Phases to Do in DIY Laminate Floor Installation

Phases to Do in DIY Laminate Floor Installation - DIY has become a lot much more popular recently. Well, it happens almost to anything including home improvement. People choose to do everything on their own due to the fact that it is a lot much more economical. Yep, with the situation where everything is sold in relatively high prices, DIY is an effective way to save some money. If you are trying to take care of your flooring and you have already had laminate floor installation in mind, you are totally allowed to do it on your own. Just make sure you have known these following things first before applying the installation so you will not be disappointed later on. First thing first, you need to find the guidelines for such installation. Where to get it? Don’t be lazy, guys. Book stores and internet are there for you to find it.

Prepare the Tools and Make the Floor Surface Ready

Now that you have known the principles in laminate floor installation, let’s move on to the next phase. True, it is about equipment and tools preparation. They should cover rubber band, utility knife, hammer and nails, tape measure, and the other necessary tools. Once everything has been prepared, say to yourself, “Let’s rock on with the installation!”

If you have old flooring, you need to get rid of it first. Make sure the surface where you are going to cope with the installation is really clean. Thus, sweeping and vacuuming are necessary to make it certain that there will be no debris left. Then, check the surface for its levelness. What do you need to do if you find it not really level? Using some dibs is the most proper idea to do. Another problematic situation you might face during this phase is some squeaks. For this matter, you need to apply tiny screws on the squeaky parts. 

Here Comes the Laminate Floor Installation

Finally, the time for laminate floor installation has come. You can start by lying moisture barrier on the floor. The aim is to make your laminate floor dry so it will not be wobbling and warping. Do not start the installation directly from the wall. Provide space at least 1 or 2 cm between the wall and the edge of your laminate floor. Tacking should be done every 10 inches or when you think it is necessary. Just make sure it is not too far away or too close from one tack to the others. If you are facing laminate floor installation that meets with door or any other uneven edge, use the knife to trim the flooring to match the shape of the door or the edge.

Natural Solutions for Laminate Floor Cleaner

Natural Solutions for Laminate Floor Cleaner - One of the elements that determine the endurance of your house flooring is its maintenance. It does not mean anything complicated that requires hiring professionals to do it, but the real deal challenge is actually keeping it clean every day. Laminate floor cleaner options that are available in the market may offer lots of practicality, but many are unsatisfied with result. Besides that, the exposure of chemical substance in the house is not really safe for the occupants. If you have small kids around, they usually do lots of activities on the floor playing and exploring with toys or doing homework. Making sure that the floor is clean and safe is very crucial.

Effective Natural Laminate Floor Cleaner

Although in many reviews laminate floor cleaner is said to be easy to maintain, but when it comes to perfection of cleaning and keeping the texture durable, this is the real challenge. Various products that are sold based on manufacture production sometimes are not really able to meet those demands. Hence, homemade mixture has been developed by several mothers offering cheaper, safer and eco-friendly solutions in floor cleaning.

Wooden laminating type of flooring is perhaps the easiest to maintain provided that you have found the right formula to keep it clean. Most of the recommended natural cleaning mixture is combination of water with vinegar. Make the proportion equal, and then wipe the floor. It does clean it well and quick to dry. If natural fragrance is wanted, drop some essential oils and you can vary the aroma anytime you want it!

Varied Ways of Cleaning

There is another natural solution for wooden laminate floor cleaner alternatives, especially if you are not really in the mood of wiping –the whole house- but prefer to use mop and bucket like you normally do with chemical cleaner. It is also as simple as pouring a half gallon of water and mix with vinegar (of a quarter cup) and one sixth cup of alcohol, plus a couple of dish soap drops (you can add more if needed).

But, if you do not mind wiping your floor using homemade laminate floor cleaner that is fresh from your hand, consider this tips:

• get a spray bottle that is usually for cleaning tables and window glass
• mix in it a cup of alcohol, a cup of vinegar and a cup of water (you can use cup or bottle lid)
• add up a couple of dish soup drops
• add up whatever essential oils of aromatherapy
• mix altogether, and shake before usage
• clean up the laminated floor, with broom or vacuum cleaner
• spray the floor and wipe it (like traditional moping technique) using micro fiber cloth
• it shines!

No Need to Be Professional to Do the Laminate Floor Installation

Laminate floor installation is, actually, not a hard thing to do. Even you who are not professional could also do this kind of installation on your own. All you need to do is just having the right instruction and you can simply get your flooring stuff to be done by yourself after you follow the instruction correctly. It cannot be denied that having a laminate floor becomes more popular today. Even, it can also be said that almost every house has its laminate type of floor. There are going to be so many reasons explaining why people prefer to have this kind of material to be set as their floor. Since most of the patterns of this kind of floor are formed of wooden theme, then you are going to be able to get closer to nature look for your floor. Besides, this kind of theme will also give the elegant impression for the room which is installed by this kind of floor.

