Acquaintance with the coating or where to start laying the laminate?
As a floor covering, laminate has long won a stable position in the construction market around the world. Russia is no exception, where he confidently pressed back the once-so-popular linoleum. In comparison with the latter, the laminate has several significant advantages: ease of laying and ease of maintenance, environmental friendliness and attractive appearance.
Quality coating is not afraid of scratches and loads, does not form dents from furniture and heels. Truly limitless are the decor options: marble, wood, stone and tiles. And it's quite amazing the variety of color shades.
Laminate consists of several layers. Stabilizing underlayer is designed to increase rigidity and protect against deformation. The carrier layer is made of HDF - high-density fibreboard. It is in it is cut the lock to fasten the boards with each other, and it depends on it moisture resistance.
The next layer is a paper with a corresponding pattern, and it plays the role of decorative design. And, finally, the top coating of melamine or acrylic resin is designed to protect the boards from abrasion and shock loads. Depreciation depends on it, four classes of which are labeled as follows: class 21 and class 23 for home use, and classes 31 and 34 for commercial use.
Preparing for laying a laminate - studying the object for the work of
When choosing a laminate, you should pay attention to a few basic parameters that will later prove to be decisive. First of all, it's water resistance. When moisture enters the seams, the entire coating is irreparably damaged - the boards are deformed and are not repairable.
To avoid this, you should purchase a waterproof version or carefully handle the joints with a water-repellent adhesive.
The second thing you should pay attention to is noise insulation. On sale there were several types of laminate with a glued soundproof substrate. If it is not there, before laying the screed must be lined with special material.
It is also necessary to determine and fix the boards - it can be lock or glue. Lockable connection is reusable and allows replacing boards in case of their deformation. And one more thing to remember when choosing a laminate is that only grades of material that are appropriately marked are suitable for the installation of a warm floor.
How to make a screed under a laminate - proceed to the preparation of the
base The laminate is extremely sensitive to the quality of the substrate that it covers. All kinds of protrusions and distortions create conditions for damage to the joints. From here it becomes clear where to begin laying the laminate - with careful preparation of the concrete surface.
For its alignment, is made for the laminate, and the most reliable option is to recognize a leveling mass - a self-leveling mixture. Before the beginning of the work, general cleaning is carried out, as dust and dirt prevent the quality mix of the construction mixture with concrete. It is highly desirable to prepare the surface to be vacuum-cleaned.
After that, you can start small repairs - glue for tiles to repair small chips and cracks. And although the floor screed under the laminate and itself would have handled this task, it is better to perform this repair separately. After the floor has been repaired, it should be treated with a deep penetration primer.
Further preparation for laying the laminate reduces to pouring the floor with a self-leveling screed, for which the mixture is poured onto the floor and spreads spread over the floor to accelerate spreading. For final alignment, there is a special roller with spikes, which rolls the leveling mass lying on the floor to the formation of a perfectly flat and smooth surface.