How To Prepare The Floor For Laying Laminate

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 22:24

Need
Tool selection
Selection of preparation option
Getting rid of the old coating
Create a flat concrete floor
Wooden base
Application of DSP boards
Underfloor heating
Tips for Beginners

When choosing a laminate as a floor covering, one should remember that it requires serious interventions to prepare the floor. Requirements are made regardless of what the basis is. The main thing is that they are observed. This will allow the laminate to last longer.

Need

It is easy to prepare floors for laminate with your own hands, despite the fact that the flooring is one of the whimsical types. It all starts with the base where the laying will be done. Any cracks, cracks, irregularities that appear during operation will lead to the appearance of negative qualities in the form of squeaks, as well as damage to the laminate itself.

When stepping on areas of the floor with unevenness, the locking joints are the first to suffer. A serious load falls on them, with which over time they will not be able to cope. In addition, areas of the flooring will begin to show cracks on the surface and also swell as they rise. It is possible to make a floor under a laminate with your own hands.

From the inside, as well as from the outside, increased moisture also affects the laminate. It can get to the flooring from the side of the poured screed or when it is poorly prepared. Water comes out through cracks, crevices, getting to the laminate. Rotten boards will have a similar negative effect if they are not removed in time during the preparation of the floor for the laminate.

When information about the most common causes of damage to laminate flooring has been obtained, immediate action should be taken to identify and eliminate them. This will significantly increase the operational life of the laminate.

Tool selection

When the decision is made to prepare the floor for the laminate flooring, you should think about buying the necessary material for the job. This will allow you in the future not to waste time on shopping and be distracted from the process of leveling the base.

If you use plywood in your work, a jigsaw is perfect for cutting it, especially if it's electric.

It is possible to mark out, as well as to clarify the presence of drops on the floor surface using the building level. In some cases, a laser level is also purchased, which can provide more accurate measurement results.

When mixing the solution, a drill is used together with a special mixer attachment. Performing such actions with your hands without a tool will increase the period for preparing the floor for the laminate, and will not always create a high-quality solution. The lumps that appear will negatively affect the condition of the floor. In the future, a rule is suitable for distributing the solution over the entire area in the room. Its length will depend not only on the width of the room, but also on the possibly installed beacons. A miniature version of the rule is a spatula. It will be a great helper in certain areas of the room, such as in corners and around decorative elements.

In the case of pouring self-leveling mixtures, you cannot do without a special roller with needles. It is intended to eliminate air bubbles that have appeared on the surface. In addition, the list includes another tool, the quantity and quality of which will fully depend on the circumstances of the repair of the subfloor.

Selection of preparation option

Difficulties can always arise, especially if the work is done for the first time. This is due not only to a qualitative assessment of the condition of the floor prepared for laminate flooring. In this case, the distance from the ceiling to the floor will also have an effect, in order to establish the possibility of pouring a screed of an appropriate thickness.

The budget allocated for the repair work, as well as the time frame in which you will have to meet, will also play a huge role. The chosen technology for preparing the floor for the laminate will, to some extent, depend on this.

In case of significant damage to the concrete floor, it will be necessary to fill not only the screed itself in a new design, but also an additional layer of self-leveling mixtures. The drying process in this case will be at least 4 weeks.

An alternative option to this is a dry screed or floor on logs. But here the height of the ceiling in the room where the laminate flooring will be made is taken into account. Instead of a lag, plywood is suitable for leveling, which can be done much faster and will not affect the height of the room. If it is difficult to decide on a work option yourself, it is better to seek help from specialists. They will certainly tell you the right option.

Getting rid of the old coating

It is almost always worth considering removing the old floor covering. This applies not only to the floor version, but also to the concrete screed, wooden base. Even in the case of a flat floor and a visual absence of errors, no one knows what is inside. This is especially important for wood, when mold or mildew may appear on it.

In this case, it is important not to damage possibly laid communications under the floor, as well as electrical wiring. The old screed is removed with a hammer drill. The main thing is that there are no voids in the base and significant differences in height.

As for the wooden base, it is easier here to rebuild it completely on a new one. It is not a fact that the old surface is capable of serving for a long time. After all, the laminate is usually laid several years in advance. Qualitatively carried out work to assess the condition of the subfloor in the room will allow you not to think about repairing the laminate in the future.

Create a flat concrete floor

It is important to understand and know how to prepare the floor for a laminate if the base is made of concrete.

