Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

Laminate flooring is a floor covering that has become very popular in recent years, because it is distinguished by practicality, aesthetics. Also, the advantages of the laminate include ease of installation, which you will do yourself without any problems after studying some of the nuances. Laminate can be laid on any kind of surface, which should be perfectly even. There are situations when it is not possible to dismantle the old floor and make a cement screed. In this situation, the question arises: how is laminate flooring laid on a wooden floor? Most often, this question interests people who want to refresh repairs, but are not ready to invest a lot of money. Below in the article we will talk about how to perform such work yourself.

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Can a laminate be laid on a wooden floor?

Laminated boards are only fastened together, they do not need to be attached to walls or floors. The possibility of doing without glue during installation gives the design of the locks of the laminated panels. In very rare cases, adhesive mixtures are used, but this process is time-consuming, expensive, and makes it impossible to disassemble and assemble the floor covering in another place.

A lot of people during the repair process are faced with the question of whether it is possible to lay the laminate on a wooden floor and not be afraid that over time the coating will creak, deform or break at the seams. Having provided all the nuances when performing this work, you can begin to work. The process of laying a laminate on a wooden floor is the same as on a screed.

It is necessary to take into account the following main differences between a cement and a wooden base:

• The wood base is unstable, so the laminated panels can slide. This can lead to damage to the laminate locks, because the load on them will increase.
• Wooden flooring loses its mechanical properties during operation.

Important! Before laying the laminate on a wooden floor, carefully check for defects on it and fix the elements that are loose.

In order for the laminated coating to be even, to serve for a long time and not to disperse in the locks, you must prepare the base, taking into account these requirements:

• The base should be perfectly flat. The maximum error cannot be more than 2 mm per 1 linear meter. m surface.
• It must be dry and clean and stable.

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Wood floor preparation

There are several options that are used to level wooden floors under the laminate:

• Chipboard or plywood sheathing.
• Looping.
• Laying plywood with fastening on logs.

The choice of one of the options depends on the degree of unevenness of the floor.

Old floor repair

Before laying the laminate on a wooden floor, it is necessary to carry out all the preparation work. First of all, inspect the old wooden coating for any kinds of defects on it:

• Most often, over the years of use, the boards are slightly convex, because several layers of paint were applied to them. They may have holes, cracks, chips.
• There is also a large bias - both in one or several directions.

All the shortcomings must be eliminated, namely, to close up all the holes, to fix on the self-tapping screws and glue the elements that are loosened. Cracks can be pulled together with a construction stapler.Replace with new, rotten boards. Drive in wedges between badly fixed lags and boards to get rid of a creak.

Important! To prevent the floor from creaking, use self-tapping screws rather than nails during its partitioning, because most often the creak is issued at the joints of the tree and the nail.

An uneven base remains the main threat to the integrity of the laminates.

Leveling the floor with plywood

The simplest and at the same time least expensive type of surface leveling is the method of laying plywood on the floor under the laminate. You will need sheets of plywood, the thickness of which will be more than the thickness of the laminated coating.

Important! We recommend choosing a plywood thickness of 12-15 mm.

Operating procedure:

• Before starting work, check the humidity level in the room. To do this, take a sheet of polyethylene about 1 * 1 m in size, attach it to the floor tightly and leave for three days. If after this time no condensation has formed on the inside of the polyethylene, then you can use it for leveling plywood sheets.
• To begin, cut the plywood sheets into squares 60 * 60cm.
• Customize the extreme sheets to the outline of the room, fill in the niches and go around all the sections that protrude.
• Leave gaps that will act as expansion joints, 7-10 mm in size.
• The distance from the wall to the outermost sheet should be 15-20 mm.

Important! Number the cut sheets, and you will definitely not mix them up during assembly.

• Attach sheets of plywood with glue or fix it with screws in the corners of squares and along diagonal lines at a distance of about 15 cm.

Important! Choose screws that are three times longer than the thickness of a plywood board.

• At the end of the assembly, sand the plywood boards very carefully with coarse sandpaper.

Looping

Laying a laminate on a wooden floor without plywood is possible. For this it is necessary

when leveling the floor, use scraper, if the wooden base is fixed well, there is no large surface slope.

Important! This method is used when the slope is not higher than 5-6 mm per 1 square. m. Small areas with defects are eliminated with sandpaper or manual looping. This type of processing is also used in hard-to-reach places.

Operating procedure:

• First, divide the entire surface into sections.
• Control the plane of each area after grinding.
• At the very beginning of the work, deepen the self-tapping screw caps into the wood by 2 mm to avoid their contact with the knives of the grinding power tool.
• After completing work, check the wooden surface with a level, then remove dust and sawdust with a vacuum cleaner.

Important! If you do not remove small debris, it can get into the laminate locks, which will cause them to creak.

• Treat the surface with an antiseptic and dry well before laying the laminate.

Important! We recommend laying the laminate panels perpendicular to the direction of the boards.

