What do doors or laminate put in first. What do you do first: doors or laminate? What the experts say

Decor elements 03.03.2020
Decor elements

During overhaul the question often arises: what is done first - doors or laminate? There is no single answer to it. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. The choice in favor of one or the other can only be made taking into account the characteristics of each particular room. Therefore, before laying the laminate in doorway, it is necessary to study all the subtleties of the installation of this material.

During a major renovation or refurbishment of a new space, there are four issues that need to be addressed when installing doors and laying floors:

  1. The need to adjust the height of the door panels to the height of the floor.
  2. Possibility of damage to new doors or laminate in the doorway during installation.
  3. The need to carefully arrange the joint floor covering and shoals.
  4. A method of designing joints between different floor materials.

The first problem is adjusting the height of the door leaf

After repair, a gap of at least 1 cm must remain between the door and the floor. This is necessary so that the sash opens freely and does not touch the floor covering. When installing a laminate, the floor rises by several centimeters - the thickness of the laminated board plus the thickness of the substrate, sometimes an additional layer of waterproofing is laid, which also slightly raises the overall height of the finished floor. It is easy to make a mistake when calculating. In this case, the already installed sashes have to be cut in height. This leads to an increase in the cost of installation, deterioration appearance products, and for paneled canvases it is often simply impossible.

The opposite problem may also arise. Sometimes, in order to properly prepare the subfloor for the installation of the laminate, it is necessary to dismantle the old floor covering. This often causes the floor level to drop. In this case, between the sash and the floor it turns out too long distance, and an additional problem arises: how to close this gap? Laying laminate flooring under the doorway prior to installing the door helps to avoid dimensional issues.

Problem two - the risk of damaging the new laminate or installed box

If the doors are installed in a room where the floor has already been finished, then it is possible to securely cover the new laminated coating with film or cardboard. But during the installation of doors protective layer moves easily on the floor. The need to take care not to damage the laminated surface distracts from work. It is impossible to cover the joint at this point and it is very easy to scratch the new floor with tools or the bottom of the box's side plank. After installation floor plinth damage may be visible.

If the laminate is laid where the doors are already installed, then the following must be considered:

  • There is a risk of damage to door panels and jambs when moving materials and tools from room to room.
  • Laying laminate flooring, including under a doorway, requires the use of tools such as a jigsaw, hammer, etc. If moved incorrectly, they can leave chips or dents on the surface of the door frame or sash.
  • When making a joint between a laminate and a door frame, jambs are inevitably filed, or wedges are installed between them and the floor covering to create a gap. In any case, there is a risk of damaging the coating on new doors.

The only advantage of laying the laminate in the doorway in this sequence is that the possibility of damaging the new floor during the installation of the doors is completely excluded.

The third problem is the design of the junction of door jambs and laminate

If there are no doors yet, then first the laminate floor is laid in the usual way, and then the boxes are installed on top of it. This option has a clear advantage in terms of attractive appearance.


If the door in the doorway is already installed, then two methods are used to design the junction of the box and the laminate:

  • sawing jambs and “leading” laminated panels into the slot;
  • cut the boards located at the opening, in the shape of a box.

The first method helps to more accurately arrange the transition between the floor and the door. When choosing the second method, you need to take into account that such a docking of the laminate and the door frame does not always turn out to be beautiful. The gap has to be sealed with several very short pieces of floor plinth and corners. All together it looks unattractive.


The option of sawing the side parts of the box is not suitable in only one case - if the doors are large and made of solid wood.

Door jambs that are not supported by the floor may simply not be able to withstand such a load. They will be attached only to the screws to the walls and with frequent use they will “lead”. You can increase the number of fasteners, but it will look ugly. Therefore, in this case, it is better to lay the coating after installing the doors. Then side planks the boxes will rest against the concrete screed, which, in combination with fastening to the walls, will create a reliable structure. Laminated panels laid near the jambs will need to be cut on the sides, leaving a gap between them and the door of about 1 cm. This gap can later be closed with a plinth, but here again there is a problem with piling up its short segments.