There may be times when the concrete screed on the floor does not pose any threat to the subsequent laying of the laminate. In this case, the surface is cleaned of debris, primed and prepared for flooring. But everything is not always so smooth.

Even minor differences in floor heights will lead to the need for high-quality preparation for laying the laminate. Sometimes you can just get by with self-leveling mixtures poured to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Otherwise, concrete mortar will allow to smooth out all irregularities.

The solution can be prepared independently. For this, all components are taken in strict accordance with the proportions. A simpler option is to buy ready-made mixtures, where it is enough to add the required amount of water. But even in such a situation, the proportions carried out will play a role in the quality of the fill.

Prepare the base before pouring the screed. Cracks and potholes, crevices are filled with prepared mortar. After it dries, it is treated with a primer. The screed pouring rules are no different from the classic design. It is only necessary to distribute the solution over the entire area with a spatula.

When the concrete screed dries, the surface is not yet ready for laminate flooring. After all, it is difficult to create a really even base with such a solution. To achieve this result, you will have to use leveling compounds presented in the assortment in hardware stores. It is poured on the highest part of the room, after which it is evenly distributed with a spatula. Special efforts are not required and you can do without the device of beacons. In this form, after it has completely dried, you can start laying the laminate.

Wooden base

How to prepare a laminate floor if the surface is made of wood?

In the presence of slight differences in the level of the wooden floor in the room, you can choose a substrate for the laminate and lay the flooring itself. But it is important to assess the condition.

When rotten boards are present, as well as damaged ones, they should be replaced with new ones. Squeaks and movements of individual elements must not be allowed. All this will subsequently play a role in the quality and durability of the laminate.

Sticking boards are hammered harder or twisted with self-tapping screws. All sections are fixed so that there is no creaking at all. After that, it will not be superfluous to treat the wood with special protective compounds. They will allow her to maintain her qualities for a long period.

Next, the plywood is fastened over the entire area in the room. Plywood is purchased in the required quantity and pre-cut into the required fragments. They are evenly distributed before laying with a gap of a few millimeters set.

All possible gaps on the wooden floor are sealed with a special compound before laying the laminate. Additionally, grinding is performed. In this version, the preparation of the floor for the laminate will contribute to the high-quality laying of the coating on the substrate option.

Application of DSP boards

As an independent leveling of the subfloor, you can use the option with cement-bonded particleboards (DSP). Initially, construction boards are laid. Here, an excellent assistant will be the level at which all the work will be performed. Additionally, a plywood sheet is laid under the entire structure throughout the entire area of the room.

The “pie” is fastened with self-tapping screws. They better show all the qualities of reliability during operation. On top of this structure, DSPs are distributed, which are pre-cut to the required dimensions. When fixing DSP sheets with self-tapping screws, it will not be superfluous to check the level of the plane and, if necessary, make adjustments.

Underfloor heating

Recently, more and more often there is a desire among the performers of work on laying the floor covering, to pre-install the warm floor. It is very important here that the calculations are correctly carried out during its device. The specificity of the preparation of the floor for laying the laminate and its high-quality leveling also stands out.

The technology for making a warm floor for a laminate depends on the option - water or electric. In this case, the purchased materials must be intended specifically for the heating system. To do this, there must be a corresponding mark on the packaging from under the floor covering. The class of the laminate will affect the subsequent period of operation. The higher the class, the more time it can serve, even taking into account the heating of the room from the base of the floor.

Tips for Beginners

When carrying out work on leveling the floor under the laminate flooring, you should adhere to some recommendations from specialists:

The concrete floor can be made slightly warmer. To do this, fasten the plywood sheets over the screed with dowel-nails.
Pipes and wiring can be placed under the laminate. Initially, these areas are marked on the floor, and then on plywood sheets, if any. This will avoid damaging them when attaching the floor elements. This is especially important when choosing a heating option with a warm floor system.
When distributing plywood sheets on the floor under the laminate flooring, a gap of 3-5 mm is left between each of the elements. This will prevent them from being damaged during expansion due to high humidity inside the room.
When a self-leveling mixture is used in laying floors under a laminate, the surface is primed in several layers before pouring it. Such measures will not allow the mixture itself to flow to the lower floors.

Strict adherence to the leveling technology, depending on the option chosen, will allow you to get a really high-quality surface after laminate flooring. Compliance with all points in preparation is a guarantee of increasing the operational period not only of the floor covering, but also of the entire "pie" of the floor. Any subtleties and advice will allow you to get answers on how to prepare the floor for laying laminate in the shortest possible time and with less financial costs.

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