Laminate Floors - How to Lay a Laminate Floor

supplied by Wickes.co.uk ©2008 All rights reserved.

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There are three types of laminate flooring stocked by Wickes.

Fast Fix 10, suitable for heavy domestic use. It comes in a Beech and an Oak effect.

The Beech effect is on a 7mm High Density Fibreboard (HDF) core, and comes in a pack of 9 boards, covering 2.26m2. While the Oak effect is on a 6.2mm HDF core and a pack of 10 boards covers 2.48m2.

Fast Fix 12, suitable for heavy domestic and light commercial use. It comes in Beech, Maple, Birch and Oak effect on a 7mm HDF core. There are 9 boards in a pack and this covers 2.19m2.

Fast Fix 15, a v-groove texture effect for use in heavy domestic and medium commercial (small offices) applications. It comes in Planked Oak and Planked Elm effects on 8mm thick High Density Fibreboard backing. There are eight boards to a pack covering 1.96m2.

The flooring can be laid on any type of subfloor, timber or concrete, the latter needing to have a damp proof membrane (d.p.m.) laid on top to prevent any rising damp. The subfloor can be tiled or otherwise surfaced but loose floorcoverings, including carpets and carpet tiles, should be removed.

All Fast Fix laminate flooring products require gluing for added protection if used in areas subjected to frequent cleaning with waterbase cleaners. All products are not affected by occasional spillages of water provided that it is wiped up immediately.

Do not lay laminate flooring on recently laid concrete.Wait until it is totally dry. This can take at least eight weeks depending upon thickness.

On concrete sub floors lay an 1000 gauge polythene damp proof membrane, available from Wickes, before laying the underlay and boards. Lay the membrane with taped 200mm overlaps and run the polythene up the perimeter walls behind any skirting. Failure to protect the boards from moisture penetration from below will lead to board expansion and distortion and is the most common reason for flooring problems.

Do not lay a membrane over timber floorboards or sub-flooring.

To complement the ranges, Wickes stock matching MDF foil wrapped used to conceal the expansion gap always left around the perimeter of the room when the flooring is laid. If preferred you can remove existing skirting boards and refit them above the laminate flooring provided that they are at least 15mm thick to conceal the expansion gap.

At door openings use one of the Wickes matching threshold or expansion strips. The threshold strip is ideal for finishing off your floor at patio doors and fireplaces, or any wall where a quadrant may be too high or inapplicable.

No matter which you choose always read the instructions and ensure that the expansion gap is maintained.

Two types of underlay are available. The first is a 2mm thick foam sheet on a roll 15 metres long by 1 metre wide (620-801/158-200), with the ability to provide a degree of acoustic insulation. For greater acoustic insulation and thermal insulation as well choose the thicker 7mm fibre underlay boards (620-000).

A pack of 20 covers 10m2. This underlay is also better at 'levelling out' uneven subfloors. Variances of more than 2mm over 1 metre should be levelled before work starts.

Whichever type of laminate flooring and underlay you choose you will also need a Fitting Kit which contains spacers, a tamping block and a pull bar, and you will need some Laminate Flooring Adhesive for Fast Fix if fitting in frequently wetted areas. This is used solely to bond the boards together, not to fix anything to the subfloor.

The tools you need are a hammer; a fine toothed saw - preferably a Wickes Jig Saw, a measure and a string line.

 

 

Basic Work Sequence

Full installation instructions are supplied with the Laminate Flooring packs but a brief version follows to give you an idea of how simple and straightforward the whole job is.

These instructions refer to glued installations, for non glued fixing, follow points 1 to 4 then continue without adhesive. If gluing Fast Fix, apply adhesive after point 4 has been completed, to the first row and then to each board as they are laid.

Leave the unopened packs of boards lying horizontally on the floor in the room where they are to be laid for at least 48 hours to allow them to acclimatise to the moisture content of the room. Do not stack against radiators.

Work always commences at the end of the room furthest from the door. Remove all furniture and clean the subfloor. Very uneven flooring - hollows deeper than 2mm - will need levelling with Wickes Floor Levelling Compound, and a damp proof membrane laid on top to stop moisture rising into the flooring.

1. Put down the underlay butting joints. It should not be necessary to tape joints.

2. Before laying the first board adjacent to the end wall, check with the fitting instructions whether the tongue or the groove should point towards the wall and lay accordingly.

Fit one spacer between the side wall and end of the board and a couple more along the length. The spacers ensure that the expansion gap is established right from the start. Diagram A.

3. Loose lay - no glue - another board in place at the end of the first one engaging the tongue and groove. Add spacers between it and the wall. If there is space for another board add it too or cut the next board to length to fit the available space allowing for a spacer between the cut end and the wall.

4. Now, using your string line, check that this first row of boards is perfectly straight. If it is not straight all that follow will be out of line and it will be impossible to close gaps between boards. Diagram B. It may be necessary to scribe the boards against the spacers to achieve the straight line. It is also important that the first row of boards are tight against the spacers since all following rows are placed and knocked into place using the tamping block and hammer. The first row cannot be allowed to move.

5. The second row starts with the offcut of the last board of the first row so long as this is at least 300mm long. Diagram C.

If shorter, start the row with a half length board. When using off-cuts ensure these joins do not fall within 200mm of each other as this can weaken the finished floor. Proceed using spacers at the ends of the row. Add a third row again without adhesive.

6. When satisfied with the alignment of the first three rows remove the boards except for the first one that can stay in position. If applying adhesive to the groove of the end of the second board in the row and to the top of the tongue of the first board in the row Diagram D, then put the second board back into place. Using the tamping block and hammer, ensure that the gap between the boards is closed. Remove excess adhesive squeezed out of the joint immediately. Add any remaining boards in the row in the same way, with adhesive. Double check the alignment.

7. Re-lay the first three rows again applying adhesive to the end and side grooves as well as the top of the tongues, Diagram D, tamping the boards into place, Diagram E, and removing excess adhesive from the surface. Allow the adhesive to dry for a couple of hours in the first three rows before proceeding. Lay each of the remaining rows in the same way. Dry first to ensure a good fit, then with adhesive.

The very last row of boards may have to be cut to fit, widthways, and you must remember to allow for the expansion gap.

8. Finally fit the skirting to cover the expansion gaps around the perimeter.

Do not infill the expansion gaps with cork or any other material unless specified by the product instructions.

 

General

The whole process is very straightforward and requires no special skills. The end result is a fine new floor, which requires little maintenance apart from being kept clean. It can be damaged by grit brought in on shoe soles and it is a good idea to position a mat at exterior door openings to collect grit and prevent it being brought into the house. The use of barrier mats at entrances in offices is particularly important.

Clean the floor using just a damp cloth; never apply liquids directly to the floor. Never use any abrasive cleaners.We recommend you use Wickes Floor Cleaner for regular cleaning of laminate flooring to help maintain the allergy free surface. Always place castor cups under small diameter castors to resist point loads, and lift, never slide furniture.

At door openings use one of Wickes matching Transition or Ramp strips to neatly finish the flooring but do make sure that expansion gaps are maintained.

In situations where the floor is longer or wider than 8 metres, perhaps where open planning combines a living room and dining room, you should leave an intermediate 10mm expansion gap at a suitable location, between one area and another ideally, covering this with a flat threshold strip.

A wide variety of accessories are available to finish, maintain and repair your laminate flooring.

Wickes matching pipe surrounds finish off around 15mm diameter pipes, hiding the expansion gap.

 

Conservatories

Increase the perimeter expansion gap to 15mm.

During summer, the temperature inside a closed conservatory can be much higher than is normally found inside a house, for this reason the perimeter gap should be increased to 15mm to allow for increased expansion of the boards.

If using adhesive when laying Laminate Flooring in a conservatory, try to carry out the fitting process on a cool day to prevent the adhesive drying out too quickly.

Note: Each product is supplied with detailed instructions, which should be followed.