When carrying out construction or repair work It is very important to follow the correct order of their implementation. Otherwise, you can damage or stain what has already been done. The wrong sequence of work can make it difficult to complete the next step. If you need to lay laminate flooring, hang interior doors and wallpaper the walls, in what order are these steps correct?
What comes first: doors or laminate? There is no consensus on this issue. Both options are possible. But the following conditions must be met:
After the dirty work is done, the sequence of installing the doors and laying the laminate can be any. It is necessary to proceed from the specific conditions at the repair site.
Option 1:
If the renovation is being done from scratch and the doors have not yet been hung, then it is more convenient to lay laminate flooring first. You will get a beautiful continuous coating.
The advantages of this option:
Disadvantages of this option:
If, when performing renovations from scratch, the doors are installed first, and then the laminate is laid. This option is optimal if the door has a threshold. In this case, first measure the thickness of the substrate purchased in advance for the laminate and the laminate itself. Add 2-3 mm to the resulting number so that the door does not put pressure on the laminate. The door is purchased taking into account these calculations. The lower ends of the door frame are shortened to the required length, after which the frame is installed in the opening. When laying the underlay and laminate, they are placed under the door frame pillar.
The advantages of this option:
Disadvantages of this option:
Option 3:
When renovating, the doors are already in place, you just need to replace the laminate. In this case, if the floor is fairly level, you can lay the laminate directly on it. Need to make sure that door leaf this allows, because the floor level, taking into account the thickness of the substrate and laminate, will increase by almost 1 cm. Otherwise, you will have to either remove the old floor covering or shorten the door leaf, or perhaps increase the height of the opening. In any case, with the door frame already installed, it is necessary to cut the bottom of its post to the required size and install the laminate there.
This is a rather labor-intensive option, but there are situations when it is the only possible one.
Regardless of which option is used, you need to make sure that all the dirty work is done in advance, so that your doors and laminate flooring will remain nice and clean.
Wallpapering walls and laying laminate flooring are carried out at final stage renovation work, when all other work, such as installing windows, electrical wiring, heating and ventilation systems, has already been done. This is necessary in order not to scratch or stain the wallpaper or floor. Actually, it is the possibility of spoiling the result of work already done that is the criterion for determining the sequence of their implementation. Before wallpapering the walls and laying the laminate on the floor, you need to do everything rough work. The walls need to be puttied, primed and plastered, if required. Prepare them so that all that remains is to paste the wallpaper. The floor also needs to be leveled, if it is necessary to putty and lay a backing under the laminate. In a room prepared in this way, laying laminate flooring and gluing wallpaper can be done in any order.
Based on the service life of wallpaper and laminate, it would be more logical to lay the laminate first, because it will last 10–12 years, and the wallpaper will have to be changed after 3–5 years. In this case, upon subsequent cosmetic repairs laminate will not interfere with wall renovation.
On the other side, building regulations After completing rough work, they require finishing from top to bottom, i.e. ceiling, walls, floor. There is an opinion that although gluing wallpaper on a wall is not a dirty operation, and the floor can be pre-covered, but high humidity and the adhesive vapors generated can negatively affect the laminate. Moreover, it is impossible to ventilate the room at this time, but, on the contrary, while the wallpaper is drying, all windows and doors must be closed.
In fact, it does not matter in what sequence these works will be carried out. The main thing is that they are performed correctly, using proven technology and following the instructions of the material manufacturers. And don’t forget to do all the dirty prep work in advance.
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The question of the order of work is constantly being discussed on the Internet - what comes first: laminate or doors? For people who do repairs themselves, this issue is very acute. The diversity of opinions is also surprising. Some say that you should first lay the laminate and only then install the doors, while others fundamentally disagree with them.
The secret is that there is no correct answer to this question, since you can achieve excellent result for any sequence of actions depending on specific situation. On the other hand, some options may be simpler and some more difficult, and you need to understand what the pros and cons of each of them are.
