Laying laminate on linoleum: use old linoleum as a substrate
Linoleum is quite practical and wear-resistant flooring, but sometimes its improper use or the wrong location leads to surface damage and then you have to deal with the issue of floor repair. There are two ways to solve this problem, the first is to tear off the old linoleum and lay a new one, the second is to lay a new floor covering on top of the old linoleum. In this case, the laminate will be an ideal choice, due to its universal operational characteristics. So, we will figure out whether it is possible to put a laminate on linoleum and how to do it.
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Preparatory procedures
In general, laying laminate flooring can be done on tiles, concrete, chipboard, wooden floor, as well as linoleum. In the latter case, additional sound and heat insulation is an integral parameter of the future laminate flooring.
It is better to entrust the flooring of any kind of floors, especially laminate, to a specialist, but if you are confident in yourself and your strength, then you should adhere to some algorithm for solving this problem.
Before laying the laminate that has just been delivered from the store, it is necessary to allow it to undergo the “acclimatization” process within 3-4 days. Thus, being in conditions under which it will be used in the future, the laminate will acquire the same humidity and temperature as the working room. Also, an important moment at the initial stage is the inspection of uniformity of color and pattern of panels, checking the availability of the necessary working tools and additional components.
In addition, you need to make sure the floor is even. Its surface should be smooth, and the irregularities, if any, should be slight, the difference should be within 3 mm. Linoleum on top of which the laminate will be laid must be firmly and efficiently attached to the floor and meet the requirements for the bases laminate substrates. Or simply put, linoleum under the laminate should be characterized by such parameters as integrity, dryness, cleanliness, humidity should not exceed the humidity of the room. If linoleum has any damages, they should be repaired in order to avoid future creaking of the created laminated coating.
In addition, it is undesirable to lay the laminate on linoleum of excessive softness, since already assembled floors can be prone to sagging and curvature, which ultimately leads to unplanned floor repairs.
Attention! If the linoleum coating is very dilapidated, then there is a possibility that in the future it can swell and violate not only the aesthetic appearance of the floor covering, but also ruin it mechanically. In order to avoid such problems, linoleum should be coated with a layer of a special substrate with a thickness of at least 3 mm. It can be made of polystyrene foam, foamed polyethylene foam and even from cork, which, by the way, is the best option. To increase the waterproofing of the floor, it is worth using composite materials consisting of two layers of sufficiently strong and dense polyethylene, which are laid with a layer of polystyrene.The substrate serves as a kind of "shock absorber", the absence of which in a year will lead to the appearance of cracks and pimples on the flooring.
Rules for laying laminate flooring on an old coating
The installation of the laminate on linoleum is carried out according to a special technology, on the correctness and accuracy, compliance with which depends on the duration of the service life of the laminate flooring. It is necessary to produce laminate flooring so that the butt joints are almost invisible. To comply with this condition, installation should begin from the window, and perpendicular to it, that is, as a result, the light from the window will fall along the panels and hide the seams.
Flooring should start with two boards from the first row. To ensure a gap between the wall and the laminate, special spacer wedges should be installed to ensure a clearance of 10 mm. This gap is called deformational and it allows the floor to “walk”, so to speak, that is, expand and narrow as the humidity and temperature changes in the room. Installation of the laminate is done by a lock on itself, which will facilitate the adhesion of the panels and speed up the process.
After laying the first row, at the end it is necessary to trim the so-called short panel. If the size of the trimmed part of the panel exceeds 500 mm, then the second row flooring can be started from it, which will minimize waste. But do not forget that the end joints of the laminated panels in adjacent rows should be located at a distance of no less than 300 mm. Due to this, the pressure that appears during moisture deformation will be evenly distributed over the surface of the floor covering.
After the first row of flooring is assembled against the wall, you should begin laying the second row, while the angle of application of the boards of the second row to the adjacent panel should be 45 °. They are inserted into the lock and, when lowered down, snap into place, which indicates that the rows are fastened together. Four connected panels of the first two rows are the basis for the upcoming installation. Previously installed spacer wedges should not be removed, as they are still needed to create a deformation gap. The last panel is laid with the help of a so-called clamp, which will help to keep the final panel in a stationary state.
Laying the laminate on linoleum is completed installation of skirting boards the most suitable in color, they are necessary to prevent moisture and dirt from entering the deformation gap between the laminate and the wall. The most optimal and practical option are skirting boards, which have special channels for hiding in them electrical wires, telephone wires or television cables.
To mask the joints of the laminated coating between rooms, special sills are usually used with a width of more than 3 mm. If the door frame is supposed to be replaced, then it is better to mount it after laying the laminate, if the slats were installed before the floor was laid, then a small file should be made at the bottom of the box, into which the panel will enter. This procedure will avoid the hard fixing of the panels adjacent to the door frame and their further deformation.
As they say, it's better to see once than hear a hundred times:
Advantages of Laminate Flooring
The price of a laminated panel directly depends on the presence of natural wood in its composition, making the laminate not only an aesthetic floor covering, but also environmentally friendly.Despite the fact that most models of the laminate imitate natural wood, its style can be reoriented so that the new floor will be as similar as possible with granite trim or marble tiles.
In addition to a wide variety of styles and color schemes, the laminate has a number of other advantages:
- Strength. Laminate coatings excellently withstand constant and variable high loads and forces.
- Wear resistance. Under the influence of direct sunlight, the laminated panels do not fade, do not dry out and do not lose their strength, and during operation they are not erased.
- The simplicity and ease of installation of the laminate allows even to lay laminate flooring independently, without the help of a specialist.
- No need for additional grinding and hinging of the panels, as well as covering them with a layer of protective varnish.
- Environmental friendliness, hygiene and cleanliness. All known difficult stains from ink, wine, lag for nails, etc., are easily removed from the surface of the laminate. These qualities are provided by a special protective layer that does not allow the surface to absorb harmful substances from the environment.
By the way, laying the laminate on linoleum is not relevant, only, in case of damage to linoleum. Some experts specially lay a linoleum layer under the laminate floor, which provides additional hydro-, sound- and thermal insulation. But in both cases, it is necessary to follow all laying rules in order to get a perfectly smooth and durable floor.
Rules for the operation and care of the laminate
No matter how high-quality the laminate is laid on the old linoleum, you need to know the basic rules for operation and maintenance, which will help maintain your floor for many years. First of all, to ensure that the texture of the picture is not violated, furniture and other heavy things should be extremely carefully moved along the surface of the floor.
This rule applies not only to a sofa, a cupboard or an armchair, it applies to chairs, a coffee table, and even to a working armchair on wheels, all these types of furniture can ruin the surface, which will shorten the life of the floor covering. In addition to furniture, one of the worst enemies of all types of laminated flooring is shoes with heels. Walking on the laminate floor you can not only scratch it, but slip on it yourself, which is fraught with serious injuries. Also, the laminate does not tolerate falling on it piercing, cutting and beating objects, for example, a fallen knife, fork or mug will immediately damage it.
Naturally, when cleaning it is necessary to use special detergents, and it is better not to waste time on it, since low-quality cheap products will not only not help to clean the floor, but, on the contrary, will ruin it irretrievably. When washing the floor, the main thing is not to go too far with water. It is best to wipe the laminate with a slightly damp cloth - this is quite enough. If you want to achieve perfect cleanliness, clean it with a special water-based washing vacuum cleaner with a soft, non-scratching nozzle.
Observing these simple rules, you can successfully operate a laminate for many years. But first, it must be correctly and technologically laid on top of linoleum. It is not difficult to do this, because everything ingenious is accessible and simple.
Andrew 
Annie
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