Do laminate floor installation by yourself

Furthermore, this kind of material is also considered to be more durable since it is mostly made of wood, though there are some which are made of plastic. There will be no difficulties for you to clean this kind of floor because all you need to do is just to sweep or vacuum it regularly. The most important reason is that the laminate floor installation is really easy to be done.

You do not have to be professional to be able to install this kind of floor by yourself as long as you get the manufacture instruction with you and you follow it right. For the first thing that you should do in doing the installation of laminate floor is that you should stack for about 48 hours the laminate floor before it is installed in order to get the better air circulation. After you clean the subfloor, then you can simply install the vapor barrier on it.

Start the first row

Right after that step is done, you can simply continue it by trimming the door jambs by using the flat saw to get the better finished result. If that is done, now you can start with the first row of the laminate floor. By then, you can simply follow the pattern for the next rows until all of the materials are installed. After that, you can cover the floor with the threshold and the base molding for the finishing touch. See? It is no need to be professional to do the laminate floor installation.

Be Careful ! Use the Right Laminate Floor Cleaner

Laminated floor cleaner can be investment for your house. It can protect your house and beautify it all at once. Since the material is not natural, the maintenance of it can be difficult. You cannot just put on any laminate floor cleaner on the floor because it can damage the floor itself. Laminated floor is consisted of four layers. The transparent layer covers the surface of the floor; then after that, an image layer; right after image layer, there lays core layer; then the last layer is moisture-resistant layer. The cleaners and the way you clean can treat the floor well or maybe destroy the layers on the floor. If you are not careful in maintaining it, the floor may be scratched or pulled off. If the floor is scratched, the water will get into it and destroy the layers of it. Sweeping and vacuuming it gently will reduce the risk of getting scratched floor. Do it frequently to keep the dust away.

Is vinegar the best laminate floor cleaner?

Some people will use vinegar as the laminated floor cleaner. Especially to those who have babies and pets. Vinegar is known as the natural disinfectant to clean the floor. But, is it effective? Will it treat your laminate floor well? Well, study says that a combination of water, vinegar and (or) water will not make the laminate floor clean and shiny. Vinegar has low pH that will erase the natural shine of the floor. It will worsen the floor because it will scratch the floor. This kind of cleaner will also leave residue on the floor.

As a result, this residue will make the floor less shiny. A dull appearance will make the floor less interesting and maybe leave a dirty look on it. Besides the use of vinegar, the use of soap or ordinary tiles cleaner products are also not recommended. Those kinds of cleaner are known as the laminate floor cleaner. But instead, it will only make the floor look dull. The acrylic substances in the products are also bad because it will make the floor slippery.

What should you do?

Laminate floor needs extra attention on its maintenance. You cannot use any other cleaner as laminate floor cleaner. You can only mop the floor with the damp dry mop. Do not use wet mop because the water will not be absorbed. Do not use hot water because it will damage the top layer of the floor. Gently sweep it with soft broom. Vacuum it once a day and apply wax on it sometimes.

Laminate Floor Installation on Stair

Laminated floor has typically four layers on it. The top is the layer of the transparent one; then right after it there is image layer; right underneath it there is layer of a core layer; then at the bottom there is layer of moisture-resistant. Since laminate floor has many layers, the installation is not easy. On the flat, ordinary room, it needs right calculation to make laminate floor installation precise and quick. What happens if you want to install it on your stair? Well, stair is the hardest part in your house if you want to use laminate floor. The space is narrow and it has so many stages. If you do not put an accurate calculation and right execution, the appearance of your stair will be awful. Instead of getting a fancy look, you will get disastrous look.

Making the accurate stairs measurement

The decoration experts say stairs measurement is the basic thing you need to do if you want to do laminate floor installation. it is quite easy and simple. Stairs threads usually have width of 36 inches with depth about 10 up to 12 inches. The threads will be 3 square ft. Measure the riser with the same length of the threads. So let say, for the riser, it takes 3 sq/ft, too. Then it will take 6 sq/ft lengths for each stair. If you have 15 stairs, then you need to multiple them with the lengths of each stair. 15 x 6 = 90 sq/ft. Make extra length around 10% up to 15% just in case you do miscalculation.

Can you do that on your own?

Yes you can! If you are willing to install laminate floor on your own, there are some steps you need to do. Do not ever skip if you want to make a perfect laminate floor in your house.

• The very first thing action you need to do is removing all the carpet out of the stairs. The carpet will make the stair wavy. Also make sure that the stair is completely flat. Get rid of the creek of the stair before you do laminate floor installation.
• Get rid of the overhang of the stairs
• Cut the threads of laminate stairs. It will take time, but it worth to do
• Cut the risers so they will fit the edges of the stairs
• Cut the mold part of the stair nose into the right size
• Install the nose of the stairs