Fitting Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring is a low maintenance, modern and affordable choice for homes, and comes in many different tones and wood effects to suit all kinds of styles, from traditional country cottage through to ultra chic city apartment.
Preparation
Laminate flooring needs to be fitted onto a solid, level base, ideally concrete, so before you start fitting the boards make sure you fill in any holes or cracks in the floor with mortar, or if the floor is in very bad condition you may need to skim over completely with a self levelling compound (screed). Always allow any repair work to dry completely (at least 24 hours), then cover with a damp proof membrane to protect the laminate boards from any moisture coming up through the concrete floor.
If you already have wooden or chipboard flooring, and this is in good condition then you can laminate straight over the top, just ensure that all the boards are well screwed down with the nail heads sitting below the surface. Then cover over with hardboard sheets to form an even surface, staggering the joints and fixing at regular intervals with panel pins.
Always take the laminate flooring out of its packaging and place in the room it is to be laid in for at least 24 hours, as this ensures the boards have acclimatised to the natural humidity levels before they are fitted.
To ensure laminate flooring is laid neatly at the edges of the room, take off any inward hanging doors and the skirting boards before you start, or you could uses timber mouldings to hide the new laminate edgings.
Maintenance
Although laminate flooring does have a very tough, hard wearing lacquer finish it can be chipped and scratch by grit and dirt brought in from outside, so make sure you have adequate doormats in the entrance areas, and brush the floors regularly to pick up any loose dirt. You can buy special laminate cleaning sprays, and these help to keep the flooring clean and nicely polished, and also in good condition.
Laminate flooring can swell up if exposed to continuous moisture and so is not recommended for bathrooms or conservatories/utility rooms that have damp problems.
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4 Responses
Laminate floors is beautiful for a person who loves natives house.The wood effects could be easy to find some furniture that will match for your ideal home.
Laminate flooring is a seemingly wonderful option, but there are alternative material options as well.
Solid advise. Laminate flooring is easier to fit compared to most other types of floors, more so for those of us fitting it DIY style. Hardwood and carpers have other benefits, but when it comes to ease of fitting, you’re spot on. Thanks!
I absolutely love my laminate floors. When I recently remodeled my home, I replaced all my carpeted areas with laminate. This has helped tremendously with my algeries also!