How to lay linoleum on a concrete floor: the main difficulties

The popularity of linoleum is based on an affordable price and ease of installation. You can lay it yourself without the involvement of qualified specialists. The foundation can be any flat surface, but most often use a concrete screed. This type of rough floor is used in the construction of residential complexes, office buildings, public institutions and shopping centers. In each case, a different type of flooring is chosen, but in most cases, linoleum is laid on a concrete floor according to uniform rules. In the apartment you can lay household and semi-commercial flooring, in public buildings with a large number of visitors - only commercial linoleum.

Foundation preparation

Floor preparation for linoleum begins with its cleaning from debris and analysis of the surface condition. It is important that it does not have elevation differences: potholes, ledges, deep cracks. You can not lay linoleum on an uneven floor - this will lead to premature wear. Depths of the concrete floor of 1-2 mm per linear meter are considered insignificant, they are sealed with putty. Small protrusions are removed using a special tool. If the differences are more significant, then it is worth leveling the base with the help of bulk mixtures. This can be done with your own hands, since the compositions do not differ in complexity in work.

Among the advantages of bulk floors:

• the ability to choose a mixture for pouring screed optimal thickness;
• no need for professional tools and equipment;
• short terms of curing and drying;
• ideal quality of the finished surface;
• high strength characteristics.

Flooring is applied after drying and screed strength.

The choice of technology for laying linoleum

Lay linoleum on a concrete floor at normal humidity and temperature not lower than + 18ºС. Before starting work, the rolls are rolled out and allowed to lie down on the floor for leveling.

How to lay linoleum? If there are no connecting seams, then the location of the canvas can be any. In a large room you will have to join pieces, in this case, the seam should be in the direction of the light incident from the windows.

After the alignment process is completed, they begin cutting, this stage is especially important for premises of complex layout. Pre-pruning is recommended, in which at least 10 cm of margin is left on each side of the canvas. Pre-carry out the adjustment of the picture, if you plan to dock the paintings. To carry out these works, you will need a knife on linoleum and a tape measure, and for gluing you need a brush, glue or mastic.

There are several technologies that describe how to lay linoleum on a concrete floor, all of which are characterized by high quality of the final result. You can choose one of the following methods:

• without fixation to the base;
• installation using double-sided tape;
• styling with mastic;
• gluing with special glue.

The simplest technology is to lay the floor without fixing with special compounds.Use this technique in extreme cases and only in those rooms where the minimum load on linoleum. In the hallways, living rooms and in the kitchen with such laying during the operation, wrinkles can occur, which will lead to inconvenience and quick failure of the coating.

Double-sided tape is recommended for fixing linoleum in small rooms. The use of this material minimizes the possibility of wrinkling and extends the life of linoleum. The most effective technologies are laying on glue or mastic. These methods can be used in rooms with high traffic.

What to choose: glue or mastic?

Property owners who have thought about how to lay linoleum on a concrete floor efficiently and reliably should choose between glue and mastic. These compositions can be used both for partial fixation and for complete adhesion of the floor covering to the base. Among the advantages of mastic is high quality waterproofing, as these adhesives are made on the basis of bitumen, synthetic rubber or resins. It is recommended that they lay a single-layer linoleum without a base, such material is used in hallways, bathrooms, bathrooms, public buildings. Among their shortcomings is low environmental friendliness, this is especially true for mastic based on bitumen. Among the advantages is the low consumption of mastics, since in order to stick linoleum it is necessary to apply only 0.4 mm of the composition.

Glue for laying is required 1.5-2 times more, but it has its advantages. Among the main advantages:

• a wide range of products for flooring of various types;
• high environmental friendliness of water-dispersed compositions;
• attractive cost;
• simplicity in work.

Since most types of linoleum are supplied on a heat-insulating basis, it will be difficult to do without the use of glue.

Double sided tape laying

When doing homework most often the question arises of how to put linoleum on a concrete floor using double-sided tape. This material is used to partially fix the floor covering. After completion of the preparatory work, it is necessary to remove the protective tape from one side of the adhesive tape and stick it around the perimeter. If the room is large enough, then it is necessary to apply adhesive tape in the center and in the most loaded places. After this stage of work is completed, linoleum should be spread, fixation starts from the center to the edges of the canvas. First, one side is laid, then the second half. Leveling is carried out from the center - it is important to do everything carefully, without missing large sections of adhesive tape.

Laying on mastic or glue

After the choice is completed - how to glue linoleum to the concrete floor, it is necessary to prepare tools for work. The technology of work is the same, therefore, the same type of equipment is needed that can greatly facilitate the work. Depending on the consistency of the adhesive composition, either a roller or a notched trowel is selected. It’s easy to do the work yourself, after the preparatory work linoleum spreads and leveled. If one panel is used, then half of it is wrapped and glue is applied to the base. Linoleum spreads on the laid composition and is leveled from the center, after which the second half is tucked up and the work is repeated.

More questions from the home master are raised by how to lay linoleum on a concrete floor if it is necessary to join two canvases. To do this, lay them with a small overlap and cut both pieces with a knife. After that, two canvases can be perfectly joined. The joint must be glued using a special edge for welding seams. Before this, construction tape is applied to the edges of linoleum so as not to mess the floor with adhesive.After the work is completed, the adhesive tape is removed and a practically invisible seam remains. You can use a welding machine for hot welding of linoleum for joining, but on the household floor covering, the seam from it will be pronounced. This equipment is recommended for laying commercial linoleum.

After the installation of linoleum on the concrete floor is completed, it is trimmed around the perimeter. It is advisable to leave a small gap between the material and the wall, which is necessary to compensate for thermal expansion. It is covered with a baseboard, which is attached to the wall.

Linoleum underlay on concrete floor

When laying such popular materials as laminate and parquet, all manufacturers strongly recommend using a backing. The question arises - how to put linoleum on a concrete floor - with or without a substrate? Roll flooring is available with a heat-insulating base, which actually acts as a substrate. If this is not enough, the floor seems cold and the flooring is hard, then you can use a cork backing. Its installation is carried out on a primed concrete floor, adhesive compositions recommended by the manufacturer are used. It is not recommended to use chipboard or fiberboard as a substrate, these plates can swell at high humidity, which will lead to deformation of linoleum.

To understand the question: how to properly lay linoleum on a concrete floor is not difficult, all the work can be done qualitatively with your own hands without the involvement of qualified specialists. It is necessary to correctly select the flooring and in accordance with its features - the adhesive composition. It is recommended to purchase glue and linoleum from one supplier who sells those additional materials recommended by the manufacturer of the flooring. It is required to carefully follow the instructions - how to glue linoleum, starting from the preparation of the base and ending with the formation of expansion joints.

Particular attention should be paid to the question of how to lay linoleum in large rooms. It will require continuous application of the adhesive composition and joining of the paintings, sizing of the joints by cold welding. For these operations, experience or a more thorough study of technologies developed for high-quality docking of linoleum is required. If in doubt and a great desire to do everything yourself, it is recommended to choose linoleum without styling for laying. Butt joints can be learned on the pieces of flooring left after cutting. A little practice will help to lay linoleum on a concrete floor in your home, apartment or office.