Dakar Laminate Flooring Expansion Joint Requirements

Check clearance at the doorways.

Dakar laminate flooring expansion joint requirements.

Laminate flooring is durable. Without following these special requirements you risk damaging your floors. What this means is the wood expands or contracts or grows and shrinks in response to changing temperatures and humidity. Expert installers say that the larger the space the larger the expansion gap should be as the floor needs more space to expand and contract with temperature.

Floating floors once installed basically become one large sheet of flooring. Build direct notes that the most common reason laminate floorboards peak is due to a lack of expansion space between the moldings and the floor. An expansion gap is essential when it comes to laminate flooring installation. Every meter of installed flooring requires at least 1 5mm of expansion space on both sides of the room.

The recommended expansion gap is a minimum of inch. There are special requirements for laminate flooring. For laminate flooring the rule of thumb is. To allow for this expansion place 3 8 inch spacers along the wall to leave a consistent gap around the edges of the floor.

Being a natural organic material wood is always in motion. With large areas it should be proportionately more. It s a common saying that wood works. Failure to leave the proper expansion space will often result in the planks squeaking lifting or separating.

The expansion gap wall spacing should be at least 8mm on each side. Expansion and contraction is minimal to none as the ply layers act to restrict the movement in the overall product itself. If the moldings around the edges of the room are fixed nailed or glued the floor can t expand. Expansion joints in laminate flooring laminate flooring consists to about 90 of wood.

Humidity levels lead to a swelling of the laminate flooring. The first thing to know when learning how to lay laminate flooring is that all laminate flooring will expand and contract due to temperature and humidity fluctuations. The only way for your laminate flooring to uphold this strong reputation is with the proper installation. Remove all baseboards to create the appropriate gap at the floor edges for expansion as recommended by the manufacturer.

The exception to the rule is a floating floor.