Choosing laminate flooring, home craftsmen most often carry out laying work on their own. But an unprofessional approach is not able to take into account the individuality of a particular room and many other nuances.
Which styling method to choose
If you read the instructions on the package, you will be able to understand how to lay the material using the easiest way. It provides for the parallel placement of products relative to the walls. This method is preferred if the floor has a strictly geometric shape (deviations of several degrees should not be taken into account).
If the space to be trimmed has semi-circular sides or is the result of an incorrect layout, a more successful way to install the laminate would be to lay it diagonally. In this case, the slope relative to the wall can be from 30 to 45 °. A slope of 45° is considered optimal, but adjacent walls are rarely strictly perpendicular, so the angle in the same room may vary.
Main advantagesdiagonal styling
The main advantage of laying laminate diagonally is that this technology allows you to hide layout flaws and smooth out uneven walls. If you want to expand the space of a dark and narrow room, then diagonal flooring is a great option.
Should I choose diagonal styling
This technique is justified if the room is not cluttered with furniture. The created lines will stretch the floor, and the room will appear freer outwardly. Another argument in favor of this method is that the diagonal pattern looks more interesting than the one formed by parallel editing. It opens the field for creativity and allows you to change the space, making it brighter and highlighting the functional areas.
The main disadvantages of installing laminate diagonally
Familiarizing yourself with the pros and cons of laying laminate diagonally, you can determine for yourself which technology to prefer. Among the shortcomings of the described approach during the installation of flooring, it should be noted that a lot of waste remains after the work. Therefore, repairs are more expensive than with the traditional arrangement of lamellas.
Due to the angle of inclination, laying the pavement is not only uneconomical, but also quite laborious. Before starting work, it is necessary to calculate everything to the smallest detail in order to acquire the necessaryamount of material. Another disadvantage is that due to the lack of experience of the master, the result does not always live up to expectations, and the material is used up before the finished area is filled. It is not always possible to find boards from the same batch in the store, in this case there is a risk that the flooring in certain areas of the room will have different shades.
Preparation of tools
If the disadvantages of laying the laminate diagonally did not frighten you, you can start work. First you need to take care of the availability of all tools and materials. Among them it is worth highlighting:
- Substrate.
- Electric jigsaw.
- Male.
- Knife.
- Carpenter's square.
- Scotch.
- Roulette.
- Pencil.
The substrate can be rolled or sheet. Its area should completely cover the premises. When choosing an electric jigsaw, you should focus on the main working part, which should have frequent fine teeth. Suitable for solving the issue of a circular saw or a hacksaw.
You should take care of the presence of a mallet with a rubber tip, which is sometimes replaced by a hammer. The carpenter's square must have a clear ruler. If a good knife was not at hand, you can get by with a clerical one.
Surface preparation
Laying laminate diagonally starts with cleaningbase from debris, dirt and dust. After you can start laying the substrate. If it is represented by separate canvases, then the seams should not coincide between adjacent rows. The joints are well glued using adhesive tape.
If you purchased a rolled substrate, its strips are rolled around the room. The material must reach the wall. If on its way there are pipes of communications, it is necessary to trim.
Preparation of concrete and wood floors
If you started laying the laminate diagonally with your own hands, it is very important to prepare the floor. When the base is concrete, the base is leveled with a leveling mass, which is also called a self-leveling screed. It allows you to make the surface perfectly smooth, and the master does not need special skills.
One of the main requirements for the rough coating before laying the laminate is the evenness of the base. Bumps and pits can cause uneven load on the locks. As a result, they break, and cracks appear on the surface. Instructions for laying laminate diagonally provide for compliance with the rules for the preparation of boardwalks. The screed is not used in this case.
Irregularities can be eliminated with sheet material like OSB or plywood. The canvases are laid on the surface and screwed, which allows you to smooth out irregularities. To achieve a better result, the material can be laid in 2 layers. In this case, the top sheets should overlapjoints between sheets in the bottom row.
Before you lay the laminate diagonally, it is recommended to consider photos of such coatings. They will allow you to understand which texture and color of the coating to give preference. However, the choice of material is not the only factor that affects a successful outcome. It is important to properly prepare the rough coat.
Laminate does not like dust and small debris, such as pebbles, under it. The floor will react to them with a creak or a slight crackle. Before laying laminate flooring, it is necessary to make a quality cleaning. It is better to use an industrial vacuum cleaner for this.
Installation recommendations for flooring
Laying the laminate diagonally starts from one of the corners of the room. Lamellas should not be placed close to the walls. To create a temperature gap, it is necessary to use special wedges. Their role can be played by trimming laminated boards. Their thickness will allow you to get the desired gap.
Laying the laminate diagonally starts with a board that will be shaped like a trapezoid. She will make the first row. To prepare this part, you can make a template or use a square, as well as a tape measure. To saw off the excess, you need to use a hacksaw or a jigsaw.
When there is not one board in a row, but several, it is necessary to cut off excess pieces from the leftmost one. All boards of a row are connected and attached to the previous row. Achieving high density at this stage is not worth it. For the finalclutching the elements together, you should use a mallet, with which the products are tapped on the ends.
When laying the laminate diagonally, it is necessary to gradually approach the corner of the room. It should change direction. An extra piece is cut off the board. Next, you need to act according to the scheme.
How to avoid mistakes
After purchasing a laminate, you should not immediately start laying it. It is necessary to allow the material to lie down at room temperature, to acclimatize. Lamellas do not need rigid fixation. It is not worth screwing or gluing them, otherwise cracks may appear on the surface over time, and the coating will deform. The width of the indentation from the wall should be approximately 15 mm, as wood can expand or shrink under the influence of humidity and temperature changes.
After completion of the work, the indents from the walls are closed with skirting boards. They are attached only to the wall. If you fix to the floor, this will eliminate the ability of the laminate to expand, which will also cause deformation.
When laying the laminate diagonally with your own hands, you need to study the step-by-step instructions first. From it you can learn that direct blows to the dies with a hammer are prohibited. To connect the elements, it is necessary to apply a wooden block to the end. Otherwise, the locks may be damaged.
Cutting the material should be done with high quality, which is especially true for hard-to-reach places. This will ensure an even fit.products. The stage of mounting the substrate should not be neglected, otherwise the coating will sag under loads, making sounds. This will certainly cause rapid wear of the lamellas.
After completion of work, it is better to leave the coating for a day, without exposing it to stress. Then you can start screwing the baseboard and installing furniture. If there is high humidity in the room, then the old wooden floor cannot be used as a rough coating. Over time, it will collapse, which will cause the material to deform.
In conclusion
Laminate is a modern floor covering that can look like solid wood. Inexperienced craftsmen usually trust its installation to specialists. If you are not one of them, then you should remember that at the recommended 45 ° tilt angle, cropping will be standard. This will result in less waste. If you make the deviation larger, then the floors will look ugly. The connection of individual dies is carried out at an angle of 45 °. The slats then lower and snap into place.
The described technology takes more effort and time than traditional styling. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to entrust the matter to specialists. But if everything is done correctly, then the room will have a more spacious look, which is important for cramped spaces. By laying the cover diagonally, the space will look lighter and freer, which is especially true for those rooms where the window is not in the center.
