How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

Linoleum is a popular material for many reasons, which is often used as a floor covering for a kitchen, hallway or hallway. Despite its fairly simple appearance, it perfectly resists scratches and moisture, and can also be easily laid on its own. Consider how to lay linoleum: how to cut it, and then take care to extend its service life.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

How to lay linoleum

How to lay linoleum – a question that interests many who started an independent and fairly budget repair. After all, this flooring can be called one of the cheapest. But at the same time, this material is worthy of attention, because it meets all the requirements and quite well withstands external factors. Consider each stage of work to be performed in the process of laying linoleum, as well as some features and nuances.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

A high-quality and suitable base is the key to a long life of the material. In order for linoleum not to be rubbed, and also to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible, it should be laid on a flat surface. This will avoid unnecessary stretching and deformation of the material, and hence extend the service life of the coating.

First of all, before laying the floor covering, it is necessary to carefully remove all baseboards as carefully as possible. This must be done, as the fastening of linoleum should be made to the walls. In some cases, the old baseboard is fixed in place, if its condition satisfies the owners. In this case, dismantling should be done as carefully as possible to avoid damage.

Helpful advice! In order not to confuse with further installation, which plinth should be attached where, you can number them in the process of removal. Using a simple pencil, mark the number on the back of the baseboard and at the bottom of the wall where it was fixed.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

It is extremely important to conduct a valid assessment. This will allow you to choose the most rational algorithm of actions and decide whether to dismantle the old coating or you can lay it directly on top. Next, consider in detail the specifics of working with different surfaces.

Laying linoleum on a wooden surface is a common technique, which is used, for example, if the floor has old parquet that has lost its attractive appearance or painted boards. The main thing to do before laying linoleum on a wooden floor is to evaluate its condition. In both cases, there may be some problems with the base, for example, dropped parquet elements or deformation of the boards.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

Therefore, it is not necessary to count on a special flatness and smoothness of the surface, which means that before you put linoleum on a wooden floor, you need to prepare yourself. Here are some of the most popular options for solving this problem:

  • using a plane or a grinder, the base can be leveled. To do this, all the cracks, irregularities and other defects are smeared with putty. Then grinding is performed;
  • in order to hide the surface deficiencies, you can lay another layer of chipboard or fiberboard plates. In some cases, even resort to laying linoleum on plywood;
  • if you need to deal with the missing parquet strips, you can first restore them and then unwrap the parquet;
  • in order to achieve a perfectly flat surface, you can pour a special compound on top, the so-called self-leveling floor, which has the ability to level.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

Thus, there are several ways to solve the problem, and it is more than possible to get a flat base, having an old wooden floor. You can learn more about how to properly install linoleum after the peculiarities of working with other bases are considered.

Almost always, the old concrete base requires work to align it. And we can say that the methods and technologies have a certain similarity with those used for wooden floors:

  • Before laying the linoleum on the concrete floor, the existing base is covered with wooden flooring. For this purpose, suitable chipboard or fiberboard plates;
  • poured concrete screed, capable of self-leveling.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

In order to ensure linoleum reliable fixation on a concrete base, you need to choose the right adhesive composition, as well as the fact that the selected flooring meets the requirements. So, for laying on a concrete base the following types of linoleum are suitable:

  • material with an insulating base. In this case, the back side of linoleum has a special non-woven or woven substrate, designed to prevent the passage of heat and sound;
  • alkyd linoleum, as a basis for which a non-woven or woven fabric is used;
  • other types of linoleum, which are not suitable for gluing to a rough concrete base. In this case, you will need to install an additional dry layer, which is laid under the linoleum. What can be used for this? Perfect, for example, the same plywood, particleboard, fiberboard, etc.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

Laying linoleum on a concrete floor has its own characteristics, and the main thing in this case is to choose the right materials. So before you make a purchase, you should once again make sure that your choice meets the requirements and familiarize yourself with the algorithm that indicates how to lay the linoleum on the concrete floor.

The first question that interests many homeowners is whether laying linoleum on old linoleum is possible. In this case, the answer is unequivocal: it is possible to lay linoleum on top of the same, but old coating. The main thing is to first make sure that it meets the requirements, namely, it does not have holes, cracks and does not have an excessively large thickness. If so, then first of all it is necessary to degrease the surface of the old coating.

