Laminate is a modern floor covering. This material is often chosen for finishing the floor in an apartment or house. In terms of popularity, the laminate loses only to linoleum. Now you can find a lot of varieties of laminate. But today we will not talk about choosing a laminate. What tool is needed to install it? The work is simple, but requires preliminary preparation. If all the tools are at hand, the process will go much faster.
Features of work
This is not to say that laying laminate is something very difficult. No, it is not, especially if you already have experience in this matter. The main point in such work is strict adherence to technology and a good tool. In this case, you do not need to invent anything, because everything has already been invented before you, carefully checked and approved. Lay laminateexactly as recommended by experts and instructions.
Saving on tools can lead to poor quality work or material damage. Consider this fact when you plan to abandon some tool in order not to spend extra money.
Please also note that laying laminate flooring may vary depending on the type of material itself and the type of panel fixing locks.
Consumables
In addition to the tool, certain consumable building materials will be required. With them, the process of laying laminate flooring is more convenient and faster, and maybe even more correct. Here is a list of the main consumables:
- Special film for floor waterproofing.
- A skein (one or more) of masking paper tape.
- Usual wide adhesive tape (2-3 pcs.) for gluing the joints of the substrate under the laminate.
- The substrate itself for the laminate (there are many types, choose depending on the technical characteristics of the room, financial capabilities).
- Sealant and a gun for it.
- Special floor compound (levelling).
Laminate installation tool
Your main tool will be a jigsaw, it is advisable to take a model with a power of at least 500 W and from a well-known manufacturer from the middle price category. In general, a jigsaw is not a very expensive tool, in this case you can spend money on it, if possible. In addition to the jigsaw, you will also need other tools, amongthem:
- Hacksaw. You will need it if you do not use a jigsaw.
- Kyanka for knocking lamellas.
- Roulette. Five meters will do.
- Stationery knife (sharp). Needed for cutting the substrate and other small work.
- A simple pencil or marker. It is better to take with a soft or medium hard lead. Laminate is marked with a pencil.
- Square for marking working materials (it is preferable to take a tool at least 30-40 cm in length).
- Protractor (regular, school) or goniometer. Useful for laying laminate diagonally.
- Drill or screwdriver. You will need it if you cover the floor with plywood sheets for laminate (it is more convenient to work with battery models).
These are basic general purpose tools. In addition to them, you will also need auxiliary highly specialized ones: feather drills, a clamp, restrictive wedges, a tamping bar. We have provided a complete list of laminate flooring installation tools. Some people do without one tool or another, but that's up to you to decide.
Clamp
This highly specialized tool is needed for laying the outermost laminate lamellas placed along the walls of the room. The tool is a kind of bracket. It is needed to align the extreme panels, which, in turn, contributes to an even distribution of the load over the coating. It is advisable to take clamps no thinner than 0.5 cm. If the tool is thinner, it will quickly become unusable.
Paddedbar
It's easy to understand from the name of the tool what it is for. A bar knocks out each panel. Using such a tool, you will not damage the locks. As a rule, a tamping block is not too expensive, so it is not worth skimping on it when buying a laminate tool. You will lose more time and money if, by refusing this bar, you damage the lock on the laminate panel.
A bar (tamped) is made of wood or plastic. Buy not the cheapest options, the weight of the bar should be within 1.4-1.6 kg. When knocking them out, always pay attention to the fact that its edge applied to the laminate is absolutely even. If any defects appear on the bar, then it must be urgently changed, otherwise this will damage the panels.
Pen drills
They are needed for precise and very accurate making holes for pipes of heating radiators, and also, possibly, for other pipelines of engineering systems. The diameter of the holes is drilled with a margin. The margin must be at least 5 mm. Everyone needs this tool, because a good set of these drills will come in handy more than once when doing other repairs.
Modern instruments
They are able to significantly facilitate your work and replace many other tools needed for laying laminate flooring. Let's take a closer look at these modern solutions. Some of them are quite expensive. However, you must remember that you are investing inquality. In addition, using them, save time and effort. It is worth thinking about buying such a tool when, for example, you plan to cover the entire apartment with laminate, and not just one room.
PVC Floor Board Cutter
The device silently saws the laminate and does not emit dust during such work. Such a machine replaces a hacksaw or an electric jigsaw. The cut line is always straight. The blade of the machine has a special structure. It is relatively inexpensive. Do you need such a tool for laying laminate flooring or not - decide for yourself.
Automatic square
This device will help you quickly, simply and accurately measure the angle between any adjacent walls, and you can transfer this result to the laminate panel without any problems. As a rule, the scale with degrees on such automatic squares starts at 30 degrees. Is this laminate laying tool a must? No. However, this is a very handy device that eliminates errors and simplifies the work.
Markup template
This tool will help you mark where you want to cut in the last row of laminate flooring. Completely optional equipment, but for the convenience of work, it will not hurt to have it available. Replaces the classic measuring tool. If we turn to the reviews, then this tool has a good rating and it is recommended to purchase it to perform this kind of work.
Contour curves and shapes
The device is designed for simple and quick marking of all necessary cutting lines on the laminate panel. The device helps in the matterprojection of complex geometric shapes and their further application on the lamellas of the material, for example, this is necessary for further figured cutting. Actual if you make some cutouts for decorative elements and so on. You can create interesting design solutions. This is obviously optional equipment, but can be very useful sometimes.
Buy or rent
Sometimes a do-it-yourself laminate laying tool is easier to rent than to buy. People who provide this tool for rent can be found on the ad on the relevant resources. Also, sometimes hardware stores rent out all the necessary tools for rent. Before deciding which is better, buying or renting, you need to clearly assess the amount of work and calculate the time required to complete it. Do not forget about a small margin, because unforeseen circumstances or difficulties may arise. Ultimately, you will decide for yourself which option is more profitable.
Also, if you are not completely sure that you will cope with the task, it may be worth entrusting the work of laying the laminate to professionals. At a minimum, you will be able to look at the whole process of work and gain the necessary experience in order to later independently carry out such work.
Summing up
Today we learned what tools are needed for laminate flooring when laying it. Of course, you yourself determine the need for each of them. Based on experience, we recommenddo not give up such specialized tools as a clamp and a tamping block. These are inexpensive devices that will greatly simplify your work. If your budget allows, then it is better not to refuse the above tool at all. If it is limited, then think carefully, perhaps some tools can be abandoned, replacing them with something else.
The main thing when laying laminate is the qualification of the worker and the observance of technology. And whether the person doing the work will have a basic set of tools for laying laminate, extended or complete, is not so important. The absence of this or that item may affect the speed, but should not affect the quality of the work.
For example, the result of sawing a laminate is not affected by the tool with which it was made. Observing the technology, you can do this with a hacksaw, a jigsaw or a special cutter. In this case, which tool for laying the laminate you choose will only affect the timing of the work.
Another point that is important. When answering the question of what kind of tool is needed for laying laminate flooring, we remind you that more expensive does not always mean better. Of course, you should not give preference to suspiciously cheap instruments of dubious origin. Try to choose an instrument of the middle price category, if possible.
