We have a great range of Laminate Flooring Romford from
classic oak to fashionable walnut. Plus a newly launched range of
quality Balterio Laminate Flooring Romford
Laminate Flooring Romford biggest flooring retailer so shopping, trusted and quality experience with Laminate Flooring Romford.
WE ALSO STOCK THE COMPLETE
RANGE OF FLOORING
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WE ALSO STOCK THE COMPLETE
RANGE OF FLOORING
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WE ALSO STOCK THE COMPLETE
RANGE OF FLOORING
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Board Size
In today's trend of homely yet modern design
is plenty of space for Laminate Flooring Romford. The ease of maintenance and
hygienic properties of this type of flooring are just two of the reasons
that more and more people choose to go 'laminate'. It will be able to give
you the feel of a wooden floor, without having to spend bags of money. And
nowadays it is so easy to lay it yourself!
With the development of
the click-and-go Laminate Flooring Romford, you really don't need to be a professional to
be able to lay your own floor. Which saves you a lot of money! In this
guide we will give you a few handy pointers to laying your own laminate
floor and how to care for it.
What is Laminate Flooring Romford?
Laminate Flooring Romford is a type of flooring that exists of different
layers of material that all have different qualities. From top to bottom,
in a typical laminate floor there are: a decorative surface (made of a
resin-based melamine that is hard wearing), a wood-based core (which is
the main component of a laminate floor), and a backing that is bonded to
the underside of the core, which gives it its rigidity.
Laminate Flooring Romford comes in all sorts of designs, mainly copying wood patterns and
is produced in rectangular plank shape. But recently new designs have been
put on the market, imitating slate and tiled flooring. Therefore these
laminates have a square shape, but will still have the same main features
of laminate flooring, namely durability, ease of maintenance and ease of
fitting.
Which Laminate Flooring Romford to
choose?
There are different
types of laminate flooring, but both of them work with the
tongue-and-groove principle and both of them are 'floating systems', which
means that the floor is not attached to the under-floor, but is resting on
the under-floor. First of all, there are two methods of putting the floor
together: with glue and without glue. Glued flooring is put together by
putting a bead of glue between the tongue and the groove. Glueless
flooring is a system by which the panels are clicked together and gets
more and more popular every day, as it is quicker and cleaner than the
glued system. It is also possible to 'unclick' the panels and take them
with you when you move.
Laminate Flooring Romford comes in a lot of
different qualities, thickness and water resistancy. Choose the best
flooring you can afford and make sure the flooring you choose is
appropriate for the room you're going to put it in. For example, you best
use waterproof laminate flooring for the bathroom and the kitchen! Have a
look around your local DIY stores, comparing qualities and prices to make
sure you make the right choice.
Tools and materials that you will need
- Laminate flooring (!). Be sure you check
and double check the size of your room and buy 5% more than you think
you need. You will always need more for cutting and nobody likes going
back to the DIY shed for one pack of planks! Besides that, when you do
return, they might not have your colour match anymore!
- Underlay (to make the floor sound proof
and to provide insulation). Take 5% extra of this as well.
- Edging trim (a laminate flooring is not
fixed anywhere, edging trim is used to keep it in place along the sides
and to provide a neat finish). Take some more of this as well, as you
will always have to cut around funny corners you hadn't
anticipated.
- Tape measure
- Mask and goggles
- Scissors
- Circular saw/Jigsaw
- Handsaw
- Spirit level
- Square
- Nails/screws etc.
Tools and materials that you might
need
When you have a
concrete sub-floor:
- Chisel
- Hammer
- Levelling compound
- Bucket
- Damp-proof membrane (for when you have
tiles, asphalt/concrete or vinyl as your sub-floor)
When you have a wooden
sub-floor:
- Hammer
- Detector for pipes and electricity
cables
- Plane (for protruding areas)
- Filler or levelling compound (for holes
and hollow areas)
- Pipe covers to neatly finish flooring
around pipes
How to start
First of all you have to condition the flooring to the
room's temperature and humidity. Leave it in its packing and lay it
horizontally (to prevent bending of the laminate) for at least 48 hours
before you start to lay it.
