How to properly install laminate flooring on wood floors. Laying laminate on a wooden floor: preparing the base and carrying out the work

Subject to a number of conditions, you can easily lay the laminate on the wooden floor yourself and get a smooth and very beautiful coating.

Previously, laminated boards were mounted exclusively on a concrete base. Nowadays there is simple technology for laying laminate flooring on wood flooring. At its core, it is not much different from the scheme for installing such a coating on a leveled sand-cement mixture. It is only necessary to take into account some features of the plank bases. And then laying with your own hands will pass without a hitch.

Laminate flooring installation

The wood base has two key features. Over time, they lose their original characteristics and change their geometric parameters. Therefore, before laying a laminate on an old wood floor, you should carefully analyze the logs, support bars and boards. If their condition leaves much to be desired, it is imperative to prepare the base for the installation of a laminated coating.

Plank foundations are not stable and truly sustainable. In this regard, even minor shifts of laminated panels cause additional load on their locks. This causes deformation of the coating during its operation.

If you want the laminate to please you with its smooth and elegant surface, eliminate all defects in the plank base in advance. How to do it yourself, we will discuss further.

The first step is to identify uneven areas of the floor. Perform this operation using the building level (it is even better to use a laser tool). You can level the old plank floor with your own hands using several methods.

Scraping is suitable for bases with small irregularities (about 4–6 mm per floor square). Scraping is performed with an electric planer or sandpaper (if all defects in the wooden base are located in one area). Before starting the operation, it is necessary to drown all fasteners (for example, nails) into the wood so as not to damage the knives of the planer or hand scraper, which can also be used to level the floor. Without fail, control the quality of grinding work and the plane after processing each individual section of the base. After cycling, you should once again check the level of the floor surface.

floor scraping

When leveling with chipboard boards(chipboard) or plywood, it is recommended to use sheets of relatively large thickness (about 1.5–2 cm). Treat plywood or chipboard with a fungicide or ordinary drying oil, wooden base carefully align by lining plastic or wooden wedges under the logs. Plywood sheets must first be cut with a special circular saw under the required dimensions, and then put on a rough base. After that, you check the resulting difference in planes and, if necessary, place small wooden slats under the sheets of leveling material. Attached chipboard and plywood.

Often there is a need for a small repair of a wooden base on which you want to lay laminated boards with your own hands. Such work is done simply:

• when the coating sags, support special wedges should be installed under the wooden logs;
• rotten boards are replaced;
• gaps and cracks are treated with putty;
• shaky boards are fixed with self-tapping screws;
• when both the logs and the boards on them stagger, you need to fix the supporting elements (press the logs at the base with anchors).

After repair, do not forget to very carefully clean the base from debris and fine dust. Use a vacuum cleaner.

Laying laminate requires the use of underlays. They can be made from:

• bitumen;
• polyurethane foam;
• eco-friendly natural cork material;
• foil;
• polypropylene (foamed).

Laying allows you to hide minor irregularities in the subfloor, and also provides the effects of heat saving, noise and sound insulation. It is important to choose the right lining material. For wooden bases, experts recommend using cork linings that interact well with wood. However, you can put less expensive products made of polypropylene or polyurethane foam.

Laying laminate flooring

Note! It is necessary to lay the substrate on a pre-mounted polyethylene film. It performs a waterproofing function. The film is laid with an overlap of at least 15 cm (or more). And the installation of the substrate itself is carried out end-to-end.

To fix the lining, construction tape is usually used (gluing is done in solid lines or periodic points). It is not necessary to fix the substrate to the wall surfaces and to the floor base.

Installation of laminated panels, start from the corner, which is removed from the door by maximum distance. Laying the first row of products is carried out horizontally, and it is carried out at the joints of the laminate.

During installation, control the position of the laminated boards in relation to the wall. They must lie absolutely flat.

Important point! Laying panels on the boards is carried out perpendicular to the location of the latter. You also need to provide a gap between the laminated products and the wall. To do this, simply mount the limiters. They can be made from wood or plastic.

