How to trim laminate flooring against a wall

How to lay laminate flooring with your own hands: methods and schemes

How to make the floor reliable, beautiful, easy to install and at the same time inexpensive? These seemingly incompatible qualities are combined in the laminate. This is why this flooring is being used more and more often. Nevertheless, in order for the floor to serve for a long time, you just need to know the intricacies of the technology. For example, before laying the laminate, you need to check how even the base is. The maximum permissible deviation is no more than 1-2 mm per meter of surface. Only under this condition will it lie tightly, will not bend and creak. If the differences are greater, the lock may even break or crack the board..

If the base has irregularities that exceed the permissible dimensions, it must be leveled. For cement floors, everything is simple – a leveling screed is poured. They begin to lay the laminate after the solution has gained at least 50% strength.

trim, laminate, flooring, wall

Laying the laminate is only possible on an even base.

If an old wooden floor is used as a base, it must be removed according to technology, then a full-fledged cement floor should be made, with all the necessary layers (bedding, hydro and thermal insulation, a reinforcing belt and a screed). You can install a heating system into this floor, and lay the floor covering on the warm floor. Only in this case it is necessary to use special types of laminate that tolerate heat well. The cost of such a floor is high, and it takes a lot of time to install it. Therefore, this is not always done. If the logs and boards are not damaged, you can level the wooden floor with plywood, and lay the laminate on it.

When leveling a wooden floor, all strongly protruding fragments are cut off with a plane or with the help of scraping, the cracks are sealed with putty. Sheets of plywood are laid on the prepared old wooden floor (it is used more often, although you can put any sheet material with a flat surface). They are fixed with self-tapping screws to the floor: around the perimeter after 15 cm, in the middle in a checkerboard pattern.

The joints of the sheets are shifted – they should not coincide (see the photo below). This way the load is transferred more evenly. One more thing – leave some gaps between the sheets – they should not be fitted closely to each other. Wood changes dimensions depending on humidity and temperature. And these gaps will give the necessary freedom to avoid “humps” and distortions..

Laying plywood on a wood floor underneath laminate flooring is a common way to prepare a subfloor during renovations. If the wood has not been damaged, and the plywood is laid flat, does not “play” and does not bend, such a base will serve for years

This is what an old wooden floor looks like, prepared for laying laminate.

Varieties

Any laminate is assembled with locks. Self-sufficient click-type locks, panels after installation on a wooden frame or gluing to a flat surface. But the tongue-and-groove connection (Lock type) is held on the lattice with staples or furniture nails.

Do not try to glue the laminate to the wood grating – the bond area will be too small and the material may suddenly fall off.

How to choose?

Furniture wall laminate, unlike its floor counterpart, will not be exposed to significant mechanical stress. Therefore, you can absolutely safely purchase the most affordable version of the coating and not doubt its durability. The minimum requirements for the thickness of the boards – half a centimeter is more than enough.

When choosing a decorative material for bathrooms, kitchens or rooms with intense lighting, you need to choose moisture-resistant and UV-resistant varieties..

What to combine with?

The combination of laminate and wallpaper should be similar in appearance, but differ in tone, the same color will make the room dull and expressionless. Perfect match with the ceiling – when a strip of planks is also used at the top.

Monochromatic laminate on the walls, ceiling and on the floor looks original and fresh, this solution will be especially elegant in contrast to the side walls (play of dark and light colors). The use of stone when decorating a room together with a laminate is also possible, you just need to carefully think over all the nuances and not disturb the color balance. According to experts, it is most correct to combine these coatings in the corridor, where they will be able to reveal all their advantages..

Laminate, showing the appearance of masonry, is often used in large kitchens, halls, children’s rooms. With its help, it will be possible to make glazed verandas and winter gardens more original..

Styles

Laminate for country-style interiors should be darker, and among all textures, imitation of rough logs or natural beams is preferable. It is desirable to finish high-tech style bedrooms with glossy panels, and classic ones – under light natural wood. Eclecticism is attractive in that it can use a coating of any texture and color. But just make sure that it creates only pleasant emotions..

A room decorated in the spirit of a Swiss chalet will only benefit from the use of laminate in ash or walnut colors, which most accurately express this style. In a Provencal dwelling, one should prefer light coatings with a discreet, as if slightly worn texture. A good example would be beveled bleached oak. Japanese style is compatible with both dark and light finishing materials, but again, you need to keep the color balance.

