Laying linoleum on a wooden floor: preparing the base and laying on glue

Linoleum is one of the most popular flooring. And this is not surprising. This material is wear-resistant, hygienic, resistant to various types of influences, has an affordable price. Thanks to a wide range of colors and patterns, linoleum harmoniously fits into many interior styles. It can be laid on almost any foundation - the only thing is that it should be perfectly prepared. A reliable base for linoleum can only be a smooth, clean and dry surface. So if you plan to lay linoleum on a wooden floor, get ready for a large amount of work. Why? It is no secret that one of the key properties of PVC coatings in rolls is high elasticity. And this means that it will easily repeat the shape of all the flaws of the base. Just imagine how the linoleum floor will look ugly, from the “manifest” seams and cracks between the boards.

Content

1 Types of linoleum - which is better to lay on a tree?
2 Proper preparation of the base for laying
3 Conditions for successful installation
4 Technology of laying linoleum coating
5 How to care for linoleum?

Types of linoleum - which is better to lay on a tree?

Depending on the raw materials used for the manufacture of linoleum, it is divided into various types.

Polyvinyl chloride linoleum made from polymeric material. It can be without a base, or maybe on a foam, fabric or heat insulating base.
Foamed linoleum is four layer. This coating provides good heat and sound insulation, in addition, it is durable and strong, but not flexible enough. Suitable for rooms with high humidity and traffic.
Linoleum on a fabric basis has two layers: the bottom is fabric, the top is protective. The coating is very plastic, durable.
Linoleum on a heat and sound insulating basis has a bottom layer of felt or foam reinforced synthetic material. The top layer is a polyvinyl chloride film.
Linoleum without a support has a uniform structure and is resistant to abrasion, moisture.
Alkyd linoleum made from alkyd resins with mineral fillers. The base can be both from natural and synthetic materials. It has a drawback - not too plastic, prone to the formation of cracks and creases.
Rubber linoleum - its lower layer is made of a mixture of bitumen and crushed recycled rubber, the upper one is their colored rubber. It is characterized by high ductility and water resistance, used most often in industrial and industrial premises.
Colloxyl linoleum - coating based on nitrocellulose. Flexible enough, fireproof with a peculiar shine.

Any of these species boasts a variety of colors, patterns and textures. The drawing applied to the base is covered with a film, the wear resistance of linoleum and its cost depend on the thickness of which. The higher the wear resistance - the wider the scope of the coating. Properly selected flooring with high wear resistance will be appropriate not only in the apartment, but also in public buildings and industrial workshops, it serves for a long time and effectively.

Proper preparation of the base for laying

So, before you is a wooden surface that has served its age, or parquet. What do you need to do first? Of course, to decide how such a foundation is better prepared.And this requires a thorough examination.

If the details of the floor structure are not affected by mold and have only minor flaws, then you can do this:

fasten all planks / boards;
remove the "elevation" of the coating with a planer or grinder;
drown the hats of nails and screws, putty the resulting recesses;
to fill cracks, chips, and also cracks between floorboards with a special composition. It is recommended to fill wide slots with narrow, specially prepared slats;
sand the surface.

If the wooden floor is unevenly worn, there are obviously defective floorboards, the best solution would be to lay sheets of moisture-proof plywood on it. The material is attached to the base with self-tapping screws, after which, like the above algorithm, all the hats are “hidden”; the surface in places where it is necessary is putty and then polished. Laying linoleum on plywood, as practice shows, is subsequently as easy and trouble-free as possible.

Topic article: Aligning the wooden floor with plywood: all about laying plywood on a wooden base

Laying linoleum on a wooden floor should be done only after high-quality surface preparation, sealing all cracks, cracks and chips

If the preparation of the plank floor requires too much physical and time costs, the best way to solve the problem of a defective base is to level the surface with plywood sheets

After you carry out all the necessary manipulations with the base and thoroughly clean it, you can begin further work.

Conditions for successful installation

The temperature in the rooms in anticipation of the installation of the coating should be stable for at least 48 hours. At the same time, it is desirable that it exceeds 18 degrees. The temperature of the substrate should not fall below the mark of 15 degrees. Recommended humidity is 40-60%.

Before laying linoleum on a wooden floor, it is necessary to allow the material to acclimatize in the room. Usually at this "stage" requires at least 24 hours. Avoid dropping the cover, make sure that it does not wrinkle.

Also pay attention to such points:

if you have to work with several rolls within the same room, you need to make sure that they are from the same batch. Docking of the material of the same color, but from different batches can lead to visual imbalance in the seam area;
It is recommended to lay the PVC coating in the reverse way - that is, the cut canvases should be in contact with each other with the "same" sides. This is necessary, again, to avoid color differences. True, there are exceptions to this rule - natural linoleum and a coating with a wooden pattern always lie in the same direction.

Worth to know! The different concentration of color pigments along the long edges of the roll is due to the technological features of PVC production.

