Laminate flooring: step by step instructions and methods. Laminate layout: do-it-yourself scheme and methods Step-by-step instructions for working in difficult places

Today, laminate flooring is the most popular and one of the most common, and for good reason. After all, the appearance of such a floor material is distinguished by high aesthetic qualities, long service life, affordability and ease of installation. All this makes it very attractive, and therefore the choice of flooring is increasingly focused on the laminate. Another feature that customers love is the huge range of this flooring, which comes in a variety of colors and qualities.

Due to the wide choice, reliability and ease of installation, laminate flooring is used as a floor covering not only in homes, but also in high-traffic areas.

Having decided on the choice of floor material, it is necessary to find out all the features of laying the laminate. The information below will help you with this.

I would like to note such a property of the laminate as high susceptibility to moisture, which means that its use for the bathroom is excluded.

Many buyers are interested in the criteria for choosing a laminate, but there is nothing complicated, the most correct thing would be to take into account the level of quality of the material and your taste.

What to pay special attention to?

The sequence of laying materials during the installation of a laminate: a film, a substrate are laid on the concrete floor, and only then a laminate.

When preparing for the implementation of laying the laminate, think about who you will take as your partners, since it is very inconvenient to do this work alone. By doing this procedure yourself, you will not only gain invaluable experience, but also save a lot of money.

Any kind of surface is suitable for laying laminate, its main advantage should be evenness. It is desirable that it meets the requirements of rigidity and dryness. Base height differences should not be more than 3 mm per 1 m². This is necessary so that the laminate fits snugly to the floor and does not make squelching sounds when walking on it. And in the presence of large height differences, even the device of a special substrate will not save you from this problem.

So, the film is first laid on the concrete surface, then the substrate, and then the turn of the laminate boards comes. The vapor barrier device will provide your flooring with reliable protection against moisture and dust. In the example under consideration, the role of the vapor barrier material is performed by a polyethylene film. Masking small floor irregularities is one of the functions of the underlay.

The underlayment is laid in strips without overlap. All resulting seams must be processed with masking tape. This method will allow the substrate not to diverge during operation.

If you still decide to lay the laminate alone, then do not lay the entire substrate at once, do it gradually. First a strip of underlay, then the laminate on top of it, then the next strip of underlay, and so on. This method will allow you to easily cope with laying the laminate without partners.

What rules must be observed when laying laminate flooring?

Laminate boards are made by the method of multilayer pressing.

On all sides of the plank there are lock-type connections, with their help the boards will be installed. Laminate laying technology involves the use of two methods. This is either laying at an angle, or a variant with a perpendicular arrangement with respect to the walls.

You need to choose the most suitable one, focusing on the chosen design solution, as well as on the location of the source of natural light. The most correct would be laying the laminate in the same parallel with the light source, but the opposite option will give the effect of visibility of all existing seams (joints). In order to visually expand the space of the room, you can lay the laminate at an angle.

Some features:

• The most important thing in the process of laying a laminate is considered to be the high-quality docking of its panels. Not only the aesthetic appearance of the floor, but also the duration of the service life will depend on this factor;
• The coating material of the laminate slats is distinguished by enviable strength. He is not afraid of any impact, whether it be mechanical damage or exposure to moisture. Problems can arise at the junction of the panels to each other. Since the lock of the laminate board is made of a material that is susceptible to both dirt and moisture, and resembles pressed sawdust in its appearance, it is destroyed when water and other substances enter the joint gap. This naturally leads to damage to the laminate;
• Another common mistake when laying laminate flooring is using an uneven surface as a base. In this case, the laminate boards are subject to deflections, which result in a weakened lock that does not provide a tight connection of the parts of the coating to each other. And as noted above, such a problem leads to rapid damage to the laminate floor;
• In order to achieve the goal of tight joining of the laminate planks, it is necessary to make sure that foreign particles do not get inside the lock when making the connection. If this happens, gaps will remain at the joints, which, as is already known, lead to damage to the laminate.

When laying the laminate, it is worth leaving a centimeter gap along the wall so that when the temperature drops, the laminate remains even and intact.

It happens that you follow all the recommendations of experts, but you cannot achieve a tight fit. What's the matter? Everything is very simple. Even the most expensive laminate can have a few defective planks. Just don't use them, and if there is a shortage of laminate boards, try laying them on the other (serviceable) side to the junction. Here is another option for using faulty slats. Boards that are defective can be placed where moisture is likely to be excluded. Such a place can be a site for the location of heavy furniture that does not have to be moved, for example, a massive heavy cabinet.

Another feature worth paying attention to is the ability of the laminate coating to succumb to expansion processes with temperature changes.

In order to avoid swelling of the laminate when the temperature rises, you need to lay the laminate, leaving a gap of about 1 cm between it and the wall. If the situation described above occurs, then this free space will be enough to avoid the problem of swelling of the laminate flooring. Given that there are no sudden temperature changes in the living room, you can not be afraid for the condition of your laminate. And there is absolutely no need to increase the size of the gap, making it larger than the width of a standard plinth.

What is the best way to install laminate flooring?

