Laminate is thin panels up to 1.5 m long, 20 cm wide, up to 11 mm thick. There are locks for joining along the edges of the laminate sheets. On top, the laminate is covered with a special protective film, which protects from moisture, protects against sunlight and mechanical damage during operation. After the film there is a paper layer painted as a color of various materials, such as stone, sand, wood. Then the main layer of the wood -fiber structure goes, which provides the density of the entire structure. The last layer is the paper saturated with resins, which protects wood fiber from moisture.
After buying a laminate, it is necessary to leave it for a while in the room so that it takes size in accordance with humidity and temperature in the room. Before laying the laminate, it is necessary to prepare the floor. The old wooden floor is checked by the level for the presence of bumps. In areas of 2m long, irregularities are allowed a maximum of a few mm. Otherwise, the floor is aligned with a grinding machine. If the boards on the floor are bend from human weight, such a floor should definitely be strengthened. The concrete floor is also checked for the presence of irregularities, in the case of their detection, they make a leveling floor screed. On the prepared floor, it is necessary to lay waterproofing from a plastic film.
It is laid perpendicular to the alleged direction of the laminate. To ensure better heat maintenance on the concrete surface, plywood is laid 10mm thick. In some cases, a cork is used as a substrate, but this option is more expensive.
It is recommended to lay a laminate in the direction of falling sunlight, so the joints will be less noticeable.
By the connection options, two types of laminate are distinguished:
Castle laminate is two types of prefabricated locking lock and locking lock. Start laying the laminate from the far left corner. On the edges on each side, it is necessary to leave a gap of about 10 mm so that when expanding the laminate remains even. To put the laminate in a checkerboard pattern for starting the second row, cut one panel in half.
Glue laminate is more reliable. The joints of the panels are protected from moisture penetration, but when laying it, additional costs for glue appear. Glue is applied evenly to the groove panels. After laying, each panel is wiped with a rag from glue residues.