The most important thing is to complete all the rough work before laying the laminate and installing the doors. To determine the correct installation sequence, you need to understand the features of the laminate flooring and the structure of the door frame.
In most cases, when installing the covering, the floor level changes. The height difference can be significant - up to several centimeters. So, when laying laminate, the height of the floor will change by the thickness of the substrate and laminate. Despite the ease of installation of laminate, problems may arise related to adjusting the door to fit flooring.
As for the box and its structure, you need to understand what exactly can cause installation difficulties. Firstly, the size of the gaps. The fact is that there must be a gap between the floor covering and the canvas that will allow the door to open freely. The floor covering reduces the gap, which can cause difficulty opening doors and damage to the floor surface. In addition, the height of the box and trim plays a role. They must be adjusted to the height of the floor; they are difficult to cut after installation.
Having understood what factors influence the complexity of installing flooring and frames, you can draw conclusions about what to install first – laminate or interior doors.
If you decide to install the doors first and then lay the floor, you should follow the instructions below.
First of all, all rough work is completed (leveling the floor, arranging slopes, choosing a coating, determining the thickness of the substrate). Next, doors are purchased, taking into account the fact that the floor level will be raised slightly after its installation (you need to measure how much in advance). The main thing is that there is enough distance left to lay the flooring. It is better to leave a small margin of a few millimeters so that the door does not touch the floor.
It is important to take into account that the laminate is laid without fastening to the base. In this regard, the box is placed directly on the subfloor. The laminate is subsequently laid not continuously between rooms, but with separation - up to the threshold and from it.
The trim on the door is installed after the laminate has been laid. There are situations when the doors are already installed and a laminate floor needs to be installed. In this case, much will depend on whether the subfloor will be replaced, or the laminate will be laid on the old floor covering. According to instructions from manufacturers, for a significant number of types of coatings it is possible to lay the floor on various surfaces– tiles, boards, chipboard, fiberboard, linoleum, plywood. The main rule is that the surface must be flat.
To avoid unnecessary squeaks and noises, a substrate should be laid, which entails raising the floor level by 1 centimeter. In this case, you should determine in advance whether the door will touch the floor. If grazing cannot be avoided, there are two options left - either shorten the canvas or remove the old floor covering. The main thing is to ensure that the floor does not support the door frame. The gap should be such that the door can open freely. Extensions should also be filed down if they touch the floor (if any).
Advantages of the initial installation of doors followed by laying laminate:It must be taken into account that the laminate should go under the frame, but should not come close to the walls of the doorway. You should leave a certain gap of half a centimeter on each side.
The disadvantage is the great complexity of adjusting the door and floor covering.
The second group of people who advocate that it is necessary to lay the floor covering first and then install the door leaf, assume that the floor covering can be damaged during the installation of the door. In fact, you can avoid damage to the surface if you cover the floor with cardboard or other material that protects its surface. In addition, it is necessary to arrange the door slopes in advance by plastering them.
Door installation work is not that messy or complicated, so you don't have to worry about it too much. The floor covering is much easier to install if nothing interferes with the installation.
The door should only be installed before laying the floor if it comes with a threshold. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand the future location of the threshold and cut the laminate with proper accuracy. The advantage of the initial installation of the floor covering is that the box does not put pressure on the laminate, eliminating the risk of deformation of its surface.
Once the flooring is complete, you can more accurately measure the door opening and determine its dimensions for ordering the door. If the measurements are incorrect, the finished canvas is much more difficult to shorten (and in some cases it is completely impossible, for example, when the canvas is made of solid wood).
The cost of installing doors and floors will be lower if installers do not risk arbitrarily shortening the frame and do not try to “push” laminate flooring under it. In addition, to shorten the box you need special tool(hacksaw with offset handle).
The correct combination of laminate and doors can be seen in the photo - the gaps are perfectly even, the doors do not touch the floor.