Problem four - thresholds

To make a decision on the issue, which is the first - interior doors or laminate, you must also consider how the laminate in the doorway fits with the flooring of neighboring rooms. There are several options:

  • installation of door frames equipped with thresholds;
  • installation of thresholds at the junction of different floor coverings;
  • non-threshold method of joining laminate with other materials;
  • laying a seamless laminate floor throughout the apartment.

Important! If it is decided to install door frames equipped with thresholds, then the issue of height adjustment is especially acute. In this case, there is only one option - first finish the floor, and then put the doors.


Often the connection in the doorway between the laminate and the laminate, as well as any other material, is decorated with a decorative threshold. Its height must be taken into account when calculating the height of the finished floor. It is easier to install it in the joint seam before installing the doors, so that its edges go under the jambs. If, after laying the laminate under the door, there is a large gap between it and the door leaf, this problem can also be solved by installing a threshold.


If it is decided to lay the floors throughout the apartment in a non-threshold way, then it will be possible to eliminate the gap between the laminate and the door only by replacing door leaf. Therefore, in this case, it will also be more convenient to first lay a laminate floor, and then install the doors. The same can be said about seamless laying coverage throughout the area. Another factor in favor of laying the laminate first: with a seamless installation method in several rooms, the installed door leaves will need to be removed at once. This entails the risk of damaging them or the hinges.


Conclusion

Laying laminate under an already designed doorway and installing doors after finishing the floor with laminated panels have their advantages and disadvantages. Their comparison is shown in the following table.

Table 1.

What to mount first - laminate or doors? Most professionals prefer to lay the laminate flooring first and then frame the doorways. But in some cases it is more correct to do the opposite:

  • the laid laminate is very expensive, and the doors are from the middle price category;
  • the door leafs are heavy, which means that the box must stand on a concrete base.

Important! If there is no complete confidence in the correctness of the decision, then it is better to invite a professional builder-finisher to do the work.

If you are interested in this question, you, of course, look for the answer on the Internet. However, many people, faced with this problem, absolutely also ask this question on various repair and construction forums.

Answers often mislead the questioners, according to one simple fact, how many people, so many opinions.

Useful information ! In general, what you will initially do, laying a laminated coating or installing doors, does not make a huge difference. However, all preparatory work, must be made before installing the laminate and doors.

Installation of laminated coating, after installation of interior doors.

There are two ways, one of which you will use anyway. You make a complete decoration of the room and then put the doors, or maybe you just decided to change the floors in the apartment in which the doors are already installed.

The structure of work in these methods is slightly different from each other.

How to install doors to the finished floor.

Being engaged in repairing the premises with your own hands, you came to the conclusion to install doors initially, rather than laying a laminate. What do you need to know for this?

  1. First of all, you must complete all the rough work, be sure to level the floor under the laminate and remove the door slopes.
  2. Choose color scheme, texture, thickness of the substrate and laminated coating.
  3. Take measurements, understand how much higher the door will need to be installed, taking into account the fact that after laying the laminate, the floor level will rise. Consider all options for door sizes to purchase.

After that, you can already put in the doorway, door frame, however, in such a way that it would not put pressure on the floor, would not lean on it. Also, the lower part of the door frame is sawn off taking into account the dimensions of the substrate and laminate.

You can take it with a margin of a few millimeters, so that the box does not press on the floor in the future.

When installing the door leaf, it should also be taken with a margin of several millimeters, given the height of the future floor. In any case, only after the installation of the laminated coating, are mounted door frames.

Important information ! Laminate installation is carried out in the style of a "floating floor" simple languages, the coating must not be fixed at the base.

It is because of this that when installing doors with a box, the latter is installed directly on the subfloor. And the laminated coating is not installed as a continuous sheet, but up to the threshold and further from it.

If the doors are already there.

Think what you want. A complete change of the floor to zero or the installation of a laminate flooring already on an existing floor.