Another difficult question is how to properly put linoleum, if the carpet is already laid on the floor. In this case, the old coating is not only necessary to remove, but you should also take care to thoroughly clean the surface to remove lint and any dirt. All irregularities must also be removed until the surface is sufficiently flat and smooth.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

If it is required to solve the problem of laying linoleum where the tile has already been laid, then in this case it is not necessary to dismantle the old coating. The main thing is that all elements of the tile were in place. If a few have already disappeared, it is worth picking up tiles of a suitable size and sticking them into place. After this, the surface is filled with a special composition intended for leveling. It is important that he also had sufficiently high adhesive properties.

Regardless of what you lay the linoleum on: wood, tile, concrete or old linoleum, in any case, you need to make sure that the base is thoroughly dried before proceeding with the installation. This is important because moisture cannot evaporate through linoleum, which means that if the base is poorly dried, a mold and fungus will appear under the coating very soon.

Helpful advice! Before you put linoleum, you must carefully remove and wash the surface of the base. After all, even the smallest pebbles and grains of sand will adversely affect the life of the material. Not less damage can cause and tiny hollows and protrusions.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

Material preparation involves not only its cutting, but also the storage conditions. The ideal temperature regime in which the linoleum should be before laying is from 15 to 25 ° C. This is due to the increased fragility of the coating when exposed to low temperatures. Therefore, if you have to lay linoleum with your own hands in the winter time, you should definitely bring it into the room beforehand and, without turning, let it lie for at least 12 hours.

Helpful advice! In order to further avoid the waviness of the coating, after the linoleum is unrolled on the surface, it is necessary to leave it for a while before proceeding with cutting and styling.

While the linoleum rolled on the floor will level off, you should think about the availability of all the tools you need for self-styling:

  • a sharp knife with a short blade (a shoe knife is best suited);
  • scissors;
  • roulette;

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

  • simple pencil;
  • long line, building level or just flat rail.

All of the above probably will be in the closet of any home craftsman. So for styling there is no need to purchase any expensive tools, which is another indisputable advantage in this case.

Before you glue the linoleum on the floor, you need to know one very important rule: for rooms whose area does not exceed 25 m ?, the adhesive composition is not used. Of course, this applies only to those cases where one piece is used, or, in extreme cases, two pieces of material. In this case, it will be quite enough to fix the material under the baseboards. At the junction, you can use double-sided tape.

How to lay linoleum: the rules of cutting and laying flooring

So, let’s take a closer look at each step of the work:

  1. Making sure that the roll of linoleum, which you previously unrolled, lay for a sufficient amount of time and leveled off, put it in such a way that one of the sides was almost flush with the wall, and the gap was only 3-5 mm. With respect to the remaining three walls, the material should be slightly overlapped.
  2. If the area of ​​the room is large enough and use one sheet does not work, you will have to work with the joints. First of all, attention should be paid to fitting the joints so that these places look aesthetically pleasing. Only after that you can proceed directly to the laying of pieces, again, not forgetting about some overlapping on the walls. Very often, the surface of linoleum has any pattern, ornament or pattern. In this case, there is an additional need to combine the drawing in the joints. The most important thing is to do it properly in the middle of the room. It is also important if the pattern is repeated in the next room, and you need to combine it in the doorway. To do this, one of the sheets of coating must be shifted until the pattern coincides.
  3. This stage is relevant if you have to work with several pieces of linoleum that have a pattern. Most often, the pattern imitates parquet or tile covering, that is, consists of the intersection of straight lines. In this case, in order for the coating to look as neat as possible, these lines should not be positioned at an angle relative to the walls. Beautifully such linoleum will look only if the lines are strictly parallel.
  4. After that you need to adjust the linoleum to the ledges and niches that are available in the room. In fact, this is almost always the case, since the niches under the window sill and in the doorway are common. In that case, in order to avoid mistakes and not to spoil the material, you must first carry out measurements of the depth of the niche.

Deal with how to glue the linoleum, without any problems can everyone. It does not require special skills or abilities. It is only necessary to take into account all the recommendations on the choice and laying of the coating, and then the new floor will delight you with its appearance over the years. Of course, a particularly durable and reliable material will cost much more expensive, but everyone should decide on the appropriateness of such an investment.

In order to clearly see how to properly lay linoleum, it is extremely useful to see the video instruction. So you can once again explore all the technology and pay attention to those subtleties and features that are relevant in a particular case.

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