When joining two various coatings, or various types laminate, you must remember the gaps between the laminate and the walls, which can be designed using a special profile.
Advantages of the initial installation of the floor, followed by the installation of doors:
The downside is the risk of damage to the floor covering.
So, each technology and sequence of actions has pros and cons. Everyone determines the correct sequence for themselves, but many experts argue that the most simple option will initially lay the floor, and then install the doors.
With this method, the work can be completed more accurately, especially if it is done by a non-professional. Most masters act this way. In the case when the doors are already installed, there is no need to dismantle them; you can use the tips given above and it will cope with the task perfectly.
In fact, the answer lies on the surface. Let's analyze the pros and cons of various options.
Advantages:
Laying speed.
There is no need to saw the door frame to the thickness of the coating. The gap technology is easily achieved by installing the door jamb on a lining of the required thickness, which is then removed.
There is no need to cut off the lock comb on the laminate when fitting it to the box. After all, the customer does not always choose a laminate with a lock that allows the boards to be assembled in a horizontal position, (for example, Uniclic), and removing the lock ridge, just in the most accessible place, is fraught with the formation of gaps.
All gaps at the junctions with the walls are visually visible.
After laying the floor covering, especially if it has large area, the room begins to look completely different from how you imagined it, so it remains possible to adjust the color of the doors.
Flaws:
It is difficult to decide where to install the threshold in the doorway. The threshold should be located strictly under the door leaf, clearly distinguishing between coverings of different colors.
It is difficult to calculate the gap for the currently used platband, which has different profiles and is only 6 to 12 mm thick. The rounded corners of the box itself and the platband can play a cruel joke, leaving an uncovered area. These problems are solved by removing the maximum layer of plaster or cutting down the wall in the area of the platband and maximizing the deepening of the lamella while maintaining only a minimum gap. The laminate board turns out to be slightly embedded in the wall.
It is worth noting here that more and more customers are refusing various types of door thresholds and prefer to lay laminate flooring in one sheet. Practice shows that high-quality laminate works quite well even in the absence of dividing thresholds between rooms.
A separate story - veneered plinth. The complexity of its installation, increased requirements for the evenness of the floor, walls and corners. Quite weak fastening systems imply its installation only once, in place, excluding various types of sawing by weight. Although, qualified door installers do not see this as a problem.
Otherwise, the installation of the plinth has to be done in two stages, first the main volume, and then the remainder after installing the door.
If different teams install doors and lay laminate flooring, then plastic skirting board, should be installed with outlet in doorway. Installing it on a separate (classic) plug and a self-tapping screw with a press washer. This way you make the baseboard easily removable. Further, any door installer is able to adjust the required length of the protruding part and install the plug.
It is highly undesirable to use widely used dowel nails for quick installation (pictured on the left), due to problems with quality dismantling. The problem is that the expanded segments on the dowel plug do not allow it to easily come out of the wall. The cork holds quite tightly, and you have to try hard to remove it. Cement dust on the floor and deformed baseboard are guaranteed. But a separate, ordinary plug and self-tapping screw will save you from these problems.
The only condition is to first drill the baseboard itself, then mark a hole through it on the wall. Next, drill a hole with a hammer drill, drive in the plug, and only then put the plinth in place. The point is not to drill a hole through the baseboard itself with a drill; the plug should be on the bottom. The speed is lower, but you can remove such a skirting board without any problems.
A heavy machine with rough legs or a small piece of fallen plaster on the installer’s shoes can do a lot of damage. Door installers do not always act as shown in the picture (slippers on their feet and pads for the legs of machines).
All of the above possible problems disappear, if the door frame, additional strips, and trim are on site, then you can accurately determine the gaps.
Advantages:
The possibility of damage to the coating when installing doors is eliminated; abrasive debris in the form of stones and cement dust is very dangerous.
Flaws:
The laying speed is sharply reduced.
The labor-intensive process of adjusting the covering to the box.
