There are several ways of laying laminate boards and in order to decide where it is better to start laying laminate flooring, you should first take into account the texture of the material, the nature of the wear of the coating, the position of the oversized furniture and the location of the windows in the room. Initially, all the craftsmen recommended starting the laying of lamellas on the right side along the wall, perpendicular to the source of natural light. In this case, the connecting seams were located along the stream of light, which made them practically invisible when observed from the entrance to the room.
Modern materials have more pronounced textures, special longitudinal and transverse bevels, and therefore traditional placement ceases to be relevant and new methods of styling have to be applied:
- across;
- diagonally;
- along;
- herringbone";
- in the "maze".
Within the room
To understand where to start laying the laminate, you should consider various situations related to the texture of the material and the characteristics of the room.
- Embossed and beveled boards. This texture implies a visual emphasis on embossing and chamfering - this way a complete illusion of natural material is achieved, so the traditional arrangement of lamellas is not beneficial. In this case, it is recommended to lay the laminate across, i.e. along the window, or diagonally. A stream of natural light will highlight an uneven embossed surface and emphasize the division of individual boards, indicated by a longitudinal and transverse chamfer;
- Structural texture. By embossing the surface of the board, they give artificial roughness, which visually resembles the natural surface of wood or stone. For such a texture, standard placement along the wall perpendicular to the window is possible;
- Register. Lamels with such embossing are among the most expensive and beautiful products, which are very difficult to distinguish from wooden boards. From what angle should the laminate be laid in this case? Professionals recommend starting the installation from the left corner, if you look directly at the window. By placing the boards along the wall in natural light, you can achieve the effect of natural coating;
- Pattern imitating aged wood. For the visual perception of such a texture, the use of natural lighting is not necessary, therefore, the lamellas can be placed in any order;
- Placing oversized furniture in the room. When planning the installation of the laminate, you need to imagine how the furniture will be placed in the room. The weak point of the lamellas is the lock connection, and if the legs of the sofa or cabinet are on the same board, after a while you should expect the lock to break, which will lead to the need to replace the cover. The way out of this situation is to place the laminate diagonally;
- The degree of wear of the coating. Coatings located in the corridor or hallway have the highest degree of wear, so the longitudinal placement of lamellas in such rooms is not recommended (increased wear leads to creaks), diagonal installation will also be the best option.
If to summarize all the options for the location of the slats in the room, we get the following picture:
- Styling along the wall and perpendicular to the source of natural light It is recommended to start from the far right corner when looking at the window. This method is used for any standard drawings and allows you to hide the joints of the boards;
- Cross mounting runs from the far left edge when viewed from a window. It is used when installing lamellas with embossed or bevel;
- Diagonal arrangement the laminate can be started from the center of the room or from the corner, and installation from the middle of the room will more clearly calculate the required angle with respect to the walls;
- Laminate installation Herringbone You can start from the right and the left corner. In this case, binding to a specific place is not important;
- Stacking method "Maze" possible only from the center of the room. A set of panels according to the type of mosaic can only be performed by professional finishers, so you should not use this installation option yourself. This method is suitable only for rooms with an area of 20 sq.m. and more, in a small room all the complexity of the pattern will not be visible.
Within the apartment
Having figured out the question of where to start laying laminate flooring in the room, you should decide how to correctly begin laying laminate flooring in the apartment. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the presence of passage doors, the limited space in the corridor, and the technology of work.
It will be right to start laying the laminate from the farthest room so that when transferring material and performing work, it will not damage the already laid floors. Next, they perform installation in the remaining rooms, hall and kitchen, after which they move to the corridor and hallway. Thus, when carrying out work, the order will be respected and accidental damage to the new floor surface will not occur.
When docking the flooring in adjacent rooms, it is recommended to leave a technological gap and cover it with a special docking threshold. Such a measure will allow preserving the integrity of the coating in emergency situations in one room - as a result of water breakthrough in one room, expanded boards will not break the laminate in the next room.
Technological clearance is usually arranged in the doorway, and such a gap must also be made between the kitchen and the corridor, although usually the flooring in these rooms is visually combined.
The nuances of laying the first and subsequent rows
The general picture of the flooring in the room depends on how to start laying the laminate, so it is very important to follow the following step-by-step instructions, especially if the work is done by yourself:
- The concrete base is leveled, cracks and chips are putty, and a substrate is laid on a prepared, clean surface. This material allows you to eliminate small differences in the height of the screed, and also performs the function of heat and sound insulation.
- Taking into account the recommendations, determine the place where the coating begins to be laid.
- To ensure technological clearance, special wedges of a centimeter thickness are installed near the wall. This procedure is required when installing the laminate flooring, since when changing the humidity regime in the apartment, a slight expansion of the lamellas occurs, and the gap along the walls of the room will help to avoid swelling.
- After you have decided where to start laying the laminate in the room, you should make a preliminary fitting of the material according to the dimensions of the room. It is necessary to do this in order to optimally choose the size of the lamella trim for laying rows in a run. Typically, the board to start the second row is cut to 1/3 or 50%. It is also important to determine how much you have to cut the last board in the first row, if there is too small a piece, you will need to shorten the first in the row of lamellas.
- The first row is laid with a comb to the wall, but to ensure the correct clearance, the comb is cut off.
- The first row is laid from the whole board (if when measuring the room the need for fitting the first lamella was not revealed).
- The second row begins to lay with cut to 1/3 or half of the board. This eliminates the possibility of pairing the transverse locks.
- Subsequent rows are also stacked with offset.