In the instructions for installing a laminate, it is allowed to lay a coating on another, in particular: linoleum, cork, solid board, ceramic tile, fiberboard or chipboard, etc. The main thing is that the floor surface is even.

And the use of a substrate under a laminated coating will increase the height of the floor by at least 1.5 centimeters. However, it will eliminate the noise from the contact of the old floor with the new one.

Important information! Be sure to check in advance that the doors close and open well, with a higher floor location.

Do not hurt and do not leave scratches on it. If you don't, you have two choices. This is to remove the old coating or shorten the door leaf if possible.

With such a problem, with laying the coating in the doorway, you should carefully cut the door frame in order to create an opportunity to insert the laminate there.

note whether the box puts pressure on the laminated panel, this is unacceptable.

Use the laminate itself as a measure, so you can make the most accurate cut.

  • In the case of slopes with completed extensions, they definitely need to be shortened, taking into account the thickness of the future floor.
  • However, if you decide to remove the old floor and then lay the laminate, then trimming the door frame is most likely not needed, it depends on the thickness of the coatings.
  • When adjusting the laminate flooring, remember that it must go under the rack of the box, but it does not have to touch the wall. It is better to leave a small gap between it and the wall on each side.

And in each of the above methods, the platbands are removed from the doors and then adjusted in height.

Installation of laminate flooring prior to installation of doors.

People who initially do not support laying the flooring before installing the doors explain this by the fact that during their installation there is a risk of damage to the flooring.

In reality, it turns out like this if you cover the slopes with plaster in advance and then lay the laminate, after putting some kind of protective covering(you can even use cardboard) then you will most likely not get any damage to the material.

Mounting doors is not so messy and hard work to pay attention to it. And laying a laminate is much easier when nothing causes inconvenience to you.

If, nevertheless, the door is installed first, make sure that it has a threshold. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to determine where it will be, and, accordingly, accurately trim the flooring.

Advantages of this kind of work.

  • The laminate can be placed independently of the walls, and the door frame will not exert any pressure.
  • Having completed the installation of a clean floor, you are given the opportunity to more accurately measure the opening and buy a future door. Because finished door shortening is still more difficult than a box. And if the door is not made of wood, then it is almost impossible.

3. The cost of installing doors and laminate flooring will be significantly lower if workers do not have to take the risk of randomly cutting the frame or adjusting the flooring to fit it. Yes, and without a specialized hacksaw it is difficult to do.

Information about correct styling laminated coating you can learn from the video below.

Special difficulties it does not cause, the main thing to remember about the gaps. And in case you use two different types laminate, then it is imperative to leave a gap, having issued it specially for such a prepared profile.

From the above, it is clear that initially it will be better to lay a laminate and only then proceed with the installation of doors. Yes, and this way looks more neat and beautiful, even if you are not a master.

Therefore, most workers in this field choose this method. However, if the doors are still standing, you should not dismantle them, just read our tips.

During construction or repair work it is very important to follow the correct order of their execution. Otherwise, you can damage or stain what has already been done. An incorrect sequence of work can make it difficult to complete the next step. If you need to lay laminate, hang interior doors and wallpaper the walls, in what order should you perform these steps correctly?

What comes first doors or laminate?

What comes first doors or laminate? There is no consensus on this issue. Both options are possible. But the following conditions must be met:

  • all preparatory work for laying laminate flooring, namely: floor leveling, purchase of substrate and laminate, must be done in advance.
  • preparation must be made door slopes: leveling and plastering.

After dirty work completed, the sequence of door installation and laminate laying can be any. It is necessary to proceed from the specific conditions at the place of repair.

Option 1:
If the repair is carried out "from scratch" and the doors have not yet been hung, then it is more convenient to lay the laminate first. You get a nice full coverage.

The advantages of this option:

  • Laminate installation is easy and convenient. No need to file the door frame racks and slip the substrate and laminate under them.
  • after laying the laminate, you can accurately measure the doorway to order the door.
  • you can install the door frame correctly so that it does not press on the laminate, and it does not lose its "floating" properties.
  • price installation work for the installation of the door and the work on laying the laminate will be lower, because in this embodiment they are easier to perform.