Do-it-yourself laminate flooring

After the first correctly laid out row rests against the wall, take an electric jigsaw and cut off part of the panel. Then start laying the next row. At the same time, at the ends, its joints should not coincide with the joints of the products of the previous line. To achieve this, you need to take a new product, cut off about a third of it and start mounting the second row (similar to the first).

Consider next nuance. It is necessary to fasten together all the panels of the second row and only after that they are docked with the products of the first line. It is allowed to tamp the laminate with an ordinary hammer. But at the same time, it is imperative to use a fuse bar so as not to damage the panels.

The next steps are clear. Mount all rows in the same way. Keep an eye on the gaps between the laminate and the walls. Products of the last row will need to be cut to length.

You managed to put the laminated boards on your own! Now remove the limiters set at the very beginning of the execution installation work, and proceed to install the plinth. To mask cut sections, it is recommended to use laminate plugs.

The final touch is the installation of the door sill. This element is installed so that the height difference between individual rooms is visually invisible.

Laminate is a common flooring. It is cheaper than parquet, but it also looks attractive. More resistant to wear and damage than natural wood. Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor is a do-it-yourself task. In order for the material to be laid correctly, the technology must be observed. It is worth starting installation only after studying a sufficient amount of material on the topic.

Installation surface requirements

Laminate on a wooden floor can only be laid if the conditions that the old plank flooring must satisfy are met. Do-it-yourself installation of a laminate without complex preparation can be carried out if such characteristics of the base are provided as:

• integrity;
• height difference is not more than 2 mm per meter of surface;
• strength;
• lack of moisture and damage by various microorganisms (mold, fungus, etc.);
• the absence of too wide cracks and holes 9 no more than 5 cm).

If these conditions are not met, before laying the laminate on the wooden floor, it is leveled.

Definition of drops and their elimination

You can correctly identify the magnitude of deviations before laying the coating with your own hands from the horizontal by using the following devices and devices:

• laser level;
• hydraulic (water) level;
• bubble level;
• rule.

It is easiest to use the last two tools. High accuracy is not required here, it is only important to determine the scale of the problem and choose the right way to fix it.

Wooden flooring can be laid after leveling by the following methods:

• a substrate made of elastic materials is suitable only for small problems, if it is required to lay a coating on a surface with differences of several millimeters (thickness is taken from 2 to 5 mm);
• leveling compounds and cement screeds are also used for simple cases;
• scraping the floor allows you to cut off protruding sections, while it is important to control that the boardwalk does not become too thin and does not begin to sag;
• installation of plywood will eliminate almost all irregularities and prevent such troubles as floor creaking and bending.

Plywood laying technology involves two scenarios:

1. With a height difference of less than 1 cm, you can lay sheets with glue and self-tapping screws. For greater efficiency, a substrate is laid under the material. Laying parts in this way can be done quickly enough. First, the base is cleaned, degreased and primed. After that, a layer of up to 2-3 cm is applied with an adhesive composition and the sheets are fixed. After the glue dries, you can proceed to the screws. For them, before laying the material, holes are prepared at a distance of 2 cm from the edge of the sheet and 15-20 cm from each other.
2. The second technology is suitable for differences of more than 1 cm. At the same time, logs with a section of 15 by 40 mm serve as the basis for plywood, which are fixed with their own hands on the boardwalk with self-tapping screws. As in the previous case, the surface is cleaned, the log boards are laid out and fixed, after which sheets of plywood are screwed onto the screws.

It is important that with any method, sheets are cut before starting work. To do this, they need to be laid on the floor, cut out the parts of the desired size and number them to indicate the order in which the plywood is laid. Installation is best done using moisture-resistant material of the second or third grade. The substrate under the sheets performs soundproofing and shock-absorbing functions. It can be made of elastic materials such as isolon, polyethylene foam.

The minimum allowable sheet thickness is 10 mm. It is important to take into account the patency of the room and the load on the floor from furniture and equipment.