A minimalistic environment requires restraint and simplicity; it is undesirable to use more than three shades in it at the same time. The best colors in such an interior are black, white and gray in between. In a high-tech setting, wenge color is also added to these colors (preferably with a fuzzy or small pattern). Lovers of the gothic atmosphere need to buy a laminate with a pronounced texture, painted in a rich black tone.

When pop art is chosen to decorate a room, you need to show maximum creativity, try to surprise with audacity and freshness of the idea. Various shades of blue and green are organically intertwined with the defiant design of the floor, ceiling and furniture.

Laminate in light oak tone is perfect for almost any room, but this and other noble shades – rosewood, beech – look most appropriate in a classic environment. If you are going to decorate your home in a retro format, you can also choose oak colors. An imitation of cherry and teak turns out to be alternatives for them, and the effect of apparent wear only adds to the charm..

In an avant-garde apartment, it is permissible to use both discreet black and white colors, and bright, juicy ones. The main requirement will be a clear inclusion of coverage in the concept, so that there is not the slightest eclecticism. Art Nouveau style allows you to safely choose a mustard, beige color. Of all the patterns and images, plots about plants (flowers) and insects should be preferred..

An Art Deco-inspired room is often finished with zigzag shapes and a curved mowing line. But a Mediterranean room should be light and airy, the optimal design is one that contains romantic notes. Marine interiors mean both realistic paintings (ships, coast, ocean surface, exotic islands) and stylized seashells, still lifes.

Colors

Determining the color is quite simple. If the entire wall is covered with laminate, it should match the color of the surrounding environment. But when only a separate area is to be covered, it would be more correct to make a color accent – but not any, but harmoniously included in the interior. White laminate on the wall will look unnatural and ridiculous in a room decorated with dark woods. High-tech furnishings are revived by adding a coating that duplicates the look of concrete or natural stone.

To make the room look original and unique, it is worth trying combinations of panels in contrasting colors..

Adjust kitchen aprons to match the headset. In bedrooms, you can use panels two or three tones richer than furniture. The color of the material is sometimes made darker than that of the main wall, this will make the space visually wider. When there are animals or children in the house, you should not choose too light varieties of finishing materials..

Laminate on the wall in different interiors

  • Advantages and disadvantages
  • Functions
  • Varieties
  • Colors
  • What to combine with?
  • How to choose?
  • Where to apply?
  • Styles
  • Examples in the interior

Traditionally, laminate has been and is used to cover floors. But designers, having tried to apply it to decorate walls, found clear advantages of this approach. But you need to know all the subtleties and nuances in order to avoid mistakes when choosing and using laminate for walls..

Functions

When the living room is combined with the kitchen, the presence of laminate on the walls allows for zoning. The space where the hosts relax and receive guests will be visually different than that intended for working with products. Many modern studios, instead of a full-fledged wall, have a plasterboard partition between these rooms. A wide strip of laminate on one of the walls, passing to the ceiling and having built-in spot lighting, will help to more clearly distinguish them from each other..

Combined method

You can also combine two options. In order not to level the wall, a crate is created. Laminate is laid on it with glue.

Laminate flooring looks quite harmonious on the wall of a modern bedroom

Laminate on the wall is suitable for different interior styles

Country style bedroom with light beige laminate on the walls

Beautiful laminate flooring on the wall will brighten any bedroom

Factors “against”

Opponents of wall decoration with laminate in the bedroom give the following reasons:

  • Susceptibility to environmental conditions. The service life will be shortened by sudden changes in temperature / humidity and this leads to additional costs. If suddenly the neighbors flood from above, then you will have to completely change the finish..
  • Demanding to the surface. Walls need to be prepared, because the material is very picky about the evenness of the surface.
  • Limited scope of application. All walls in the bedroom should not be trimmed with this material; it is suitable as an accent on a section of the wall. The maximum is allowed to finish one wall with this method..

Note! The laminate on the wall in the bedroom will look harmonious if you combine it with the general design solution of this room, which is desirable to be reinforced with textiles..

To lay laminate flooring on walls, they need to be perfectly aligned.

As a rule, only one bedroom wall is distinguished with a laminate, more often the head of the bed

Laminate on the wall at the head of the bed partially extends to the ceiling

Modern bedroom with brown laminate on one of the walls

How to use?

The design of a bedroom with a laminate will look organic if you do not overdo it with the amount of material. The most common finish is on the wall behind the headboard..

Important! It is necessary to select the color of the laminate for the walls in accordance with the color of the furniture – this will create the integrity of the interior.

