Waterproof laminate for kitchen: installation instructions

The floor, laid with a laminate, always looks beautiful, spectacular, stylish and cozy. Many are accustomed to using this type of coverage in living rooms: bedrooms, halls, halls and living rooms. But fortunately, such a material can decorate even rooms with high humidity, for example, a kitchen or a bathroom. In such a case it is necessary to use a waterproof laminate.

Why use a laminate in the kitchen

Even ordinary laminate flooring is less susceptible to the destructive effect of moisture than a parquet or a massive board. The reason for this - a lower content of wood in the composition of the material. With regard to waterproof laminate, the process of its production is designed in such a way that the finished products have good water-repellent properties, which is why this material is excellent for use in kitchens and bathrooms.

Of course, the floor in the kitchen does not necessarily have a laminate, you can use linoleum or tile. But, nevertheless, waterproof laminate for the kitchen has a number of advantages over its counterparts:

1. Decorability of the material is considered one of its main advantages. Laminate always looks stylish, beautiful and attractive. Such a coating imitates real wood, and it is often difficult to distinguish imitation from the original. This floor fits perfectly in almost any interior, regardless of its stylistic design. In addition, the laminate, imitating noble wood, looks luxurious and expensive.
2. The price of water-resistant laminate is lower than the cost of ceramic tiles.
3. It is not difficult to cover the floor with such material, even if you are new to this business and have never faced such a job before.
4. If, for any reason, it becomes necessary to replace part of the coating or to remove it entirely, then it will not be difficult to dismantle the laminate in a short time. But to remove from the floor ceramic tiles will be much more difficult and longer.
5. The waterproof laminate of 32 and 33 classes is very durable, its service life reaches 25 years.

Types and characteristics of

The modern laminate is made of HDF-boards, which contain resins that glue all components together. The resin, as a water repellent, does not allow water and damp to penetrate the interior of the material, but the wood structure assumes the existence of so-called bridges, through which a certain percentage of moisture still falls into the slabs. These bridges of wood fibers can often be seen on the ends of individual elements, where the locks are located. It is worth noting that the more complex and intricate the structure of the castle, the more water can get inside the laminate.

A total of 3 main types of laminate are distinguished:

1. A material made from standard HDF panels with a density of 900 kg / m3.This type of coating can withstand a 3-hour exposure to water, without deforming.
2. Laminate produced from HDF panels with an increased resin content is more reliable as it is able to withstand the 6-hour exposure to water. After drying of such material, it does not form blisters or other damage. As a rule, manufacturers put a mark of "aqua" on such products, which indicates that the laminate is moisture resistant.
3. The most resistant to moisture is a plastic laminate made of polyvinyl chloride. Due to the fact that among the components of the material there is no wood at all, such a laminate is absolutely not subject to negative effects of moisture and water.

Waterproof laminate, made of wood materials, protects against dampness in such ways:

• is applied to the surface of the boards with a resin layer;
• impregnates products with resin compositions;
• provide the laminate with a reliable bottom layer, which also contains an increased amount of resins;
• ends and locks of products impregnate with substances based on wax or paraffin.

Differences of waterproof and moisture resistant

laminates Many people think that the same type of material is called waterproof and moisture resistant, but these concepts have some differences. Let's consider in detail what the moisture-resistant laminate is:

1. This kind of material is made from HDF-plate. Looking at the end of the laminate, the slab can be seen with the naked eye for a characteristic green hue.
2. Locks on a moisture-resistant laminate are covered with a layer of wax or paraffin, which helps protect the most vulnerable places of wood from water and moisture.
3. In production, the material is treated with special antibacterial compounds so that fungi and mold do not develop on the floor.
4. Moisture-proof laminate is designed to withstand high humidity, but here it is not able to withstand direct water for a long time. This kind of material is suitable for use in the kitchen, but it is undesirable to use it as a bathroom floor covering.

The water resistant material features such features:

1. It is made of plates that are manufactured by pressing wood under high pressure.
2. Like the previous kind of material, the structure of the waterproof laminate includes several layers, but in this case all the ends and joints are further sealed with molten wax.
3. A special polymer layer is applied to the surface of the water-resistant material, which not only protects the plates from water, but also prevents scratching. With such a coating, you can be sure that moisture does not get inside due to any physical damage to the laminate.

Important: when purchasing a waterproof laminate, carefully inspect the locks on the ends of the products. Qualitative impregnation with wax makes them shine and look as if they are wet. If you scratch the shiny surface with your fingernail, nothing will happen to it, and it will stay the same. If the wax remains under the nails, it means that the material is of poor quality and should not be bought.

Features of the choice of waterproof laminate

Fortunately, the modern market of building materials offers buyers a wide range of diverse products. The same applies to laminate. Due to the variety of textures, colors, shades, drawings and images, everyone will be able to pick up items to their liking, realizing design ideas and writing such a cover in any style of the interior.