It is best if the do-it-yourself plywood underlay for the laminate is made with a thickness of 14-22 mm. If you lay more thin material, it may bend or crack.

Floor covering installation

After the leveling substrate is completed and the surface is prepared, you can proceed to the next stage of work. Laying laminate on a wooden floor is done by hand in the following order:

1. If plywood or another rigid base is used as the base, a laminate underlay will be required. It is needed to avoid knocking the coating on plywood or screed. Unlike leveling, a large thickness is not needed here. The layer is taken from 1 to 3 mm. The joints of the material are glued with construction adhesive tape. Can be additionally attached to the edges.
2. The laminate is brought into the room and allowed to adapt to temperature and humidity conditions. To do this, it is recommended to wait 2 days. Installation begins with determining the laying direction (parallel to the light, perpendicular, diagonal).
3. Measure the distance between the walls and calculate the number of boards. If the last piece is less than one third wide, it is recommended to start laying the first row of elements by sawing them in half.
4. The laminate is laid, taking into account the way the coating is attached.

Parts can be stacked in three ways:

• click lock;
• lock lock;
• adhesive connection.

The board is set at an angle of 45 degrees to the previous one, after which the lock is latched. The system is collapsible, that is, if necessary, you can easily replace or repair the underlying wooden floor. Between the walls, the parts are wedged using thin rails, this is necessary to provide a seam that compensates for the expansion of the laminate under load or changes in temperature. First, they collect a row among themselves, and then attach it to the previous one. Installation continues to the opposite wall of the room.

Laying is performed in a run. The length of the board and the width of the room are measured, after which the number of boards in one row is calculated. If an uneven number of elements is obtained (about half remains), in order to provide a run-up, it is rational to start the next row from the half that remains from the previous one. This will minimize the amount of material spent on coating. If an integer number of boards fit in the width, then the first row begins and ends with a half, and the second is made from whole parts. So you can do the dressing without waste.

Fastening is carried out by planting the spike into the groove. Installation, unlike the previous method, is not performed at an angle. It is necessary to bring the element to the already laid one and lightly tap on its opposite edge.

Most often, they tap with a rubber hammer through the bar so as not to damage the groove of the element.

Adhesive laminate

Most often used in wet areas. Instructions for laying the exit with the previous lock. The difference lies in the fact that the junction is smeared adhesive solution. After laying the laminate, you need to wait for the glue to dry. During this period, it is best to glue the boards together on top with adhesive tape. After the laying is completed, the wedges that were responsible for the gap between the wall and the flooring are removed and the skirting boards are installed. The adhesive tape is removed after all work has been completed and the adhesive composition has dried.

Most often on sale you can find a laminate with a Lock type lock. To guarantee the quality of laying, it is important to correctly fasten the elements to each other and ensure that all requirements for the base, especially evenness, are met. Subject to technology, we can talk about the durability of the floor and its attractive appearance.

Floor covering in modern interior differs in variability and a rich variety of materials, textures, execution techniques. Robust design floors attract Special attention. Among the various ways to decorate your own home, laying a laminate on a wooden floor is especially popular. It is worth noting that not every flooring is compatible with a wood base, although there are masters who claim the opposite. In order for the styling to be correct, it is worth knowing its subtleties: we understand it together.

Peculiarities

Laying laminate on a wooden floor is not the most difficult, but crucial stage during the repair. As in any other business, here you need to take into account the features of the work, possible problems in the process of flooring. Ideal option for country house– laminated floors, made according to a special “floating” principle.

Provided that the foundation of the house is a structure of boards, beams and logs, the work is carried out taking into account the strength and reliability of these structures. Before you start laying laminate flooring, you should study some of the nuances of the work.

For the best result, it is necessary to let the purchased laminate rest for two days.

Packed laminate in the form of laminated panels, adapted for laying on a wooden floor, is folded in the center of the room so that there is a space of about 1 meter to the wall. At the same time, it is important that the material is at room temperature, and the humidity index does not exceed 75%. So the laminate is better adapted to the environment and bounces back before installation.

