How To Install A Laminate On A Concrete Base With Photo And Video Tips

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Choice of laminate
• Materials and tools
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Foundation preparation
• Substrate selection
• Installation process
• Skirting boards
• Tips from professionals

The most suitable base for indoor laminate flooring is concrete. But at the same time it requires the greatest preparatory efforts. This indicates that when choosing such a flooring, you should be aware of how to lay the laminate on the concrete floor. The sequence of all actions will lead to the creation of an exquisite interior and an excellent base option.

Choice of laminate

The initial steps are to visit a store to select a floor covering. The durability of the floor finish and its quality will depend on the quality of the material. Particular attention is paid to the lock connections. Laminate on a concrete floor can have two types of locks: "Click" and "Lock". Each of them has its own characteristics during installation.

There is also an option for installing a laminate on the floor using an adhesive. Each panel is connected to each other by pre-greasing the end sections with glue. But this option is chosen to a lesser extent, since in the presence of locks, the laminate can be dismantled without damaging individual elements and re-laid.

The choice should be made correctly for a particular room and the base of the floor in it. So in the case of a heated floor (water or electric), you must pay attention to the presence of the appropriate marking. After all, an ordinary laminate can withstand temperatures up to 27 degrees. A specific laminate not only has excellent heat transfer rates, but with constant heating and cooling, it does not lose its shape and quality.

Materials and tools

Laminate is not the only material to buy at the store. The substrate will also play a significant role, which simply cannot be dispensed with. It can be expensive and cheap. It all depends on the preferences of the artist.

All work is carried out with a specific list of tools, and not improvised means. Here you can make a kind of list:

• Pencils, tape measure and square will allow you to markup.
• All panels must be tightly connected to each other. A regular hammer with a wooden block will help to achieve this. It will be enough even 30 cm in length of this bar to knock out the laminate in certain places.
• Cutting the laminate up and down can be done with a conventional metal hacksaw. True, cutting will take a long time and with labor costs. It is best to buy a jigsaw, which will be useful in the future when carrying out repair work in the apartment.
• Clerical knife or scissors.
• At the end of the work, the skirting boards are fastened with a screwdriver or drill. You can of course screw them on yourself with a screwdriver, but this will also take a lot of time.

Among the consumables, it is worth mentioning only self-tapping screws with dowels, with the help of which the plinths, which have a large number of types, will be fastened, depending on the purpose.

Advantages and disadvantages

Immediately it is worth deciding what advantages a laminate flooring on a concrete surface can bring, and what difficulties you will have to face. The former include:

• Affordable cost compared to other flooring options.

  

• Simple and quick installation process. It is enough just to study the instructions from the manufacturer, which goes to the laminate, and you can start working. No specialists are required, since everything can be done on your own.
• Wear resistance, which manifests itself in the ability to withstand mechanical damage during operation.
• During the entire service life, the laminate practically does not change its original color.

• After installation, the laminate requires careful maintenance. But it will not be difficult for anyone to implement it. Especially if you choose specific laminate models that can repel dust, withstand the effects of various chemicals.

  

• The range is so huge that you can choose absolutely any option for the interior in the room. You can take an imitation of natural wood, with images in the form of nature, fruits, forests, etc.

As for the negative aspects, they are practically not typical for the laminate. The main thing is the fear of moisture. With constant exposure to water, the laminate begins to lose its quality, appearance, deforms and delaminates. In addition, a large number of chemical components are used in the production of this floor covering, which indicates that it is unnatural.

Foundation preparation

The most crucial stage in installing laminate flooring is to prepare the base for it. This must be done before the laminate is laid on the concrete floor. It should be taken with full responsibility and done with high quality so that the flooring remains in perfect condition during operation.

You can easily find out, without special means, how uneven the base is in the room. To do this, lay the rail on the floor, and put the building level on top. If a height difference of more than 2 mm is detected for every 2 meters in the room, it will be necessary to align. To do this, first remove all the debris from the surface, after which a layer of primer is applied for better adhesion of the solution. But to do this, you must first determine the highest point in the room, from which to make calculations, to determine the thickness of the fill layer.

There may be cases of significant surface damage in the room. Then you will also have to clean the base, embroider cracks and pits, potholes, and then fill the cement-sand mortar.

But even this will not be the final alignment option.

The maximum accuracy of the horizontal level will help to achieve a self-leveling mixture, which, after preparation, is evenly distributed over the entire surface. It dries up within 24 hours and gains the necessary strength.

You can start laying the laminate on the floor only when all the layers of the leveling are completely dry. Otherwise, high humidity will negatively affect the condition of the floor covering, which will no longer be able to serve for a long period.

