Laminate allows you to beautifully and functionally decorate the flooring without changing the design of the supporting base. Moreover, this flooring can be combined with some communication networks, conducting them in an underground niche. It remains only to lay the laminate with your own hands so that it serves for a long time and does not lose its decorative qualities.
How to choose the right laminated panels?
Laminate is more often used in residential areas, with an emphasis on the combination of naturalness, original texture and ergonomics. But the main parameter of choice will be the strength class. So, there are series 31, 32, 33 and 34 classes. The first two are suitable for any room in the house or apartment. Groups 33 and 34 are semi-commercial, that is, intended for coatings that will bear increased loads. Such models should be chosen for the hallway or corridor. Next, pay attention to the thickness. It does not necessarily affect the strength of the lamellae, but to a greater extent determinesdamping capabilities of the coating. That is elasticity and rigidity. The more problematic the base for laying, the thicker the panels should be. How to lay the laminate with your own hands on a surface with pits and bumps? In this case, even a thickness of 12 mm will not allow you to do without a substrate or other leveling layer. But this problem is solved independently at the stage of surface preparation. The specifics of the operating conditions of the premises themselves are also taken into account. For the bathroom and kitchen, the moisture resistance parameter will be important, in the living room - an organic combination with the texture of the interior, and for the bedroom - noise reduction.
What tools and materials will be required for installation?
From the tools you will need the following:
- Level or plumb lines. It is advisable to use an electronic level with the possibility of laser projection of marking beams.
- Tools for cutting slats. Only in rare cases is it possible to lay a laminate with your own hands using only solid panels. Along the edges and in difficult areas, it may well be necessary to use fragments and parts of the lamella. For cutting, it is advisable to use a jigsaw or a hacksaw for metal.
- Hammer or mallet. Using this tool, you will need to carefully tamp the panels to the desired positions.
- Planer. May be required when preparing a wooden rough base - to remove the top layer when leveling the surface.
You will also need the following supplies:
- Spread stakes. For a firm holdslats.
- Plinth.
- Plastic film.
- Glue. Building compounds are used, in principle, suitable for working with wood.
- Scotch.
- Hardware. Mounting materials such as dowels and self-tapping screws.
Not necessarily all of the listed tools and materials may be required, but in principle each of these points should be borne in mind when preparing for work. The irrelevance of this or that material during planning does not mean that the need for it will not arise in the course of work.
General laying conditions
The durability of the coating is largely ensured by favorable installation conditions. Parquet floorers recommend adhering to the following rules in this part:
- Optimal microclimatic regime. The humidity in the working room should be between 40 and 70% and the temperature between 15 and 30 °C. This does not apply to special laminate finishes that are designed for installation in the bathroom or kitchen.
- No irregularities on the laying surface. The installation technology does not allow for differences with a value of 2 mm per 1 m2. This primarily applies to the rough screed. How to lay a laminate with your own hands on a concrete surface with height deviations? To do this, the appropriate preparation of the base is carried out using leveling and priming agents. Further laying is carried out according to the general technology.
- Surface reliability. Even if the base is even and free of defects, itinstability is a limitation for laminate installation. This primarily applies to wooden flooring laid on rotten logs, in particular.
- You can only mount lamellas that were previously kept at room temperature for two days.
Preparing the subfloor
If the target area has an old coating, it must be removed. This applies to carpet, parquet, paintwork, linoleum, etc. Mounting on such surfaces is not allowed. After dismantling, the condition of the rough base is assessed. How to lay a laminate with your own hands on a wooden flooring if there are unstable or damaged areas? All defective boards must be replaced along with fasteners. If we are talking about an old plank flooring, then it is advisable to make a complete bulkhead of the flooring with lags. To do this, a stock of new bars and planks of the same format is prepared in advance. After dismantling the floor, they will be installed in place of rotten and deformed elements. Self-tapping screws and screws are also used new when replacing.
A special approach is also required for concrete screed. The already mentioned priming agents will allow you to qualitatively lay the laminate with your own hands on the concrete floor. They fill small pits, cracks and other flaws. If deep damage is noted throughout the entire thickness of the screed, then it is necessary to use dry polymer mixtures with a self-leveling effect. Due to their high fluidity, they not only fill deep damage, but also form a thin and hard layer of new screed on the surface.