It is better to open the packaging with the material immediately before work. It is purchased with a margin. After work, of course, there will be a lot of waste in the form of bars and boards with chips. But it is even necessary in order to make the adjustment in the process of work with greater accuracy. For self-laying laminate flooring, you will need a standard set of tools, which includes:

• tape measure and pencil;
• a hammer;
• construction square;
• jigsaw;
• drill;
• substrate.

A substrate is laid on the prepared base (sold in sheet or roll form). It can be laid immediately over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room or as the laminate is laid. Butt joints are fixed with masking tape or construction tape. Next, the material is laid directly.

The laminate is placed perpendicular to the window so that the light falls along the laminate. So you can avoid errors when joining panels. It is important to achieve a tight connection of the material, this will allow you to lay the laminate along, across, in a checkerboard pattern or diagonally across the room.

Need to start work from the corner of the wall with the doorway. The first row of laminate is laid in such a way that there is a gap between it and the wall (5-10 mm). In this regard, special wedges and other tools are used for more accurate work. Each subsequent sheet is laid at an angle of 30 degrees with a strong fixation on the floor (we help ourselves with a hammer, gently tapping each segment).

For reliability, experts recommend doing the work in rows (first, completely the first row, then go to the second, and so on). This is done in order to ensure the geometrically correct laying of the laminate with the correct joining of panels or pieces of material. Moreover, each subsequent row should begin with the remaining piece of laminate (about 200 mm long).

The presence of pipes and protrusions can be bypassed by drilling out the places of coverage with a drill. If it is necessary to lay floors throughout the house, it is recommended not to stop at doorway next room, and go a little further.

Important at work find your own style of performing operations (speed, styling features). This will allow you to quickly and better cope with the task. Difficulty can cause the last row of laying. In this case, the installation is carried out with a carefully sized sheet or panel. Although there is always the possibility of error.

How to put it right?

The specifics of laying laminate on a wooden base is associated with the mobility of the floors, the feature of fasteners building material. Installation of laminated panels is carried out on a reliable static structure. The "floating floor" is different in that it lies freely on the base (subfloor). Laying a modern laminated board allows you to do without an adhesive composition, since the butt joints are hermetically fixed or closed in a locking manner. Lay or lay the laminate should be with a partner in order to maintain greater accuracy when docking.

There is, of course, the adhesive technology for laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor, but here one should take into account the consumption of glue, the laboriousness of the work. The adhesive method makes it impossible to use the laminated panels in another place if necessary. Installing laminate on a wood floor without the use of glue has many advantages, which is why this method is so popular.

Docking the panels here is not difficult, the laying looks great and is strong enough for loads. Invisible seams allow air to pass through, preventing the wooden base from rotting.

Laminate flooring is a multi-stage process.

Foundation preparation

It is necessary to prepare the wooden base of the floor (level with sheets of plywood or OSB). Also, pieces of roofing material or rolled glassine layers are placed under the logs. These are the most economical and easy-to-implement ways to prepare the substrate for laminate flooring. It is not recommended to cover the base of the floor with steam or waterproofing materials. This will cause condensation to accumulate on the wood. As a last resort, a diffusion membrane can be used.

Substrate flooring

A prerequisite for a high-quality laminate floor on a wood base will be the flooring of the substrate. It should only be natural material, for example, a bitumen-cork or bitumen-rubber pressed base. Such layers can have different thicknesses. When choosing them, they are guided by the parameters of laminated panels. For example, under a laminate with a thickness of 8 mm, a substrate with a thickness of 3 mm (without overlap) is used. For fixing, you need construction tape at the fulcrum and along the joint lines.

Is it possible to do everything yourself?

You don't have to be a professional builder to get the hang of laying laminate flooring on a wood floor yourself. Handmade work is doubly appreciated. It is carried out step by step in accordance with the instructions that can be found in the packaging of the building material.

If laying is supposed to be in your own house, first they dismantle the old wooden coating, check the log for strength.

