Friday, January 2, 2009

LAYING LAMINATE FLOORING TIPS

Yes laminate flooring is the widely used flooring type in the present times in the American houses. It is due to the benefits of laminate flooring that people are using laminate flooring in the place of hardwood flooring. Laminate flooring is more durable and installing and maintaining it is much more easier than using hardwood flooring.
The availability of laminate floorings in different patterns of texture and grains and wide range of colors made this type of flooring more popular then hardwood flooring. The popularity gained by laminate flooring is because it resembles hardwood flooring but it is easier to install than hardwood flooring. The durability of laminate flooring is also one of the reasons why more and more people in America are choosing this type of flooring.
There are many benefits of laying laminate flooring with the first one being the easy methods of installation, an expert can install this type of flooring in just few days. This type of laminate flooring also can be cleansed very easily with a little water and soap. For people with dust allergy and are having trouble with carpets, laminate flooring is the best choice. If you educate yourself well about installation of laminate flooring, it would be quite a fun doing this.
More than all the above benefits of laminate flooring, it is the ability to install this type of flooring by anyone without the expertise of a carpenter which made laminate flooring more popular than any other type of flooring. There are many weekend learning classes are provided to teach you how to install laminate floorings by yourself, and the laminate flooring tips given here would be every useful once you have enough knowledge of installing the laminate flooring.
There are quite a few methods of laying laminate flooring like nailing, gluing, and the most recently developed method of interlocking. You have to chose from these methods of laminating flooring laying types. Earlier nailing and then the gluing method were available in laminate flooring. These type of flooring was not easy for someone who has no expertise in laying the floors. Without expertise it would be very easy to make a mess than a clear flooring with these types. But as the technology improved, currently available laminate floorings namely glueless flooring developed which is very easy to install for anyone with a little bit of training and practice. The time taken by the glue less laminate flooring is half of that which uses a glue. Though it is done by a amateur, looks professional at the end.
The knowledge of the project by reading the material given by the manufacturer with suggestions how to lay the product is very important. Without the expertise of a carpenter ignoring the tips given by the manufacturer of the laminate flooring will lead to a lot of problems. It is also every important not to get into the project laying laminate flooring in a hurry. The project will land into problems if you start without proper planning and calculations and measurements.
So it will be prudent to take your time before getting into the project starting with reading the tips of laminate flooring given by the manufacturer. Cleaning and keeping the area of laying laminate flooring dry is every essential. The problems you encounter while laying laminate flooring most of them result from laying the laminate floor improperly and forgetting to temper the flooring enough before installation.
So the importance of suggestions and tips of laying laminate flooring given by the manufacturer should not be ignored. Before starting the project it would be prudent if you go through the information available on web because you can find practical tips on laying laminate flooring and also the information about hundreds of different types of laminate and other types of floorings. One more tip in laminate flooring if it is you who is going to fix the laminates and not an expert. Make sure you get that type of laminates which does not require any glue for fixing. The locking type of laminate floorings are very easy for someone who is not an expert himself.
One of the most important laminate flooring laying tips is, when you get the weekend training, make sure that the training also provides diagrams and videos of laminate flooring.One of the laminate flooring tips you should not ignore is to buy ten percent more of require laminate boards. The reason for this excess purchase is you would bound to make some mistakes in cutting your laminate flooring. And you should have some leftover laminates when your job is completed for future use. If you like to have some damaged piece in the future the left over laminates which you have purchased excess will be useful.
The grain patterns of the laminate flooring are being changed regularly and newer and newer patterns are leased into markets by the manufacturer and the old patterns are outdated. When in future if there is any damage and you want to replace a plank, it is possible that you may not get the piece with a similar grain pattern, and that is why it would be useful if you have pieces of laminate flooring available for replacement of some damaged piece.
Laminate flooring tips, repair. Whenever there are chips and cracks developed, you can use either acrylic filler of same color for smaller chips or putty filler for larger chips. It is very easy to use these fillers and takes few hours to dried. Select the best possible color and it would be difficult to notice the difference once the filler is dried.
Additional Laminate Flooring Tips:
Make sure your measures are perfect before you cut. Use a table saw with fine blade. Laminate flooring can get easily chipped as they are laminated planks, so using a fine blade is key to avoid chipping. Laminate flooring needs breathing place, so don't forget to leave a small gap to allow expansion and contraction of the laminate flooring with change in room temperature.
If there is a damage in a plank. With a little bit of effort the damaged plank can easily be replaced. By locating the end spot or access point to the plank and removing all the planks would make to task easy. As it is easy fit the glue less planks of laminate flooring, it would be easy to place back all the planks after replacing the damaged one. Learning about laying laminate flooring through reading a book, watching a video, and attending a weekend course is very important if you trying to install the laminates yours. If you fail to do this you will definitely make some mistakes some of which may be grave mistakes.
Avoid Mistakes While Here are few tips you can use to avoid making mistakes. The first thing you have do when you are considering to lay laminate flooring yourself is to measure, the second important tip is to measure, and the third important tip is measure. Making mistakes in measuring would leave you with a persisting headache. Not trying to order ten percent more than what you consider actually require is also another common mistakes many people do.
Make sure a even padding to lay the planks on. If you ignore this tip the laminate flooring would bow down over time. Do not, do not leave anything accidentally on the floor. This will make you remove half of the planks you have already laid which as you known would be the least thing you would like to happen to you. Leave a gap between the planks at your walls and thresholds. This will allow the laminate flooring planks to breath and expand or contract.

Once the are of flooring is prepared well for the installation, you can start laying laminate flooring. You have to make sure that there is a gap of at least 5/6'' between the wall and the laminates. You can also use plastic or wood spacers between the wall and the laminates expansion space until completion of the installation. This space between the wall and the flooring is essential for breathing of the laminates as they tend to expand and contract and avoids alignment problems when they do expand or contract.
Start installing laminate flooring by laying out at furthermost point from the doorway. You have to put the groove side against the wall at first. Glue should be applied lightly on the tongue joints and then insert the tongue joints in to the groove. Using a white rubber hammer you gently tap the planks in place. Joint sealant should be used to seal the joints between the planks. Make sure the surface is clean and dry before applying the sealant. While cutting holes to accommodate pipes, you have to make a hole a 3/8'' more in size than the diameter of the pipe. Use joint sealant to seal the area. Once you completed installing laminate flooring sweep and remove all the debris, and allow the flooring to settle down for about 24 hours before using it .

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