Device substrate underslats
First you need to decide which substrate to use under the slats. Attention is drawn to several characteristics: noise reduction, cushioning and waterproofing properties. For wooden decks, in principle, insulation comes to the fore. In this sense, foam and polyethylene films are best suited. With such substrates, you can qualitatively lay the laminate with your own hands on a wooden floor using self-adhesive tape or adhesive tape, withstanding 20 cm overlaps. However, in terms of thermal insulation, noise reduction and cushioning ability, films are the worst solution.
Extruded polystyrene foam is recommended for soundproofing. It equalizes height differences up to 4 cm, retains heat in unheated rooms, and also protects the back side of the lamella from biological damage by fungus and mold. Installation is carried out end-to-end with the landing of expanded polystyrene panels on glue. The disadvantages of this solution include synthetic origin, which excludes the use of this substrate in the bedroom and nursery.
The optimal and somewhat universal solution for the installation of the substrate will be a cork board or wood-fiber panels. Both materials are distinguished by good noise reduction effect, leveling ability and cushioning. But how to lay the laminate with your own hands on a substrate of natural origin, so that mold and moisture do not destroy it? In this case, you will have to use a combined approach with the laying of cork or wood boards.on a waterproofing layer of polyethylene foam. It is possible to prepare rolls of 1-1.5 m each, making the same overlaps of 20 cm during laying. A fixing tape is glued along the joints, and the edges are additionally fixed with mounting glue. As for fixing cork and wood fiber panels, they are usually mounted on glue, although more rigid modifications of the boards can also be fixed using dowels with self-tapping screws.
How to lay a laminate on the floor with your own hands without a substrate?
Underlay allows you to eliminate several unpleasant operational factors at once, but you can do without it. There are special modifications of the lamellas, in which a damper and sound-absorbing layer is already provided on the back side. The only drawback of such panels is that they are provided exclusively for flat bases. That is, the lower layers do not provide the leveling effect, and at the slightest irregularity, the structure can be deformed. How to lay the laminate with your own hands according to the instructions, if the substrate is not provided? In this case, it is necessary to use a special adhesive solution. This is the so-called liquid substrate, which is evenly applied to the rough surface. After laying the lamellas, the binding mass securely fixes the material to the floor. During operation, this bundle also increases both the depreciation effect and noise absorption.
You can also eliminate the need to use a substrate if you plan to install a warm floor in an underground niche. This system, in principle, provides for insulation of the upper part, buthard flooring in the kit will create the necessary damping effect. Another thing is that the thermal energy from infrared mats and electric cables negatively affects the structure of wood-shaving materials. Therefore, laminate flooring can only be combined with water floor heating systems. Moreover, in this case, experts recommend using lamellas with a rigid and heat-resistant base.
How and how to cut laminate?
Theoretically, any cutters designed for wood or metal are suitable for cutting lamellas. The material is quite malleable, so the procedure will not cause difficulties. But in practice, only an electric jigsaw or a hacksaw for metal will allow you to get a high-quality and even cut. Moreover, the second option involves manual processing of a small number of blanks. The jigsaw, in turn, will allow you to get evenly sawn fragments of any complexity. The workflow will consist of the following steps:
- Checking and adjusting the jigsaw. If the model is rechargeable, the charge level in the battery is checked, and if the model is mains, the wiring is checked. The quality of the fasteners and the operation of the tool mechanisms are separately evaluated.
- The cutting lines are being marked - the cutter will be guided along them.
- The workpiece is placed on a flat surface and then held with one hand. The second hand will cut. The cut should be made with a slight offset from the marking line to the draft side - in the future this will allow you to lay the laminate with your own hands with high quality and without gaps. Video instruction on techniqueThe lamella cut shown below demonstrates this process.
- After cutting, if necessary, you can also grind the edges with fine-grained abrasive.
Methods for connecting slats
The most affordable option is to use an adhesive. Construction or carpentry glue will allow you to securely fix the edges of the lamellas at the installation site. The execution technique is quite simple, and a sealant gun will help to point the laminate with your own hands on the glue. With its help, you can carefully introduce the composition into hard-to-reach places when laying lamellas. This method is suitable in cases where it is planned to design large areas of premises with high load requirements. However, the adhesive method of installing laminated panels has many disadvantages. For example, it is almost impossible to dismantle lamellas without damage, not to mention the technical hassle of this process. Also, the glue can dry out and lose shape over time, which ultimately leads to damage to the laminate itself.