We must be prepared for the fact that the dismantling will take some time. This is the dirtiest and dustiest job. But dismantling is not always required, so you can bypass some of the recommendations on this matter and go directly to the work of laying a new laminate. Let's see how it's done:

• For high-quality laying, it is important to achieve an even, smooth floor surface by eliminating floorboard squeaks (they are attached to plywood using self-tapping screws or other leveling material).
• It is necessary to ensure reliable fixation of the substrate over the plywood sheet. Laminate panels can now be laid perpendicular to the floor boards for uniform distribution loads.

It is worth understanding all the advantages of the laminate. Its strips can be easily restored over time, although the laminate itself is not a completely natural material.

Rules and preparation

To date, laminate flooring in the interior is an inexpensive, but fairly durable floor covering, often imitating natural wood. Laying laminate panels on a wooden base is completed in a few hours. You will be lucky if there is no need to make an additional screed on the logs or level the old wooden floors. However, it is impossible to do without such preparation.

As a reinforcing base, well-known plywood sheets are used. Laminate flooring is carried out on a special substrate (purchased separately and sometimes different types). So the floor covering will not “walk”, will not lose its original properties. Problems can arise if it is necessary to level the subfloor in several stages before laying the laminate. This applies, first of all, to old houses with rotten or crooked floors.

How to lay on uneven ground?

Given the main defects of wooden floors, you have to work with a rather hard and uneven surface. In accordance with the technology of laying an ideal floor, a difference of about 1 mm is allowed for every 2 m. Such stringent requirements are due to the fact that the laminate panels are fastened at the edges in a locking manner.

Otherwise, with increased loads on the floor against the background of uneven coverage, you can encounter a lot of trouble. For example, the floors can separate in places of loose joining, water and debris can get into the gaps. On an uneven surface, deforming, the laminate quickly becomes unusable.

Logs that serve as a support for a wooden floor, for objective reasons, can dry out, change, collapse.

An imperfect old floor in an apartment (for example, in a Khrushchev apartment) should not become an obstacle to changing the interior design. The coating can be corrected by leveling the curved floor in several stages. In a private house, more work will be required on this part using modern fasteners, special glue and screed (if necessary). You can lay the laminate on an uneven base by following simple principles:

• make stronger base fasteners (lags are fixed with a concrete screed);
• existing floor boards are securely fixed to each other using sheets of material for self-tapping screws, building glue;
• before laying a new coating on the floor, you should get rid of the squeak of the boards (this will ensure a reliable joining of the material).

Installation procedure

It will take no more than a day to install a laminate on an already prepared and leveled floor surface. This takes into account the time for which you need to have time to lay the substrate. In this case, the installation of lags is not required, which means that the stability of the structure has been verified and is beyond doubt. On a planed, clean floor, the laminate lays flat, without wide gaps or large overlaps.

It is not necessary to completely replace or install beams in the floor structure, but boards falling out of their nest, nails need to be removed or additionally fixed. Installation of additional logs may be required to redistribute the load on the floor (for example, if an extension is planned to the room). Square or checkerboard laying of laminate is considered a classic option for installing flooring from this material.

For more information on how to lay laminate on a wooden floor, see the following video.

Good Examples

Examples stylish interiors allow you to evaluate the work on the transformation of the premises. For example, in many houses and cottages today you can find a beautifully stylized laminate, which is almost the same in laying technology as before. There are no less successful examples of a similar floor on the example of a one-room apartment. For example, the base is a subfloor with a concrete screed 70 mm lower than the required level.

Laying a laminate in this case is possible in two ways:

• using a thermal screed (expanded clay with cement mortar);
• using sheets of plywood on a wooden floor.

Dismantling the old floor in the apartment is faster and easier. For reliability, under the logs, fiberboard scraps are placed. To avoid deflections under the plywood at the base of the floor, the bars are additionally laid in such a way that they are on the same level with the logs. As an additional fastener, the entire structure is passed with self-tapping screws. There is nothing difficult in this.

