What to do first - doors or laminate? Builders' opinion on what to do first

Repair is an important part of interior design, characterized by a certain sequence of all its stages.

To ensure that the work is of high quality and that there are no hiccups when performing certain operations, you should firmly know the sequence of repair work.

In this regard, today many are interested in the question: what is done first - laying laminate flooring or installing doors?

The most interesting thing is that there is no specific answer to it.

Even experts express the opposite opinion.

So, what is the sequence of installing doors and laminate? We need to figure it out!

Repair order

If we take repairs in general, then construction standards provide for priority actions for finishing the ceiling, walls and floor. Only after this other work is carried out.

First, they get rid of everything old on the walls, then they are leveled, simultaneously making the slopes perfectly smooth. Next, they take on the flooring: install the screed and underlay . Along the way, if necessary, a heating system is installed or replaced, the thickness of the laminate is determined in order to select the doors, taking into account the obtained dimensions from the leveled floor.

And only after this can you install the laminate, which also has its own installation rules . This is where the problem usually arises: should you install the doors first or lay the laminate?

IMPORTANT!

In general, there is no difference in what you will do first - install doors or lay laminate flooring. However, in any of these cases, preparatory work must be done.

How to make it beautiful

If the laminate is located with the end facing the entrance and the doors are already in place, it is easier to start laying the laminate “from the door”. Moreover, from the center. Find the middle of the doorway and draw a line through it (perpendicular to the line of the opening). This line is considered the center, and the laminate is laid relative to it.

You can also start from the door when laying transversely

In order for everything to look beautiful and logical, before starting installation you need to estimate how many whole boards there will be from this line to the wall (to the side). And calculate whether the outer boards will be very narrow (don’t forget about the compensation gap). If the outer boards have to be cut by more than half, then the middle of the laminate board is placed “in the center.” So you only have to cut off a narrow strip along the edges. It looks better, and there is a guarantee that the narrow board will not “climb out” from under the baseboard in low humidity.

Builders' opinion

Repair specialists are primarily in favor of laying the floor covering right away, and only then installing the doors. The emphasis is on the fact that this method is simpler and is especially suitable for those who do not have sufficient skills in repair work.

Some of them generally believe that doors are always installed at the final stage of repair, since when installing them first, it is always difficult to adjust the door frame to the floor.

If you first install door blocks without a threshold, one of the professional builders writes on his page, then later the craftsmen who will have to lay the flooring will have to cut it.

And at the same time, almost jewelry work should be done - there should be no gap. And since this is very difficult to do, such pruning may look unattractive. For this reason, he assures, it would be more correct to first lay the laminate (or other type of covering), and only then install the doors . It will be simple and aesthetically beautiful.

But there are other opinions. One of the repairmen says that he had to install it this way or that way - there was no difference. If the work is done by specialists, then it will not be difficult for them to fit the laminate to the door frame. And you can cut something unevenly or scratch something with a careless approach anywhere.

It’s interesting, but there are also those who are afraid to install doors after laminate for the reason that during installation it can be scratched by the platbands . Although this is not true. Simply in this case, a piece of fabric on the floor covered with polyethylene will help protect the laminate from damage.

As you can see, the opinions of builders are different. Therefore, you should understand all the pros and cons in both cases.

Advice from the experts

Experienced craftsmen determine the order of work after assessing the object. Without seeing the complexity of the arrangement of the room, no one will give specific, accurate advice. In such situations, experts give general recommendations:

It is advisable to install the door block with the threshold first, and then adjust the floor covering to it.
The purchased laminate and underlay are kept in the room for about two days before installation.
If the work is being carried out for the first time, then it is advisable to lay laminated boards first.

When the floor of two adjacent rooms is finished with laminate, the distance through the doors between the opposite walls of the rooms is taken into account. If it exceeds 10 m, an expansion gap is left in the door passage between the finishing coating for thermal expansion. The gap is closed with a decorative threshold.

A technological gap is left between the floor covering of two adjacent rooms with a large area

First doors, then laminate

This order of work is assumed:

when should a complete renovation of the apartment be carried out with the replacement of doors and their installation first;
The floors are being re-laid in an apartment that already has doors.