More technologically advanced and convenient ways to connect floor panels involve the use of Click and Lock locks. In the first case, a tenon-groove fastening technique at a 30-degree angle is used, and the second mechanism is usually used in chamfered models. This option is more complicated, but it gives a more reliable fixation effect. How to lay a laminate with a chamfer with your own hands? The complexity of such a connection lies in the fact that the stacker will need to correctly dock the edges of the two lamellas to each other by touch - a special connector of one panel startsthe lock spike is the second, as a result of which the bow is made until it clicks.
Packing configurations
First of all, it is recommended to adhere to the laying rule in a direction parallel to the incidence of sunlight so that shadows from the joints are not visible. If this nuance does not play a role, then you can safely choose one of three masonry schemes:
- Classic. Typical flat mounting configuration in equal rows. This method will allow you to lay the laminate with your own hands with a minimum amount of waste and without cutting at all. The instruction for the classic laying method also notes that at the beginning of the first row, you can install a piece of board with a length of at least 30 cm. This initial fragment compensates for the lack of strength of the coating, devoid of complex butt joints.
- Chess styling. This option involves the displacement of each subsequent row relative to the previous one by half of one lamella. High reliability of the coating will be ensured, but with waste of the order of 10-15%.
- Diagonal mounting. Technically the most difficult way of laying, in which the lamellas are not perpendicular to the wall, but obliquely at a 45-degree angle. How to lay a laminate diagonally with your own hands? At the above angle, the panels that are planned to be laid in the first row are trimmed. Thus, all extreme lamellas will have to receive an angular cut. Accordingly, the amount of waste will be 15-20%.
Slat installation instructions
When all the materials with the tools are ready and the optimal wiring diagram is selected, you can get to work. How to lay laminate with your own hands? The step-by-step instructions below will help you cope with this task:
- At the wall, which will be the starting point for laying, prepared wedges are fixed. They will need to maintain a small expansion gap between the wall and the first row of lamellas.
- Starting from the corner, you should lay the first element, to which immediately fix the adjacent panel. This is how the entire first row is assembled.
- The second row should start with an offset from the wall of 15-20 cm.
- When the two rows are finished, you need to join their edges with the selected connection method. Laying a laminate on glue with your own hands is not difficult if you use the already marked mounting gun pointwise at the junction points. But when laying the lock, the help of a partner may be required, since you will have to lift both rows assembled on the sides and join the panels at the ends.
- The last row is carefully measured. The marking and trimming of the panels for it is performed at the end, when the parameters of the location position are exactly known. According to the dimensions, it is cut and laid against the wall with the same wedges, but from the opposite side.
How to lay laminate on the wall with your own hands?
Laminated panels are associated with flooring, but they can also decorate walls. Installation is carried out in two ways:
- With glue fit. If during floor laying adhesivethe mass is applied pointwise to the fixing edges of each lamella, but it is necessary to fix the material to the wall in a continuous way with preliminary coating of the surface. The elements are stacked one by one with waiting until each row dries.
- On the crate. The classic way of mounting panels and cladding sheets vertically. How to lay a laminate with your own hands on a wall with a crate? The frame is mounted from wooden blocks, after which each panel is alternately fastened with clamps and liquid nails.
The wall-mounted method of using laminate is simplified due to the fact that high requirements are not imposed on the lamellas in terms of wear resistance. Therefore, thinner and lighter models can be used. Installation is also simplified in the case of a crate, since special preparation of the wall surface with its alignment is excluded.
Conclusion
Although laminate is a high-tech and functional material, it is quite capricious and demanding in installation. This is due both to the structure and to the specifics of its combination with other materials. First of all, this concerns the draft base. For example, how to lay a laminate with your own hands on a concrete surface that has cracks and bumps? Even taking into account the fact that the substrate layer will allow leveling some of the defects, during long-term operation they will make themselves felt through the leveling layer. Therefore, it is initially recommended to carry out a special restoration of the floor using grout, primer and conventional cement compositions. In case ofwooden floors perform the same repair and restoration operations, but with their own specifics and the use of lumber as a consumable.