Disadvantages of this option:

  • if the door has a threshold, then you need to accurately determine its location in advance and cut the laminate in the right place.
  • before installing the door, it is necessary to cover the floor surface with cardboard or a special film so as not to damage the laminate.

If, when performing repairs from scratch, doors are first installed, and then a laminate is laid. This option is optimal if the door has a threshold. In this case, first measure the thickness of the substrate purchased in advance under the laminate and the laminate itself. Add 2-3 mm to the resulting number so that the door does not press on the laminate. The door is bought taking into account these calculations. The lower ends of the door frame are shortened to the required length, after which the frame is installed in the opening. When laying the substrate and laminate, they are brought under the door frame pillar.

Pros of this option:

  • it is convenient to install a door with a threshold, the laminate is placed at the threshold without forming gaps.
  • no need to cover the floor when installing the door.

Cons of this option:

  • it is rather difficult to accurately determine the amount by which the door frame is shortened and to saw off the racks evenly.
  • given that the laminate is connected to the lock at an angle, it is inconvenient to bring it under the racks of the box.
  • some types of door frames do not allow filing of pillars.

Option 3:

When repairing the doors are already standing, you just need to replace the laminate. In this case, if the floor is sufficiently even, you can lay the laminate directly on it. You need to make sure that the door leaf allows this, because the floor level, given the thickness of the substrate and laminate, will rise by almost 1 cm. Otherwise, you will either have to remove the old floor covering or shorten the door leaf, or maybe increase the height of the opening. In any case, with the door frame already installed, it is necessary to file the bottom of its racks to the required size and bring the laminate there.

This is a rather time-consuming option, but there are situations when it is the only possible one.

Regardless of which option you use, you need to make sure that all the dirty work is done ahead of time so that your doors and laminate flooring stay nice and clean.

What comes first wallpaper or laminate?

Wallpapering the walls and laying the laminate is done at the final stage of the repair work, when all other work, such as the installation of windows, electrical wiring, heating and ventilation systems, has already been done. This is necessary in order not to scratch or stain the wallpaper or floor. Actually, it is the ability to spoil the result of work already done that is the criterion for determining the sequence of their implementation. Before wallpapering the walls and laying the laminate on the floor, you need to do all the rough work. Walls must be puttied, primed and plastered, if required. Prepare them so that it remains only to paste the wallpaper. The floor also needs to be leveled, if it is necessary to putty and lay a substrate under the laminate. In a room prepared in this way, laying the laminate and sticking the wallpaper can be done in any sequence.

Based on the service life of wallpaper and laminate, it would be more logical to lay the laminate first, because it will last 10-12 years, and the wallpaper will have to be changed after 3-5 years. In this case, at the next cosmetic repairs laminate does not interfere with the renewal of the walls.

On the other hand, building regulations after completing the rough work, they require finishing from top to bottom, i.e. ceiling, walls, floor. There is an opinion that although wallpapering a wall is not a dirty operation, and the floor can be pre-pasted, but high humidity and the resulting adhesive fumes can adversely affect the laminate. Moreover, it is impossible to ventilate the room at this time, but, on the contrary, all windows and doors must be closed while the wallpaper dries.

In fact, it does not matter in what sequence these works will be carried out. The main thing is that they are performed correctly, according to proven technology and following the instructions of the material manufacturers. And do not forget to do all the dirty preparatory work in advance.

Quite often there are disputes about the sequence of procedures - what comes first doors or laminate? For beginners in the construction business, this issue is especially important, especially if they plan to do the work with their own hands.

There are many opinions on this matter, but there is no unequivocal answer to this question, you can get an excellent result with any sequence of procedures, it all depends on the nuances.

Some options may be easier and others more difficult, so you need to study in detail the characteristics of each of them.

