Before laying laminate flooring on an uneven wooden floor, you should study the recommendations of professionals. Renovation work is often very scary for people. Of course, when you think that a lot needs to be done, even if the repair is purely finishing in nature, you immediately feel uneasy. In fact, everything is not so scary and not very difficult if you know exactly what you are going to do and how to prepare for repair work. First of all, you should think carefully about what problems you may encounter during the repair work.
Many residents of apartments and houses prefer to have laminate floors in their homes that are pleasant for their household members. Often in houses and apartments with wooden floors Experts are faced with the fact that it is completely impossible to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor until the problem can be eliminated.
Before installing laminate flooring on an uneven floor, it is recommended to place a backing on it.
The most common possible problems uneven walls, floors or ceilings, as well as a number of other individual characteristics that may be present in your apartment or house:
Why is there no way to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor? There are reasons for this. Laying on uneven surfaces can cause the laminate to become lumpy, which subsequently leads to damage to the integrity of the coating. Laying on such a floor is not only impractical, but also difficult in itself. In this case, it is almost impossible to fit small laminate tiles. How can you determine whether the floor is level if no defects are visually noticeable, but laying the laminate is not possible? A good helper this question will be normal building level, which accurately determines whether the surface is flat or not.
If it is discovered that there is any unevenness on the floor surface, you should stop all work that has already begun and begin to correct it.
Now the question arises, how to turn an uneven floor into evenness? Relevant specialists will always help answer this question. They know better than anyone else what the dangers of repairing a crooked floor are, and how you can fix it all yourself. The most common method for leveling a floor is to use a material such as a leveling underlay, which should be laid on the floor surface. And yet, there are also some nuances here. Let's take a closer look at this type of substrate.
According to experts, most often similar problems are noted by repairmen varying degrees unevenness of walls, ceilings and floors. If the unevenness of the walls can somehow be circumvented, for example, by using special tiles or panels installed on the metal carcass, and uneven ceilings are harmoniously hidden under suspended ceilings, then an uneven wooden floor is a more serious problem.
A leveling underlay for laminate flooring is an excellent solution for minor uneven floors, be it a wooden floor or a rough concrete floor.
Thanks to the leveling underlay, you can make the floor level and extend its service life.
In this case, the underlay can be used when laying both laminate and parquet floors without screed. The substrate can vary in thickness, which varies from 1 to 4 mm, so that it is enough for leveling, as well as by manufacturer and type of material itself.
So, the leveling substrate can be:
Thus, it can be noted that before buying a leveling underlay, determine what type of floor it will be laid on, what the price line of underlays is and what properties and disadvantages the selected underlay model has.
It was considered where to start working on finishing the floor, how to choose a substrate, and what to pay attention to, but you need to decide whether maybe you don’t need to deal with leveling? Finishing work themselves imply the presence of an already flat surface on which finishing will take place, but with some materials this rule can be neglected, with the exception of laminate. Laminate tiles must always be laid perfectly flat surface floor. Otherwise, you will only get a headache.
If the room is residential, then for ease of use the floor should be leveled before laying the laminate
The following flaws are also possible:
As you can understand from the above, you always need to level the floor surface as much as possible before laying the laminate, otherwise you risk prolonging renovation work Not even a single day or even a month will the material costs of repairs increase accordingly.
Very often, people moving into apartments of the so-called old building find that the floors are covered with fiberboard material, in other words, plywood or chipboards. The question arises: is it necessary to remove everything down to the rough surface of the floor, or can you install the laminate directly on top of the slabs?
If you are laying laminate flooring on fiberboard, then it must be thoroughly sanded and cleaned of debris and dust.
Experts say it is possible.
In addition, fiberboard and chipboard slabs can be used to level the floor level in an apartment, especially if there is not a strong permissible floor slope. A floor with a slope is the case when the height of one part of the floor is 0.1-0.2ᵒ or more higher than the other.
The advantages of this material work in defense of the use of fiberboard and chipboard boards:
Although such slabs are not full-fledged high-quality boards, they are capable of covering and masking uneven floors, but also due to their great endurance, they can be used even in rooms with high traffic or the presence of massive heavy furniture. Such slabs allow you to correct uneven floors and level the floor surface. For these reasons alone, you can give the go-ahead for installing stoves in the room.
If initially there were no fiberboard or chipboard slabs on the floor, but you want to cover the floor with them, then first of all it is necessary to install the slabs with all responsibility. Next comes the installation of the laminate itself, which in turn follows certain classic installation points, regardless of the type.
When laying laminate flooring, it should be taken into account that a plinth will be installed around the perimeter of the room.
Let's consider what types of installation can be used:
Each installation method allows you to achieve a special pattern on the floor surface, which makes the room more interesting and cozy.