The laying of a new coating itself requires skill and experience with a building level (an error in evenness is allowed no more than 2 mm per 1 meter). Laying plywood as a substrate should have a thickness of no more than 10 mm. Plywood sheets are laid between the joists in such a way as to prevent floor deflection. At the edges, the sheets should rest on the logs. To avoid floor creaking, the seams of plywood sheets (substrate) are laid with a gap of about 2-3 mm with a distance of 5 mm from the wall.

For any decorative finishing coatings, the most optimal base is a base made of concrete, a mineral screed with a strength of 15 MPa or more. A wooden subfloor is less desirable. Some reputable manufacturers do not directly recommend the installation of laminate on such flooring.

Permitted and prohibited bases for laminate flooring.

The reason is that wood is a very capricious material that is influenced by seasonal, biological and other factors. The fears of manufacturers are understandable: the geometric dimensions of the base periodically change due to changes in humidity, the planks can bend, warp. All this violates the integrity of the finish. Therefore, most often, factories indicate that warranty obligations do not apply to products mounted on top of wood.

If, nevertheless, it is planned to lay the laminate on a wooden floor, then the base must meet the following conditions:

• Integrity. Installation instructions for coatings from well-known manufacturers indicate that the wood must be healthy, without cracks, spoiled, loose, fallen out areas and other similar defects. In difficult cases, it is possible to carry out a complete bulkhead of the flooring with the replacement of defective areas.
• Humidity - 8-12% (which corresponds to 40% Rh at a relative surface temperature of +20 ° C). When using the "warm floor" system, the boards should have an indicator of 5%, no more.

Do not underestimate the problem of water vapor diffusion, which leads to the formation of dampness inside the floor structure. That is why manufacturers of laminate and vinyl coatings recommend mounting them on wooden structures with bottom ventilation. Such a device of the floor "pie" will allow the wood to "breathe", and therefore achieve a kind of temperature and humidity balance. Even when using waterproofing film and substrates with zero vapor permeability.

Thus, it is allowed to lay the laminate with your own hands or by an experienced craftsman on a wooden floor, but subject to good quality grounds or its careful preparation.

Preparing the base for laying

The best subfloor is stabilized old parquet or plank flooring. It is quite dense and dry, that is, it does not absorb water, is not afraid of seasonal changes in humidity and temperature, and any deformation changes are already in the past. But at the same time, such a base is distinguished by multiple irregularities, the presence of gaps between the planks and other defects.

Old wooden base.

Regardless of the age of the underlying flooring, the installer's first task is to check the condition of the subfloors in all areas where laminate flooring is to be installed. It is necessary to identify:

• Local irregularities;
• Rotted, moldy or blackened areas;
• Damaged planks;
• Areas with gaps between boards;
• Weakly fixed or drop-down elements;

Areas with damaged lamellas must be replaced; they cannot be covered with putty or a mixture of sawdust and PVA. Poorly fixed planks are repaired in two ways:

The gaps between the planks are easy to close on their own with the help of elastic wood fillers or sealants. It is desirable to use colorless, non-pigmented formulations.

But with irregularities you have to tinker. When installing a laminate, each defect will manifest itself in the form of a damaged area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe coating, so deep recesses and chips are filled with putty or wood flour and PVA paste, which you can prepare yourself. And the drops and bumps are aligned in the following ways:

grinding

Small areas with curved bars can be processed with a planer, a manual angle grinder with an abrasive nozzle, or ordinary sandpaper. If the surface is uneven over the entire area, then it is better to use a professional parquet grinder complete with a construction vacuum cleaner. All the necessary units should be rented, but consumables will have to be purchased separately.

Dry screed

With differences of more than 5 mm, it is recommended to completely level the base using sheet materials for the floor: moisture-resistant plywood, chipboard, OSB, GVL, and the like. Plates with a thickness of at least 16 mm are laid in 1-2 layers, around the perimeter they are rigidly attracted to the base with self-tapping screws, dowel-nails, suitable hardware in increments of 30-40 cm. Before leveling, preventive treatment of wooden flooring with antiseptic primers is allowed.