Laying under the laminate on the floor plywood with fastening on the logs

Laying a laminate on a wooden floor can also be performed after leveling the surface using the method of laying plywood with fastening on the logs. This type of laborious and expensive:

• The lags are installed in such a way that their upper faces are in the same plane horizontally. To do this, under the logs put blocks or wedges made of wood.
• If you are laying adjustable lags, then fix their position with the adjusting screws.
• Cut the plywood sheets with a circular saw and lay them on the logs, check the horizontal level of the plane of each plate at the same time. Stacking takes place in a checkerboard pattern so that seams do not overlap at one point.
• Fasten plywood sheets to a wooden base using self-tapping screws around the entire perimeter and diagonally at a distance of about 20 cm.

Important! Do not use plywood boards with phenol-formaldehyde adhesive for laying, as it is a toxic substance and may be harmful to health.

• After laying, sand and treat the plywood sheets with an antiseptic solution.

Important! Alignment with this method will allow the coating to stay on top for a long time and firmly. The downside is the impossibility of using this method in rooms with low ceilings.

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Backing

Before you figure out how to lay a laminate on a wooden floor, you must correctly select the substrate and cover it with the surface. This layer compensates for minor irregularities, provides sound and moisture insulation of the laminate and the space between the base and the coating. There is a large selection of types of substrates that differ in the material from which they are made, properties, appearance and cost.

The material from which the substrates are made is natural, synthetic and combined:

• Foamed polyethylene - easy to install, lightweight, but not durable material.
• Polystyrene plates with a size of 1 * 1 m are more durable, provide high-quality sound insulation and are not caked. This type is best laid on a concrete base.
• It is best to use a fake layer of natural material when laying the laminate on a wooden floor. Such a material is a cork substrate. Its cost is high, but it will perfectly preserve the wooden base. The cork substrate is laid without overlaps, but in joint, as well as without fastening to a wooden base and walls. Just tape over the joints along the entire length of the tape.

Important! Do not use multiple layers of the substrate to level the surface, do it in other ways.

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Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

Before proceeding with the installation of the laminate, it is necessary to prepare the tools.

Tools required:

• Roulette.
• Knife.
• Ruler and pencil.
• Jigsaw or hacksaw.
• Pliers.
• Rubber mallet.
• Miter box.
• Hammer drill.
• Screwdriver or drill.

Mounting technology

So we came up with the answer how to lay a laminate on a wooden floor with our own hands. The process of laying laminated panels is simple and does not require great skills and knowledge. But you still need to get acquainted with some nuances:

• Keep the laminate for a couple of days in the room where it will be installed to adapt to humidity and temperature.
• Start laying from the most visible corner of the room, but if the door opens into the room and you do not plan to remove it, start laying from it.

Actions during installation:

• Lay the first row of the coating across the boards of the wooden base, during this carefully connecting the panels together - first long, and then measure the length of the outer board, outline the cut line and cut off the excess.

Important! During trimming, rotate the board 180 degrees so that the locks match.

• Leave a gap between the wall and the end of the panels about 8 mm wide.
• Assemble the next row. Start its formation with the trim panel.
• Gently lift and slightly unfold the laminated panels after collecting the second row so that the lock clicks into place. Walk along the entire length of the row, locking the locks by tapping with a mallet or hand.
• Next, collect all the rows according to this principle. Lay the laminate in a chaotic manner, that is, starting some rows with a whole board, and not with a shorter one.
• When laying the extreme row, measure and cut the required dimensions of the boards.

Important! Mark and saw one board at a time, since the distance between the wall and the penultimate row can be different in different places.

• Next, proceed with the installation of skirting boards - to do this, drill holes under the dowels at a distance of about 30 cm, attach the part of the skirting board, which is designed to be attached to the wall.
• Hide the wires and put on the decorative nozzle.
• Close the connecting spots with special thresholds to prevent dust from entering.
• Attach a door sill at the door to hide differences in floor height between rooms.

Important! If you have chosen the same laminated panels for all rooms, you will not need a door sill.

• Remove debris and wipe with a damp cloth.

How to lay a laminate in hard to reach places?

Laying a laminate on a wooden floor around doorways, in places where pipes pass, as well as in other hard-to-reach places is not particularly difficult.

To bypass the pipes:

• Make pencil marks on the board.
• Cut holes.

Important! Leave a gap of about 10 mm between the laminate and the pipe.

• Apply acrylic sealant that matches the color, the gaps around the pipes, and leave the seams near the walls empty.

Important! In the same way, lay the laminate near steps, sills and other ledges.

To get around doorways:

1. Determine if the door closes after laying the laminate. Calculate as follows: sum the thickness of the substrate and the laminate and subtract from the edge from the wooden floor to the door, if you have less than 3 mm, you will need to trim the canvas.
2. Remove them from the hinges.
3. Lay the laminate around the door frame and leave a gap of about 10 mm.
4. Replace the door and check how it opens and closes.
5. File the door to the desired size.

Laying a laminate on a wooden floor is done independently without any problems. You only need to adhere to the simple rules described above.

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Stock footage

Using them, you will make the wooden floor level, without creaking, and save the family budget.