How to lay a laminate on your own?

A floor covering made using a laminate is considered quite beautiful and practical, and there are practically no special problems during installation. It is quite possible to carry out laying on your own, the main thing is to understand in detail how to lay the laminate on your own in order to get a high-quality result. In this article, we will consider step-by-step instructions, study the main stages of the implementation of these works, and familiarize ourselves with the recommendations of professionals.

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How to choose a laminate and calculate the right amount of material?

First you need to decide on the material. It all depends on where exactly you will be laying, in what conditions it will be operated.

For various purposes, materials of several classes are produced, which are indicated by indices from 31 to 33. In addition, laminate panels can differ in their overall dimensions, and more specifically in length and thickness. The texture and colors are also very diverse, and it is thanks to this that you can choose the material for the interior of any type.

Important! When buying, you must make sure that all material is from one batch, so that there are no differences in color.

To determine the right number of panels, you need to make a simple calculation. How to make? The laminate will cover the entire floor surface of the room, so you need to initially calculate its area, or rather, multiply the width and length of the room.

Important! When calculating, it is imperative to take into account in what specific way you will be laying, because the amount of material that needs to be added to the total number depends on it. For instance:

• to lay a laminate in a straight line, you need to add 5-7% of the material;
• if placed diagonally, then 10-14%.

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How to prepare the surface for laying the laminate?

To perform the preparatory work, you will need a plastic film, construction tape and material for a shock-absorbing substrate. This process consists of the following steps.

Assessment of the condition of the floor and laying of the substrate

If the laminate will be laid on a concrete coating, then:

1. It must be checked that it is durable - without pits, bumps, clean, even and dry.
2. Then a layer of waterproofing is laid on it. To do this, take dense polyethylene, fold it in two layers and lay across the direction of laying the laminate. The film is spread around the perimeter of the whole room with a 3-5 cm overlap on the walls.

Important! To make the coating more reliable, the sheets are overlapped to fasten the joints with tape.

Laying the substrate on the waterproofing layer

Used for this is extruded polystyrene, the thickness of which is 2-3 mm, or a cloth of natural cork.

Important! In principle, it is possible to lay a laminate on an old coating, for example, on linoleum. The main thing is that it be smooth, without swelling, tears and folds. The surface must be strictly horizontal.

Before laying it must be thoroughly washed and allowed to dry completely. And only after that, to protect the coating from moisture, a waterproofing layer is laid on it. Used for this polyethylene film with a polystyrene coating. Then the substrate is installed with a thickness of not more than 4 mm.

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How to lay laminate on your own?

Before laying laminate flooring yourself, buy in a store or check if you have such materials and tools at home:

• Laminate.
• Hammer.
• Roulette.
• Clamp.
• Wedges.
• Electric jigsaw.

Important! During installation, we must not forget that the laminate is not suitable for use in rooms with too high a humidity level. Before work, the material should be allowed to lie down a little unopened at room temperature for about two to three days.

After that, you can start laying, following the following recommendations:

• It is recommended to start installation perpendicular to the window opening from the far corner of the room. You must adhere to this rule in order to make the joints between panels invisible.
• The first two boards are laid by fastening with end faces along the wall. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the first board is necessarily whole, and the last in a row is adjusted to the size of the available tools.
• When laying the first two boards, it is necessary to install special wedges as a spacer that will provide a gap between the wall and panels of 1.5 cm. And these gaps are needed so that in the future the material does not rise and can expand and contract freely.

Important! To make it easier to snap the panels, it is better to mount them with a lock to themselves.

• The next row will begin with a board previously cut in half. Then the laminate is laid in a checkerboard pattern. As a result, a beautiful texture will form on the floor, and the foundation is resistant to heavy loads and reliable. In the second row, each panel is inserted into the groove of the panel from the previous row at an angle of 20 degrees and latches.
• The remaining rows are stacked by analogy. The last row near the wall is installed using a clamp. This tool makes it easy to connect panels to each other. To make the coating more durable and strong, it is necessary to coat the joints between the boards with special glue. To do this, glue is applied to the joints of the panels, and then they snap into place. In this position, they need to be held for several seconds.
• If there are any obstacles, such as pipes, on the installation path, then you can go around them using an electric jigsaw. Once the entire laminate has been laid, you can begin to mount the skirting board.

So we learned how to properly lay the laminate on our own without the involvement of professionals. As it turned out, this is very simple, the main thing is to follow the general rules for styling and be guided by the recommendations of specialists.

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How to care for the laminate?

If you want the floor covering made by you personally to last as long as possible and always look attractive and beautiful in appearance, you need to know how to properly care for it:

• If any damage appeared on the floor during installation, then they can be repaired with a putty of the same color.
• If there is linoleum under the laminate, then it must be protected from moisture. To do this, all joints must be periodically lubricated with a wax-based sealant.
• Be sure not to get water on the laminate.
• It is recommended to attach felt pads to furniture legs to protect the floor from scratches.
• Laminate flooring can be vacuumed and cleaned with a damp cloth. But in no case should you polish or clean with abrasive particles.

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Now you know how to make laminate floors with your own hands, how to properly care for them so that you can enjoy the result of your work for many years. We hope you managed to create an interesting flooring decor in your home, and now nothing prevents you from enjoying the comfort and coziness of your home.