Substrate selection

The high quality of the flooring itself will to some extent depend on the chosen substrate option. It can be made not only from natural but also synthetic components. The cork is natural, which is of high quality, but at the same time of considerable cost. It can be produced in sheets or rolls and have a thickness of 2 to 4 mm. Cork backing works well with cork laminates. The result is a structure with excellent sound and thermal insulation qualities.

For cork backing, the base should be aligned as accurately as possible. It is not always possible to achieve such a result in the initial performance. In addition, laying the laminate on a concrete floor is best done on a polyethylene film. In the future, it will be very convenient and easy to lay the laminate on the concrete floor.

We must not forget about the cheaper options for the substrate, made of artificial materials. Most often it is foamed polyethylene (Izolon), which can be purchased in two varieties - with or without a foil base.

Of course, the most effective is the foil base, which is laid out. It is used to a greater extent when creating a good insulation of the room. An excellent option is any kind of underfloor heating device.

Even lower cost differs "Polyform", which to some extent resembles "Izolon" in composition. All other substrate options are somewhat similar in appearance and content. One has only to choose a specific option to lay under the laminate in the room.

Installation process

When the above steps for installing the laminate are completed, you can proceed to its direct distribution over the surface. Previously, after the purchase, the flooring is brought into the room where the laminate will be laid on the concrete floor with your own hands, for about 2 days, so that it can get used to the atmosphere, humidity level and temperature indicators. This condition is mandatory for any performance.

The start of laying the laminate is on the left side, away from the room's natural light source. In this case, the joints will practically not be noticeable. All subsequent actions should be performed sequentially, according to the instructions for installing the laminate:

1. As a cushioning of the laminate from external influences, a substrate will act, which is laid on a prepared and leveled base. It should be installed in the direction of the laminate flooring.
2. The first row lies directly against the wall. A spacer wedge is placed between the wall and the panels, which maintains a distance of 10-15 mm. In the future, all this will not be noticeable, since it will be covered with a plinth. For a snug fit of the boards to each other, they should be knocked out with a hammer. But in no case should you hit the panels directly. For this, a wooden block is used. These actions must be carried out throughout the entire installation process of the floor covering.
3. The second row and the next one should be slightly offset in relation to the first (checkerboard). In this case, the most successful option is to place the beginning of the new board in the middle of the previously laid row. The cut off parts of the laminate do not need to be thrown away, as they can be useful when juxtaposed with walls and other possible decorative elements in the apartment. These actions lead to an even distribution of the load on the sub floor in the room. You can lay the laminate with your own hands on a concrete floor without the help of specialists.
4. Depending on the lock connection, the second row is assembled completely, or one panel is attached to the first one. If it is a “Click” type of lock, then the row should be positioned at an angle of 40-45 degrees and inserted into the grooves of the first row. After that, it will stop to lower the row of laminate down to a characteristic click. Everything is carried out in the same way until the very end.

5. The last row is characterized by width alignment. The distance between the wall and the rows of the laminate is measured, taking into account the gap of 10-15 mm, then the panel of the last row is cut off.

   

In some cases, it is necessary to create holes in the laminate to accommodate the pipeline. Initially, a cut line is applied, along which a cut is made using a jigsaw. In this case, a gap of 10 mm should also remain, which is subsequently sealed with special plastic plugs. All this suggests that even a novice performer should not have any special difficulties during editing. A selection of videos on working with laminate.

Skirting boards

Ultimately, laminate flooring should have an attractive appearance. For this purpose, skirting boards are used, which are exposed along the perimeter of the room along the walls. The initial steps are to screw the clamps to the wall. A step of about 50 cm is selected. It remains only to attach the skirting boards themselves and slightly press so that the locks click into place.

The final look of the skirting board is obtained when plastic plugs are put on at the corners, as well as at the junction of individual elements. They are simply inserted into the existing holes and fit snugly against them.

Tips from professionals

Experts say that the main emphasis should be on the surface preparation carried out before laying the laminate on the concrete floor. After all, the slightest errors in the foundation will negatively affect the condition of the laminate and the duration of its operational period. It is also better to align the alignment in two successive stages:

1. Coarse cement grout.
2. Fine leveling with self-leveling compounds.

If you immediately complete only the final finishing of the base, then the work will not bring any positive result. All floor defects will appear as soon as possible. The same applies only to the rough finish, when it will not be possible to create a perfectly flat surface. Details on laminate creaks and how to deal with them.

Each stage is important to each other. To get an answer on how to properly lay the laminate on a concrete floor, you must strictly follow the instructions from the manufacturer, observing certain requirements and rules. Only in this case the panel joints will remain intact, and the concrete surface will not have a negative effect on the floor covering. The article was written specifically for

Video:

Video:

Video:

Video: