How to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor - careful preparation, all the nuances of technology, advice from professional installers. Video: how to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands, instructions and tips How to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands

Laminate flooring can be laid on almost any substrate. The main thing is that they are smooth, durable and do not bend under the weight of a person. Even flooring made of floorboards is suitable for this. Just before laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor, it is extremely important to carefully examine the condition of all floorboards. If any of them are rotten inside, they must be replaced.

What will you need?

On floors made of planks, parquet and various wood boards, laminate flooring is laid according to the same rules as in the case of other substrates. It also needs to be leveled and prepared. However, wood is far from concrete. There is no need to wait until the solution in the leveling screed sets and hardens. Installation of laminated coverings on a wooden base takes much less time.

It will take at most two days to prepare flooring or parquet boards for laminate. And chipboard, OSB and their other variations have to be additionally prepared extremely rarely. If there are no rotten areas on the existing wood boards, then they will only need to be cleaned of debris and treated with an antiseptic.

Styling tools

To lay laminate flooring on top of a wooden floor yourself, you will need:

• crowbar-nail puller (installation);
• hammer;
• building level;
• jigsaw or hacksaw with fine teeth;
• pencil;
• screwdriver

The consumables you will need are self-tapping screws, a backing made of foamed polyethylene or cork, as well as new baseboards with a pattern for the laminate to be laid. Plus, in some cases, an electric planer may be required.

If the wooden floor has gaps between the floorboards of more than a centimeter, then sheets of plywood, chipboard, OSB or gypsum fiber board will have to be laid on top of it. But usually, when laying laminate flooring, it is possible to do without such additional materials and the costs for them.

Laying laminate flooring on a wooden base

Floor preparation

A wooden floor is a capricious base. Its geometry is constantly changing due to changes in humidity and temperature in the room. And all this directly affects the integrity of the laminate laid on top. Some manufacturers of this floor finish generally prohibit placing it on such subflooring, threatening to void the warranty.

However, if the floorboards or parquet do not have deep cracks and do not “play” on the joists, then they are quite suitable for laying laminated flooring. It is only necessary to inspect such a base for the presence of rotten areas, swollen with water and worn out by insects. These damaged areas will have to be replaced. But otherwise, wood flooring is quite suitable for laminate. In most cases, it is not necessary to dismantle it.

Preparing for work

Preparing a wooden base involves three steps.

1. Identification of defective areas.
2. Replacement of damaged boards, wood boards and joists.
3. Leveling the entire surface.

Most of the floor areas unsuitable for further use are identified visually. But it won’t hurt to walk along the flooring with your foot pressing on each floorboard. If any of them sags under a person, then the board itself has rotted or the joists under it have rotted. In both cases, it will be necessary to carefully examine such a place to determine the need for repairs.

Floor preparation

But first, you need to completely remove all the furniture from the room and tear off the old baseboards from the walls. There should be no obstacles left on the floor in the room for further repairs. It is best to complete the installation of interior doors, installation of heating radiators and finishing of ceilings before this point. Then damage to the already laid laminate may occur.

Checking the conditions for laying laminate flooring

The easiest way to identify bulges and deflections on a wooden floor is to use a building level or a rule. If you place any of these tools on the surface, then all the unevenness of the rough flooring will be visible to the light.

Typically, boards are nailed to joists rather than screwed. But laying laminate flooring is only allowed on flat bases that do not sag. Therefore, each floorboard will have to be additionally secured with self-tapping screws. Moreover, you need to screw fasteners into such a board on all the joists under it. In addition to screwing, loose parquet planks can also be re-glued by first removing the old glue from them.

How to prepare a wooden floor

There is no need to particularly level the wooden base. Laying laminate is allowed on rough surfaces with a difference of up to 2 mm per square meter. Therefore, under the laminated covering, it is enough to fix the flooring on the joists with self-tapping screws, and then, if there are strong bends, level such areas with an electric or manual plane.

Laying the substrate

After repair, leveling and removal of accumulated debris, the subfloor is treated with antiseptics on top. If old boards are covered with varnish or paint, then there is no point in further processing them. There is no need to do it. However, it is necessary to cover the replaced areas with antiseptic impregnations.

Next, you should lay a special substrate for laying the laminate. It is best to lay a cork floor on a wooden floor. But regular polyethylene foam film will also work. There is no need to lay out additional waterproofing, like on a screed. The tree must be able to breathe.

How to lay underlay on the floor

Technology for laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

Laminate flooring can be installed on a wooden floor in two ways:

1. Castle.
2. Glue.

If you choose a technology where the lamellas are completely glued to the base, then the boards and parquet strips will have to be carefully scraped off. Or you will need to additionally lay down a flooring made of chipboard, OSB, gypsum fiber board or plywood. You should not glue laminate directly onto a board covering with old paint. In this case, it is better to install it using the classic locking method in a tongue-and-groove manner.

How to lay laminate

The most important point in laying laminate flooring is the first row. If it is laid unevenly, then all subsequent ones will go crookedly. Maximum attention should be paid to the correctness and evenness of the layout of the first lamellas. It's like installing entrance doors - if you make mistakes when attaching them to the walls, then you can forget about reliable protection at the entrance to the house. In the situation with the finish in question, everything is not so critical. But hardly anyone wants to get warped or unattractively laid floor decor.
And before directly laying the laminate, the slats must be kept indoors for a couple of days. After transportation, they should return to their normal state, having warmed up or cooled to room temperature.

Conditions for laying laminate flooring in an apartment

When laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor, you should adhere to the following rules:

1. The flooring joists should be at least 20–30 mm away from the walls. They should not be placed too close to wall surfaces.
2. The subfloor and slats should be laid with a distance of 1–1.5 cm from the walls to form a compensation gap around the perimeter of the room. Then it will be covered with baseboards. And during installation, you can insert small wooden wedges there so that the gap does not close due to the displacement of the slats due to negligence.
3. Laminated planks must be laid out offset to the previous row by approximately a third of their length. This will prevent the appearance of through transverse seams in the coating and weakening of the interlocking joints.
4. The substrate is laid in one layer and in sheets end-to-end. There is no need to glue the resulting seams; this is not waterproofing.
5. If the doors open into a room with laminate flooring, then there should be an appropriate gap between the lower edge of their leaves and the floor next to it. And the first row of laminated covering is best laid right from this place or from a corner nearby.
6. If wood boards or gypsum fiber boards are laid to make a dry screed, then their thickness should be chosen in the region of 8–12 mm. It is not worth laying materials that are too thin; they are not designed to withstand the loads inherent in the floor.

There should not be any particular difficulties with installing laminate flooring on a wooden floor. All installation rules here are identical to those that apply in the case of concrete screed. You just need to fix and fasten the rough wooden base so that the individual floorboards and parquet boards do not sag later. They should remain stationary under the laminate.

Among modern materials used for installation on floors, laminate occupies a special position - this universal material is one of the few that can be used both on a monolithic base and on a base made of wooden boards. However, it should be noted that laying laminate flooring on wooden boards of an old floor is possible only if a number of technological operations are observed, designed to make the installation work as easy as possible and extend the life of the floor. At the same time, this technology allows not only to significantly save on materials, but also to significantly reduce the labor intensity of the work.

Wooden floors, what are the features and advantages

Unlike concrete pouring or sand-gravel floor screed, a wooden floor has an undeniable advantage - it, like all natural materials, fits perfectly into almost any interior, and most importantly, it provides greater safety and comfort. Indeed, a wooden plank floor is warmer, does not feel cold and allows you to stand on it without shoes. True, such a floor also has its own characteristics - a floor made of wooden planks should be as smooth as possible for laying any surface covering and should not have areas of fungal infections.

On the other hand, boards lying on the joists, even if firmly reinforced and treated with an antiseptic, still remain separate fragments of one whole, which gives us the right to assume that the entire floor structure is still subject to changes - deflections, structural deformation of fibers, seasonal changes in humidity wood This “floating” floor is the main feature of the base of the laminate flooring.

For almost all types of wooden floors, regardless of the material of the boards, the surface of the coating becomes a problem over time. Under normal operating conditions, when all conditions are taken into account when laying the floor, from filling the space under the joists to taking into account the direction of the fibers of the boards, problem areas still arise over time where the boards simply begin to warp. Such altered surfaces of the coating will create the main problem areas when laying laminate; changing the surface of 1-2 boards in a small area will ultimately lead to breakage of the interlocking joint of the panels and the need to replace the entire coating.

Thus, laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor requires a certain amount of preparatory work designed to ensure maximum compliance with the conditions for laying the coating.

What needs to be done when preparing a wooden floor for laying laminate

The technical conditions for laying laminate on any surface require that the surface be as smooth as possible and free from any flaws and errors. The difference in height of the base for laying laminate flooring is maximum 2 mm per 1 linear meter of floor. But regarding defects, it is necessary to prepare the base in such a way that there are absolutely no protrusions or bumps on it, which can lead to damage to the material strips.

Thus, to prepare a wooden floor for laying laminate you need to:

• Inspect the entire floor surface for rot and damaged boards;
• Ensure the leveling of floor boards or their partial replacement;
• Level the surface in order to ensure maximum leveling, both along the grain of the wood and across it;
• Ensure the maximum depth of fasteners - screws, nails, bolts - so that the caps do not protrude to the surface.

For a new floor, there is no great need to inspect the space under the boards to ensure the safety of the boards; it is enough to additionally treat the wood with a deep penetration antiseptic composition and ensure effective ventilation of the space between the joists.

For a coating that has been in use for a long time, it is necessary to check the condition of the boards, joists and make sure there is no rot, places affected by fungal infections and physical defects of the boards.

Using a 2-meter rule, the condition of the base surface is checked. At the same time, areas with large deflections and deformations of the boards are identified, these areas are marked on the surface with a marker for further processing. Processing can be carried out either manually using a wooden or metal plane, or using an electric scraper or electric planer. The surface is leveled both along and across the fibers of the boards.

The final stage of working with floor boards is usually carried out in the form of deepening fasteners into the thickness of the boards; nails, screws and self-tapping screws are recessed into the thickness of the boards to a depth of 3-4 mm, this is enough so that the fasteners do not interfere with the laying of subsequent layers of coating.

Base layer flooring

The installation of an additional layer of slabs can ensure maximum strength of the surface of a wooden floor. This technique is more effective compared to laying laminate flooring on wooden boards:

• First, building panels made from chipboard, fiberboard, plywood, or wood-oriented board provide a large, monolithic surface area.
• Secondly, the base of the slabs will allow you to lay the laminate in any direction, and not just across the direction of laying the boards.
• Thirdly, the large area of ​​the slabs allows one to avoid large surface distortions and provide the necessary parameters for laying the laminate.

Laying a layer of slabs in no way relieves you from the preparatory work associated with leveling and preparing the plank floor. All operations with plank flooring must be completed in full.

Laying the slabs begins with removing the baseboards around the perimeter of the room; the slabs, as well as wood and laminate, experience deformation when heated, which means that during installation it is necessary to provide a thermal gap both between the slabs and between the coating and the walls. Typically, for this purpose, when laying, a gap between the wall and the coating is set at 0.7-1.0 cm, and between the slabs at 0.2-0.3 mm.

The slabs are laid perpendicular to the direction of the boards, thus providing a large surface leveling area. When laying, the height of the slabs is first checked - at the joints the height of adjacent slabs should be the same, and during installation there should not be differences in heights of even 1 mm.

The slabs are laid in a checkerboard pattern with a shift of ½ the length of the slab. Plates of small thickness up to 8 mm, in addition to being fixed with self-tapping screws or nails, can be laid with adhesive or mastic. But for a thickness of 10-15 mm, such fixation will be an extra mass of material that is already sufficient to lie tightly on the boards.

Just like with a wooden floor, the surface of the slabs after laying is checked with a rule and level for the presence of differences. And additionally, a robot is carried out to deepen the nail heads into the surface of the slab.

Materials and technology for laying the preparatory layer

A special feature of laminate is the composite nature of the coating, when individual plates are made up of a single coating, in which the connection of individual elements occurs due to an interlocking connection. This coating is distinguished by the ability to “play” under the weight of objects, while the flexibility of the plates allows the integrity of the coating to be maintained even with significant deformations.

When installing a laminate, it is also necessary to take into account the fact that when heated, the laminate itself expands, and this means that it is necessary to take into account the so-called thermal gap between the walls and the coating. Rigid fixation of the laminate to the base would lead to rapid failure of the coating and, as a result, the need to replace it, but the use of a shock-absorbing substrate allows the laminate to sag under the weight of objects without compromising its integrity.

Sheet and roll materials are usually used as a substrate for laminate on a wooden base. Sheet materials include sheets of extruded polystyrene foam or natural cork. Roll materials include a backing made of cork or polyethylene foam. The thickness of such material is usually 3 mm, but in some cases, for example, for laying on the first floor of a building, thicker material is used - 5 mm.

For concrete bases, it doesn’t make much difference what material is used, and roll and sheet materials fit equally well on concrete, but for wooden bases the use of rolled polyethylene is not recommended. Covering the entire surface of the floor, such material actually blocks access to the space under the floor of air and thus clogs the moisture located there. Sheet materials and rolled cork allow the floor to “breathe”, and thus provide the necessary ventilation under the floor.

Laying of sheet materials is carried out using the “diagonal” laying method, when the sheets are built up with the strips offset along the length relative to each other by ½ sheet. Another point when laying the substrate in the form of sheets is the need to position the strips with an offset of 90 degrees relative to the direction of laying the laminate itself.

The wrong side of the first row of the backing is fixed with double-sided tape, but the remaining strips are simply fastened with ordinary stationery wide tape.

Technology for laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

For laminate, as well as for laying the underlay, it is recommended to use the diagonal laying method, when the plates are shifted by ½ the length of the plate relative to the previous row. Laying laminate is carried out in two main ways:

• Joining strips one by one with a gradual increase in coverage area;
• And by connecting the boards into one row and subsequently joining the entire row to the already assembled area.

For small spaces, both joining methods can be used. But for rooms with a wall length of more than 7-8 meters, joining in rows will be very difficult.

The first row of laminate is laid opposite the entrance door, taking into account a thermal gap of 7-10 mm from the wall, and the necessary cutouts for heating communications. The edge of the boards facing the wall is cut to the width of the lock joint, thus ensuring maximum strength of the coating for installing skirting boards.

The panels are laid in such a way that the connecting groove of the panels faces towards the layer. The first board is cut in half, using it as an offset step; usually offset is recommended for panels with a regular thickness of more than 30 cm.

The laying of the first row is regulated by wedges inserted between the laminate and the wall. The second row is selected both according to the type of locking connection and the texture of the image. The offset is provided by using a section of the first plank. All panels are connected in a row, and then inserted into the lock and connected into a single whole.

As you move towards the front door, all rows are aligned with the walls, maintaining the required thermal gap. The last row is installed taking into account the door threshold; if there is none, then a metal trim is used to close the panels.

As you can see, the rules for laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor are practically no different from the general rules and technology for installing laminate flooring and can be done by almost anyone who has the desire to transform their home.

Laminate is one of the most popular floor coverings today. It is used in both residential and commercial establishments. Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor is done when it is necessary to hide the defects of the old plank covering, as well as when you want to simply update the interior.

According to experts, it is better to completely dismantle the old wooden floor, after which, to level the rough base, apply a concrete screed under the laminate. But since this process will require additional costs that may exceed the cost of the laminate, it is possible to lay the product directly on a wooden base, as well as using plywood or OSB as a substrate. Let's look at the first and second methods of installing laminate flooring on a wooden floor with all the details.

Tools and materials for working with flooring

1. Drill, jigsaw and screwdriver. Power tools allow you to increase the speed of installation, facilitating manual labor. 2. Hammer and mallet. Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor simply cannot be done without them: hammer in the nails, knock down the laminate, tap the boards. 3. Level and roulette. 4. Fiberboard or plywood. Used to level floors.

5. Nails or screws. Necessary for attaching a wooden “screed”. 6. Underlay for laminate. Purchased depending on the room.

Getting ready to lay laminate flooring

Before laying laminate flooring, you need to remember that the material must be left for some time in the room where it is intended to be used. This is done so that it adapts to the humidity characteristics of the room and does not warp later. This is especially important if you are planning to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor. The fact is that wood is a rather capricious material. Indoors, the laminate is left sealed for approximately 48 hours. According to experts, it is best to place it in the middle of the room. The room where the laminate is “maintained” must have a temperature of at least 18 degrees and a humidity of no more than 75%.

The feasibility of laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

The answer to the question whether it is possible to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor most often depends on the strength of the base. Most consumers who prefer laminate-based floor finishing doubt the possibility of installing slats on wooden floors and are thinking about dismantling the wooden covering. Of course, removing a wooden base takes a lot of time, and besides, this work is not only labor-intensive, but also dirty. However, it should be remembered that in some cases dismantling cannot be avoided. Thus, laying slats on wooden floors that are rotting or affected by fungi is unacceptable. Covering the damaged surface will not be able to stop the process of wood rotting, and after some time the laminate will also be affected by rotting.

An alternative to expensive dismantling work can be local replacement of the areas most affected by rotting, followed by the use of waterproofing materials. In this case, it is advisable to use moisture-resistant plywood sheets as a substrate.

Assessing the condition of a wooden floor

Laminated panels can be laid on wood floors only after a full range of measures has been taken to properly prepare the surface. Wood is a good base for laminate, but its condition must be suitable for the finishing work. Often, before installing laminate flooring, it is necessary to repair the wooden base. The most common defects are creaking floors as a result of drying out and surface deformation. In addition, repair work may be required if it is necessary to strengthen loose wooden floorboards of the base. Sometimes you have to use additional fasteners. You can identify the main irregularities using a building level. This method will allow you to correctly assess the volume of activities to level the base.

Features of a wooden floor

The base for the laminate must be smooth, strong and rigid. These conditions must be observed so that the locking system is not damaged during operation. For example, if we lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor without preliminary preparation, this is not recommended, since the plank covering may have significant differences in height, individual boards may sag, which is considered unacceptable. Owners of apartments or houses where the old floor is made of wood often have a question about how to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor and whether it can be done. It is possible to lay laminate flooring on such a base, the main thing is to carry out the correct preparatory work. Wooden bases are found quite often in rooms for various purposes. To prepare it for subsequent use, it is necessary to study it and, if there are any defects, eliminate them.

The first thing to remember is that wood is an unstable material; it is characterized by processes such as drying out and desiccation. During such movement, gaps may form between the boards, which will increase the load on the laminate locking system. Second: it is necessary to examine not only the surface of the wooden floor, but also its structure - beams, joists. If any defects are found, they must be eliminated, as they can further harm the floor covering. Next, we will consider the main methods of preparing a wooden base, since the preparatory processes are the main ones in the work. If you simply throw them away, then the whole arrangement will come to naught.

Preparing a wooden base for laying laminate flooring without plywood

In order to lay laminate directly on a wooden floor, you must ensure that the surface is in satisfactory condition:

when walking, the floorboards should not sag or creak;

there should be no gaps between the boards, and the tree itself should not have areas affected by rot;

the horizontality of the base should be close to ideal, that is, there should be no height differences of more than 2 mm.

If a wooden floor creaks underfoot or some of its floorboards sag, then problem areas are repaired by screwing the boards with self-tapping screws or nailing them to the joists.

Sometimes it is necessary to repair and strengthen the logs themselves, which “walk” under load - for this, beams or bricks are installed under the logs. Floorboards can creak due to friction against each other. To eliminate the grinding between them, graphite or talc is poured into the gap. Existing gaps are filled with putty. Next, to fully ensure that the wood is in good condition, you need to remove the old layer of paint with your own hands. The appearance of the tree should be close to the natural shade throughout the entire plane. If in some places on the floor the boards look dubious, it is recommended to test them for strength with an awl. The second way to identify rotten or rotten floorboards is to tapping the floor surface with a hammer. In this case, tapping on intact healthy wood will be heard loudly and clearly. While the muffled sound will be a serious reason for replacing old wooden elements with new ones. Even though rotten boards are still strong, you still need to replace them yourself, as the rot can spread to healthy parts over time. Treatment with an antiseptic composition and waterproofing of the wooden base will prevent their occurrence in the future. If grooves in the form of grooves are found on the floorboards, it is necessary to apply a bioprotective composition to the wood flooring, since their presence indicates contamination of the material with wood borers. An uneven wooden floor must be leveled; differences in its surface can be 1.5-2 mm/1m2. The way to determine how uneven the flooring is is to use a building level. In the absence of the specified measuring device, you can use a two-meter bar and a spirit level. If the height difference is not critical, an uneven floor can be leveled using a grinding machine, or with your own hands using a plane. The second method is too long scraping technology copes with the task at hand faster and more efficiently. The main thing is that before leveling the floor for subsequent laying of the laminate, do not forget to recess the heads of the nails located above the surface deeper, which can cause the grinding equipment to fail. If your old wood floor is too uneven and sanding cannot solve the leveling problem, there is another way to make it as level as possible - by pouring. Pouring a wooden base for laying laminate is done by using a self-leveling screed, but not a self-leveling mixture, which is not used for wood. To level a wooden floor, compounds with fiberglass are used, due to which the materials firmly adhere to each other. Unlike standard solutions, fiberglass mixture is thicker and hardens faster. But before pouring, waterproofing in the form of a dense polyethylene film is laid on the wooden base. Waterproofing is arranged along the floor in such a way that its edges can be fixed to the walls around the perimeter of the room. The pieces of film are laid overlapping each other, with an allowance of 15-20 cm, the joints are glued with construction tape.

Leveling a wooden floor with plywood under laminate

The technology of leveling a wooden floor using plywood or OSB is a low-cost, but at the same time, effective way to make the base base ideal for laying laminate flooring. To find out which substrate will be better for laminate - OSB or plywood, it is necessary to compare the technical characteristics of both products. Sheets of plywood and OSB boards are materials of similar quality: the products are easy to process, have a durable structure and relatively high moisture resistance. At the same time, OSB boards are cheaper than plywood, but the appearance of the products does not allow them to be used for the construction of a finished floor.

Despite this, OSB is slowly displacing plywood products from the construction market, because the behavior of plywood during operation is difficult to guess, which cannot be said about OSB boards, which do not have the property of delaminating under atmospheric and mechanical influence. In addition, the modulus of elasticity during bending, compression and tension of OSB boards is an order of magnitude higher than that of plywood. Based on the above, we can conclude that OSB boards are the most suitable products that will not only level an uneven floor, but also extend its service life.

Rules for laying OSB boards on a wooden base

Basic rules for laying OSB boards on a wooden floor: as a substrate for laminate, it is necessary to use materials with certain parameters. For example, for a laminate with a thickness of 7 mm, you should not buy slabs more than 2 mm thick; for a thicker finish coating of 8-9 mm, the optimal substrate thickness is 3 mm. A thicker backing will sag slightly when pressed, causing the laminate's interlocking joints to become deformed. Installation of OSB boards on a wooden base is carried out by screwing them with screws or nailing them with rods of a certain length. The distance between fasteners is calculated by multiplying the existing slab thickness by 2.5. It is necessary to leave 5 mm technological gaps between the plates, which are subsequently filled with polyurethane foam. It is mandatory to install waterproofing under the substrate to prevent the formation of condensation that destroys the structure of the wood. The uneven transition at the junction of the plates is leveled with epoxy putty.

Choosing a substrate for laminate

There are several types of materials used for laying laminate flooring. Cork backing- valued for its composition: it consists exclusively of natural materials, no chemical components. Does not rot, does not spread mold. Does not deform and retains its original appearance throughout its entire service life. Bitumen substrate- when laying laminate flooring on wooden floors in an apartment, you can also use thick paper in combination with bitumen: this material protects the laminate from moisture and is perfect for uneven floors.

Polyethylene foam backing- the most common and affordable type of all laminate substrates: easy to use and inexpensive to purchase - a polyurethane foam film that insulates the room from external sounds and reduces the amount of lost heat. There is a small drawback: if the laminate is severely deformed, the substrate is also damaged, after which it no longer returns to its original form - a void is created under the wooden planks. “How to properly lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor without underlay?” – sometimes this question is asked by buyers in construction stores. Interestingly, some sellers find something to answer just to sell the product. However, remember once and for all: the floor covering cannot be laid without a backing, even if the surface is perfectly flat.

Tips from the experts: first of all, you should focus on the cost of the product; if the price is too low, then this should raise suspicion: shares are far from being charity on the part of the company, but a subtle marketing ploy, do not forget about it. Choose a product of decent quality. All joints of the film and backing boards must be sealed with masking tape or adhesive tape to prevent moisture from entering. Lay the film in stages, in those places where you are going to lay the laminate, so as not to walk on it and accidentally damage it.

Installing laminate flooring on a wooden floor

Here we come to the most important point, which requires attention and composure: every action will affect the final result, so be careful and strictly follow all the instructions described below. Installing laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands can be done in several ways:

click system

The work process begins from any corner opposite the entrance door: along the entire perimeter, along the walls, wedges (pieces of plywood) 1 cm thick are installed. This is necessary to create a wall gap so that the laminate can freely expand and contract later. 1. The very first panel is placed in the corner, pressed against the installed wedges. 2. We continue the row with the second panel, which joins the first at an angle of 20-30 degrees: pressing the ends tightly, using gentle pressure, click the lock and lower the laminate board.

3. We lay out the row until we hit the wall/door. The last panel is trimmed to fit the remaining gap. 4. The next row begins with the cut piece, this is how the checkerboard effect is created. 5. Along the length, the laminate is also snapped into an acute 30-degree angle.

Lock system

This method will answer the question of how to lay laminate flooring vertically and diagonally on a wooden floor. 1. The work process begins from the corner opposite the door. 2. The second panel is brought horizontally to the first panel (to the short end), inserted into the groove and hammered with a mallet. 3. Along the long end we match the already pre-assembled row to the existing panels.

4. Try to use a mallet or hammer with blocks, this reduces the risk of damaging the laminate.

Glued laminate

Another way that can answer the question of how to lay the flooring yourself, without special tools and skills. There are no special notes on installation with glue, but there are some points that are worth knowing in advance. The adhesive at the joints of the panels best isolates the base of the laminate from moisture, thereby extending the service life of the floor covering.

Before you can walk on such a floor, you must wait 10-12 hours at room temperature, without creating drafts. It is no longer possible to reuse such a surface: during dismantling, most of the panels will be damaged.

Maintenance and care of laminate flooring

1. Avoid getting excessive moisture at the joints of the panels. 2. Place something soft under the sharp corners of the legs of sofas and other interior items. 3. Monitor the humidity in the room: with sudden changes in temperature and increased dryness, the laminate may come apart, cracks will form, which will be problematic to eliminate, and you will have to disassemble the floor.

Laminate flooring can be laid on any flat, durable (stable) and dry surface. Wooden covering, concrete or other – it doesn’t really matter. There are some nuances that should be taken into account.

It is quite possible to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands. Many construction companies will assure you that the old wooden floor must first be dismantled and completely replaced. This step must be taken if the load-bearing joists have rotted. In the center of Moscow there are still buildings where wooden floors have not been changed since the 19th century, and when conducting a survey, the need for their complete replacement becomes obvious. However, this operation will cost the owner much more than a new floor covering.

Important! When diagnosing a wooden floor, you should pay attention not only to the safety of the joists and the condition of the floor boards, but also to their stable position - the boards should not “walk.” During operation, unstable elements of an old wooden floor will lead to displacement of the laminate panels relative to each other, increased wear of the locking joints and the appearance of cracks in the floor covering.

Diagnosis and leveling of wooden floors

In most cases, to diagnose the old floor, it is not necessary to open it. Such measures should be resorted to if a section of the floor has noticeably “sagged” and cannot be leveled with a layer of plywood. Or when there are serious concerns that the load-bearing joists have rotted. In other cases, the floor is visually inspected, tapped in search of possible cracks and places that creak when walking, and its horizontalness is checked. It is allowed to lay the laminate if there are differences in the plane within 2 mm per 2 m. To do this, apply a 2-meter level to the floor and look at the size of the differences in height.

Damaged boards of the old floor must be replaced. If the damage is superficial and minor, the board is removed, turned over and secured upward with the side that was previously bottom. Poorly secured boards are fixed using self-tapping screws. Subsequent leveling of the surface of the old wooden flooring only makes sense if the floorboards are well secured.

Advice . If you plan to sharpen the floor with an electric planer, use nails to fix the boards, the heads of which must be recessed into the board by 2 mm.

Old, uneven floors with significant differences in height can be leveled using an electric planer or sanding machine. Before leveling the floor with an electric planer, it is also necessary to eliminate squeaks. To do this, the boards are attached to the joists with long self-tapping screws. Self-tapping screws can be screwed into or near the holes of nails that were removed during inspection and repair. After leveling the floor, all debris is carefully removed with an electric planer, the floor boards are impregnated with an antiseptic, after which you can begin laying the laminate.

If there are a significant number of differences, which are quite difficult to remove using an electric planer, leveling the old wooden floor is done with sheets of plywood with a thickness of 10 mm or more. This can be done as long as the floor slope is satisfactory. They fasten sheets of plywood through the boards to the load-bearing joists with long self-tapping screws in order to firmly fix all the layers of the resulting “pie.” Sheets of plywood are laid staggered.

If there is a significant slope of the old wooden floor and large differences in height, the old floor is leveled using additional guides before laying the plywood. They are made from bars of different thicknesses. The plywood should first be laid out on the floor and the joints of the sheets should be marked. Laying guides from bars under the joints is mandatory. The laying step should be 500-600 mm. The bars are secured with self-tapping screws. Sound and heat insulation is laid in the gaps between the laid bars. Sheets of plywood are laid on the new guides and secured with self-tapping screws, without recessing their heads too much into the plywood. There must be a gap of 3-5 mm between the walls in the room and the sheets of plywood.

Very important! Leveling the old floor with the help of additional guides from the bars will inevitably change its level in relation to the floor in other rooms. The door may need to be replaced or rehung.

The vent that was in the old wood floor needs to be retained. To do this, a hole of the same size is cut in this place in the plywood sheet and in the laminate panels. Then the ventilation hole is closed with a decorative cover in the color of the laminate. Usually such holes are located in inconspicuous places, so it will not create problems for you, and the old floor will “breathe” and will last for a long time.

If there are concerns that the load-bearing joists require strengthening or even replacement, a part of the board is cut out in places of maximum deflection of the old floor using a jigsaw. It is better to hold the jigsaw not vertically, but at a slight angle. In this case, the cut piece of board will have a narrowing downward, and it will be easy to simply put it in place.

The logs are inspected through the cut hole and their condition is determined. Repair of joists may be limited to driving in wedges to level them or additionally fixing the joists to the base with anchors. Rotten or seriously damaged joists must be dismantled, which will require removing the entire floor. New ones are installed in place of the old logs. An old wooden floor can be replaced with two layers of plywood. The thickness of the plywood sheets is selected depending on the load on the floor covering in the room.

Features of laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

Laying the substrate

Various types of laminate underlays are available:

Manufacturers claim that the substrate is able to level the base under the laminate. This is an exaggeration. The substrate must provide heat and sound insulation. The underlay can compensate for minimal unevenness in a leveled old wooden floor or plywood base, but no more.

Important! The substrate is laid end-to-end, the joints are fixed with tape. This way it will not move when laying the laminate.

Laying laminate

We determine the installation method: diagonally, perpendicular or parallel to the light. Laying diagonally is more often used in narrow spaces - this is one way to visually expand them.

Typically, laminate is laid perpendicular to the window - in daylight, the joints between the panels will be less noticeable, but in the case of a wooden floor, you need to focus on the direction of laying the boards. On such a floor, the laminate is laid perpendicular to the floor boards to reduce possible deflection.

To work you will need:

• Jigsaw or hacksaw.
• Plastic wedges.
• Roulette.
• Square.
• Mallet and die (for Lock locks).
• Pencil.

The first row is laid horizontally from the corner. The panels are connected at their ends. In order to maintain the required gap of 10 mm between the panels and the wall, plastic wedges are used. The last panel in the row is cut with a jigsaw or hacksaw and laid in a row. You can start the next row with the remaining piece of the panel (provided that its length is more than 200 mm), the main thing is that the seams in adjacent rows do not coincide.

Advice. To give panel offsets a more accurate appearance, a technique such as “offset by a third of the board” is used. One third is cut off from the new panel, after which it is laid.

Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

This material can be laid on any subfloor: concrete, tile, linoleum or boards. The most important thing is that they are strong, rigid and perfectly smooth. Today we will look at the main nuances of how to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor, and also describe this process step by step.

Surface preparation

To identify defects, wooden floors must be carefully inspected before laying laminate flooring. Floorboards require repair if:

Deflection or deformation;

Instability (displacement of boards when pressed);

The presence of large cracks, knots and depressions;

Damage caused by fungus.
It is better to disassemble old wooden floors down to the supporting bars. It is quite possible that over the years of use they have become overgrown with mold and fungi. In this case, the damaged logs are replaced with new ones, and all remaining ones are treated twice with an antiseptic.

Rotten joists need to be replaced

Any damaged floorboards are also removed and replaced. The gaps between the boards are filled with a special putty for wooden floors. Small differences in height, including those formed by layers of paint, can be eliminated using an electric plane or sanding machine. In small areas, sagging is removed with sandpaper.

Sanding painted floors

If the floors were laid recently, they do not need to be removed. In this case, only the fasteners are checked, and those that are not securely fastened are replaced.

Important! Before scraping, the heads of nails and screws must be recessed a few millimeters into the wood.

Elimination of differences in height

As a rule, when laying laminate floors, uneven floors are the main problem. There is probably no apartment in which the floorboards are laid perfectly.

Interlocking lamellas (boards) of the laminate are, in fact, a single canvas (such floors are called floating). This explains the strict requirements when laying them. After all, the slightest deflection can deform the entire structure.

Uneven laminate flooring

Permissible differences in the height of the surface on which the laminate will be laid is no more than 2 mm for every 2 m. Moreover, if its locks are damaged during the warranty period, the manufacturer may refuse to replace the lamellas or refund the money due to a violation of the installation technology.

Permissible differences in height

That is why, after repairing wooden floors and eliminating their damage, the surface must be perfectly leveled. In case of strong differences in heights, pads are installed under the logs of the support wedges. The final leveling of the floors is done using linings from scraps of plywood sheets, fiberboard or wooden beams.

Important! Do not lay plywood or fiberboard close to walls. Indeed, when temperature or humidity conditions change, it is capable of changing its size. The size of the compensation (technological) gap - the distance from the wall to the outer sheets - is 0.5 cm.

When laying diagonally there will be 10-15%;

With the usual method of laying waste there will be less - up to 5%.

Advice. Since the color of the lamellas, even in one batch, can vary, in order to obtain a uniform pattern, when laying it is better to take the laminate alternately from different packs.

Why do you need a substrate?

Another important requirement when laying this flooring is the presence of a substrate. It performs the following functions:

Finally levels the floors;

Evenly redistributes the load between the lamellas;

Filling all the free space between the surface and the laminate, it protects it from deformation;

Absorbs noise from footsteps;

Performs the function of a heat insulator.

The best option is a substrate made of expanded polystyrene. It is much cheaper than cork, but it holds its shape perfectly. For laying on wooden floors, a 2mm underlay will be sufficient. It is better not to use cheap foamed polyethylene - over time it will quickly sag and lose its shape, and the floors will begin to deform and creak.

Polystyrene laminate backing

Laying underlay under laminate

After leveling the floor and clearing it of debris, a springy damper tape is laid along the walls to dampen sounds. To ensure that the seams of the underlay do not fall on the joints of the boards, sheets or roll underlay are rolled out across the floor across the direction of the laminate lamellas.

It is laid only with the smooth side up and connected end-to-end, without overlap. To avoid shifting of the substrate, all sheets are fastened together with construction tape. If damper tape is not used, you can bring the edges of the backing slightly onto the wall by a couple of centimeters. Subsequently, the excess is cut off. To avoid crushing the porous material when walking, it is not recommended to lay the entire backing at once - it is better to spread it out as needed.

Laying laminate step by step

1. To protect the laminate from swelling during temperature changes, small lamellas are placed between the lamellas and the wall. spacers from plywood or small blocks 0.5-1 cm thick.

2. To ensure that the joints between the slats are not conspicuous, they should be located in such a way that the light passes along them (the narrow side towards the window).

3. The first row is positioned with the tenon facing the wall.

4. Further installation is carried out only with offset seams(in a checkerboard pattern), that is, the center of the board of the next row should be at the junction of the previous lamellas. In order to obtain a similar offset, the first board of the second row is cut in half or (long boards) by 2/3.

5. The slats can have two types of fastenings. Each package has a pictogram indicating the type of fastening and how to connect it.

6. When fastening the click type (the most common), the board that needs to be joined is slightly tilted at an angle of 30 and, with a little force, is pressed against the second lamella until a characteristic click is heard. To strengthen the connection, the connected boards are knocked against each other using a rubber hammer. Boards with lock-type fastenings are simply driven into adjacent ones by lightly tapping with a hammer until they click.

Procedure for laying laminate flooring

Advice. To avoid damaging the fragile lamellas, when aligning boards to each other, you can use a wooden block through which the boards are hammered.

7. The lamellas adjacent to the pipes are cut in half so that the cut falls on the center of the pipe. Next, holes are cut into the boards a couple of millimeters larger than the diameter of the pipe. To seal the connection and dampen sounds (metal and bimetallic pipes are very good conductors of sound), rubber gaskets are placed.

Installation of laminate near batteries

8. To obtain a neat joint, the door jambs are slightly filed at the bottom according to the thickness of the lamella.

The jamb is filed at the bottom so that the lamella fits in

9. The transition to another room can be made with an aluminum threshold, which is inserted between the laminate boards, or a special wooden threshold with grooves.

Video: Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor

How to lay laminate flooring on wood floors

Wood floor finishes vary. A suitable option would be a wood covering, since the natural material will remain environmentally friendly and fit harmoniously into the interior. The wooden surface is pleasant to the touch and retains heat for a long time. In addition, the material is easy to install and process. You can easily achieve the desired color, shade or shine.

Laminate is a high-density fiberboard that is characterized by an attractive appearance and long service life. At the same time, the material is cheaper than cork, parquet or solid boards made of natural wood. For information on installing and finishing a wooden floor in a country house, see the link http://marisrub.ru/uslugi/vnutrennie-otdelochnye-raboty/otdelka-polov.

As a rule, laminate flooring is laid on a leveled concrete screed. However, the material can also be laid on wood flooring. In this article we will look at how to properly install laminate flooring on a wooden floor.

Features of laminate installation

There are locks installed on the sides of the laminate slabs, which must fit tightly with the adjacent board during installation. Therefore, laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor can only be done on a hard, flat surface. If the flooring is uneven, the locks will quickly wear out and come apart, and cracks will form at the joints. This leads to deformation and damage to the material. The technology for laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor allows a surface difference of 1 mm and two meters.

Thus, the floor boards should be free of cracks, rot and other noticeable damage. They must have a sufficient margin of strength and a smooth surface without knots, depressions or protrusions, and not bend under load or creak.

If you plan to lay laminate flooring on an old wooden floor, first level the surface and replace the boards if they are rotten or creaky. Let's take a closer look at how to prepare the coating and how to properly lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor.

Preparing a Wooden Floor

Before laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor, it is important to eliminate sagging boards, creaks and other defects. To do this, logs are firmly fixed to the concrete base, and then the floorboards are rigidly tied to each other. First, floorboards are laid across the joists and secured with screws or nails. When the boards and joists are secured, the loose boards are additionally secured with another material. You can take chipboard with a thickness of over 15 mm.

Chipboards should be laid on top of the floor boards and secured with self-tapping screws. Before installation, a grid with 10x10 centimeter cells is marked on the chipboard slab. The materials are fastened along the grid intersection lines and the slabs are laid at a distance of 3-5 mm from each other. This gap is necessary so that the wooden slabs can expand if necessary without deforming the floor.

After laying the chipboard panels, the floor area is sanded in strips overlapping by 10 centimeters. If the floor is new and smooth, then it is possible to install laminate flooring without plywood directly on a wooden base. However, before starting work, the surface must be leveled with a grinding machine. Now let's take a closer look at how to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor.

Types of laminate fastening

Before laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor, it is important to choose the right material and connection method. The boards are divided according to the type of castle. The “Lock” connection system assumes that the tongue and groove are located in the same horizontal plane. In this case, the laminate boards are laid horizontally, inserting a tenon into the groove. This connection is easy to install. But it is not very durable, as the spikes can break off. Therefore, experts do not recommend using this type of laminate.

The “Click” system is stronger and more reliable. It involves a three-dimensional design in which the panels are laid at a certain angle. This is the most popular connection, which is durable and has a long service life. In addition, the coating can be easily disassembled if necessary.

For kitchens and rooms with high humidity, adhesive laminate is chosen. It forms a single monolithic surface, which is characterized by high density and strength. But the installation of such materials is complicated by the fact that glue must be applied to the locking joints. This surface is not applicable to heated floors! In addition, the resulting surface can be used no earlier than 10 hours after installation.

Technology for laying laminate flooring on wood floors

• After leveling, the floor surface is covered with a waterproofing film to protect wooden materials from rotting, mold and mildew;
• Then install a 3 mm thick substrate. The substrate is made of strips of balsa wood or polypropylene and mounted joint to joint, then secured with construction tape or tape;
• Installation of the laminate is carried out from the window to the front door, starting from the corner. The first row is placed in the gap from the wall 8-10 mm from the walls, and a wedge is placed between the wall and the material. This gap is needed to compensate for the expansion of wooden slabs due to changes in temperature or humidity;
• The first row is laid completely and starts with the whole panel. The second row begins with half the board. He also fits to the end. Thus, even rows start with whole panels, and odd rows with half;
• If a “Click” lock is used, each subsequent row is laid in an end lock to the previous one at an angle of 25 degrees. To do this, the last board of the first row needs to be trimmed;
• Each next row of laminated panels is placed with a displacement of the joints of the previous one by 40 centimeters or more;
• After installing the laminate along the perimeter, remove the wedges between the material and the wall, and then install the baseboard.

Final work

After completion of the work, plinths are installed. In this case, it is important to attach the plinth only to the wall, and not to the laminate slabs! Experts recommend choosing only wooden planks. Such products will harmoniously complement the design, give the room a finished look and preserve the naturalness of the floor. Before installation, the materials are left in the room for two to three days so that they “get used” to the temperature and humidity in the room.

Products are laid along the walls as they should be installed. Installation begins from one of the corners. When fastening, make sure that the plinth fits as tightly as possible to the wall. The first plank is sawn at an angle on one side, and for connection on the other. The cut for the connection is made at an angle of 45 degrees. The remaining skirting boards are laid in the same way, making cuts and attaching them to the wall using self-tapping screws.

After installation, the baseboards are puttied and varnished. There is no need to varnish laminate flooring! The plates are already covered with a protective film that cannot absorb liquid materials. In addition, the material may crack in some places due to the application of varnish.

Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands requires care and precision in your work. It is important to lay the slabs correctly; the service life of the floor covering will depend on this. If the work is not done correctly, the products will soon begin to move away from each other, the surface will become uneven and ugly. In addition, water can penetrate into the cracks, as a result the wooden floor will become deformed and become unusable. To avoid such problems, contact professionals!

“MariSrub” craftsmen will perform installation and finishing work on the floor in a wooden house, including laying laminate flooring. We guarantee quality and reliability! Have you decided to build your own country cottage or country house from logs or timber? We offer a full range of works, which includes installation of a log frame, construction of a foundation and roof, installation of floors and ceilings, installation of utility networks and final finishing. We build wooden houses on a turnkey basis and for shrinkage according to an individual or standard project.

How to lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor - careful preparation, all the nuances of technology, advice from professional installers

Laminate is a very beautiful finishing material that can make your interior very attractive and cozy. It can be used both in an apartment and in a private house. In this case, such cladding is mounted on any base, the main thing is to prepare it carefully. Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor has some special features.

Features of a wooden base

Laminate is an unpretentious material, so preparation for installation will be quick. Naturally, the base must be clean and dry. In addition, the rough layer must be stable.

The underlayment under the laminate will not be able to remove all the problems of the base.

Wooden floors have some features:

Over time, its stability deteriorates. In this case, the laminate tiles will move, which will lead to breakage of the fasteners.

During operation, the base may lose its mechanical properties.

This means that laminate flooring should only be installed on a wooden floor after careful preparation.

How to properly inspect the floor surface?

Material can be laid only after a thorough diagnosis of the rough foundation. This must be done correctly. Diagnostics involves checking not only the external surface of the floor, but also its internal frame.

It is necessary to disassemble the wooden base only if the fault cannot be eliminated.

A visual inspection of the boards will help you detect unevenness and minor damage. By tapping you can determine if there are any cracked or rotten elements. How level the base is is checked by the building level.

Laminate flooring should be laid on a wooden floor if:

• The floor surface is smooth, without any knots or protrusions. In this case, the difference in height should be no more than 2 mm per 2 m.
• There are no squeaks.
• The base has a sufficient margin of safety.
• The boards do not sag while walking.
• No damage was found on the coating, for example: cracks, large gaps between boards, rotten elements.

How to properly prepare the base?

Before you lay laminate flooring, you need to eliminate all the shortcomings that the old floor has:

If you find rotten elements, then it all depends on the degree of damage. To eliminate a small defect, you just need to clean the board, turn it over and lay it with the wrong side up. Otherwise, the element will need to be replaced.

Creaking or sagging can be eliminated by tightly securing the boards with self-tapping screws. Please note that the fastener heads will need to be recessed inward. Otherwise, problems with scraping and grinding may occur.

If there is a defect in the joists, for example, they are loose, then they will need to be properly secured. To do this, you need to make a small hole through the wooden element, and then fix it to the screed using anchors.

A large difference in height can only be eliminated by global dismantling of the frame.

If you notice large enough gaps between the floorboards, it means they have simply dried out. This problem can be eliminated with polyurethane foam.

You can lay laminate flooring on a wooden floor only after preparing the base - it is smooth, has no cracks or crevices, and there is no creaking. Boards and joists should not be rotten, the floor surface should be sanded.

Features of base leveling

Before laying laminate flooring, you need to check the level of the floorboards. A small difference in height can be removed in two ways:

• By cycling. After this procedure, you should definitely check the level using special devices.
• Laying plywood. This alignment method is the simplest, but everything needs to be done correctly. First you need to level the subfloor. To do this, wooden wedges should be placed under the joists. In some cases, plastic elements can be used. It is necessary to lay plywood, constantly monitoring its horizontalness. If necessary, slats can be placed under this material.

Sheets of plywood are attached to the base so that the seams meet in different places.

This material must be fixed using self-tapping screws every 15 centimeters. This is necessary so that the plywood sheets fit tightly to the base.

The photo shows the process of installing plywood on a wooden base. Pay attention to the location of the seams between the sheets.

The material should be laid taking into account the technological gap between it and the walls. The fact is that wooden elements can expand and contract under the influence of temperature and moisture. Try to keep the seams as small as possible along the boards. To prevent plywood sheets from being subject to fungal growth, they must be well treated with antiseptic agents or drying oil.

After completing the work, you need to vacuum the floor well. Otherwise, remaining dust may cause squeaking after laying the laminate.

Installation technology

After all the preparatory work, you can lay the laminate on a wooden floor. This process cannot be called very fast. It provides for the following actions:

• Installation of the substrate. Before this, a waterproofing polyethylene film is laid on the plywood base. You can lay a special underlay for the laminate on it. It not only compensates for all unevenness, but also provides good sound and thermal insulation. This is especially important if the rough layer is already old.
• Laying the first row. Now you can lay the planks on the old plank floor. It is correct to start work from the corner. The panels should be joined end to end, while always trying to ensure that the elements are aligned with the walls. During work, do not forget about the technological gaps between the wall and the slats. To ensure that they are the same, you can use special wooden stops. After you have managed to lay the laminate to the opposite wall, you need to measure the required length of the last panel and cut off the excess part. A jigsaw is used for this.

Laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor must be across the boards.

Laying technology for the first and second rows.

• The following rows must be laid offset. That is, the end seams between the elements of both rows should not coincide. To do this, first of all, you need to lay the plank that remains after trimming the material in the first row. But keep in mind that this fragment should not be shorter than 20 cm.
• If necessary, you can use a block and a mallet to join two rows.
• It is necessary to continue collecting the coating, constantly monitoring the correct installation.
• Before you start laying the panels of the last row, they can be trimmed a little lengthwise. Naturally, this must be done very carefully, although the cut will be hidden under the baseboard.

As you can see, laying laminate flooring on a wooden floor with your own hands is done quite quickly. But this is only possible if the installation technology is followed. If you are not confident in your abilities, it is better to contact specialists.