There are two main methods for installing laminate flooring. This is the execution of flooring in strips or one bar at a time. If you follow the advice of laminate board manufacturers, you need to choose the second method as more correct. But this is not important, you can choose the one that seems most convenient for you.

It is best to consider the method that experts and laminate manufacturers advise:

• laying on one plank. It has such advantages as high-quality docking and the ability to perform installation without partners, independently. And from the minuses, one can single out a large amount of time required for the installation procedure and the need for special devices (tools);
• first, the first row is formed, while two slats are used. At the same time, do not forget about the need to use spacer wedges. For easier connection of the boards to each other, you need to place the laminate in the direction of the lock towards you. After you have formed the first row, you can move on to the next;
• this process is somewhat reminiscent of brickwork. In this method, the panels are allowed to move at a distance of 20 cm in relation to each other. This ensures a higher strength of the joints of the laminate;
• half of the panel is used as the first bar in the second row. It must be placed next to the already laid plank, insert the lock and snap it into place. The rest of the boards are laid in the same way. End-type connections are fastened using a hammer and a bar.

To perform styling in the second way, you will need much less time. The only downside is the need for a partner. The difference between these two options is the way the rows are formed, and the laying principle remains the same.

So, using this method, you need to form rows not from the wide side of the panels, but from the narrow side. Simply put, you first need to connect the entire row in length and only then proceed to joining it with the already laid (previous) row.

That's basically all the secrets. Of course, the necessary tool is prepared in advance:

• jigsaw;
• roulette;
• marker;
• level;
• mallet;
• wedges;
• perforator.

Knowing the above nuances and the presence of features when laying a laminate, you can easily cope with the task.

Among the many floor coverings, laminate is the most popular and practical material, which has a wooden structure and an attractive appearance. Compared to parquet, laminated floor panels have a much lower price. And in terms of their properties, they are not much inferior to the more expensive parquet flooring. Another huge advantage of laminate is the ease of installation, which does not require special skills. Even an inexperienced person can cope with the work if he follows certain rules outlined 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 panels are connected thanks to the locking structure, which is easily fixed and securely fastens the panels together.

What tools are needed to install laminate flooring?

Before you start laying laminate flooring, prepare and assemble all the necessary tools. This is a fairly large list that will be needed to carry out the work. There are 8 tools and materials on the list. Let's take a closer look at each individually to understand where and how to apply them.

• A hammer– no repair can be done without this tool, and laying a laminate is no exception. Moreover, without this tool, it is simply not possible to carry out the installation of laminated panels. The hammer must be selected with a mass of approximately 500-600 grams. This will make it convenient to use. Too heavy can accidentally damage the panels, so this weight is the most optimal.
• square- used to mark the boundaries along which the laminate will be sawn if necessary, in order to fit the required dimensions. It is best to use a metal square, which has a strong base and will not be damaged during the laying of the laminate. The length of the instrument should be about 23-30 cm.
• Pencil- everything is quite simple with this, because without marking the cut lines directly, it will not be possible to cut the material evenly. A special pencil can be purchased at a hardware store, but a regular stationery will do.
• Roulette- measuring the length and width of laminated panels is simply impossible without this tool. When choosing the length of the tape measure, consider the size of the room. Usually a tape measure of 5 meters is enough.
• Tamping block- this tool helps to connect the laminate panels together. Gently knocking with a hammer, the attached bar to the panel engages and fixes the lock. It is better to use a plastic block than a wooden block, as it has a softer structure and will not damage the material.
• Hacksaw- everything is clear with this tool, because you will need to cut laminated panels, so you can’t do without it. It is best to use a hacksaw with fine teeth and a wide blade.
• Restriction wedges- required in order to create a gap between the wall and the laminate panels. This gap should be about 10 mm.
• Scotch- used to connect the edges of the substrate web to each other. It is better to use a special masking tape, but regular clerical tape will do.

Subfloor preparation

Laminate, unlike other floor coverings, has more high requirements for unevenness the surface of the floor on which it will lie down. An uneven floor deforms the material, and the joints may separate. The allowable value per square meter is 0.5 cm. A larger indicator will lead to undesirable consequences in the future and additional costs for correcting the resulting defects. Different floor surfaces require a different approach to laying laminate flooring. Let's look at the three main ones - this is a concrete floor, a wooden floor and a tile or linoleum surface.

Preparing the concrete subfloor

During the repair and installation of the laminate, the old coating is removed and the condition of the concrete floor is checked. It should be smooth and without significant flaws. If there are significant discrepancies, self-levelling mortar. It is not difficult enough - you need to purchase cement, sand and prepare a solution that is evenly distributed over the floor surface. You can buy a special ready-made bulk mixture, which is mixed with water in certain proportions and a solution is obtained. When leveling, a reinforcing mesh is used so that the floor does not crack. After all the leveling work has been completed and the floor has dried well (about 20-30 days), we proceed to the next stage of laying the floor covering. It should be noted that a layer of vapor barrier material must be applied to the concrete surface before laying the laminate. Such material is a polyethylene film with a thickness of at least 200 microns. Joints are fixed with adhesive tape.

