When the question arises about choosing a floor covering for a country house, many people think about buying laminate. It really has quite a lot of advantages: it is durable and wear-resistant, not so much afraid of moisture as natural wood, in addition, manufacturers offer a huge selection of colors and textures that imitate everything that your heart desires, from boards and parquet to tiles and stone.
In this publication, we will talk about how to lay laminate flooring yourself, without resorting to the help of professional builders.
First of all, keep in mind that the laminate needs to adapt to the temperature and humidity of the room. Prepare the room for work and fold the laminate in a horizontal position 48 hours before the flooring.
Laying boards
After preparing the black floor and laying the substrate, start working from one of the corners on a long straight wall.
1. Place the first board parallel to the wall and insert the spacers between it and the baseboard or wall. The short ridge should be directed towards the wall.
2. Holding the second board at an angle of about 30° to the floor, bring the end under the end of the first board and press to connect the boards into the lock.
Continue this way to the opposite wall, where you may have to cut the board to fit.
3. Measure the distance from the previous board to the wall, making an adjustment for the deformation gap. Mark the cut line on the insertion board with a square.
4. Cut the board to size and join it into a lock, finishing the row. If necessary, hook the cut end of the board with the mounting hook and apply a few strokes to the other end of the hook to tighten all the end gaps of the row of boards.
Again, start at the far end by placing the board cut you just made along the first row-this will automatically arrange the joints of the boards in the adjacent rows in a random order.
5. Continue to join the boards with the ends, as with the first row, and when the row is finished, feed it to the first row at an angle of 30° to connect the edges of the two rows to the lock.
6. You may need an assistant to connect the edges of the long rows. Continue to fill the room and at the far wall, cut the boards lengthwise. Fill in the gap with the mounting hook.
Nail or glue the layout to the baseboard to mask the deformation gap.
Tools
When laying laminate flooring, you will need a mounting hook (sold in the same place as the floor coverings) and a hammer or mallet.
Remote spacers will help to ensure uniform gaps around the entire perimeter of the room.
Cutting under pipes
Measure and mark the position of the pipe coming out of the floor. Drill a hole slightly larger than the pipe diameter and cut an expanding section out of the laminate to allow the pipe to pass through.
Lay the board and glue the cut-out trapezoidal section to the back of the pipe. You can purchase color-matching plugs that surround the pipe and cover the drilled hole.
Fit to the door
When you reach the doorway, use the trim of the laminate board for cutting with a hacksaw with small teeth at the bottom of the door frame. The coating will fit neatly under the box when you cut the boards to the desired shape.
Place a suitable sill plate across the opening to cover the edge of the laminate.