Laminate flooring is a very good, practical and beautiful solution for flooring. Among other advantages, it is relatively easy to install. For this task it is always preferable to trust a professional, but with laminate one often chooses to install it yourself. In this article we will give you professional advice on how to do this most easily and without problems.
Before the actual installation begins, some important things need to be considered:
- Laminate is one of the floor coverings that are most demanding to the floor under them. For a perfect laminate flooring, a perfectly flat floor is needed. Laminate flooring consists of solid boards and when assembled they form a straight, flat and rigid plane. If somewhere the screed under the parquet is not flat, then a cavity immediately forms under it. When you step on top of it, the laminate sinks and makes a characteristic resounding sound. This problem cannot be solved in any way, so before installing laminate you must make sure that the floor under it is perfectly flat. A good solution for leveling screed and floor is self-leveling screed;
- The laminate varies between 6 and 12 mm. The pad under it can be 2 to 9 mm thick. In total, your floor will rise by about 2 cm. Before you start, you need to make sure that you have enough space between the doors and your current floor. If the light opening between your door and the old floor is 1.5 cm, then obviously you should choose a pad and laminate with such a thickness that the total thickness does not exceed 12-13 mm;
- After installation, the laminate touches the doors with the floor coverings of the adjacent rooms. Although the transition itself is hidden by a transition strip, it is highly desirable that the different floor coverings have the same level. Even with different coatings - terracotta and laminate, natural parquet and laminate, granite and laminate, the levels must match. When choosing the thickness of your laminate flooring and the thickness of the substrate, you must take into account the total thickness of the floor covering of the adjacent rooms;
- If the screed is made soon, you must wait for it to dry well. The presence of even a little moisture can deform your parquet, as a result of which it will "swell";
- Choose a pad. There are two main types on the market - a polyethylene pad and one made of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS or fiber). The first type is significantly cheaper, but this is due to poorer heat and sound insulation properties and smaller thickness (2-5 mm). The fiber pad is the better choice, with much better qualities and a slightly higher price. Its thickness reaches 9 mm. Often fiberglass plates have a rib on one side. This is the underside and its task is to absorb often the residual moisture;
- Consider in which direction the laminate flooring should be oriented. The direction is important because the laminate consists of slats that mimic boards. If you have chosen a laminate with joints (chamfers), this is even more important. In the direction in which the slats are oriented, the room will visually lengthen.
- There is an unspoken rule that the laminate must be lined up in the direction of the light. If the window is on one side of the room, then the laminate should be oriented to it. If there are windows on two walls, then the laminate flooring should be oriented to the lighter of them.
Laminate Flooring Installation
Once you have taken into account the important things and purchased the materials, you can start with the installation itself:
- Sweep the floor very well. It will be even better to vacuum it;
- Arrange the pad. If you have chosen a polyethylene pad, you should lay it in the same direction as the laminate. The fiberglass pad is sold on plates that are easily attached to each other;
- The laminate does not rest on any of the walls, but leaves a small distance - 10-15 mm. To prevent the floor from moving, the empty spaces are sealed with small wooden pegs or several pieces of laminate. If the wall is curved, then the empty space will increase;
- The laminate consists of lamellas, each of which has a groove on one side and a feather on the other;The tongue of each of the lamellae enters the groove of the neighboring one, whereby the joint is locked. The first row of slats is arranged with the pen to the long wall (we assume that the window is on the short wall and we orient the laminate on the long side). Its beginning is set at 10-15 mm. from the left wall and the lamellae line up along the wall until they reach the right short wall;
- The second row of slats is arranged after the first, with its tongue locked in the groove of the first row. The first lamella is cut in half and mounted next to the short wall, and the next ones are mounted whole;
- All odd rows start from the wall with a whole lamella, and all even with half. Thus, the short joint will diverge exactly in the middle of each adjacent lamella. If the short wall is curved, then each lamella is cut so that the joints coincide;When installing a laminate without a chamfer (bevel) on the edge, the location of the joint where one board ends and the other begins visually is not visible at all. In this case it is not necessary to level the joints through the board;
- The last lamella of each row is cut so that there is a space of 5-10 mm next to the short wall;
- Each lamella is locked lengthwise in the adjacent one. Then, with pressure or a light blow with a rubber mallet, the lamella is moved backwards so that its short side can adhere to the previous lamella;
- Each lamella of the last row is cut lengthwise in such a way that 10-15 mm remain between it and the wall.
Installation of skirting boards
Skirting boards are the corner strips that hide the cut edges of the laminate flooring next to the wall. The installation is characterized by the following features:
There are two main types of skirting boards on the market:
- MDF - have a relatively limited application because they are more expensive and the characteristic of the material makes them solid. The hardness makes them inelastic and the sills can fit snugly against the wall only on perfectly straight walls. This is usually new construction or drywall. In all other cases the following type is used;
- PVC - this is the most common type. The first reason is the excellent price. The second is that these skirting boards are flexible and can be bent slightly to fit the wall when it is uneven. This is a great convenience because practice shows that an uneven wall is a common construction defect. The third advantage is that they have a built-in cable duct. It is a salvation when you decide to install a TV or computer in a place where there is no cable. The new cable is hidden in the channel and does not disturb the comfort of the residents. When the cables are laid while the laminate is being installed, they are hidden under it - so the cable duct remains as a reserve in unforeseen cases;
- Depending on the type of skirting board, it is judged at what distance from the wall to cut the laminate boards. The PVC sill is about 3 cm wide, which means that the maximum space it can hide is about 25 mm;
- The skirting board itself is attached by dowels to the wall. The screw heads are hidden inside the cable duct so that they remain invisible. The height of the sills varies about 5 cm. and the cable duct is in the middle. This means that the dowels are mounted in the wall at about 2.5 cm. from the floor;
The mounting elements of the sills are:
- joints - connect two adjacent skirting boards in a straight section;
- inner corner - connect two sills in one of the corners of the room and if there are other inner corners;
- outer corner - connects two sills of a convex outer corner;
- Stopper - left and right. It serves to cover the profile of the skirting board on the sides when it is necessary to break it - for example on both sides of the door.
For more info and quote on your project please call Multigroup Property Services at 778-513-0333 or visit us at www.multigroup.ca