It is necessary to remove the door, which is sometimes impossible in old apartments due to incorrectly installed casing.
Hastily purchased and installed doors can lead to this result. The installer was warned that laminate flooring would be installed. As in this case, laying laminate flooring with an underlay became impossible. You will have to cut the door leaf, which is extremely difficult without the presence good tool and skill. Moreover, after these manipulations, the door may seem awkward, because trimming can reach two, five or even seven centimeters, which will upset the proportions and reduce the height of the doorway.
When carrying out renovations on your own, one of the most important questions is what to do initially - lay laminate flooring or install doors. As it turns out, there is no clear answer to this. One thing can be said: each method in capable hands will bring a positive result.
To carry out work in the repaired premises, choose one of two options:
Regardless of the method chosen, the rough work must be completed first.
These include the following:
First you need to carry out all the necessary measurements, depending on what work will be carried out and with what materials. Installing a new floor usually entails raising its level compared to the old floor covering. So, by choosing, for example, linoleum, this difficulty can be avoided due to the fact that it is thin, but in the case of laminate or parquet, care will not hurt.
Sami the panels are quite voluminous; when laying them, a substrate of its own thickness is also required. As for doors, there are also some nuances when choosing them:
Laying laminate before installing doors is an option that allows you to choose a door so that you don’t have to worry about whether it will fit or whether it will catch the flooring when opened or not. Do not forget that after laying the floor you will need to cover it with cardboard or film to prevent damage during further work. Preferring this option, floor repairs are done according to the standard procedure:
When performing the last point, do not forget about the gaps between the wall and the floor covering; they are subsequently covered with a plinth. Lay the laminate so that the deformation gap is 1 cm or more. At this stage, slopes and thresholds are installed.
Correct marking is also important. It is also necessary to carefully lay the laminate near the door, avoiding gaps that cannot be closed. To do this, the lamella must be marked so that it runs partially along the wall and partially along the threshold; the corners must be made as rounded as possible (a jigsaw can help with this). You also need to prepare the door frame by filing it to the required height for convenient installation of the future covering.
Repairs carried out in only one room may be complicated by difficulties in joining floor coverings in doorway. So, the easiest way to close the joint between tiles and laminate is with a regular aluminum threshold screwed with self-tapping screws, but there is also T-profile. It is more expensive and is usually made of solid wood; it is then attached with glue.
The joint between laminate and linoleum can be closed with rigid metal or wooden profiles if there is no strong drop in height or prefer a flexible PVC profile that can withstand a difference of up to 2 mm.
Choice this method allows you to choose not only right size door and door frame, but also the color of the door, matching the color of the floor, so that the interior is more harmonious. Modern materials for door decoration they allow you to find perfectly matching colors. For example, quite often now there is a coating called “laminatin” - this is a synthetic material in the form of a film on which the color and texture are clearly preserved. Due to the peculiarities of production, it is more durable, is not afraid of moisture, cold and does not change under the influence of temperatures.
Laying laminate after installing doors is done due to several factors:
Preliminary calculations and work, as in the first option, do not lose their significance. Many people choose a door, install it, without thinking about the fact that the floor height will increase, and in the future they have additional difficulties with their adjustment when laying the floor covering.
It is worth calculating the height of the laminate and substrate in advance and carry out the installation in accordance with them. The door frame is installed slightly above floor level, the hung door leaf is also adjusted in height taking into account the calculation results. After installing the doors, you need to take care of them by covering them with film or removing them until the work is completed.
Interior doors are available in versions with or without a threshold. Having chosen a door with a threshold, it is placed directly on the subfloor, and the laminate sheet is not made solid, it is laid up to the threshold. Changing the flooring in the hallway has one significant feature - the presence of an entrance door. It is not so easy to remove and dismantle.
In this case, you will have to do painstaking work cutting out the laminate near the front door.
