Contents
- What tools are needed for laying laminate?
- Preparing the base of the floor
- Preparing the concrete base of the floor
- Preparing the wooden base of the floor
- Preparing the base of linoleum or tile
- laminate flooring technology
- laminate flooring
Among the many floor coverings, laminate is the most popular and practical material that has a wooden structure and an attractive look. Unlike parquet, laminated floor panels have a much lower price. And its properties are not much less than the more expensive parquet flooring. Another huge advantage of the laminate is the simplicity of its installation, which does not require special skills. Even an experienced person can cope with work if he follows certain rules set forth in the article. So, first you need to buy a laminate and bring it home, after which it will take several days for the material to “acclimatize” to the temperature and humidity of the room where it will be laid. The laminate itself is a panel that has a width of about 20 cm, a length of one to one and a half meters, and a thickness of 6-11 mm. The connection of the panels is due to the locking structure, which is easily fixed and securely holds the panels together.
What tools are needed for laying laminate?
Before you start laying the laminate, you should prepare and assemble all the necessary tools. This is a fairly large list, which is needed for work. In the list of 8 tools and materials. Let's take a closer look at each one individually in order to understand where and how to apply them.
- hammer - no repair can be done without this tool, and laying laminate is no exception. Moreover, without this tool, installation of laminated panels is simply not possible. The hammer should be chosen weighing approximately 500-600 grams. This will make it convenient to use it. Too heavy can accidentally damage the panels, so this is the most optimal weight.
- . Square - used to mark the boundaries on which the laminate will be sawn, if necessary, to fit the required dimensions. It is best to use a metal square, which has a strong base and will not be damaged in the process of laying laminate. The tool length should be about 23-30 cm.
- Pencil - this is pretty simple, because without marking the cutting lines directly, you cannot cut the material exactly. Special pencil can be purchased at the hardware store, but the usual stationery will do.
- Tape Measure - measuring the length and width of laminated panels without this tool is simply impossible. When choosing the length of the tape measure, consider the size of the room. Roulette is usually enough for 5 meters.
- Tamping Bar - this tool helps to join laminate panels together. Carefully tapping with a hammer, the attached bar to the panel grip and fixing the lock. It is better to use a plastic bar than a wooden one, since it has a softer structure and will not damage the material.
- Hacksaw - with this tool, everything is clear, because you need to cut laminated panels, so you can not do without it. It is best to use a hacksaw with fine teeth and a wide blade.
- restrictive wedges - required to create a gap between the wall and the laminate panels. This gap should be about 10 mm.
- Scotch - used to connect between the edges of the canvas substrate. It is better to use a special masking tape, but the usual clerical will do.
Preparation of the base of the floor
Laminate, unlike other flooring, has more high demands on the unevenness of the floor surface, which will fall. Uneven floor deforms the material, and the joints can break up. The permissible value per square meter is 0.5 cm. A larger indicator will lead to undesirable consequences in the future and additional costs for the correction of the resulting defects. Different surfaces of the floor require their approach to the implementation of laying laminate. Let's look at the three main ones - it is a concrete floor, a wooden floor and a surface made of tile or linoleum.
Preparation of the concrete base of the floor
When carrying out the repair and laying of the laminate, the old coating is removed and the condition of the concrete floor is checked. It must be even and without significant flaws. If there are significant irregularities, should be leveled using an self-leveling mortar. It is not difficult enough - you need to buy cement, sand and prepare a solution that is evenly distributed over the floor surface. You can buy a special ready-mix powder, which is mixed with water in certain proportions and a solution is obtained. When leveling, a reinforcing mesh is used to prevent the floor from cracking. After all the alignment work has been completed and the floor has dried well( about 20-30 days), proceed to the next stage of laying the flooring. It should be noted that on the concrete surface before laying the laminate necessarily lay down a layer of vapor barrier material. This material is a polyethylene film with a thickness of at least 200 microns. Fixing the joints is done with scotch tape.
