DIY linoleum laying

Recommendation points

• What surface should be laid
• Do I need to glue linoleum
• Laying procedure
• Protection of joints between canvases
• Seamless joining technique
• Care in the first time after installation

Do you want a way to provide linoleum with two or even three times longer service life? Just lay it right. We will help you figure out the rules for preparing the subfloor, flooring features and give an overview of the most modern techniques for arranging linoleum covering.

What surface should be laid

It is widely believed that linoleum is able to smooth out rather serious irregularities left after the preparation of the subfloor. This is a really elastic material that takes shape well, and with a sufficiently high thickness and the presence of a substrate, it also smooths out irregularities.

At the same time, linoleum categorically does not accept the presence of protrusions with sharp edges, sagging, sharp drops in floor level and similar local defects. If a screed is used as a base, it must be sanded to remove the upper porous layer. If linoleum is laid on a plank floor, scraping and rough peeling is required, or shelter with large-format sheet materials. In the latter case, a tight broach of all joints is required in order to completely exclude protrusion of the edges over time.

The preparation of the floor with a self-leveling mixture has proven itself in the best way. Such a floor is ideal for application installation and expensive types of linoleum. For wooden floors, several layers of thin hardboard, a combination of plywood and magnesite boards, or simple OSB can be recommended. Materials with a non-sanded surface should be stretched with a putty of liquid consistency to reduce the consumption of glue.

For high-quality and technological laying, it is necessary to ensure not only a flat smooth plane, but also high adhesion of the base. If there is a significant risk of moisture condensation under an uninsulated floor, either a hydrophobizing impregnation or an antiseptic treatment should be performed. Without fail, before laying linoleum, the surface is primed, dried, peeled off from adhered large grains of sand or chips and cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.

Do I need to glue linoleum

It is with the unconditional necessity of gluing linoleum that high requirements for surface adhesion are associated. The adhesive used has a low breakaway force, so dismantling can be done relatively easily. At the same time, the displacement load is perceived by the adhesive mixture excellently, especially with high-quality rolling, while the linoleum becomes one with the base and takes all types of loads much better.

Laying without gluing is practiced only in cases when the room is temporarily covered with cheap linoleum with the prospect of replacement in the next year and a half. Basically, the decision to use glue depends on the answer to the question: should linoleum really be a high-quality and durable imitation of parquet or other composition, or is it just a floor with a pattern? But do not forget about the improvement of all performance indicators: service life, susceptibility to shock and furniture movement, tendency to linear displacements, swelling and warping..

To attach linoleum to the base, either glue or special mastics are used. The choice depends on the quality of the preparation of the base: with a significant roughness and an abundance of small defects, a more viscous mastic helps to smooth the plane to acceptable values. The adhesive is used for laying on a well-prepared base: self-leveling screed, polished concrete, putty sheet coverings. Mainly they use busylate and acrylate glue, for natural linoleum – latex or rubber, for commercial – reactive two-component.

Laying procedure

Before installation, linoleum requires exposure at room temperature and humidity for 2-3 days. A day after being brought to the object, the rolls are rolled out and cut according to the layout scheme, spread in their places and left for another 36–48 hours to complete shrinkage. If the edges are bristled or the linoleum has bulges, these areas are pressed down with light pressure.

The surface of the subfloor must be perfectly clean before laying: an hour before the start of work, wet cleaning is carried out, the room is not used until it is completely dry. On the dried floor, a primer is applied with a roller of glue diluted with twice the volume of clean water. When using reaction formulations, such priming is not required. Laying on concrete bases should be carried out on a cork substrate: it is glued first over the entire floor area, then linoleum is laid after drying.

The glue is applied in an even strip, occupying half the width of the laid sheet, and air-dried within the period specified by the manufacturer. First you need to glue the far edge, retreating towards the uncovered areas. The first half of the canvas is applied under the wall or aligned with the previous piece of linoleum. When laying, the covering is rarely cut exactly along the contour of the room, so as not to have trouble with an allowance for the curvature of the walls. Instead, vertical overlaps with a width of 30-50 mm are folded at the edges, which are cut off after the glue has dried. The only trimming during installation is carried out in the places where the utilities pass, after which the cut is filled with a compound for cold welding.

Linoleum must be laid in separate sheets, each of which is aligned with the wall or edge of the previous one. After leveling the far edge, the web is pressed halfway down and rolled from edge to center. After that, the non-glued edge is turned over, the excess of the protruding glue is rubbed, the second half of the floor is covered and the rest of the canvas is glued, rolling it from the center to the free edge. After that, the linoleum is rolled again over the entire plane in different directions..

Protection of joints between canvases

The cracks formed at the joints are the most vulnerable place of the linoleum coating. In addition to the fact that the edges can fray and come off from mechanical stress, it is possible for water to enter through the cracks under the coating and destruction of dispersion adhesive.

The adjoining of linoleum to other coatings is masked with docking sills. In the places where they are adjacent to the thresholds of the doors, the edges are closed with finishing glazing beads. For linoleum, it is preferable to use sills with hidden glue fastening on good quality “liquid nails”. The sealant fills the joint and the space under the linoleum, preventing moisture ingress.

For sills with mechanical fastening, it is imperative that there are notches on the pressure shelves and an accurate selection of the size. For insurance purposes, it is recommended to apply a small amount of transparent silicone to the back of the shelves. In most cases, the edges of the sheets are not treated with anything, but they can be impregnated with reaction glue.

The joints between the linoleum canvases are covered with locking equilateral sills with a vinyl strip. The height of the profile of such a sill should be minimal, plus a good grip of the lid with a slight punching of the coating is mandatory.

Seamless joining technique

During application laying and installation of coatings on a large area with a high throughput load, linoleum is hot or cold welded. In the first case, the seam is filled with heated vinyl plastic, in the second – with a sealing adhesive with a chemical hardening principle. After the seam dries, it is cut flush with the coating plane.

In both cases, rather high requirements are imposed on the quality of the installation. The glue should be chosen depending on the thickness of the linoleum, the edges should be carefully fixed and adjusted to each other with the formation of a seam of up to 0.5-1 mm. For an ordinary consumer, cold welding technology is much preferable: there is no need to spend money on expensive tools, there is enough accuracy and precise adherence to the work technique.

Laying for welding should be carried out overlapping without gluing areas 80–100 mm from the edge. After the glue dries, a general cut is made along the overlap, then the matched edges are fixed to the base with two-component glue and carefully rolled. The joint is filled only after drying and completion of shrinkage..

Care in the first time after installation

During the first 48 hours after installation, sudden changes in temperature and humidity in the room should be avoided. The first day, any operational load on the coating is excluded, that is, no furniture and finishing work.

After the glue dries, the folded edges are pressed with a flat spatula or trowel and cut exactly at the corner with a sectional knife, leaving a gap from the wall of about 3 mm. In the same way, all obstacles of irregular shape are bypassed. After trimming, install sills and skirting boards.

The first time after laying, linoleum emits a weak specific smell. You can quickly get rid of it either by laying dry newspapers on the floor, or by daily wet cleaning..

The composition of the cleaning liquid should have neutral acidity, it is practiced to add small portions of glycerin to eliminate the drying out of the top layer.