Preparing a wooden subfloor

If you decide to lay laminate flooring on an old wooden floor or plank floor, you should make sure that the floor surface is perfectly flat. If there are irregularities somewhere, then they should be corrected. Shaky parquet floorboards to replace or fix, and grind the irregularities, if necessary. Also, the wooden base for laying the laminate should be free of rot and the presence of a biological factor (wood bugs, mold, etc.). This is very important, as it will eventually ruin your new floor and bring significant financial costs. The ideal option to level the old wooden floor surface is to lay plywood or chipboard sheets on top. Laying should be carried out in a checkerboard pattern. In this case, vapor barrier is not required, but sound insulation is necessary. Noise when walking on a laminate floor will be much higher if you put it on a wooden surface. For this, a special soundproofing substrate is used.

Preparation of the base from linoleum or tiles

When laying a laminate on a surface that is made of linoleum or tiles, there are no particular problems. Usually such bases have a flat surface and allow without additional training start work on mounting laminated wooden panels. If it is linoleum, then the surface under it, as a rule, is well leveled initially, the same with tiles. Next, a simple substrate under the laminate is used and the panels themselves are stacked. If, however, uneven floors are present in this case, it is recommended to remove the old coating and level the floor according to building rules.

Laminate laying technology

After preparing the base of the floor, leveling it and, if necessary, conducting vapor barrier, sound insulation, you can proceed directly to laying the laminate. So, the installation of the laminate begins with the installation of spacer wedges in the corner of the room, where the installation of wooden floor panels will begin. 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 expansion wedges are removed. Laying can be started from any corner of the room, but as experts advise, it is better to lay the laminate along the sunlight that will shine from the window. Panel joints will be less noticeable.

First of all, the first panel of the first row is laid, then the first panel of the second row is laid, but at the same time it is cut in half. This is done in order to lay the laminate in the form of a checkerboard, which will give an even distribution of the load during the operation of the flooring. Next, the second panel in the first row is laid, and then the second panel in the second row. This happens until you cover the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room with panels. The last stage of laying is installation, for which holes are pre-drilled in the wall. There are two types of laying - it is lock and glue. Let's take a closer look at both.

This method involves laying wooden laminated panels without the use of fasteners. Joints between laminate panels made in the form of locks, which are joined together and form a strong system. Mounting the panels is quite simple, no special knowledge is required here, and even a beginner can do the job. There are two types of locks for fastening laminated parts together, let's take a closer look at each separately. This option is used for apartments and small rooms where additional fastening is not required.

• Click-lock- This is the most common type of lock, which has designs in the form of a "thorn" and "groove". It practically supplanted other types for its simplicity and reliability. Docking occurs at an angle of 30 degrees until the lock snaps into place, and then it is driven in with a tamping bar until the two laminate panels are completely connected.
• Lock-lock- with this type of locking, the panels lie horizontally to each other, and the groove of one panel is inserted into the groove of the other. After that, there is a padding with a bar and the lock snaps into place.

Adhesive laying laminate

The only difference between the adhesive laying of the laminate and the castle is additional bonding of joints 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 will also favorably affect the operational properties of the laminate. Adhesive laying 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 plain PVA. A special adhesive can be purchased at any building supermarket. This option is used more often in large areas where additional bonding is required, since the laminate can disperse in this case.

When should laminate flooring not be installed?

Laminate is not a universal flooring and you should know when it is not recommended to install it. Do not lay laminated wood panels on carpet. Also, you can not glue the laminate and fix it in other ways to the floor surface. In rooms with high humidity, such as a bathtub, a bathhouse and other similar places, it is also not recommended to do this, because the material is afraid of water and quickly deforms under the influence of intense moisture. Not everyone is on cable or "matte". Laying laminate in the kitchen or hallway should be with a high wear resistance class. In this case, it is imperative to seal the lock systems with an adhesive.

You can make a laminated flooring indoors on your own and quickly enough. This work is within the power of even an unprepared person.

With laminate, you can create a durable, beautiful and reliable floor covering.

The cutting of the material is very simple. Thanks to this, even in a room with a complex configuration, laying a laminate can be done quickly and easily. The main thing in this work is to take into account all the features of laying the laminate and the recommendations of the manufacturers of this coating.

Substrate preparation for laminate flooring

Features when laying a laminate with your own hands require careful preparation and leveling of the base under it. They can serve:

• cement-sand screed;
• linoleum;
• wood;
• ceramic tile.

It is possible to lay a laminated coating on a cement-sand screed only after it has completely dried, and this takes 25-30 days after it has been poured. The condition of the old cement-sand screed should be checked, and if there are minor cracks or irregularities, then repair them with a self-leveling mixture. If it is significantly damaged, the screed must be removed and a new one made.

If the base is a “dry screed”, then the vapor barrier film does not need to be laid on top, since such a screed already provides a vapor barrier layer.

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When should laminate flooring not be installed?

