What do they do first: doors or laminate?

Laminate board is one of the most popular materials for flooring in apartments and houses. This coating looks aesthetically pleasing, solves the problem of a cold floor and is environmentally friendly, so it deserves the love of many people. But some do not know where to start doing repairs and in what order to install the doors and improve the floor. Let's figure it out.

First of all, do not confuse laminate and floorboard. Visually, they are similar, but there are a number of differences between them. Parquet is a solid-mass board treated with varnish, equipped with grooves for assembly and polished after long-term drying. This is a 100% natural material, but the substances used in its processing are sometimes toxic. In addition, the surface of the parquet is easily scratched with sharp objects.

The production technology of laminate is very different from other coatings. It is an alloy of many layers of different materials. The base consists of chipboard. The bottom edge is covered with a protective layer of plastic or special paper, which stabilizes the board and facilitates its installation. The upper decorative edge is laminate, for which the coating got its name.

This material was created by the Swedish company Pergo. They were the first to invent a resin-impregnated resin-coated paper that was ground and joined together with a special mineral protective layer. They also did not forget about the stabilizing layer at the bottom of the board, which lightens the load and significantly prolongs its service life. Although modern technologies make it possible to obtain floors in a different way, many characteristics of the laminate bring them closer to the first samples.

Among the positive properties of the coating can be noted its strength. It is much more resistant to dirt, dents and scratches than parquet. He is not afraid of retractable bed designs, sofa legs or chairs.

In addition, the laminate does not fade in the sun and does not change color with time. It is also resistant to humidity and temperature extremes. The service life of the laminate is still lower than that of natural floorboard, but rather long: up to 20 years. It is much easier to take care of it than for other types of wooden floor, so in modern apartments this type of flooring is much more common.

These qualities make it a versatile coating that can be used in any room. Making the floor laminate is in an affordable price range.

Another advantage of laminate is its harmlessness to the health of people, animals and the environment. Although a small amount of plastic and other artificial substances are used in the laminate board, most of them are natural products, which distinguishes it from the laminate.

If you compare the laminate flooring, you can note the difference in voicing. The first cover is more noisy and cold. However, only this type of coating is suitable if you wish to equip an apartment with heated floors.

Having decided on the choice of material it is necessary to understand how to properly lay such a floor. It is recommended to perform such work only with full confidence in their abilities and the availability of necessary knowledge.

If you still decide to cope on your own, you need to decide what to do before: lay the floor or hang the doors. This issue is often asked to beginners in the repair, because every possible way has its pros and cons.

First of all, it should be noted that the installation of floors in any case is done after gluing wallpaper or other wall decoration. Otherwise they will be quickly spoiled by traces of plaster, paints and mottled scratches from careless handling during repairs.

This is the main dilemma of repair: If you lay the floor before the doorway is installed, the laminate flooring will most likely be ruined. But at the same time it will be much more convenient to make measurements and hang the door, knowing exactly what the result will be in the end.

You can first install a doorway.But then it will be necessary to arrange the threshold carefully so that it looks aesthetically and inconspicuously.

How to put the door frame depends on the order of installation of the door or floor. Interior doors, as a rule, are installed secondarily. If the first thing is to install the flooring, it is necessary to carry out a preliminary preparation of the doorway before installation.

The opening is set as usual, but you need to cut it so that it fits in height. These measurements can be made directly after laying the floor, but do not try to do it by eye. Otherwise, a short doorframe will spoil the whole impression of the repair.

The door also needs trimming. It is better to produce it on the side when removed, and not on weight. Needless to say, this would be much more equal and accurate.

Some time ago, in Soviet apartments, the distance between the door and the floor was a few centimeters. So there was no need to worry about calculations and it was easy to change the floor covering if necessary.

However, at the present time it will look very repulsive.

The door mounts immediately if the threshold is set high. Indeed, in this case, installing the floor before the threshold is set does not make sense.

Installation of doors is primarily appropriate when laying near the entrance door. Also high thresholds are used in bathrooms. So it is customary to stabilize the microclimate in the rooms and prevent flooding of the floors of the corridor with a high level of water in the bathroom. This is especially true in the case of laminated or wooden floors.

An important point that you need to pay special attention when laying the floor, is the design of joining the two coatings. Most often it falls on the threshold, although this is not necessary. There are various options for how this work is done:

• Joint to joint. In such a case, it is necessary that the junction of the two materials be single-level. It will be easy to handle a special putty.This type of work is most often done between living rooms and a corridor or a living room and hallway. When performing this operation, the source material must have a rigid structure. This type of design work is possible when combining different types of laminate or parquet or parquet and tile.
• Podium. This option helps, if the difference between the levels of the two coats is impressive. It allows you to elegantly handle the junction, zoning the room. Before proceeding with the processing of screed tiles or other material, you need to develop a design project that takes into account all the necessary measurements.
• Thresholds. A large variety of models of these products is used in the processing of both the simplest joints, and compounds of bizarre forms. In the first case, straight thresholds of plastic or metal of the required width are used. They can always be cut or sawed with a hacksaw. There are also bending aluminum and plastic sills with a rubber lining. They are wider to use.

Laminate is an inexpensive and convenient means of decorating a residential house. It serves for a long time and looks beautiful.At the same time, you can choose colors and texture for any design and purpose of the room.

The question whether to mount the floor or the door first is decided individually. If we are talking about interior doors and the level difference between them is small or absent, nothing prevents you from laying the floor first. So it will be easier to make the measurements necessary for hanging the door. Inaccuracies and errors can be avoided.

However, there is a risk of damaging the floor during installation. In extreme cases, it is allowed to cover the laminate with several layers of thick cardboard, but care must be taken to ensure that the protective coating does not move anywhere. Therefore, it is impossible to guarantee complete safety of the surface.

Some prefer to immediately mount the door frame.

When installing interior doors, it is always necessary to take care that the joint between the floor coverings of different rooms is aesthetically and reliably processed. There are various techniques, among which the most common are the butt joint and the use of special thresholds.It is also possible to organize a podium in an apartment or house, but this method requires an individual approach and a specially designed construction project. It is applicable only if the difference in levels is greater than 50 mm.

The feedback from users who have already placed laminate in the dwelling using such methods is positive. They note the high quality of the surface, the warmth of the material and the excellent appearance. An additional advantage is the ease of installation. They advise everyone to lay laminate in their own apartment.

In more detail about what is first mounted: laminate or doors, you will learn from the following video.