Each of them involves its own implementation technology.

If you are going to immediately install the doors, and after them - laminate, then the steps should be as follows:

We level the floor and finish the door slopes.
Using measurements, we determine the thickness of the laminate, select its type and the base for it.
We purchase doors taking into account the height of the floor after the laminate is laid.
Next, we insert the door frame so that it does not rest on the floor and does not press on its surface. To do this, if necessary, it is shortened to the height of the laminate with the backing, adding another 2 mm for a loose fit. The same height is taken into account when hanging doors.

In any case, the door frames are attached last, after the laminate has already been laid..

NOTE!

When laying laminate, it is not attached to the base. For this reason, when a threshold is proposed, the box is installed directly on the bare floor. The laminate is then installed not as a single piece, but only up to the threshold and from it.

When there are doors in the apartment, the steps for laying the covering occur in the following order:

The door frames are cut down with a special hacksaw according to the thickness of the laminate.
Then it is inserted into this hole.
The connecting part of the plate and the one on the side of it is lubricated with an adhesive.
Next, these plates are joined and the laminate continues to be laid.

This method is also justified when the door has a threshold. Only in this case there is no need to file the platbands.

Advantages of this method:

there is no need to think about how to repair the floor so that it is not damaged;
no gaps;
there is no need to dismantle or reassemble the doors.

Minuses:

the possibility that the doors will have to be adjusted, since after laying the covering they will not be able to close;
When laying the laminate itself, it is not always convenient to place it under the trim.

Video description

Laying laminate. Doors. Something that many people don't know about.

When installing laminate material along the walls, it is imperative to leave deformation gaps. They will allow you to increase the coverage area as the lamellas expand. The latter occurs during changes in environmental conditions.

Since the laminate has a small thickness, special substrates are placed under it, including sound and waterproofing layers. The overall height of the building material being laid should also be taken into account so that later problems with the operation of the device do not arise.

Laying laminated panels requires the use of special backing material Source o-dveryah.ru

First laminate, then doors

Some choose a method in which the doors are installed after the laminate has been laid. Then, when working with it, you need to leave 1-centimeter gaps along the walls to prevent deformation (they will then be covered with baseboards).

But if these gaps are formed in advance, then after the door is installed, small cracks may form in its area.

To prevent this from happening, you must be careful when installing the laminate and follow the established work procedure.:

If it happens that when installing the laminate, one part of the plate lies along the wall, and the second should go beyond the threshold of the room, then to ensure evenness of the cut, markings are made with a pencil.
The corner does not need to be made sharp, it should be rounded as much as possible.
The plate is cut with a jigsaw according to the markings.
After this, it is placed in the intended place. This technique ensures the absence of any gaps during subsequent installation of the platbands.

There are also advantages to laying laminate flooring first.:

Laminate flooring can be installed quickly and easily;
the floor surface will be beautifully smooth and free of various flaws;
There is no need to adjust the door frame completely;
when the laminate is laid, it is easy to select a door of the right size, so installing it will not cause difficulties;
The cost of repairs in this case will be significantly lower.

But as for the drawback, it is perhaps the only one - the risk of damaging the laminate coating, which deteriorates very easily. However, if professionals work, this can be avoided .

IMPORTANT!

In addition, before you start laying the laminate, you should plaster the door slopes. This will eliminate the need to cover the laminate later.

Door frame device

The door frame is a structure assembled from platbands, extensions and door leaf, connected to each other by canopies, self-tapping screws, and small nails. Platbands cover the side parts of the walls; extensions are necessary for decorative decoration of the ends of walls that are too thick. The door leaf itself is installed on this entire structure.

Door frame diagram

When installing doors, it is important to take into account such a point as the need for a gap between the floor and the door leaf. If there is no gap, then the door will either not close, or it will, but with great difficulty, which will ruin the floor. Thus, laying the laminate before or after installing the door causes certain difficulties associated with adjusting the thickness of the coating and the width of the gap.