Laminate flooring is not a universal flooring, and there are a number of peculiarities when laying laminate flooring when it should not be laid:

• they cannot be laid on carpet;
• do not make laminate flooring in rooms with high humidity (bathrooms, saunas);
• in no case should it be laid on an electric “warm floor”;
• do not glue the laminate to the base.

For the corridor and kitchen, select a coating of the appropriate wear resistance class.

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Materials and tools for laying laminate

• jigsaw;
• construction knife;
• roulette;
• building corner;
• pencil;
• a hammer;
• bracket for laying laminate;
• wooden block.

For laying laminate flooring, materials such as:

• laminate;
• primer;
• substrate under the laminate;
• polyethylene film 200 microns (for laying on concrete);
• wedges for arranging technological gaps between the laminate and walls;
• plinth and fastening for it;
• wood glue.

Buy a laminate should be with some margin. Although it is easy to assemble, mistakes are made quite often and several elements may be damaged. Basically, such troubles happen when parts need to be cut out of the lamella for communications or wall bends.

Wedges must be used to ensure gaps between the wall and the laminate.

Ready-made wedges to provide gaps between the wall and the floor can be purchased at a hardware store or use pieces of boards, drywall or laminate trim. The technological gap should be approximately 10-15 mm.

Glue is used for reliable adhesion of laminated flooring elements in lock fasteners. Laminate should not be glued directly to the substrate surface. But you can lay this flooring without the use of glue.

After purchasing the material, it must be allowed to lie in the room where the flooring will be laid for 1-2 days to bring its temperature and humidity into line.

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Steps for laying laminate flooring

1. Prepare the base of the floor, clean it of dust and debris and carefully prime it (if the base is concrete) or treat it with an antiseptic (if the base is wooden).
2. Lay the vapor barrier film on the concrete floor surface with an overlap of 20 cm, gluing all joints with adhesive tape.
3. Lay the expanded polystyrene underlayment. It can be laid not on the entire floor, but only on that part of it where the lamellas are being laid at the moment, and as you progress, lay the substrate further. This will preserve its integrity and purity. Start laying laminate from the window. The substrate should be on the walls by 2-3 cm for cushioning. Glue the joints between the strips of the substrate with adhesive tape. If the laminate already has a substrate in its composition, then it is not necessary to lay polyethylene foam under it, but only a waterproofing film.
4. Lay the first lamella of the coating, starting from the corner of the room where the window is. Pegs must be inserted between the lamellas and the wall to provide a technological gap, since the material of the laminated floor is “breathable” and is able to expand. One lamella is brought to the other at a slight angle and inserted into the lock. If a whole lamella does not fit at the end of the row, a piece cut to size is attached. Don't forget gaps.
5. The next row should be started with the remaining piece of the lamella (if it is not less than 30 cm) or half of the new coating element. First, all the elements of the next row are joined to each other and stacked to the first row without locking the lock. When the entire row is docked with the previous one, then, slightly raising the second row, it must be brought into the lock until it stops and snap it along the entire length. The hammer should only be used when the lock is not completely latched in some places. It is necessary to attach a wooden block to the end of the lamella and lightly tap on it with a hammer until the laminate rows are completely converged.
6. Adhering to the above rules and features with your own hands, lay it on the entire floor.

Major renovation of the premises requires updating the flooring. Many people choose laminate as the most modern material, which, with high-quality installation, looks spectacular and allows you to transform the interior. Working with this material, we get a practical and attractive floor in a short time. If you have chosen to finish the floor with a laminate, it should be noted that it is quite possible to cope with its installation on your own. Consider all the nuances of laying a laminate with your own hands.

Features of laminate flooring

Laminate has its own character and its own characteristics of operation. Before deciding to install this material, make sure that this flooring will be ideal for your living conditions.

Laminate "loves" warm and dry rooms. The optimum humidity for this coating is 30-60%, and the temperature is 15-35 degrees. In other conditions, if you do not use the material, the service life of the coating is significantly reduced: the appearance deteriorates, the joints diverge, the laminate cracks and collapses from the inside.

To make the correct laying of the laminate, you need. For laminate, it must be flat, with slopes of no more than 4 mm for every 2 meters and with height differences of no more than 2 mm for every meter of the base. If the floor has significant defects in the form of cracks, irregularities, protruding joints of floors, all this must be eliminated. Level the floor by installing a concrete screed or base layer.

Remember! The laminate, laid on the floor with defects, begins to creak, quickly becomes unusable, cracks and collapses.

As a base floor can serve:

• concrete screed;
• old wooden parquet;
• or DVP.

For laminate flooring, this is not essential, as long as the base is even.

If you decide to install a "warm floor" heating system, you should use a special laminate that can withstand bottom heating up to 27-30 degrees. Alternatively, a hydraulic floor heating system can be used. Its design features allow you to maintain an acceptable temperature for a laminate flooring and distribute heat evenly over its entire area.

If the operating conditions are acceptable for the laminate application, material, accessories and installation tools can be purchased.