Lay laminate flooring already installed doors In general, it is not difficult; it is most convenient to start working from the door. The first lamella must be placed under the door frame, having first filed the frame with a hacksaw until required height(about 3 mm). This is done so that during temperature changes or changes in humidity levels, the door jamb or platband does not put pressure on the laminate and does not deform it.
The floor covering should fit under the door frame posts and not touch the wall. Additionally, you need to determine in advance whether the door will not cling to the new coating. If the door touches the floors, you can shorten the door leaf or choose another option as a new covering. After installing the doors and laying the laminate, you can install the trim, adjusting them to the required parameters.
It is worth considering in more detail the advantages and disadvantages of each method of carrying out work.
Main advantage initial door installation– speed of installation, since there is no need to file the door frame and trim. After laying the floor, you need to install the door jamb and hang the door. The laminate panels do not need to be cut into shapes and part of the outer lamella must be cut off to fit it under the door frame. There are also purely visual advantages: when floors are laid on a large surface, the space looks new, and there remains the opportunity to change the decision on choosing doors: style, color and design.
However, there are also disadvantages. A threshold should be set between rooms, for example, to differentiate the color of the coating. It should lie strictly under the door leaf. You can also make a mistake and cut out the laminate at the door at the wrong angle. For example, the corner may not be completely covered by the platband due to its rounded shape. This can be completely solved if you remove the maximum layer of plaster in the area of the casing and frame and move the laminate as far as possible while maintaining the required gap.
Laying the plinth will also be more complicated, since it will have to be divided into two stages: first - the main perimeter, then - the space near the door.
The second method (installing doors, then laying laminate), on the contrary, it is not as fast as the first one, but it has a significant advantage - it definitely will not damage the new floor. This is important if you have to change front door or change the width of the opening. During such work, debris may accumulate in the form of small and large stones, the use of cement and other mixtures. Getting them on the laminate will definitely ruin it.
The disadvantage of this method is additional difficulties when carrying out repairs: it is necessary to adjust a lot, remove the doors. This can be problematic, especially in older homes. It is not easy to install laminate under the trim and door frame, especially if the connection of two panels falls into this place or runs nearby.
Finishing floors with laminated material has become popular and is increasingly gaining recognition among consumers. Many people install this flooring themselves. Therefore, the problem has become urgent: what comes first - laminate or doors, and this is quite understandable. Some believe that the covering is laid first, and then the doors are installed. Others are convinced that the right thing to do is to do everything in reverse order. Who is right? Let's think about this together.
Each option has the right to exist, and the sequence of performing these stages of repair work can be whatever is convenient for you. But one option may be easier to complete and another more difficult, so it is important to find out what advantages and disadvantages each option has.
It is important that all rough work is completed before installing the laminate flooring and doors.
Installation of a laminated floor is simple; there will not be any particular difficulty depending on the sequence of work.
The door frame can be imagined as a frame structure consisting of “standing” beams, “crossbars”, which are fastened to each other using self-tapping screws and small nails. It is complemented by platbands and additions. Thanks to the platbands, the junctions of the side beams of the box with the wall are masked and decorated.
Extensions are required in situations where the walls are thicker than the width of the door frame. They help cover the ends of the walls in the doorway, while simultaneously performing a decorative function and strengthening the frame, preventing it from loosening. To such a design using door hinges The door leaf itself is also attached.
What can complicate the installation of a door frame if you choose one or the other option? It is clear that there must be a gap between the door leaf and the finished laminated coating, allowing the door to open freely.
Finishing the floor after installing the door will reduce the pre-existing gap, which may cause difficulty opening the door or damage to the covering. In addition, the dimensions of the height of the box and platbands must be adjusted relative to the floor level; it is more difficult to file them already installed.
It is important to determine for yourself what can make it more difficult to install laminate flooring and doors, then it will be easier to understand what to install first: doors or laminate.
Let's consider two different situations:
There are no doors in your apartment yet, and you have decided to install them first, and then proceed with the installation of the laminate floor. Then the sequence of work is as follows:
When inserting the door leaf, you must similarly keep in mind that how much higher the floor rises, there should be a small gap between the door and the floor.