It is advisable not to overload a wall decorated with a laminate with decor, since this element itself is visually powerful. Although the material may well withstand shelves and other hanging elements.

Laminate flooring is easy to clean both on the floor and on the wall

Beautiful glossy laminate on the bedroom wall looks good in a modern interior

Stylish modern bedroom with laminate on the wall and floor

Laminate on the walls should match the overall color of the bedroom furniture

On the crate

In order to mount a laminate using this method, you don’t have to worry about the evenness of the walls, because it is not important here..

The lathing will consist of wooden blocks with a cross section of 3 x 3 cm, and they must all be the same. When installing the lathing, you need to control the level of the bars. The distance between them is no more than 30 cm. Mineral wool can be placed in the resulting space to improve thermal insulation.

Important! There should be a small distance between the floor and the first panel of the laminate – this is the ventilation gap.

The panels are attached to the bars using small nails that are driven into the lock connection.

Glue method

It is considered more time consuming, although it is not at all difficult to implement. Surface preparation consists of leveling. Level difference over the plane of more than 3 mm is not allowed. If the installation of the laminate on the wall in the bedroom is carried out in a city apartment, then the most reasonable way out is to level the wall with drywall.

In private houses, there is often no such problem with the evenness of the wall, even if there is, then the drop and defects are not so significant, you can do with plaster. After alignment, you can proceed directly to the installation of laminated panels.

In the process, you will need the following tools:

  • Silicone and dispenser (gun) for it.
  • Hacksaw or jigsaw.
  • Pencil and ruler.
  • The laminate itself.

Loft style bedroom with dark brown laminate on one wall and decorative stone on the other

Eco-style bedroom with light laminate, olive curtains and a bedspread

Traditional bedroom with two types of laminate

Laminate for walls, as a rule, is matched to the color of the furniture.

Advice! For gluing the laminate to the wall, it is best to use silicone – it lies smoother on the board and does not give all kinds of bulges and humps, like liquid nails.

You need to start the installation from the floor and move up. If only a part of the wall is decorated with a laminate, then before installation you need to install a support bar on which the first and subsequent rows will rest. At the same time, it is important to check the level of installation, otherwise the laminate that goes awry will look very messy..

If gaps have formed between the canvases, they can be treated with transparent silicone..

Fusion style bedroom with laminate walls

Laminate is quite easy to install

Unusual gray laminate flooring in a small bedroom

Black laminate on the wall of the bedroom in the art nouveau style

What is laminate?

Laminate is considered a floor covering. which has proven itself excellently. The material consists of 4 layers:

  • The base, which can be wood-based material or solid wood.
  • Pressed paper treated with a special compound that makes it waterproof.
  • The decorative layer is also paper, but a characteristic embossing and color is applied to it. This is the main layer that determines the appearance of the material..
  • The protective layer is precisely this lamination. It is transparent and reliably protects the decorative layer from damage.

Cut laminate flooring against uneven fireplace!

Laminate at the head of the bed serves as an original decoration for the bedroom

Eco-style bedroom with a beautiful brown laminate on the wall

Laminate on one of the bedroom walls in addition to the laminate on the floor

Note! Even the smallest class 21 laminate can be installed on the wall in the bedroom. Since there will be no strong mechanical or thermal influences in this room.

Laminate on the wall is not yet very popular in our country.

White laminate on one of the walls looks good with light brown laminate on the bedroom floor

Arguments for”

  • Convenience and ease of installation. This is not wallpaper or even plaster – everything is much simpler. Although this technology is somewhat more complicated than floor mounting, it is still not that difficult..
  • Price. Buying wooden panels for walls is much more expensive than laminate.
  • Wear resistance. This criterion is important, but not critical for the bedroom. Such a finish in the bedroom will not wear out, and you will have to replace it only if you get tired of it..
  • Soundproofing properties of the laminate. A huge plus is that it does not let sounds through.
  • Impact resistance, moisture resistance, heat resistance – these are properties that are useful for any room.
  • Options for colors and textures. Laminate on the wall in the interior of the bedroom can be used both traditional and with imitation of other textures, such as tiles. a rock. wood. In this case, you can get away from the shortcomings of these materials..
  • Decorative effect. The originality of such a solution is above all. Using different installation methods, you can create different visual effects, zone without walls and focus on a particular surface.
  • Ease of maintenance. Laminate is not smeared, as is the case with painted or papered walls. No fungus or mold forms on the surface. which means that the material is also hygienic.