Technology of laying linoleum coating

You can lay linoleum on a wooden floor in the following ways:

No gluing. This method is the easiest, but not reliable. Suitable only for small rooms up to 12 square meters. Its essence lies in the fact that a carefully leveled coating is simply pressed along the perimeter by skirting boards.
With fixing on double-sided tape. This installation technology provides a longer operation of the material. The adhesive tape is glued first around the perimeter of the room, and then in the form of a lattice with a side of about 50 centimeters - over the entire surface of the floor. Protective paper film is removed from the adhesive tape only when linoleum is directly bonded. And not all at once, but meter by meter, as the workflow progresses. Each surface area is well smoothed.
With a glue fit. The most durable option, and if the room is large - then the only reasonable one.

Consider the adhesive laying of linoleum on a wooden base in more detail. Work execution order:

mark and cut linoleum with a margin of about 5 centimeters for each side. After the linoleum is properly laid down in the room, all excess material can be “eliminated”;
wrap the prepared canvas with the base up, while freeing half the area of the rough surface for applying adhesive;
draw on the base along the curled edge with a pencil at risk - this will be the border of the glue
armed with a notched trowel, apply glue to the base (observe the boundary);
having passed the required period of time specified in the adhesive instructions, lay the PVC coating on the “fixing” layer and carefully smooth (roll) the surface - first by hand, and then using a roller. It is necessary to roll the coating first in the transverse direction, and then in the longitudinal;
it is also necessary to do with the second half of the canvas.

We suggest you use our online calculator to calculate the required amount of linoleum:

If the room is large, you probably have to work with two, or even three sheets of linoleum. This of course complicates the task a little, but the whole principle remains unchanged - first we glue and press one half of the canvas, then the second. Just remember that each subsequent sheet should overlap the previous one (about 2 centimeters). This allows both edges to be cut at the same time, resulting in perfectly matching seams.

Linoleum, fixed exclusively by skirting boards, as a rule, does not last long, since any excessive impact on such a floor structure can provoke its deformation.

Qualitatively produced adhesive laying of linoleum on a wooden base provides a good appearance of the floor covering, its wear resistance and durability

Jointing is carried out two to three days after linoleum flooring. Produce it with a long metal ruler and a special sharp knife. The resulting seams are cleaned of the protruding composition and pressed with a board and cargo until completely dry.

If the canvases of the material were glued really neatly, the seams will be almost invisible. But their complete isolation does not hurt. To do this, use cold or hot welding. The most durable mechanical joint is obtained by hot welding, but cold is usually used in everyday life. This is because to work with it does not require special equipment and special skills.

How to care for linoleum?

To increase the life of the linoleum coating, care must be taken not to neglect it. Do not use active cleaning agents for cleaning - from them the surface of the material crackes and dims. For cleaning, use either special compounds or take care of the floor “classically” - wash it with a simple damp cloth.

Topic article: Linoleum Care - Operating Tips

You can protect linoleum from premature aging with mastics and polishes. To avoid scratches and breaks in the coating, it is advisable to wear special “caps” made of soft material on the furniture legs.

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Jeanne
6 years ago

We also had to lay linoleum on an old wooden floor.With their own hands and improvised means, this can not be done qualitatively completely. Unless, of course, you have a building education. We do not, that’s got a poor gender. Firstly, the boards in places were bulging with ribs as soon as the linoleum was taken. Then the nails were hatched. They found nothing better than to remove the entire floor, to lay the plywood directly on concrete, and only then linoleum was lined. If you knew that plywood could be on the floor, it would be much warmer. But our floorboards were originally high, so this whole structure would add thickness.
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Alyona
6 years ago

There was such a problem in the construction of the cottage, they quickly solved it. In principle, this is not even a problem, because it is done quickly, especially if the person who does this does not lose work :) My husband and I once did not think about laying linoleum, but it seemed to us that it’s more practical and reliable to choose it than parquet or something else. But they were satisfied with the result, the floor turned out smooth, no bloating, especially as it happens with parquet. So there is nothing wrong with that, I recommend it to everyone, linoleum is budgetary, and practical.
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Borris
6 years ago

The final part of the repair just came up at my place now, it came to the floor. Since the repair was done cosmetic, I decided not to resort to high costs and therefore decided to lay linoleum. My experience is this: now there is a very wide selection of sizes in width and installation is not a big problem. Well, of course, clearly he will never get around the perimeter of the room, so one way or another you will have to cut it and this is exactly what requires special care and attention. I took a special knife. Do not trim close to the wall, be sure to leave a gap of 5 mm to 1 cm. And after that, do not rush to install skirting boards, you need to let it rest for a day or two, then you may have to cut it again.
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kratina
7 years ago

We recently laid linoleum in a country house. The installation method was chosen without gluing. We chose a four-layer linoleum, it is quite heavy, so we do not observe waves and shifts. As for thermal insulation, it really has this property. We calmly walk barefoot in the garden, our feet do not freeze.
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