When choosing a water-resistant laminate, you should pay attention to some of the features:

1. Before you buy a water-resistant laminate, you need to learn about the manufacturers who represent their products on the market. It is desirable to give preference to brands that have proven themselves among consumers. A waterproof laminate produced in Germany is considered to be high-quality and reliable: "Egger", "Kronotex", "Tarkett" and others.
2. Picking up the material, pay attention to its top coating - it must have good wear resistance, then the laminate will last you for many years.
3. Laminate does not always look like a wooden board, sometimes its texture mimics tile. If you decide to give preference to this type of material, then it should be noted some of its features. First, the laminate with imitation under the tile has a non-standard size and shape. It is presented in the form of tiles with sides 40x40 cm and 120x40 cm. This laminate also has a glossy surface.
4. There are 6 classes of water-resistant laminate, which is used to cover the floor in residential areas. You need to buy the material for reasons of which rooms you are going to use it. The class of the laminate is indicated on the package with the goods.
5. The factory packaging should also contain information on the maximum permissible loads that can withstand a particular coating.
6. The service life of the material is also of great importance.

Important: Before buying a product, please specify if the seller has quality certificates for the products that he sells. Most often in specialized shops or pavilions with building materials sellers are ready to provide all the necessary documents.

Waterproof laminate of 12 mm thick is suitable for use in the kitchen. This coating can withstand heavy physical exertion and can last several decades. Laminate class 32 and 33 is very high quality, so many manufacturers provide a lifetime warranty for such products. The only condition is that the use of such a laminate is only necessary in living quarters.

Buying a waterproof laminate, you need to take into account some points:

1. Even the best quality coating can deteriorate from time or various influences for which it is not calculated. Therefore, you need to buy products with a small margin, which will be about 15% of the total amount of material. In case of damage to individual fragments, they can be replaced.
2. When installing a laminate, do not use a cork as a substrate, it is better to give preference to PVC materials. Cork, like wood, absorbs moisture well, subsequently evaporating it into the external environment.
3. The thickness of the substrate when laying the laminate should be approximately 3 mm.
4. All joints between individual elements must be carefully sealed. As a sealant, you can use silicone compounds, which fill the gap when installing windows, because these materials have an acceptable cost and good quality.

Laying the laminate with your own hands

Preparatory work for

All construction and repair work begins with the preparatory phase. When laying the laminate preparation requires thorough inspection of the floor, during the inspection should determine the quality and strength of the coating, as well as the presence of level differences. The wooden floor must be sanded with a special machine that will help smooth out any irregularities. If there are too large gaps between the individual boards, they should be eliminated. It happens that the plank floor is in a very unsatisfactory state, in this case it is best to lay plywood sheets on it.

The preparation of the concrete floor is quicker and easier. To flatten the plane and eliminate all the shortcomings, you just need to make a screed of cement, latex or silicone solution.

Laying the substrate for waterproof laminate

The substrate is a necessary layer between the floor and the laminate. Its value is determined by several functions:

1. With the help of a substrate it is possible to hide minor drawbacks of the base coating: minor level changes, small depressions, cracks, protrusions.
2. The substrate performs a cushioning function, making the walking on the laminate soft and comfortable.
3. This layer is also noise-absorbing.
4. The synthetic substrate is waterproof and has vapor barrier properties.

In the construction market, you can find several types of substrate: synthetic, cork, as well as a cork substrate with rubber filling. As it was said earlier, it is recommended to use synthetic materials when laying a water-resistant laminate, since in premises with a constantly high level of humidity there is a risk of penetration of dampness under the laminate. Cork, in contrast to PVC, is prone to absorb water, which does not have the best effect on the longevity of the coating.

The substrate is usually sold in rolls. The process of laying it is not difficult, the roll needs to be rolled up to a suitable length and cut off the necessary fragment. Lay the substrate better overlap, adjacent sheets of material should overlap each other by 5-10 cm.

Laying of waterproof laminate

The lamination process also does not require any special skills or skills. First, you need to decide in which direction the individual elements will be located: along the room, across the room or diagonally. Those who are engaged in such work for the first time, it is better to stop on the first option and lay the laminate along the room. This laying is easier and faster, and the joints between the individual fragments are not so noticeable in daylight.

We describe the process of laying the laminate step by step:

1. To begin with, on the perimeter of the room you need to install spacer wedges, they are located on the walls, guided by the level of laying the laminate. Wedges are small in size wooden or plastic products, with which a gap of 8-10 mm is created between the wall and the laminate. Since the temperature difference in the room will increase or narrow the floor covering, such a gap will give the material additional space.
2. It is better to lay the laminate from the corner of the room. To begin with, two panels of the first row are mounted on the floor, after which the second row is laid. In the process of work, the fragments of the laminate are installed in such a way that they resemble the appearance of a brickwork. This is necessary to ensure that future loads are evenly distributed throughout the area of ​​the room.
3. The first fragment of the second row is half the one-piece panel. After it is installed next to the second panel, which does not need to be cut into 2 parts.
4. Similarly, the whole floor is covered with a waterproof laminate. All elements are fastened together with locks. There are 2 types of similar systems: Lock and Click. In the Lock system, the panels are connected in a horizontal plane. In the second case, the elements are inserted into each other at an angle of 30-45 °, and after lowering the detail one can hear a characteristic click.
5. When laying the last elements can be difficult, so when installing the laminate near the wall it will be convenient to use a clamp. One end of the clamp is placed on the edge of the laminate, and the second one should be slightly punched with a hammer.

Laminate waterproof, photo:

Step-by-step laying of laminate.

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