Brown laminate on the wall contrasts with the white walls and ceiling

The original version of the lighting installed on the wall in the laminate

Small cozy bedroom with a light laminate on the wall

Attic bedroom with light wood laminate on the wall and part of the ceiling

Installation

There are several ways to mount the laminate to the wall – glue and on the crate.

Laminate on the wall: how to properly fix the base and panels on vertical surfaces (85 photos)

The popularity of laminate flooring is well deserved. Fast assembly, a variety of proposals in the correlation of price and quality, a variety of colors and textures, turn it into an almost uncontested option for renovating the interior in residential and public spaces.

In the best production performance, the laminate provides long-term operation without losing its appearance, a special layer protects against wear, dust and dirt accumulation, but at the same time there are special requirements for maintenance and care: it is necessary to exclude exposure to moisture, detergents, hot water.

But this disadvantage will be practically excluded with the unusual, but logically justified use of laminate for wall decoration..

Features of choice

It should be borne in mind that it is impossible to use laminate decoration in rooms with a sharp temperature drop, for example, on open balconies. In the limited space of a small bathroom in a standard city apartment, it is better to abandon the use of laminate on the walls..

To decorate a spacious bathroom, you need to choose a special moisture-resistant type of this material. Plates of the same quality can be suitable for decorating the working area in the kitchen..

When covering a wall with direct access to sunlight, it is necessary to purchase a laminate with the appropriate marking, indicating protection against ultraviolet radiation..

In all other cases, the first selection criterion may be color and texture. The conditionality of the laminate on the market is subordinated to the requirements for use on the floor, for wall design, it is quite possible to use a low-class material, since wear indicators do not play a decisive role in this use..

Features of wall decoration with laminate

A selection of photos allows you to make sure that with the right design solution, the laminate on the walls is simply unrecognizable – it not only allows you to embody original ideas, but also gives a special comfort and elegance to the interior.

This technological innovation fits perfectly into modern minimalist, eco and loft styles, especially in the design of hallways, bedrooms, living rooms and offices. It allows you to apply methods of visual expansion of space, color effects.

Such a finish that does not require much money and energy will not only add a stylish twist, but also increase the ergonomics of the room: a layer of heat-insulating layer with an antistatic and dust-free coating is created..

With the help of laminate on the walls, as a rule, interior zoning is carried out. It is often used to decorate one of the walls in hallways, headboards in bedrooms, to create a large panel under the monitor in living rooms and separate the dining area in the kitchen..

Partial horizontal laying on the wall visually expands the room, vertical – raises the ceiling. In the presence of a pronounced pattern on the laminate, the same effects are achieved with horizontal or vertical continuous laying..

In spacious rooms, laminate flooring creates an accent wall on which original lighting and shelves can be placed. Laminate corners look especially impressive, with the transition of the decor to the ceiling or floor.

At first glance, the continuous covering of the walls with laminate seems to be too bold an idea. But she also works successfully with the correct selection of the pattern and size of the tiles. At the same time, it is possible to simultaneously carry out heat and sound insulation of the room..

Methods for attaching a laminate to a vertical surface

On the walls, you can apply horizontal and vertical masonry, their combination, as well as more complex methods – vertical masonry and Christmas trees. When laying horizontally, skirting boards must be provided to hide the joints..

As you know, laminate flooring does not tolerate uneven surfaces: a leveled primer or drywall is ideal for its base. But at the same time, you need to make sure of the strength of the initial coating, since the cladding gives the wall additional weight.

For fastening, you can use installation with glue or lathing.

An adhesive-type laminate is fixed directly to the wall, it is used on relatively small surfaces, with a step-by-step treatment of the walls: cleaning, leveling and priming, then drying.

How to cut laminate flooring to fit an uneven rock wall

During installation, it is done by gluing the ends of the laminate and fixing them to the wall using glue nails. If finishing small surfaces is provided, then you can first glue the entire panel as a whole, and then fix it on the wall.

Assembly can also be carried out using special clamps with self-tapping screws. There are two types of such fasteners: in one case, the bracket fixes the end of the bar, in the other – the protruding part of the click lock.

Before fixing the laminate with horizontal laying, it is recommended to make a special support at the bottom of the wall, which will prevent the panel from sliding.

For the lattice under the laminate, slats are used (at least 4 cm), which are fixed with a drill at a distance of 50-60 cm, in the opposite direction of the masonry. That is, when laying horizontally, the lattice is located vertically, and vice versa.

The reliability of the design is ensured by clammers, in hard-to-reach parts and on the lower mowing line, glue nails can be used.