Dry screed is a great way to additionally insulate the floor. The most common options:

1. put on the floor dense thermal insulation slabs made of standard or extruded polystyrene foam (PSB-50, Penoplex Foundation), mineral wool density from 125 kg/m³. Sew plywood, chipboard over the insulation;
2. form a frame from a log, lay a vapor barrier membrane, fill in intervals or put insulating material - expanded clay, ecowool, stone wool, coniferous mats, etc. Lay sheets of GVL, chipboard, LSU on the rails, fix.

Dry plywood screed on logs with insulation.

Self-levelling screeds

If the floor with differences of more than 10 mm? The grinder will remove too much layer, and the prefabricated screed is not applicable in some cases. In order to minimally raise the level of the floor and get a perfectly flat surface, you need to use industrial bulk mixtures. Moreover, not all are suitable, namely elastic ones, on the label of which boards, plywood, chipboard are indicated in the section " type of base".

While many people think it's okay to pour grout directly onto wood, excess moisture can be damaging. Therefore, it is better to make a so-called floating screed on a separating layer of a film or waterproofing membrane. The material is recommended to be laid over the entire surface of the floor with an institution on the walls and the installation of a damper tape. This will eliminate the risk of cracks. The thickness of the bulk layer varies - from 20 to 70 mm.

Instead of a film, you can use waterproofing compounds for wood: polymer primers, water repellents, etc. That is, any liquid agent that is absorbed into the tree without leaving an oil, bitumen or other film on the surface.

The procedure for working with bulk mixtures is described in detail in the instructions on the packaging of the material. The composition is closed with water, thoroughly mixed to a homogeneous mass, carefully distributed over the floor and rolled with a roller or brush to remove air bubbles. After 5-7 days, the base for the laminate is ready.

Laying technology

Our step-by-step instruction will help you cope with the last step and avoid mistakes when installing the finish coat.

To work, you will need the following tools and materials:

• Laminate of a suitable design with a margin of 1-4 m². Decide in advance whether to lay the coating - along the walls or diagonally. In the first case, a supply of 1-1.5 m² is sufficient, in the second, at least 3 m² will be required;
• The substrate is coniferous, made of foamed polyethylene, cork, extruded polystyrene foam with a cross section of up to 3 mm;
• Waterproofing film 150-300 microns or membrane, adhesive tape for fixing layers;
• Hydraulic level;
• Cutting hand or power tools for fitting lamellas to size;
• Laminate floor laying kit, including spacer wedges to create a thermal gap around the perimeter 8-10 mm wide, mounting bracket and tamping block made of wood or PVC;
• Square, pencil and tape measure.

The installation of the laminated coating is carried out in 5 steps:

Checking conditions

Is it possible to start laying immediately after purchase? No. First check all packs to make sure they are the same batch or identical year. Otherwise, there may be a manifestation of a different tone, a discrepancy between the decor or even the castle part. Especially often this is revealed when buying finishing materials for a promotion. Of course, you can return or exchange the goods within 2 weeks from the date of purchase, but do not forget the receipt or invoice.

The optimal period for the acclimatization of the floor covering.

Check climatic conditions. They must comply with the requirements of the instructions:

• Air temperature - from +16 to +25 ºС;
• Relative humidity - 40-70%;
• "Heated floors" - are turned off 5-7 days before the start of work, in winter 3 days;
• The norm of moisture content in flooring boards is 8-12%, in the presence of a heating system - no more than 5%.

The laminate must be brought in and, without unpacking, left for 2 days in the room.

Foundation preparation

As noted above, the surface must be dry, even, monolithic and clean. Even the slightest defects must be eliminated in advance so that later it is not necessary to disassemble the laminate or repair it.

Waterproofing and underlayment

On the base it is necessary to lay strips of film or membrane with an overlap of 10-20 cm. It is recommended to glue the joints with adhesive tape. Then the substrate is laid end-to-end, the plates or layers are fixed to each other with adhesive tape.

Laminate - popular flooring, not too difficult to install.

