Laying plywood under the laminate itself
According to established customs, the concrete floor in the room is leveled with a cement screed. But what if there are wooden floorboards installed in the room and you don’t want to clean the old floor? Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands will allow to get out of this situation. The method of installation of plywood for all types of surfaces is the same. Coating laid on concrete and wooden floor will be equivalent. Note that the success of this event will directly depend on the master's literacy and the accuracy with which he complies with the basic requirements when installing the foundation.
Plywood properties
Preferring this type of material, it is worth considering that it has the following characteristics:
- small weight;
- good density;
- ability to withstand significant stress;
- nice smell;
- simple installation;
- democratic price.
In view of the listed features it is worth saying that plywood is the optimal solution for leveling wooden floors. The main advantages of this type of material will be the following:
- plywood can give the floor hardness;
- installation work is fast due to large sheets;
- plywood sheets are flexible, hard to break;
- This material is easy to process.
Assembly work
Lay plywood under the laminate should be on the aligned plane. It is important what plywood to put under the laminate. When choosing, it is necessary to consider the grade and variety. The quality of future coverage will depend on the right choice.
Material selection
Plywood is made of veneer layers. The number of such layers is determined by an odd number. The classification of such bases is divided by the level of moisture resistance and the nature of the wood used. Pine or birch are taken as the basis. Moreover, plywood made from coniferous breeds, in combination with glue, is able to release toxic substances. Such material is suitable for roofing structures. It is resistant to mold and fungi. Accordingly, the surface in the room is best treated with birch plywood.
Focusing on external data, four categories of plywood can be distinguished:
- no visible defects from the outside;
- presence of knots;
- the presence of cracks, veneer;
- irregularities of a different nature.
Note! Choosing plywood, you should opt for the birch of the third category with a high moisture resistance. Its cost is low, and the base is characterized by stable performance.
The thickness of the plywood also plays an important role when choosing this material. The optimum thickness is 12–16 mm.
Fit and cut sheets
To properly lay the plywood, you need to make it accurate markup. The sheet must be divided into squares, then put in place. Do not forget about the temperature fluctuations of the material. Therefore, between the layers of plywood leave small spaces, about 8-10 mm.
Note! Many experts recommend doing a fifteen millimeter temperature gap along the walls.
The squares of this material set, slightly shifting them. This installation resembles the technology of laying bricks. All base of the floor is covered with plywood, if necessary, it is easily cut according to the curvature of the walls. It is known that the standard sheet has a size of 125 cm on both sides. To facilitate their own work, experts recommend cutting such a base into four equal parts. As a result, identical squares with sides of 60 cm are obtained. They should be sawn carefully, leaving no torn edges and delaminations.
Note! In order to maintain accuracy, parts of plywood should be numbered.
Laying plywood
Once the optimum plywood has been selected and the necessary measurements have been made, installation work can be carried out. First of all, you need to prepare the surface, eliminating irregularities and debris. For high-quality surface cleaning, use any type of vacuum cleaner. Once the outer layer is ready, the substrate can be primed. The finished mixture is applied using a roller and brush. After that, lay the plywood on the floor. Its layers are strengthened with screws, if the initial coating is made of wood. Concrete screed involves the use of adhesive.
Sheets of plywood are put in a given order, which was mentioned above. To provide the coating with particular strength and stability, the layers can be additionally glued with glue, this also applies to the wooden floor. You also need to know how to level the plywood. For this material is fixed with screws. Maintain a distance of 2 cm from the edge. The border between the fasteners should be 20 cm. The length of the screw is 3 times longer than the thickness of the material.
Laminate flooring
Once the base is ready, you can proceed to laminate flooring. It is necessary to take care of the substrate, which should cover the entire surface. Before direct installation of laminated panels it is worth eliminating possible cracks and visible defects.
As soon as the substrate is laid, you can mount the strips. Starting the process of covering the floor is better from the far left corner.
From all of the above, we can conclude that plywood is a good basis for laying laminate. As a substrate, the ideal option would be a high-quality insulating material. It will perfectly hide the unevenness of the floor and will become a good shock absorber.