Laminate flooring materials

Technologically, the installation of laminate is very simple. It is laid on the prepared floor and from above, in fact, the laying of the laminate itself is carried out in a floating way, i.e. without attaching the panels to the base. depend on the type of base floor. A polyethylene foam underlay is used for a wooden floor. The concrete floor also needs additional waterproofing. As a rule, ordinary polyethylene (200 microns) or a special membrane is used. Waterproofing is laid under a layer of polyethylene foam. Next, we lay the laminate according to standard technology. As you can see, laying laminate flooring with your own hands can be done even by a beginner.

For installation of the coating, we will need the following materials:

• laminate;
• substrate (the most economical is polyethylene foam);
• waterproofing for concrete floor (polyethylene or membrane);
• primer;
• wedges for technological gaps;
• plinth;
• fixings for plinth;
• glue for joints;
• wide adhesive tape for fastening the substrate.

Laminate needs to be bought with a margin, so you must first complete it.

Firstly, during the installation process, trimmings will be formed that cannot be used.

Secondly, errors in measuring the area may be made and some design features of the room will require more material.

Thirdly, during the installation process, there is a risk of spoiling the coating elements. As a rule, lamellas are damaged in places where pipes exit, complex design solutions for the interior, corners, etc.

Therefore, when buying, do not neglect some spare material.

Different manufacturers may apply different standards in relation to the number and size of lamellas per package. Usually, in a standard package, lamellas are enough for 2 square meters of flooring, however, there are boxes with 1.9 and 2.4 square meters of material. m.

We talked more about how to correctly calculate the amount of laminate in the article "Calculating the amount of laminate according to the laying scheme with examples".

The substrate is 2 to 5 mm thick. The choice depends on the quality of the base floor. The smaller the height difference of the base floor, the thinner the substrate can be taken. The most popular thickness is 3 mm.

To maintain the temperature gap from the walls of the room, wedges are required. They can be purchased at the store along with the laminate. They are not expensive, and their acquisition will not have a strong impact on the budget. If you want to save money, you can make your own wedges from pieces of laminate itself, drywall, or wooden pegs. The main thing is that their thickness varies from 5 to 15 mm. This will allow you to use different wedges to smooth out uneven walls and room ledges when laying.

When working with laminate, glue is used in cases where there is no adhesion between the edges of the panels and for additional sealing of joints. The lamellas themselves should not be glued to the floor.

In order to perform the installation of the floor, we need the following tool:

• a hammer;
• a wooden block and a staple for lining the final panels (often sold in a set with wedges);
• jigsaw or hacksaw;
• roulette;
• construction knife;
• building corner;
• pencil.

After you have purchased all the materials and tools you need, leave the laminate packaging in the room where you plan to re-floor for two to three days. This is necessary so that the material adapts to climatic conditions and acquires maximum strength precisely for the conditions of further operation. This step is mandatory when laying laminate flooring.

After the above time has elapsed, work can begin. Consider how to properly mount the laminate on the floor, taking into account all the nuances of the process.

Laminate floor installation process

Before laying the slats in a solid floor, the base floor should be thoroughly cleaned of dust and debris. Well, if it is possible to use a construction or industrial vacuum cleaner. The surface, regardless of the material, should be carefully primed. Laying laminate on a wooden floor should only be done after treating the wooden base with an antiseptic.

Laying laminate on a concrete floor involves the use of waterproofing. Lay a film or membrane on a clean and dry surface. Lay strips of material with an overlap of 20 cm and glue the joints with tape. If the base floor is wooden, this step is skipped, we immediately proceed to the next step.

Lay a polyethylene foam pad. You can immediately cover the entire floor with a substrate, or you can lay it as you install the laminate. The second method will help keep the substrate intact and clean during work, which is important when installing the laminated coating with your own hands. Lay the strips of the substrate joint to joint and glue these places with adhesive tape so that they do not spread.

Nuance: If the laminate you purchased is already equipped with a soundproofing layer, the polyethylene foam underlay can be omitted. Laminate of this type is placed directly on the base floor and a waterproofing coating is used if the floor is concrete.

The most common laying pattern for laminate flooring is straight, with panels spaced 20 to 50 percent in length. The orientation of the lamellas is usually chosen along the light source. This allows you to visually reduce the joints between the boards and improves the overall perception of the integrity of the coating. For this method, the laminate begins to be laid from the wall or corner closest to the window. If there are more than one windows in the room, you can start work from any.

Structurally, each board of a covering has special locks for a fastening among themselves. To connect the panels, just insert the spike into the groove. It looks like this: we lay one lamella, we start the next one at an angle to it, we insert the spike of the second panel into the groove of the first one and lay it until it clicks. You need to fit the panels tightly, but without effort, to avoid damage.

Laminate installation should start from the corner of the room near the window. Insert pegs between the wall and the first flooring boards to create a thermal gap. Lay one-piece strips of laminate in a row to the end of the room, remembering to carefully connect them along the short side of the lamellas. Cut the last lamella taking into account the temperature gap.

The second row should begin with a piece left over from the previous row. If it is shorter than 30 cm, half should be cut off from the new board in order to withstand the run-up and even coating pattern.

Laminate boards of the second row are laid without locking the lock with the previous row. First you need to dock all the panels of the row with each other. Then you need to raise the entire row, bring it into the lock until it stops and, lowering it, snap the locks. If in some places the two rows are not firmly fixed, you need to attach a building bar to the outer end of the laminate board and gently tap it (bar) with a hammer so that the locks are firmly engaged and the gap between the rows disappears.

By analogy, the entire floor is assembled.

In each row, the last board will protrude beyond the dimensions of the previous row. To properly cut it, proceed as follows:

1. Turn the laminate panel over from right to left (not upside down);
2. We rest it against the wall with a peg attached and put it on top of the last laid panel of the assembled row;
3. On the upper side with a pencil, mark a line for cutting along the border of the bottom panel;
4. Using a jigsaw or a hacksaw, cut off a piece of the board according to the markup;
5. We turn the panel back and mount it to the last panel of the row.

In places of bends and exits of communications, it is necessary to cut out the corresponding holes according to size, having previously made markings.

Diagonal laminate flooring

An alternative to simple straight laying is the diagonal pattern. Laying laminate diagonally allows you to create the effect of a visual increase in space. Such a trick will make it possible to use an unlimited number of design solutions in the interior. The disadvantage of this method is considered to be a large consumption of material - 8-10% more than with a standard direct flooring scheme.

All stages of floor preparation and the underlayment technique are similar to the direct laying of laminate boards, but the diagonal laying technology has its own characteristics.

Choose a corner near the window. It is better to start on the side where there are pipes or difficult sections of the interior. So it will be easier for us to cut and install laminate panels. We stretch the fishing line from this angle at an angle of 45 degrees to the opposite wall of the room. In the process of mounting the lamellas, this fishing line will serve as a guide.

We cut the first panel of the laminate at an angle of 45 degrees and mount it with the cut side to the wall, not forgetting to put wedges.

The diagonal laying angle can be made up to 35-40 degrees. But we strongly do not recommend making it less than 30 degrees, since the surface will not look beautiful - a visual effect of a curved floor is created.

Subsequent rows are laid on the basis that the joints of the panels of the new row will be located near the center or with an indent of 15-20 cm from the edge of the previous row. The assembled strips of laminate are laid with cut edges towards the wall. We lay the entire floor area in this way, using the fishing line and the joints of adjacent rows of laminate as a guide. The technology for collecting rows and their connection is similar to that described above for straight laying.

Advice! First, lay out whole boards in a row, and then fill in the areas near the walls using the remains of the previously cut panels. This will help avoid the effect of a sloping floor and save you material.

The nuances of laying laminate boards

There are no perfectly flat rooms, so in any case, you will have to cut out spaces in the lamellas for the exit of communications and for other design features of the room. To do this, we use a pencil (for marking), a construction corner, a construction knife and an electric jigsaw. Let's consider below how to cut and lay laminate slabs on ledges and outlets of communication pipes.

heating pipes

We turn the laminate board over along the length and, using the corner, mark the location of the pipes. We make markings directly at the place of laying, attaching the lamella to its future place. We install a control peg against the wall, put a lamella on the side of the pipes and rest it against the wall. Using the building level in this position, mark the location of the pipe. We get the markup of the place for the cutout for the pipe.

We drill according to the marking of the hole using a drill with a crown (can be purchased at the same time as the laminate in the store). We make a hole larger by 1-1.5 cm than the diameter of the pipe. This is necessary to maintain the temperature gaps between the coating and the pipes. Then there are two possibilities.

The first. We cut with an electric jigsaw or a saw the approach to the resulting hole from the end of the laminate board. We mount the lamella, leaving a gap around the communication, and close this gap with a special plastic ring, which is sold in stores along with the laminate.

Second. Focusing on the middle of the resulting hole, cut off part of the laminate board across. The result will be two parts of one panel. We place one part in the space between the wall and the pipe, and the second - between the pipe and the rest of the floor. To fasten the cut elements together, we use glue. We apply it to the cut ends and press the parts to each other.

Wall ledges

If the room has protrusions of the walls, cut the lamella directly along the protrusion. If there is an obstacle, in the form of a wall sheathed with plastic or drywall panels, columns, places under the radiator, a lamella should be made with a gap up to the wall base. You can make the job easier by trimming the bottom of the laminate boards. All work is carried out with a construction knife or jigsaw.

For the correct installation of the laminate panel, you need to correct its lock. To do this, cut off the protruding edge on the bottom of the end of the board. Since the connection will be deformed, grease the joints of the laminate with glue and press the lamellas together.

Features of laying laminate in a large room

If your room has a size of more than 8 meters in length or width, then you should additionally make an expansion joint. For this, special profiles are used. They are mounted between two non-fixed sections of laminate boards. The top view of the profile is similar to the threshold in the doorway. Laying an expansion joint is necessary to avoid deformation (bloating) of the surface during temperature fluctuations. It reduces the overall movement of the laminate floor during temperature changes in the structure of the material and prevents it from floating or cracking.

The final part of the installation

Upon completion of the installation of the laminate flooring throughout the floor and in all difficult places, the protruding edges of the substrate should be carefully trimmed and all wedges removed along the perimeter of the wall. It remains to mount the plinth and thereby close the temperature gap between the laid coating and the wall.

