The floor in your apartment is exactly that element of the interior with which you have to interact daily. If the walls and ceiling allow some imperceptible errors in the decoration, then with the basis on which a person walks every day, this will not work.
Not knowing how to lay linoleum, you may encounter the fact that after a while the coating will become unusable, will not perform any of its functions, or will require replacement for another reason.
Comfortable flooring
Linoleum has deservedly enjoyed popularity for many decades. Of course, it’s almost impossible to find such material from natural components on sale right now, and there isn’t much point in it, since its cost is higher than artificial analogues and its service life is shorter. Therefore, this article will focus on the synthetic version as the more common. If you need to complete the installation as soon as possible and immediately use the room, then the choice is clear - linoleum! The advantages and disadvantages of it have long been known to everyone, but still dwell on them a little more.
Currently, a direct competitor to this flooring is a laminate. They are in approximately equal price categories. And, perhaps, they alone are of interest to people with limited means. So, the advantages of linoleum are as follows:
- Easy to install. There is nothing complicated in laying linoleum. But the laminate, in turn, requires not only certain knowledge, but also the ability to handle a hacksaw, corner, hammer and tape measure.
- The requirements for surface preparation are minimal. If for a laminate a height difference of only a few millimeters (a hollow or a hill) is permissible, then with linoleum at this point you can generally not pay attention.
- Also the advantages include speed of laying, ease of delivery (you can bring it in your hands), silence when walking. There is one drawback: even the cheapest laminate cannot be accidentally damaged with a sharp object, but linoleum loses in this regard.
How to lay linoleum
Each builder has his own methods, which he adheres to. There are no good or bad ones among them: it is important that it is convenient for the person who is to work with the floor. Laying is carried out taking into account the placement of the future joint between the bands. Since it is possible to cover the entire floor with one roll only in small rooms, a special plastic or
aluminum threshold is used to connect the two strips
. Thus, first you need to decide how it should go around the room: maybe somewhere it can be hidden by a carpet, which is more preferable.
How to lay linoleum: start from the most prominent place in the room or from far corners? Of course, from where it is most noticeable, because if you subsequently have to add inserts, then they should be at the far ends, and not in plain sight. Laying is recommended on a flat surface. These can be sheets of chipboard or fiberboard. The lining, if it is planned to insulate the floor with its help, should be located under the sheets, since even the most dense linoleum, laid on a soft base, can be pressed through.
The length of the room is measured with a tape measure, 5-10 mm is subtracted from the obtained value, this distance is noted on the strip, then it is evenly cut with the help of a construction knife and a ruler strip. After that, everything rolls around the room and adjusts itself. The above difference is needed in order to prevent the possible appearance of bubbles due to even slight displacement of the canvas. Empty space will still be hidden by skirting boards. Next, the operation is repeated. At the joints, the strips are pressed by flat metal sills, and along the perimeter - by the baseboard.