Mar 29, 2019

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands

According to statistics, laminate is one of the most used materials used for laying on the floor in residential premises. It is not surprising, because it is distinguished not only by the richness of its choice of colors, but also by its good performance properties and a sufficiently long service life. However, the durability of this type of coating depends on the quality of the base.

In order for the laminate to serve for many years and to please the household with its beauty, a reliable and even basis is necessary. You will be helped out by laying plywood as a draft layer. The advantages of this method abound. Such a substrate has sufficient strength, is lightweight, can withstand heavy loads. But most importantly, its installation is quite simple, and almost everyone can handle it. In addition, an important fact for many will be the fact that the cost of plywood is significantly lower than the same self-leveling floor.

The choice of this material is now quite large, and even in a small town it is easy to find this material. Sheets of various thickness from 5 to 25 mm are on sale. They measure up to 2.5 meters in height, which is very convenient when covering large areas. Modern industry produces a large number of varieties of this material, including with water-repellent impregnation. All these features make the use of plywood as a base under the laminate is very attractive.

Choice of plywood

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Plywood sheets

It is important to determine which plywood to choose under laminate. Modern technology of manufacture of this material is practically brought to perfection.

By moisture resistance, it is divided into several categories:

Low category.
Middle category.
Increased.

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Plywood grades

All of them are suitable for use in residential areas. The main materials used for the manufacture of plywood are needles and birch. The advantage is given to conifers, as they are particularly resistant to the formation of fungi and mold. Since plywood is made from thin layers of glued wood, various artifacts can occur. These include the presence of knots and various irregularities. When laying the material on the floor, it is recommended to avoid using sheets with such defects. But if you still got a deformed sheet, and you do not know how to align it, then everything is not so difficult. It is enough to put wet cloths on both sides and let the moisture soak in well, then you need to walk through these places through the cloth with an iron and let the plywood dry completely under pressure. The curvature will disappear.

The thickness of the substrate under the laminate plays a key role, because the quality of your new floor directly depends on it. It is recommended to choose sheets with a thickness of at least 12 mm.

Preparing plywood for laying

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Laying scheme

Since the standard width of the sheet 125 centimeters, and a length of more than 2 meters, working with such dimensions is not very convenient. Therefore, before laying the plywood on the floor, it is pre-cut into squares. They are laid in such a way that a gap is formed between them - the so-called temperature joint. Its thickness should be from 5 to 10 mm, depending on the size of the squares. The distance from the extreme squares to the wall should be at least 1015 mm. However, if you have an assistant, cutting plywood is not necessary. Laying large sheets will be several times faster.

Pay special attention to the way plywood is laid on the floor. Preference should be given to the so-called brick ligation, when the sheets are offset from each other. This condition must be observed so as not to form long longitudinal or transverse seams, as well as in order to prevent the four seams from converging at one point. These moments are very important, since during the subsequent installation of heavy furniture, in such places a subsidence and break of the laminate can occur.

How to lay

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Installation with insulation

So, the plywood was bought, the room ready to start work - let's get started!

The first thing to do is to clean the floor surface from debris, dust and irregularities.
We are grounding. If the primer is absorbed very quickly, we recommend that you repeat the procedure several times.
If you have a wooden floor, then you can lay the plywood directly on it, fixing the sheets with self-tapping screws. They need to be twisted with an interval of no more than 30 mm. If you have a concrete base, then fasten with glue or conventional foam.
We check the entire surface by level.
Laying the substrate. This is necessary in any case. Lay out the substrate over the entire surface and carefully level, avoiding wrinkles.

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Mounting pattern for lags

Well, now your floor is ready for laying laminate .The substrate plays a role not only shock absorber, but also heat and sound insulator, in addition, it will hide all the remaining minor irregularities. As a substrate, it is best to use special heat insulating materials. In this case, your new floor will become much warmer.

Laying plywood under the laminate with their own hands Laying laminate on plywood