Installing the skirting board on the laminate

When installing skirting boards on top of a laminate floor, consider one design feature: the skirting board itself is not attached directly to the laminate and the base floor. The skirting board can only be attached to the wall. To correctly attach the selected skirting board, you must follow the installation instructions supplied with the kit by the manufacturer.

Skirting boards always follow the contour of the walls of the room. For uneven walls, it is better to use flexible plastic skirting boards. Wooden skirting boards should only be used if the walls are perfectly level and there is no risk of creating unaesthetic cracks. In addition, wooden skirting boards are very expensive.

When laying wires along the plinth, reinforce them in grooves specially designed for communications. It is unacceptable for the wire to fall behind the baseboard or into the temperature gap of the floor covering.

After installing the skirting boards, collect all debris and wipe the floor with a damp (not wet!) rag. In the future, follow a number of standard rules for the care of laminate, do not allow it to come into contact with copious amounts of water and monitor the temperature of the room. Then the coating will serve you for a very long time.

Advice! Do not forget to install special soft pads made of felt or coconut coir on furniture legs so as not to scratch or deform the coating.

As you can see, laying a laminate with your own hands is a fairly simple procedure that does not require specific knowledge and skills. Laying a modern laminate can even a beginner. Therefore, by following the above simple rules and following our advice, you can handle this task yourself without any problems.

Beautiful and high-quality flooring is the key to getting positive emotions. In this article, we will take a closer look at how laminate flooring is done by hand, from preparatory work and tips when choosing tools, to tips on “bypassing” obstacles during installation.

We save on the work of the master!

Laminate - although a noble coating, its installation can be done without much difficulty with your own hands. In this article, we will explain in detail what's what.

If the floor surface is uneven, then the laminate laid on it will be subject to unwanted deflections. This can lead to failure of the coating, which will be especially noticeable on the butt surfaces. Therefore, before laying, an audit of the surface to be covered is carried out in order to identify its irregularities. For these purposes, use a conventional level. With significant differences in floor height, it must be leveled. In addition, wooden floors are carefully examined to identify boards that have become unusable. Rotten elements are removed, and new ones are installed in their place. A wooden floor can be leveled by lining wooden blocks under the boards, which regulate the position of the boards. At the same time, the thickness of the floor covering does not increase, which is especially critical for rooms with low ceilings. If it is not possible to adjust the position of the boards, then you can build another layer of plywood or OSB sheets directly on the existing one. At the same time, it must be carefully aligned with the help of all the same linings.

In addition to boards, plywood sheets or special fibreboard floorboards can be used on the floor. These materials also need to be leveled.

Is the floor even?

Leveling the floor with plywood or OSB boards is a mandatory step. Laminate is a rather fragile coating, demanding on the base.

In some types of residential buildings, wooden floors have ventilation holes that protect them from the harmful effects of various organisms and dampness. When laying an additional leveling layer on such a surface, care must be taken that these holes remain open. After laying the leveling layer, it is necessary to treat it with an antiseptic. The concrete surface is leveled with a screed. Before pouring, level beacons are mounted. Their height is calculated based on the minimum height from floor to ceiling of the room. The more beacons are installed, the more even the surface will be after pouring. To reduce thermal conductivity, you can cover the concrete floor with plywood, after laying a layer of waterproofing under it.

If the concrete pier has only small irregularities, then it will be sufficient to make the so-called "self-leveling" screed.

Used materials and tools

In addition to the actual laminated board, for work you will need the following materials:

• Polyethylene foam backing;
• Waterproofing film for concrete pavement;
• Wedges to ensure gaps;
• Construction pencil;
• Plinth and fastenings for it;
• Glue;
• Masking tape.

Of the tools you will need the following:

• Wood saw or electric jigsaw;
• Measuring devices (tape measure, square);
• mallet;
• A hammer.

The list of everything you need is not so great, all the tools are ordinary and will probably be available from the home master. Instead of wedges, you can use wooden blocks or trimmings of the same laminated board if you do not want to purchase special devices.

Material selection and technology

Before starting work, you should calculate the number of boards needed. The calculation is carried out based on the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room. Wherein you need to take a reserve of about 10% for unforeseen expenses, especially if the laminate flooring is being done for the first time. If the floor is installed diagonally, the number of slats increases by another 20%. The underlayment, laid under the board, provides the necessary sound insulation. In addition, for concrete coatings, a substrate with increased thermal insulation properties should be purchased, as well as a waterproofing layer should be provided. It can be made from ordinary polyethylene film, overlapping it by at least 20 centimeters.
Before laying the substrate, it is necessary to carefully prepare the floor surface, cleaning it from dirt and dust. The substrate is not laid immediately on the entire surface, but on the area on which the board is directly lined, thus it is protected from excessive pollution. When laying, it is necessary to apply a substrate to the walls to a height of about 2 - 3 cm. Separate strips of material are butted together and fastened with adhesive tape.

Do-it-yourself laminate flooring

Thanks to our step-by-step instructions, you will be able to install the coating yourself without any problems. There are two main types of laminate locks − lock" and " Click". The first type has a tenon on one board and a groove on the other, which are joined together by hammering or hammering. The second type is easier to install, since the boards are connected by inserting a hook on one side of the panel into the groove on the other at an angle and lowering the inserted board to a horizontal position with a characteristic sound, from which the name of the type of connection came from. " Click” refers to modern laminate assembly technology.
Regardless of the type of lock, the installation of a laminate floor starts from the first row. It starts from the window. Wedges are installed at the walls, which provide the necessary clearance. Before laying a row its length is measured to calculate the size of the last board. If it is less than 5 cm, then the first board is cut so that its length and the length of the last approximately coincide. Then a row is laid out, connecting the ends of adjacent boards, depending on the type of connection - driving with a mallet or a hammer with a bar, or snapping.
The second row is marked in such a way that the ends of the boards do not coincide with the ends of the boards of the first row. For example, if the first row started with a whole board, then the second row starts with a cut one. not less than 30 - 40 centimeters. Thus, a staggered order of the lamellas is obtained, which ensures the uniformity of the load on the panels. Laminate cutting is done with a hacksaw or an electric jigsaw, which greatly speeds up the process.
Connecting rows when using " Click» - the castle can be produced in two ways. You can first lay out the second row completely without connecting it to the first. Then lift it up a little and insert the hooks into the grooves and snap the whole row into place. You can also insert the first board of the second row into the lock with the boards of the first, and insert the subsequent panels at a certain distance from the end of each other, then driving them into the lock with a mallet. In the same way we connect lock" - locks. We connect the last panel of the row with the penultimate one using a clamp, having previously measured its length, taking into account the gap to the wall.
The last row of cover may need to be trimmed on the long side. If the lock is being laid Cry» in the first way, then no additional tricks are needed. When assembling the second method and the Lok locks, you will have to use the clamp again, as well as when laying the last lamellas of the row. Laying adhesive laminate stands apart. Its main advantage is the use in rooms with increased complexity (for example, in the kitchen) and increased reliability and longer service life compared to conventional laminate floors. The installation of such a floor is based on the same principles and methods as the assembly of the laminate in the “Lock” lock, only the surfaces to be joined are additionally covered with a special adhesive. The assembly of the laminate is carried out in stages - every 3 rows there is a break to dry the glue. It is recommended to use such floors after complete drying, after about 10 hours. The disadvantage of such a coating is the impossibility of subsequent disassembly without destroying the structural elements.

Avoid obstacles when paving

The main obstacles when laying laminate flooring are heating pipes and various wall protrusions and depressions. The geometric frills of the walls are managed by cutting the boards, taking into account the necessary technological gaps.

When bypassing heating pipes, you have to use additional tools.

To begin with, the position of the passage of the pipe on the board is located. Then, using a special drill, for example, a feather or Forstner, a hole is made in the board, which should be slightly larger in diameter than the pipe. After that, in the transverse direction, the board is cut in the center of the hole into two halves. One half is installed from the side of the wall to the pipe, and the second to the rest of the row.

Diagonal stacking

This installation option of a laminated floor visually expands the area of ​​​​the room. Its only significant drawback is the increased consumption of material. Laying is carried out from the corner near the window. The first board of the first row is cut from the end against the wall at an angle of 45 degrees. Next, the entire row is laid out, running diagonally across the room. Then two rows are attached to it on each side. The starting and ending boards are cut along the wall with the required geometry for laying and with the calculation of gaps.

To simplify the task, a diagonal of fishing line is first stretched, which serves as a guide. You can lay out whole boards first, and only then do trimming near the wall panels. This way things will go much faster.

After installation is completed, all wedges are dismantled. The protruding edges of the substrate are cut off, leaving the necessary entry to the wall. A plinth is installed around the perimeter of the room. Its elements are attached to the walls, in no case to the laminate. Doorways are equipped with thresholds, for example, made of metal. In order for the laminate to last longer, should be kept away from water. Such a floor is washed with a damp cloth, after which it is desirable to wipe its surface dry. To protect the material from the harmful effects of water, joints can be treated with sealant when laying. If heavy furniture is installed in a room with a laminate flooring, then care must be taken to ensure that the outer layer of the floor does not collapse when it is moved. Also, contact of the laminate with sharp, heavy objects should also be avoided. Damaged boards lose their aesthetic appeal and their technological properties.
It is not recommended to mount the laminated board on a warm electric floor. The maximum temperature of the bottom surface of the laminate is 27 degrees Celsius. If it is exceeded, the panels will begin to dry out and the floor will deform. Installation work on the equipment of the laminated floor is carried out in rooms with a temperature not higher than 30 and not lower than 15 degrees. Relative humidity should be in the range of 40 - 70%. When calculating thermal gaps, it is necessary to proceed from the following calculation formula: for each meter of the length of the coating, the technological distance to the wall is 1.5 mm.

If you are unsure about making a floor covering with a laminate with your own hands, you can entrust this work to professionals. The cost of specialist services is approximately 200 - 250 rubles per square meter.