Squeaking usually occurs at the site of the recess of the substrate. The laminate is removed, the substrate is leveled and spread again.

Why does laminate "walk" around the room?

1. Uneven boards.

One of the main reasons why the laminate begins to "walk". If the curvature is slight, then nothing needs to be disassembled. Over time, the “walking” floor will settle down and level out. You can speed up the process with the help of furniture.

1. Uneven base.

Laminate may be placed on an uneven base, but only if it does not exceed 2-3 mm per 1 meter. Usually the surface is checked using a 2-meter level. Most often, significant differences are near batteries, pipes and doors. There are two ways to get rid of a problem. The first is to remove the laminate and level the base. The second is to leave it as it is. Laminate, in contrast to linoleum, only takes the form of a relief of the coating over time. However, in this case, there is a risk of gaps between the slats. And this negatively affects the castle connections.