Laminate is a reliable coating, but with incorrect laying or imperative use and care, it may fail.
One of the main reasons for the appearance of the slots in the laminate boards is not to comply with the requirements of air humidity in the room when laying the coating.
The most famous disadvantages of this coverage include:
- formation of slots between laminate boards;
- swelling from moisture;
- Damage in the form of scratches and chips.
Listed flaws to one degree or another reduce the external attractiveness of the laminate, so they should be immediately correct. Most of these flaws can be eliminated independently.
The main thing is to understand the reasons because of which the flaw has appeared and find the right way to eliminate them.
Laminate structure
And in order to understand the causes of the defect, let's talk a little about the laminate that he is. Usually laminate has 4 layers. Upper - protects the board from erasing and shock loads, a very resistant layer. It is a decoration layer - a fake under a tree of one or another. The third layer is a pressed fiber of wood, it is a guards of very good work. The last reservoir is a litter consisting of paper treated with a special composition, which makes it difficult to moisturize the boards and helping to save her shape.
For wear-resistant laminate there are four classes: 31, 32, 33, 34. The first 2 do not differ in large wear resistance and are used in housing with a small operational load. The following class 33 is applied in public premises: offices, supermarkets, etc. The most urgent class 34 laminate, it is able to withstand the disco, and light vehicles. But it is much more expensive than, for example, class 31 laminate.
Preparation of the basis
To avoid defects when laying a laminate, namely the slots between the panels, you need to prepare the basis before the flooring. It can be linoleum, old boards, ceramic tiles, cement screed or parquet. If the base has irregularities, self-leveling mixtures can be used, and small depressions are filled with cement mortar.
It matters and the evenness of the walls, since the first row and the latter will need to be aligned along the walls, and the ends of the extreme bakery too.
If the base under laminate has irregularities, self-leveling mixtures should be used, filling small depressions with a solution.
It should be borne in mind that the laminate is not attached to the ground. It does not need to be glued, nail or attached with screws.
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Laminate laying tools require a little. Prepare a light hammer, a building knife, a few wedges, a perforator and several drills to it, a tree with a small teeth, a lining of wood or plastic and a metal bracket for the subgone of extreme boards.
Even consumables will be required, namely: glue, a common self-adhesive tape, dowel-nails, sealant.
Before the start of installation, a purchased laminate, at least a day, should fly where it will fit. Then you can start laying the laminated parquet.
Rules that must be observed when laying laminate
There are some general rules that must be observed.
First, the laying of the boards should be made from the light source, for example, from the window. With this location of the seam boards, there will be little noticeable.
Secondly, there must always be a distance between the wall and laminate in 10-15 mm. It is necessary because due to seasonal moisture changes in the room flooring can resize. And if the boards of the laminate are located in the wall to the wall, then in the future they can rush or bend and the seams between some boards will be discouraged. If there are pipes that leave the base in the room, then there is also a clearance between laminate and pipes.
Laminate laying scheme.
Rule number 3 provides for the sequence of work. The laminate laying begins with a remote left corner of the room. This rule can not be observed, but still so handy the coating.
The laying of the initial series is a very serious matter, since it depends on the accuracy of laying the entire floor covering. When laying up the laminate parquet, the first row board places a spike to the wall, while you need to monitor the width of the retreat from the wall. To make it easier to control the situation, clins of the required width are inserted into the crevice between the wall and laminate. Install the clins and from the end of the first board.
If the wall has irregularities, then you need to make a markup and cut the edge of the laminate board so that the space from the wall to the board was 10-15 mm everywhere. This is a very time-consuming job, but without it can not do, since too much clearance then do not scratch the plinth, and the floor may lie unevenly.
It is very rare so that the size of the room can accommodate an integer number of parquetin. Often, extreme boards have to saw, configuring under the required dimensions. It should be known that the cutboard should not be less than 30 cm.
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The subsequent row will begin sliced part of the board. It is necessary to have that the ending seams in the adjacent rows can be shifted in relation to each other at least 20 cm. When it is not possible to adhere to such a shift in the next row, the board at the beginning of the row is cut off at the place. Such laying of laminate in the drawing will resemble brickwork.
Laminate boards must be shrinking without gaps. If they are mistaken even by 1 mm, then in subsequent ranks it will manifest itself a solid gap. The laminate plates are customized by a slight rush hammer on the edge of the board using a technological lining. Laminate is perfectly joined if the floor and walls without flaws, glue can not be applied. But still, for the strength of the seams, it is better to poison with the use of glue. You can take a special glue, but any adhesive for wood is suitable. The installation of laminate is completed by installing plinths around the perimeter of the room.
Several reasons for the appearance of slots
Now let's try to understand why slots appear between the plates of the coating. Several reasons are possible:
The slots between the coating boards can occur when dospled of panels of different manufacturers, due to the discrepancy in the configuration of laminate locks.
- Cleaners may occur when dusting panels of different manufacturers (or laminate of the same producer, but from different parties). This is due to discrepancies and different sizes in the configuration of laminate locks. In such cases, the laminate lock or simply does not close, or closes, but irrelevant, and over time weakens.
- The appearance of crevices between the laminate boards is the result of its installation on the uneven floor. And it is not immediately detected. At first (several months), the flaws of the floor are compensated by the substrate. However, over time, the substrate is sealing, it ceases to be a shock absorber, and lumens appear between the panels.
- The slots can appear and when choosing the cheapest coating. Low price is a low quality satellite: after 2 -3 months of operation, the locks lose the ability to fix the adjacent panel. And if the substrate was not taken not better quality, then the cracks are simply inevitable. Why should you be afraid of crevices? If you do not pay attention to the fact that they worsen the appearance of the coating, then the main threat is that the clefts allow moisture to penetrate into the inner layers of laminate, where there is no moisture protection impregnation. They quickly absorb moisture, which entails the deformation of the entire floor.
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Ways to eliminate gaps
Having considered the causes due to which certain flaws appear, let's study the methods of their liquidation. Suppose that after some time after installing the laminate, the gaps arose. What to do with it?
There are several options for solving a problem that differ from each other by labor intensity and efficiency. If the clefts arose due to laying the coating on the uneven surface, it is possible to repair - disassemble the laminate, remove the substrate and proceed to resurrecting the floor using the self-leveling screed. When the screed is dry, on top of it the new adherent and re-lay a laminate. This method can be applied when the glue was not used during laminate laying.
If it is not possible to carry out such full-scale work, and usually it happens, you can take another solution: to fully disassemble the coating and put a more solid aligning adherent under it. With small irregularities, it will help. If the laminate is cheap, you can try to take advantage. To do this, remove the plinth and between the walls that are perpendicular to the lumen in the coating, and the wooden wedges are driven by the coating itself. They need to score very carefully, so that they seal the plates of laminate and did not spoil them, at the same time removed the gaps. If these ways are not suitable, you just need to smear the slots so that water penetrates under the laminate.
The most effective method of getting rid of the cracks is the use of special putty. You can buy it in the same place where the coating is already in the finished form and different colors, so it's not difficult to choose the color of the laminate. Having bought such a smear, do not rush to use it. At first, you need to prepare the surface, namely: clean the clefts from dust and dirt and get them around the perimeter by painting scotch. Then the gap is filled with a grout, carefully distribute it, roll up with a spatula and allow to dry. After grazing, the tape is removed, and the surplus of smelting is removed with a rag.
Often, the slit when laying a laminate can be eliminated using sealant. Its like putty, pick up the color. The glossing technology of lumens is exactly the same. The sealant is more elastic than the putty and better adjusts to deformations that occur with laminate with temperature drops.
The elimination of defects when laying a laminate will not be a big problem, if you first study how to eliminate clefts in the floor. Armed with these knowledge, you will always be ready to eliminate any defects.