Features of installing laminate and door frame

If the height of the floor changes during the installation of the flooring, it is better to lay the flooring first

Keep in mind that quite often when installing the coating, the height of the floor changes. Sometimes the changes can be large and reach about 2 cm. When installing a laminate, the height of the floor increases by the thickness of the substrate and the coating itself.

Although the procedure for installing laminate flooring is simple, it can be difficult to fit the dimensions of the door frame.

There must be a gap between the laminate and the door for free opening of the doors

For the door frame, you will first need to determine the possible difficulties during installation. The first problem may be the size of the gaps. It should be noted that there must be a gap between the laminate and the door, which will ensure its free opening.

Some people forget about this and because of this there are problems when opening the door, which can lead to damage to the flooring. In addition, you need to take into account the height of the box and platbands. They will need to be adjusted in advance to the height of the floor, since after installation it will be extremely difficult and inconvenient to cut.

Thus, having determined the nuances that may affect the complexity of installing a coating or a door, you can choose a more convenient option for yourself.

First the doors, then the floor

The door frame must be installed on a rough base

Related article: Installation of plastic windows

If the doors are installed in the first place, you will need to take into account certain nuances. These include:

  1. First you need to complete all the roughing processes, these include leveling the surface, choosing a coating, working with slopes, and so on.
  2. Then they buy doors, and you will need to take into account that the floor level will be raised, for this measurements are taken. The main thing is to leave room for flooring. It is recommended to leave an additional gap of 2 mm so that the door can open and close freely.
  3. Please note that the installation of the laminate is made without fastening to the base. This means that the box is installed on rough coating. Laminate is laid with separation between rooms up to and from the threshold.

Mount the architraves after laying the flooring

Installation of platbands is carried out after the flooring has been laid. Sometimes situations arise when it is necessary to lay a laminate floor already with the doors fully installed.

Here the procedure depends on whether the old coating will be changed or the laminate will be laid directly on it. Manufacturers assure that the laminate can be installed on almost any surface, as long as it is perfectly even.

To prevent future squeaks when walking, it is necessary to install a substrate. However, this will increase the height of the floor by another 1 cm.

It is extremely important to make sure that the door can open or close freely. If there are extensions, they can be filed a little.

The scheme of the door frame device is as follows.

Keep in mind that the laminate should go under the box, but should not fit snugly against the walls of the doorway. To do this, you need to make a space on both sides of the order of 0.5 cm.

The advantage of choosing such a sequence of work is the inability to damage the coating during the installation of the door frame. In addition, if the doors are not planned to be changed or they were installed before the purchase of the laminate, this procedure is the only one. The disadvantage can be considered enough difficult process adjusting the door to the flooring. All the subtleties of installing doors, see this video:

Sections of the article:

On the Internet, the question of the order of work is constantly being discussed - what comes first: laminate or doors? For people who do repairs on their own, this issue is very acute. The variety of opinions is also surprising. Some say that you should first lay the laminate, and only then install the doors, while others fundamentally disagree with them.

The secret is that there is no right answer to this question, since one can achieve excellent result in any sequence of actions depending on the specific situation. On the other hand, some options may be easier, and some more difficult, and you need to understand what are the pros and cons of each of them.

The most important thing is to complete all the rough work before laying the laminate and installing the doors. To determine the correct installation sequence, it is necessary to understand the features of the laminate flooring and the design of the door frame.

Features of laminate and door frame installation

In most cases, when installing the flooring, the level of the floor changes. The height difference can be significant - up to several centimeters. So, when laying laminate, the height of the floor will change by the thickness of the substrate and the laminate. Despite the ease of installation of the laminate, there may be problems associated with fitting the door to the flooring.

As for the box and its device, it is necessary to understand what exactly can cause installation difficulties. First, the size of the gaps. The fact is that there should be a gap between the floor covering and the canvas, which will allow the door to open freely. The floor covering reduces the gap, which can cause difficulties when opening doors, damage to the floor surface. In addition, the height of the box and platbands plays a role. They must be adjusted to the height of the floor, they are difficult to cut after installation.