Remove all the flooring you will not
need anymore (like carpets, etc.). Leave only the sub-floor. You will now
have the opportunity to access any under-floor electrics and plumbing, so
take it! It will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Determine
whether your floor is level enough to start adding the underlay or whether
you have to level it out first. Important! Not taking enough time
to level the floor at this stage will later surface in a number of
problems, like bending and warping of the boards and a general unevenness
of the floor. This will reduce the enjoyment you will have from your floor
and will also shorten its life expectancy. A floor is considered level
when difference in height is less than 1mm over a metre.
To level a
concrete sub-floor, you will use your hammer and chisel to chip away the
protruding areas, and your levelling compound to fill any gaps. However,
if they floor is generally not level, it is best to apply the levelling
compound over the whole area, which will give a perfectly smooth finish
all-over. A damp-proof membrane now has to be put in place according to
the composition of the sub-floor.
A wooden sub-floor needs to
checked on protruding nails and loose floorboards. A plane can be used for
any uneven boards. Filler for smaller areas and levelling compound for
larger areas can be used to even out the floor.
What next?
Put the under-floor down according to the instructions on
the packet. As soon as you've done this, check whether the door will clear
the final height of your floor by putting a laminate floorboard against
the door. If the door gets stuck on the floorboard, now is the moment to
remove the door and sand or plane away the excess in order to let the door
open properly.
Decide which way you would like to have your floor
laid. It is recommended that the floor is laid at a 90o angle across the
floorboards (if you have any) in order to reinforce the joints. Another
solution might be to first apply a hardboard underfloor to the
floorboards. This way it doesn't matter which way you lay your
laminate.
Use two spacers in one corner of the room in order to
leave a gap between the floorboards and the wall, and lay your first board
against it. Make sure it is aligned properly with the wall. Now you can
start clicking the boards together until you get to the end of the first
row, making sure you use spacers all along the entire wall.
To cut
the last board off at the correct point, place the board next to the
flooring that is already in place. Make sure you allow for the spacers
that need to be placed at the end of the row.
If the cut-off of the
last board of the previous row is longer than 300mm, you can use it to
start the next row. It is important to create a staggered effect, as the
boards shouldn't end at the same place.
It is now easy to click and
fit the biggest area of your room, and quite quickly it will look like
you're creating something! The only areas you really have to take care of
are around doors and pipes. Try to fit your floor as neatly as possible
around your door mouldings. You might have to carefully saw into the
moulding to ensure a snug fit. Use a laminate floorboard as a guide to
show you how much you need to cut away. For pipes you have to measure the
distance into the floorboard where the pipes will emerge (taking care to
allow for a gap between the boards and the wall). Also measure the width
of the pipe. Use a jigsaw to cut out the area around the pipe, starting at
the edge of the board. This way you can remove the bit where the pipe will
come through the board, and you can replace the bit behind the pipe (using
a bit of glue to hold it in place). Use pipe covers to neatly cover around
the pipe.
After removing the spacers from around the floor, use
edging trim around the room to neatly finish off the floor.
Now you
just have to give it a sweep and you're ready!
Top tips
- Have a good look around your local DIY
sheds before you commit yourself to a particular type of flooring.
Nowadays there are a lot of different designs and colours available, and
there are quite a few offers on laminate flooring, so shop around and
get yourself a good deal!
- A shopping list is always a good
idea!
- Measure measure measure before you go to
your DIY shed. And even then buy about 5% more than you need. Especially
if you've never done laminate flooring before it helps if you don't need
to worry about mis-cutting a few boards. You don't want to go back for
one extra pack just because you couldn't be bothered with it in the
first place!
- Always buy the right flooring for the
right environment. Check whether the floor will be water resistant when
you want to apply it to your kitchen or bathroom.
- Plan any electrical or plumbing work
ahead. When you remove your carpet or old floor, you have the easiest
access to the wires and pipes under the floorboards, so do it before you
lay your new floor!
- Check whether the spacers are included in
the pack of floorboards you're buying. They are handy tools to keep your
floor in place while you're fitting.
- Take your time while fitting the floor!
Although you really want to finish it tonight, deep in your heart you
know the floor will look a lot better when you sleep on it and look at
it again with fresh eyes the following morning!
- If you decide to go for a glued laminate
floor, please keep the drying times in mind. This mainly determines the
strength of the flooring.
- If you decide to take the floor with you
when you move (only possible with the glueless variant), be careful with
unlocking the boards. The tongues snap quite easily if treated
roughly.
- Use a special laminate floor cleaner to
optimise the shine and durability of your floor. Do not use any abrasive
or bleach-based products.