So, there are enough options for getting the job done. It is important to understand for yourself what you want to get as a result. And then all that remains is to follow the chosen technology.
An uneven floor is the main problem home if you want to install laminate flooring in it. In principle, the installation procedure can be carried out under such conditions. It is worth understanding, however, that in a few years you risk seeing a broken and shabby floor that will have to be redone again. Therefore, if you decide to use exactly the specified coating for cladding, then we will tell you how to lay laminate flooring on an uneven floor.
Consequences of laying laminate flooring on an uneven floor: divergence of joints, breakage of locks, sagging of individual planks
As mentioned above, it is possible to lay laminate flooring on an uneven wooden or concrete floor, but as a result you may end up with the following problems:
Before laying the cladding, everything possible must be done to level the base, since laminate is very demanding regarding the horizontality of the surface.
So, this procedure involves the following actions:
After the mixture has completely hardened and become as strong as possible, it is necessary to lay a special waterproofing substrate. Next, you can lay the laminate.
Before laying laminate flooring on an uneven wood floor, the base should also be prepared. This is done like this:
Please note that, regardless of whether the subfloor is wooden or concrete, you will have to additionally lay the underlay. It is considered a good noise and waterproofing insulator. In addition, the concrete base is additionally coated with a layer of primer.
Laying laminate flooring on an uneven floor is done after installing the underlay. It can smooth out small level differences. There are the following types of substrate:
It is laid directly on the base before installing the laminate. Please note that the cladding cannot be attached to the substrate. The laminate should be kept in a relatively loose position to avoid warping. In addition, the substrate is an intermediate layer that somewhat improves the quality of installation of the cladding. Therefore, it is still worth carrying out alignment using proven methods.
The laying of the substrate smoothes out small unevenness and has a noise-absorbing function It is also necessary to mention the features of the facing material. The point is that on modern market you can find many fakes. Therefore, try to buy the product only from certified points of sale. After delivering the cladding home, it needs to be left indoors for several days so that the material gets used to the conditions. During this time you will be able to produce everything necessary work for leveling a wooden or concrete base.
That's all for today, leave comments on the article and share your opinions!
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Laminate is a beautiful, but a little capricious floor covering. Difficulties often arise if it is laid on an uneven floor. Therefore, the question arises, in general Is it possible to lay laminate flooring on an uneven floor?. There are some nuances that will appear in the process of laying laminate flooring on an uneven floor. Today we consider this topic in more detail and give recommendations.
First you need to get it in order wooden base floor. The gaps/cracks are sealed with putty. If the floor creaks in places, find the corresponding joists and replace them. Re-secure the floorboards with self-tapping screws for security, rather than nails. It may happen that due to the replacement of the joists, some boards will need to be replaced with new ones. Severe unevenness in wooden floors can be corrected using scraping – sanding. After this, you can lay the laminate.
Advice: If it was not possible to correct the defects of the wooden floor, then as an option you can cover it with plywood or OSB boards or pour a self-leveling floor. Same as for concrete floors.
3. Flexible laminateWe know Is it possible to lay laminate flooring on an uneven floor? namely, that it’s still impossible. Alternatively, you can use a substrate or level the floor. But if you don’t want or don’t have the opportunity to carry out the labor-intensive alignment procedure, then know that there is another alternative way- is to choose another modern “flexible laminate”.
This is a modern coating that can easily be laid on uneven floors. The material is two-layer. Upper layer consists of polyurethane and aluminum oxide, the bottom is vinyl. The two layers are offset relative to each other and thanks to this, an adhesive “smart tape” is attached to the edges. With its help, flexible laminate tiles are glued to each other and form a single floor. It is not attached to the floor, but is freely located, as it were, above it.
This coating does not leave any unevenness in the base of the floor. Adhesive smart tape is called adhesive lock. By analogy with a classic laminate, but with a flexible laminate this connection is also elastic and does not break.
This laminate can withstand a difference in floor heights of 5 mm. It looks identical to the usual laminate/parquet – there is no difference. And in operation it is even better: it is characterized by increased moisture resistance and durability.
Laminate flooring is popular due to its ease of installation. It would seem that there is nowhere easier to put it - you bought it, brought it, kept it in the room for a couple of days and you can put it away. However, there is one “BUT” here: this material is quite demanding on the base. The base for it must be level; even small pits or tubercles can negatively affect the locking joints.
Over time, cracks will appear, the slats will become loose and the lock will break. All this will affect appearance floor and the service life of the laminate will decrease significantly. The only solution to this problem is leveling the base.
So, the situation when the difference in height of the base for laying the laminate exceeds 2 mm by 2 meters must be corrected. There are several ways to do this, which we will consider in more detail in this article.
Some manufacturers claim that only their substrate compensates for unevenness up to 5 mm. Don't believe it, it's just an advertisement and nothing more. It can only compensate for the permissible difference and nothing more.
