Laminates are considered to be the more affordable, easy-to-install alternative to the more pricey flooring products like hardwood and tile. If you find that purchasing the ideal hardwood is affecting your projected budget, you may want to look at laminates to save some cash.
Most laminates have evolved into a click and lock installation set-up that makes installation as simple as a puzzle. Minimal maintenance is required, and cleaning is as easy as keep the pieces clicked together if they should begin to separate. Dust and dirt can, when presented with an opening, sneak in and cause problems.
The diversity of laminates is limited only by one's imagination, with a huge selection of wood-imitating styles, to stone or tile mockeries, and an entire selection of colorful flavors for any room.
Unlike hardwood, Laminate flooring is installable at any grade, including below grade flooring. The limitation a basement flooring project imposes has a nasty way of limiting what products can go down.
Selecting a product is somewhat easier in the respect that most laminates are available only in one thickness: 10mm. It makes up for it, however, it the wide range of styles and colors available.
Types of Laminate Flooring
The typical sizes for laminate flooring are between 6mm and 12mm, with 8mm and 10mm being more common than the higher and lower. Different thicknesses will apply to different locations depending on the floor's relationship with cabinets, doors, and stairs. One cabinet in one house may be lower or higher than a cabinet in another house, and require a lower floor. An 8mm or maybe even 6mm laminate floor would bet the better choice to ensure the planks fit into place.
The final decision then is to decide on glue-together or snap-in-place laminate flooring. The more popular choice is snap together, as it eliminates much of the fuss with potentially problematic planks. Let's say you've just glued two planks together and find that either the placement is wrong or something in the product itself is damaged. You now have to struggle to remove it before the glue dries, or risk damaging the surrounding planks by forcefully removing it, or staining it with adhesive remover. Or, pay the professional to uninstall it, and forfeit a sometimes pricey sum for a single plank.
Installation of Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is by far the simplest of all the flooring to install. With the right click-together product, a floated floor can be installed in a day, depending on the square footage. It is the perfect choice for do-it-yourself-ers looking to save some extra money by installing on their own. In contrast to most other types of flooring, it is entirely possible to install on your own.
In any flooring installation, your first step should be assessment of the subfloor. Since laminate flooring is a "floating floor", it can't be installed over any level, stable subfloor, such as plywood, cement, or other floorings with the exception of carpeting. The reason for excluding carpet is because the shifting nature of carpeting can cause the laminate planks to become at odds with its neighbor. This runs the risk of snapping the click-lock pieces of the plank off or damaging them and altering the appearance of your floor.
The first type of installation we will review is the glue-less snap-together or click-lock floating floor method.
Preparing the subfloor is your starting point. Sweep and clean it thoroughly, making sure to remove all wall and transitional moldings. You should then make sure the floor is level. If a recess in the subfloor is found, it should be resolved before installation of a laminate floor. In the case of concrete, a self-leveling agent can be used. Plywood subfloors can either be sanded, or, if the grade is severe, adjusting with additional plywood over the subfloor in the lower sections. If concrete is under a plywood subfloor that is not level, removing the plywood is another option, but the work involved in larger projects can be time-consuming, and it may not resolve the bad leveling if the concrete beneath it is not level either.
Foam underlayment should be rolled out on top of your now-level subfloor. Follow the instructions included with your underlayment.