Having understood what factors affect the complexity of installing the flooring and the box, we can draw conclusions about what to install earlier - laminate or interior doors.

Option number 1 - first the doors, then the floor

If the decision is made to first install the doors and then lay the floor, further instructions should be followed.

First of all, all rough work is completed (leveling the floor, arranging slopes, choosing a coating, determining the thickness of the substrate). Next, doors are purchased, taking into account the fact that the floor level will be slightly raised after its installation (it is necessary to measure how much in advance). The main thing is that there is enough space left in order to lay the flooring. It is better to lay a distance with a small margin of a few millimeters so that the door does not touch the floor.

It is important to note that the laminate is laid without fastening to the base. In this regard, the box is placed directly on the subfloor. Laminate in the future does not fit into a continuous between the rooms, but with separation - up to the threshold and from it.

The trims on the door are installed after the laminate is laid. There are situations when the doors are already installed and it is necessary to lay a laminate floor. In this case, a lot will depend on whether it will change the subfloor, or whether the laminate will be laid on the old flooring. According to the instructions from the manufacturers, for a significant number of types of flooring, it is possible to lay the floor on various surfaces- tiles, board, chipboard, fiberboard, linoleum, plywood. The main rule is that the surface must be flat.

To avoid unnecessary squeaks and noises, a substrate should be laid, which entails raising the floor level by 1 centimeter. In this case, it should be determined in advance whether the door will touch the floor. If grazing cannot be avoided, there are two options left - either shorten the canvas or remove the old floor covering. The main thing is to ensure that the floor does not support the door frame. The gap should be such that the door can open freely. Dobors should also be filed if they touch the floor (if any).

It must be taken into account that the laminate should go under the box, but should not come close to the walls of the doorway. You should leave a certain gap of half a centimeter on each side.

Advantages of the initial installation of doors with subsequent laying of the laminate:
  • Impossibility to damage the floor when installing doors;
  • If the doors do not change, but remain old, this is the only possible option.

The disadvantage is the great difficulty in fitting the door and flooring.

Option number 2 - first the floor, then the doors

The second group of people who are in favor of laying the flooring first and then installing the door leaf, proceed from the fact that the flooring can be damaged during the installation of the door. In fact, surface damage can be avoided by laying the floor with cardboard or other material that protects its surface. In addition, it is necessary to equip the slopes of the door in advance by plastering them.

Door installation jobs are not all that messy and difficult, so don't worry too much about them. The floor covering is much easier to equip if nothing interferes with the installation.

The door should be installed before laying the floor only when it comes with a threshold. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand the future location of the threshold and cut the laminate with due accuracy. The advantage of the initial laying of the flooring is that the box does not press on the laminate, eliminating the risk of deformation of its surface.

Upon completion of laying the floor, you can more accurately measure the door opening and determine its dimensions for ordering a door. The finished canvas, with incorrect measurements, is much more difficult to shorten (and in some cases it is impossible at all, for example, when the canvas is made of solid wood).

The cost of installing doors and floors will be lower if the installers do not risk arbitrary shortening of the box, do not try to “shove” laminate under it. In addition, a special tool (a hacksaw with an offset handle) is required to shorten the box.

The correct combination of laminate and doors can be seen in the photo - the gaps are perfectly even, the doors do not touch the floor.

When joining two different coatings in the opening, or various kinds laminate, you need to remember about the gaps between the laminate and the walls, which can be decorated using a special profile.

Advantages of the initial laying of the floor, followed by the installation of doors:

  • The ability to accurately take measurements under the door;
  • Ease of installation;
  • Less labor cost.

Minus - the risk of damage to the flooring.

So, there are pros and cons for each technology and sequence of actions. correct sequence everyone determines for himself, however, many experts argue that the most simple option will initially lay the floor, and then install the doors.

With this method, the work can be completed more accurately, especially if it is done by a non-professional. Most masters do just that. In the case when the doors are already installed, there is no need to dismantle them, you can use the tips given above and cope with the task perfectly.

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