Many people are more afraid of not the repair process itself, but the many preparatory works that precede it. As a rule, these works lead to a mess and ruin, but they can not do without them. However, there are exceptions to all the rules, and one of them is the process of laying linoleum. Consider whether you can put linoleum on linoleum to avoid the accumulation of dirt and dust and not to carry out special damage in the room.
If the flooring was laid back in Soviet times, and this “remnant of the era” has become so dilapidated, that was wiped in places and began to swell, without any hesitation, remove it. Without a doubt, the old coating over the years of operation has acquired many defects. In favor of this, the following arguments can be made:
1. Dust. In past years, linoleum was fabricated on a fabric basis, which is not particularly reliable and gradually decays and collapses over the period of service. Even if you tried to treat the coating as carefully as possible and protected it from excessive loads, a lot of dust accumulated in the substrate over the years. Glue, overlap materials, pieces of cloth - all of this is probably left in the bottom layer. It is unlikely that you would like to breathe such a mixture for a few more years, so it is much more sensible to remove the old coating before laying a new one.
2. Dirt. Even in the material without a fabric base accumulates dust, bacteria and more. Especially a lot of dirt in the seams between the canvases.
3. Irregularities on the floor. Defects of linoleum can be very different: dents, holes, wavy areas. In this situation, the only correct solution is a complete replacement of the coating. According to the technical requirements, the allowable height differences of the coating should not be more than 1-2 mm per 2 square meters. If there are areas on the floor with waves or dents, the linoleum on them will wear out much faster. This is due to the increased load on the surface.
4. There is another, equally important argument in favor of replacing the material. Agree, if you lay a new floor on an uneven floor, it will also be deformed, and it will not be very convenient and safe to walk on it. In addition, this floor will not look very aesthetic, and over time you will again have to decide on another repair.
If the main floor was well leveled and the floor was laid relatively recently, it is not necessary to remove it. Of course, you don’t want to mess around with well-glued material, besides, there will be a lot of dust and dirt in the room. If the laying of linoleum is made with high quality, it will serve as an excellent insulating and leveling layer for the new coating. Leaving the old linoleum, you will significantly save labor costs and be able to reduce the time to perform preparatory procedures.
Before you put linoleum on old linoleum, carefully inspect the old coating. Check for any defects: furniture, scratches, cracks, bubbles, waves or dents. All defects found need to be corrected, since it will not work to hide them under the next layer of coating, and the floor will not be perfectly flat.
Great, you still have unused strip of linoleum. They are useful for eliminating holes in the old coating. Another option - when buying a new coating, ask the seller for unnecessary residues from linoleum rolls. To choose the right material, measure the thickness of the damaged coating and determine which substrate it has and its density. Cut out linoleum pieces of the required size and shape and glue them into areas with gaps to make the coating even.
To eliminate the crack, make cross-sections at both ends of the crack, so that the letter “H” comes out. After that, bend the edges of the crack and cover the backing of the material and the floor with a special adhesive mastic. Press the material firmly to the floor, put a load on it and leave it for a while to glue it well.
After the old coating has been repaired, you can safely proceed to the direct installation of the new linoleum.
Can linoleum be laid on linoleum in large rooms? Experts say that lay a new coating on the old in rooms with an area of more than 25 square meters. m, quite difficult. As a rule, in rooms with such an area, linoleum is laid by gluing. If you glue the layers of linoleum together, their grip will not be very reliable, and the new material may peel off along with the adhesive mastic.
Therefore, if you decide not to remove the old linoleum coating, it is better to lay a new one without using glue. You can also use a special double-sided tape for bonding the material, which reduces the slip.
In this case, linoleum is fixed along the walls with baseboards, and near the threshold - with a special decorative strip. And of course, speaking of laying linoleum on the old coating, it should be noted that you should not move heavy pieces of furniture on the floor without taking them from the surface.