How to lay the substrate under the laminate

Laminate can be seen in many homes and institutions, and the number of people who want to lay it in their home is increasing every day. Inexpensive, practical and beautiful material requires proper installation. On how to lay the substrate under the laminate, the degree of preparedness of the floor surface and the correct choice of the substrate depends on the service life of laminated panels.

What is a substrate?

Substrates under the slats are made of various materials, they differ in characteristics and price, but they all cope with the functions assigned to them.

Substrate requirements:

• antiseptic properties and biological neutrality;
• moisture resistance;
• sound and thermal insulation properties;
• depreciation ability;
• resistance to rupture and deformation.

PE foam – распространенный вид подложки. Влагостойкий, теплоизолирующий материал, устойчивый к микроорганизмам и грызунам. Иногда изготавливается с покрытием алюминиевой пленкой, этот вид имеет повышенные теплоизоляционные показатели и укладывается при необходимости утеплить пол. Различная толщина материала, от 1 до 6 мм, позволяет подобрать нужный вариант. Это самый бюджетный вид подложки, но он быстро теряет форму. Рекомендуется под ламинат 22?23 класса, который также не отличается продолжительность службы.

Styrofoam - durable material, ready for high loads. It is produced in sheets of 3–5 mm, keeps its shape, absorbs sound and provides thermal insulation. Available in sheets or rolls of various colors: green, blue, pink, gray. The rolled version is made with a double-sided surface: the smooth side is laid under the panels, and the ribbed one turns to the floor. This increases the depreciation properties of the material.

Corkboard подложка – производится из измельченной коры, натуральный материал безопасен для здоровья. С помощью такой основы можно выровнять мелкие дефекты пола, в процессе эксплуатации она не теряет упругость. Материал не рекомендуется стелить на кухне или ванной, он легко впитывает и пропускает влагу. Экологичную пробковую подложку лучше положить в спальне или детской. Перед тем как стелить пробковый материал на бетонную стяжку обязательно требуется устройство гидроизоляционного слоя.

One method of manufacturing a cork substrate is to use bitumen kraft paper as the basis of the material. Cork dressing is made from above. Substrate due to bitumen provides a high degree of waterproofing. The cost of the material is high, its use under the low-class laminate? unjustified luxury, floor covering will become worthless earlier than cork substrate.

Combined substrate - for its manufacture are used two synthetic materials: polyethylene and polypropylene. The special design allows you to maintain ventilation and remove any moisture. The material resists deformation, drowns out the sound of steps, levels the floor. It is suitable for floor heating, the thickness of 2 mm does not significantly raise the level of construction, and thermal conductivity provides heating of the laminate.

The special substrate has an integrated membrane that collects water. The material effectively absorbs sounds, has a high thermal insulation. He has only one drawback - the high cost.

Why lay the substrate?

For laminated panels any difference in the level of a concrete or other foundation matters. In such a place, a lock deformation appears, and the floor covering needs to be replaced. Laying an affordable substrate will avoid complex floor repair and replacement of laminated panels. Floating stacking system leads to the appearance of characteristic clicking sounds when walking on the lamellae. The substrate material creates a sound-absorbing and sound-absorbing layer.

Protection against moisture is very important for the laminate, which is made of pressed chips and has paper in the structure. The top layer of the panels protects the lamination, and the base is vulnerable to moisture that appears on the concrete screed in the form of condensate. The substrate, which has water resistance, acts as an additional protection of the floor covering.

Note! If you just lay laminate on a concrete base, the result is a cold floor. Using a substrate with thermal insulation properties makes it easy to solve this problem.

Laying technology

If you doubt your strength, you can watch a video on how to lay the substrate under the laminate before installation.

To work, you need a minimum of tools:

• construction knife or scissors;
• roulette;
• pencil;
• adhesive tape for bonding backing sheets.

It is necessary to lay the material on the prepared surface, which should be dry and level. Leveling is done with a concrete screed or plywood sheets. Before installation, the room is vacuumed. When using a rolled substrate, you need to cut the material into strips equal to the length of the room. If the house is fresh concrete screed, laying the substrate under the laminate is made on the waterproofing film. When wooden boards are the basis, it is not necessary to lay plastic wrap.

To avoid bends and displacements of the material, you should unwind the substrate roll and allow it to rest for a while, especially with regard to cork material. For reliability, the edges can be fixed with double-sided tape. The marking of the cutting lines occurs with the help of a tape measure and a pencil. Thin material is easily cut with scissors.

Between themselves, the substrate strip fastened with building tape. They always fit butt, avoiding overlaps. Changing the surface level at the edges of the material on each other will lead to deformation of the laminate panels. Do not attempt to level the base or increase thermal insulation by repeatedly laying the substrate. The material will be crushed under the action of point loads, and the lamellae are deformed. Laminate manufacturers do not strongly recommend increasing the thickness of the substrate layer.

When using the substrate in the form of separate sheets, each of them is laid end-to-end, only the last one in the row needs to be trimmed. To accurately measure its size, it is enough to lay the edge flush with the wall, and the excess part to get under the previous sheet, and cut off with a knife.

Note! Some types of expensive laminate are available with an attached substrate, and there is no need to buy another one.

Если одна сторона подложки рифленая, то она стелется к основанию, а к ламинату всегда направляется гладкая часть. PE foam с алюминиевой фольгой укладывается фольгированным слоем вверх и проклеивается специальным скотчем.

It is somewhat more difficult to lay the spruce boards, since they require the installation of all sheets at an angle of 45 degrees. For this, the first sheets are laid out and cut at an angle of 45 degrees. The cut parts are adjacent to the walls, and the rest of the plates are laid intact, observing the angle of the dock. Glued with tape, like the other substrate.

The choice of substrate is not regulated, it is made on the basis of expediency, environmental friendliness of the material and financial possibilities.

If you plan to use a laminate floor for at least 10 years, then you should not save money on purchasing a quality substrate. Inexpensive material quickly deforms and collapses, it will cease to serve as a reliable basis for panels.

Video

Piling подложки и ламината: