What is a laminate, almost everyone knows. However, it is important to know the answers to all questions related to it, because there are quite a lot of them. When deciding the question "how to lay a laminate yourself" you should first determine the amount of material. To do this, determine what will be the surface area on which it will lie. When buying a laminate, it is important to consider that in the process of work there will inevitably be waste, which makes up 2-4% of the entire floor area. But that's not all.
When deciding how to lay a laminate yourself, you need to decide on the installation method. There are three options: transverse, longitudinal and diagonal. The latter option may cause an increase in the amount of waste up to 15-20%, which is not always appropriate. Everyone should decide for himself which method to choose, since each of them has advantages and disadvantages. The most common is the laying method perpendicular to the wall on which the window is located. This method minimizes waste and also makes seams lessconspicuous.
If we talk about how to lay a laminate yourself, then we can say that this is not so difficult to do. There are simply a number of rules that should be followed, which will allow you to get a beautiful coating that can last as long as possible. First of all, it is necessary to maintain a sufficient gap between the door and the future floor. The subfloor must be firm, clean, dry and level. Let's allow a difference of no more than three millimeters per square meter. Only in this case, you can count on a sufficiently long service life of the coating, eliminate creaking, arching and deflection. If the floors meet such requirements, then the question is: "How to lay the laminate yourself?" - won't be too hard to solve. The best base is concrete.
If the floors in your home are heated, then you should choose a laminate that has the property of heat resistance - this can be determined by a special icon on the package. If the coating is likely to get wet, a vapor barrier should be laid from below. If we talk about what to lay under the laminate, then it is appropriate to say about the substrate used when it is impossible to eliminate some irregularities. It will also serve as soundproofing.
There are special types of substrates, as well as ready-made laminate with a substrate. You can use polyethylene foam, cork, polystyrene foam and other materials. The thickness of any kind of substrate should not exceed 2-3 mm. With a greater thickness, the connectinglocks.
The laminate is laid in rows so that the length of the last plate in the row is not less than 20 centimeters. Otherwise, shorten the first plate. The laminate is sawn along the front side using a tool with fine teeth. Each package contains instructions for assembling floors from this material, so there should be no problems. When assembling the first row, special wedges should be installed between the coating and the wall. The second and subsequent rows should be fixed with their help. After the entire floor has been laid, skirting boards and thresholds can be installed.
To maintain the appearance of the coating, place felt pads under the legs of furniture.