Video: Laminate laying technology. Visual video instructions.
And if your subfloor has minor differences in height, you can only get by with a laminate underlay. Common types of substrates are made from:
The instructions for the substrates contain information about the maximum size of unevenness that it can compensate for. The leveling ability depends on the thickness of the material, for example, a polyethylene foam substrate with a thickness of 2 mm can compensate for a difference of 1 mm per 1 linear meter.
The underlay is laid directly on the subfloor; the laminate panels are not attached to it with anything additional. It is clear that the underlay is used only for minor unevenness, but for large differences you will have to level the floor surface.
After removing the old floor covering and making sure that the underlay is not an option in your case, you will have to level the base. The most common floors that can be found in homes are wood or concrete. Each of them requires a different approach.
Most often, concrete floors are found in city apartments, where the subfloor consists of reinforced concrete slabs. The alignment steps will be as follows:
If the differences in the subfloor are not critical, and there is no desire to make a solution, you can use it, but this method is more expensive. These mixtures are sold in dry form, so before use they are diluted with water, according to the instructions.
Then, the resulting solution is poured onto the floor and leveled with a spatula. To remove air, the mixture is rolled with a special needle roller. The self-leveling mixture hardens within a few hours, so you can start laying the laminate earlier than when using cement mortar.
A wooden floor does not always turn out smooth; over time, cracks and cracks may appear in it, and the floorboards begin to creak. Therefore, before laying laminate flooring, it must be carefully inspected.
Detected cracks, crevices, dents and similar defects can be eliminated simply by filling them with putty. Creaking boards need to be secured more securely using self-tapping screws. More significant unevenness and differences can be corrected in mono only with the help of sanding. Large areas Sanding by hand is difficult, so you will have to either hire a team with a sanding machine or rent such a machine.
If the unevenness cannot be eliminated with putty, this can be done by laying plywood or OSB 1.5 - 2 cm thick. Just like concrete, wooden floors can be leveled with a self-leveling mixture.
After the surface has been leveled, it is still advisable to place a substrate on it. For the price of everything flooring this will not significantly affect, but the quality will be better.
Vinyl or flexible laminate – the new kind floor covering. Unlike its older brothers from chipboard or fibreboard, it can be placed on not quite level base.
This type of laminate is made from two layers:
Along the perimeter of the plank there is a vinyl edge protruding a couple of centimeters. An adhesive base (smart tape) is applied to it. Using this technology, laminate planks are glued to each other and form a “floating” surface.
Such a connection will not break uneven floor due to its elasticity and can withstand differences of up to 5 mm. This one is much stronger and has a strength class of 42 - 43.
Laminate is a demanding flooring, so its installation requires a strong and level base. Laying laminate flooring on an uneven floor is a problem that many people face before purchasing the material. Surface defects such as pits, cracks, bumps and elevation changes can reduce the quality of the flooring. One laminate failure will be followed by another, and this can lead to the replacement of expensive finishing material. Is there a way out of this situation? The answer is simple - of course, all of the above unevenness can be corrected before laying the laminate. In our article you will learn about ways to solve this issue. Using an example, we will look at several basic options for high-quality base leveling.
It often happens that after removing the old floor covering (linoleum, parquet), we discover rather unpleasant moments in the form of an uneven floor. Many people have the following question: is it possible to install laminate flooring on such defects? Before laying laminate flooring on an uneven floor, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with why this coating cannot be installed on a surface with obvious flaws.
Here is a list of the consequences of such laminate installation:
We hope that this list of consequences will provide a complete answer to the question of whether it is possible to lay laminate flooring on an uneven floor.
Uneven floors and other base defects can be corrected with one little trick - installing a leveling underlay. Let's look at its main types:
All types of laminate underlays are laid directly on the base of the floor before installing the covering on a leveled surface. It should be taken into account that the laminate is not attached or glued to the installed substrate - it is simply in its free state. With the help of substrates you can hide only minor irregularities, but differences in height require special leveling.
Important! In most cases, instructions on the possibility of maximum size closing unevenness without compromising the characteristics of the floor covering (laminate).
This method should be used precisely in the case when the substrates are powerless. The most popular base for laminate flooring is concrete or wood floors. Now we will look at the most common method - leveling the surface using concrete pouring.
Step-by-step instruction:
Important! It is better to use not an ordinary primer, but a waterproofing one, if you need to level the floor in the kitchen of the first floor, located above a damp basement.
If you don't have time to mess around with concrete base, then use more in a modern way leveling the floor covering - using a self-leveling base, which is installed in the following way:
We carry out the work according to the following instructions:
Important! If some boards creak, then in this case we replace them. We fix the boards on the joists using self-tapping screws.
The installation of laminate flooring on uneven wood floors is complete!