But its mounting on different surfaces has its own nuances, it is easiest to lay laminate on a concrete base, but it often becomes necessary to lay a new laminate floor over wooden floors.

Strengthening and leveling the base

Mandatory requirement for the base for laying laminate flooring - flat solid surface(according to the old SNiP, let's say a height difference of no more than 2 mm per 2 m, according to the instructions of a number of manufacturers - up to 3 mm per 1 m).

And the surface of plank wooden floors, especially old ones, is far from perfect, the boards wear out unevenly and deform.

Another problem with floors laid on logs in apartment buildings more than 20 years ago is the lack of fixation to the concrete base, causing deformation and creaking of the floorboards. Preparatory work may include the following steps:

• strengthening, fixing the lag;
• leveling the wooden base;
• cleaning the base from debris;
• laying the substrate.

So that fix lags, it is necessary to determine their location (for this you can remove one of the boards, use a strong magnet or a probe inserted through a hole drilled in the board) and drill holes from the floorboard to the concrete base along the entire length in increments of up to half a meter, insert anchor bolts into them and tighten .

Heavily worn, deformed, rotten boards (fragments of parquet) need to be replaced. A floor that is completely worn out and has lost its strength cannot serve as a foundation.

Height differences are identified with the help of rights pressed to the floor and la or level. The leveling technique depends on the nature and size of the irregularities.

Roughnesses up to 5 mm are eliminated with a grinder; for more serious irregularities, an electric planer is needed.

If floors are sloping over the entire length (width) of more than 2%, that is, the height difference exceeds 4 mm by 2 m, and 5 cm on the scale of the room, you will have to disassemble the floor and change the thickness of the support beam by placing and fixing the rails.

Leveled surface again checked by level, rule.

Most effective method eliminate height differences and at the same time strengthen the base, more rigidly tie the boards to each other - lay sheets of plywood 10-12 mm thick or chipboard on top of them.

Plates or sheets are laid with a gap of 3-5 mm from each other and 10 mm from the walls to compensate for possible expansion, fixed with self-tapping screws in increments of 1 m, and hats need to be deepened.

Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor without plywood

Plywood performs several functions:

• connects the boards to each other, eliminating deflections, creaking, strengthens the base;
• allows you to equalize height differences;
• plays the role of a substrate that provides additional heat and sound insulation.

If these problems are absent or the tasks are solved in a different way (logs are fixed, their equal thickness is achieved with the help of laths, minor irregularities are eliminated by grinding), it is quite possible do without plywood.

Cork backing will be the best alternative to plywood.

Substrate for laminate

Before laying the underlayment, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the floors of debris, especially if previously carried out grinding work.

It is best to use a vacuum cleaner. Most affordable polypropylene foam pad, natural cork is more expensive, but has better performance characteristics.

The optimal thickness is 3 mm.

The substrate is laid along a long wall, strips end-to-end with adhesive tape.

Do-it-yourself laminate installation

For laying on a wooden floor, it is better to use a laminate with a thickness of 8 mm or more. click lock(collapsible), it is more expensive, but less demanding on the quality of the base and more durable. Before laying, the unpacked laminate should lie in the room for at least two days.

Installation in a diagonal way is better to entrust to professionals, it is more difficult, and the material consumption is greater. But rectangular mounting easier and more economical.

When calculating the amount of material, it is necessary to multiply the length of the room by the width, not forgetting the various niches, and add 10% to the resulting number (for the diagonal method - 20%).

An important nuance in the calculation: the layout should be carried out so that the length of the extreme panel is at least 30 cm, and the width of the last row is at least 5 cm.

The first panel of laminate is laid along the wall closest to the window so that light falls along the joints. Between any wall and the laminate must stay gap 10-15 mm, it is provided with wedges.

When installing the first row, the panels are joined at the ends, the latter is cut off. The next row can be laid offset by half or a third of the length of the panel.

The next row is brought to the already laid at an angle of 45⁰, and the Click lock snaps into place, and the panels with the tenon-groove lock slightly are tapped with a hammer for connection.