Preparing the wooden base of the floor
If you decide to put the laminate on the wooden surface of the old parquet or the floor of the boards, you should make sure that the floor surface is perfectly flat. If there are irregularities somewhere, then they should be corrected. Wobbly floorboards replace or fix , and grind irregularities if necessary. Also, the wooden base for laying laminate should be free from rot and the presence of a biological factor( wood bugs, mold, etc.).This is very important, because in the end it will ruin your new floor and will bring significant financial costs. The ideal option to level the old wooden floor surface - is to put on top of the sheets of plywood or chipboard. Laying should be carried out in a checkerboard pattern. In this case, no vapor barrier is required, but sound insulation must be carried out. Noise when walking on the laminate will be much higher if you put it on a wooden surface. For this purpose, a special sound-insulating substrate.
Preparing the base of linoleum or
tile When laying laminate on a surface that is made of linoleum or tile, there are no particular problems. Typically, these bases have a flat surface and allow, without additional preparation of , to begin work on mounting laminated wood panels. If it is linoleum, then the surface under it, as a rule, is well aligned initially, with the same tile, too. Next, use a simple substrate under the laminate and fit the panels themselves. If, however, floor irregularities are present in this case, then it is recommended to remove the old flooring and level the floor according to the building rules.
Technology for laying laminate
After preparing the base of the floor, leveling it and, if necessary, conducting a vapor barrier, sound insulation, you can proceed directly to laying the laminate. So, the installation of laminate flooring begins with the installation of spacer wedges in that corner of the room, from where the beginning of the installation of wooden floor panels will be. This is done in order to leave a gap of 10 mm between the wall and the laminate panel. Since the material tends to expand under the influence of ambient temperature and humidity, the gap will not allow the panel to deform. After laying the floor, the wedges are removed. Laying can be started from any corner of the room , but as advised by experts, it is better to put laminate along the sun's rays that will shine from the window. The panel joints will be less noticeable.
The first panel of the first row fits first, then the first panel of the second row fits, but it is cut in half. This is done in order to lay the laminate in the form of a chessboard, which will give an even load distribution during the operation of the flooring. Next, the second panel is laid in the first row, and then the second panel in the second row. This happens until you cover the entire area of the room with panels. The final stage of installation is the installation of baseboards, for which holes are pre-drilled in the wall. There are two types of installation - it is locking and adhesive. Let's take a closer look at both.
Lock installation of laminate
This method involves laying wooden laminated panels without using fasteners. The joints between laminate panels are made in the form of locks, which are joined to each other and form a sturdy system. To mount the panel is quite simple, it does not require special knowledge, and even a novice can do the work. There are two types of locks for bonding between the laminated parts, let's take a closer look at each separately. This option is used for apartments and small rooms where additional bonding is not required.
- Click-lock is the most common type of lock, which has designs in the form of "thorn" and "groove".He practically supplanted other types for his simplicity and reliability. Docking takes place at an angle of 30 degrees until the lock clicks into place, and then is driven in by a tamping bar until the complete connection of two laminate panels.
- Lock lock - with this type of padlock, the panels lie horizontally to each other, and the groove of one panel is inserted into the groove of the other. After this, the bar is padded and the lock clicks into place.
Glueing the laminate
The only difference between the adhesive laying of the laminate and the castle is , the additional gluing of the joints with special glue. This gives greater reliability of the joint, as a result of which the service life of the wooden flooring is significantly extended. In addition, the joints are protected from moisture, which also has a positive effect on the performance properties of the laminate. When cool styling requires good drying of glued joints, therefore, it is recommended to use the coating for its intended purpose after 10 hours. Glue is used with water-repellent property. It is better not to save on glue, as some do and not to use simple PVA.Special adhesive can be purchased at any building supermarket. This option is used more often in rooms with a large area where additional fastening is required, since the laminate can disperse in such a case.
When the laminate can not be laid?
Laminate flooring is not a universal floor covering and you should know when it is not recommended to install it. Do not lay laminated wood panels on carpet. You also can not glue the laminate and fix in other ways to the floor surface. In rooms with high humidity, such as a bath, a bath and other similar places, it is also not recommended to do this, because the material is afraid of water and quickly deformed under the influence of intense moisture. Not every laminate is suitable for laying as a finishing coating on a cable or "matte" system of a warm electric floor. Lay laminate in the kitchen or hallway should be with a high rate of durability. In this case, it is necessary to seal the locking systems with an adhesive.