If a door with a threshold is installed, the frame is placed on the base of the floor. Further laying of laminated panels will be carried out with a break: before the threshold and after.
Installation of platbands is always carried out after laying the lamellas.
In such a situation, it is important to decide whether complete replacement floors or laminated panels will be laid on the old flooring.
According to the instructions, the slats can be laid on a flat, strong, stable coating made of tiles, solid wood, chipboard, fiberboard, plywood sheets, linoleum. The substrate is also laid. It is clear that the floor level will increase by the thickness of the panels plus the thickness of the underlayment layer, this is at least 11 mm.
Before laying the laminate in the doorway, you will need to file the bottom of the door jambs so that it becomes possible to insert slats under them. A special saw or wood saw with fine teeth will come in handy here. The height of the undercut is easy to calculate: the thickness of the lamella + the thickness of the underlay layer + 1-2 mm for reserve. More often the resulting value is 12 or 16 millimeters. 
The following technique will help you most correctly shorten the box.
Place a lamella on the underlayment next to the door jamb so that back side was at the top, this will prevent damaging the surface of the board when cutting. Place the saw on the panel on top and begin sawing the jambs of the box.
To do this, you need to mark the panel with a pencil to cut it with a jigsaw to the shape of the door jamb (see picture above). Now insert the trimmed lamella into the free space under the jamb, not too deep, no more than 1 centimeter.
The laminated panel under the door beam is located with a gap of 1 cm from the wall.
In case the old flooring material can be removed and a laminate will be laid in its place; perhaps sawing the door jambs will not be required.
In all situations, the platbands are removed and reinstalled after installation, adjusted to the floor level.
The advantages of this sequence:
Finally, let's consider the arguments of those who see a different answer to the question: should you install laminate flooring or doors first? They argue that it is very easy to damage a laminate floor when installing a door.
We have already said earlier that all rough work, including preparation of slopes, must be completed earlier. After laying the laminated panels, the floor should be covered with pieces of cardboard, then during the construction process door design he won't get hurt.
But it is easier to install laminate flooring in a doorway if the door frame has not yet been installed. But note that with the option of a door with a threshold, it is more correct to install the door earlier. Otherwise, how do you know where it will be located in order to accurately cut laminate?
The advantages of this option:
Most often, when laying laminate flooring near a door frame, in the area of the doorway there is a line connecting the laminate floor to the floor covering of the adjacent room. It is formed using a threshold, a profile, not forgetting about maintaining the technological gap.
Thresholds can be metal, plastic, or wood. Dimensions and decorative design products are very diverse, it is not difficult to choose a threshold for the floor covering. Moreover, there are varieties with open fastening, which is not entirely aesthetically pleasing, but durable, and with hidden fastening, decoratively and aesthetically designed.
There is also a method of laying laminate flooring near the door frame - without thresholds, in one piece. This method is called “laying without thresholds.” Laminate floors, laid with a single sheet throughout the entire apartment, look unusual and beautiful. The apartment creates an effect large space, spacious room. This method of installing a laminated floor is not easy; it requires the professionalism and experience of a specialist, as well as high-quality and durable materials.
This installation method has its own requirements, features and rules. So, there are restrictions on the floor area laid with laminate as a single sheet. If the size of the floor area is exceeded, gaps should be made in the coating, creating technological gaps for the necessary expansion of the material with fluctuations in temperature and humidity in a given room.
Each material has its own standards and restrictions; you can find them out from the instructions included with the packaging of laminated panels. You can learn more about this method in the article about laying laminate flooring between rooms. The installation process is described in detail there.
To summarize: it is easier to lay the laminate first, and then install interior door. By the way, the result is more accurate, considering that you are not a professional. Often even experts prefer this sequence. If the doors are already installed, you should not remove them, just follow our advice.