Incorrect installation of laminate

Another nuance that will have to be taken into account during the installation of the door frame after installing the laminate is the presence of deformation gaps . After installing the platbands, a gap may appear between them and the laminate, which will have to be sealed additionally.

wooden interior doors

Answer

Hello! According to manufacturers, laminated parquet with a glueless joining system is one of the easiest materials to install. As practice shows, it was this simplicity that ultimately played a cruel joke with the coating - in some cases it is difficult to find the optimal solution.

It is these nuances that include the installation of floor finishing in doorways. According to the instructions, it is necessary to provide a thermal compensation gap of 5 to 10 mm wide between the fixed enclosing structure and the floor covering. Subsequently, it is covered with decorative moldings - skirting boards, edging thresholds, etc. But what about the door frame? Do not leave centimeter gaps open in the interior opening.

Let's turn to video instructions from manufacturers who have been producing laminated coatings for more than 20 years, which means they have long ago developed the correct installation technology with all the nuances:

In each video you can see that the box timber has already been installed, and the laminate is being installed:

Different schemes for laying laminate flooring in doors.

In the first case, the gap inside the doorway is very easy to decorate using thin cork expansion joints, and on the sides the gap will be hidden by a platband and a plinth fitted closely to it. According to door experts, this is the best option. Indeed, in this case, the box racks are rigidly fixed. If they actually “hang” without support, then over time there is a risk of the box “sagging.” In this case, the level of the narthex, and possibly the canvas, will shift, and the door will stop closing. As a rule, such a defect is blamed on the installer’s crooked hands.

bathroom design for a large room

In the second, the lower part of the box is sawn off a few millimeters higher than the floor level. This is done so that the vertical stand does not press the laminate to the base. Then the plank is inserted under the beam, but not all the way to the wall. Otherwise, during the off-season, the coating will become “humped” due to the lack of that same thermal compensation gap.

There is another important point that speaks in favor of the priority installation of doors. There should be a gap of 0.3-0.7 cm between the canvas and the laminated parquet, ensuring smooth and unhindered movement of the door. If the laminate has already been installed, and the sash does not fit into the opening in height, then you can “adjust” it a little using abrasive sandpaper or a plane. BUT! This technique only works on solid wood canvases. This method cannot be applied to laminated, veneered and other similar frame products. Exterior finishes are easily damaged and almost impossible to restore.

So the logical answer to the question is:

And arguments like “the door-floor-frame can be damaged during the installation process” are not relevant in this case. It is enough to work carefully and use plastic film, masking tape, cardboard and any other means to protect the surface from scratches, chips, dents and other damage.

Question

Greetings and I ask for advice. I'm doing renovations in a three-room apartment, all the rough work has been completed, the walls are ready, we can move on to finishing the floor. Do you have a question about laying laminate flooring first or installing interior doors? I myself am not an expert in this matter, and my familiar masters do not agree. Some argue that first of all you need to install the box, then lay the floor. Others urge you to do exactly the opposite - install the floor, then start working on the door kit. Which one is right?

Features of flooring

Laminate is a layered finishing material used mainly for flooring, and less often for other purposes. It consists of several layers of different materials connected to each other. This is an outer protective layer, decorative, giving the coating a certain color, the main “bearing” layer, which experiences all the main load from the outside; The laminate also has a lower protective layer that protects the material from excess moisture.

Laminate

Expert opinion E.V. Afanasyev Chief editor of the pol-exp.com project Engineer. Laminate is a type of flooring that is catastrophically afraid of water and may not survive contact with it (the exception is waterproof laminate). The ends of the lamellas are not protected from moisture, and therefore if it seeps between the slats, the base of the laminate - the fiberboard - will absorb the liquid and swell. Unfortunately, even after drying, the material will not return to its former shape.

Joint design

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

Joint to joint. In this case, it is necessary that the junction of the two materials be at the same level. It can be easily treated with a special putty. This type of work is most often carried out between living rooms and a corridor or a living room and a hallway. When performing this operation, the source material must have a rigid structure. This type of design work is possible by combining different types of laminate or parquet or parquet and tiles.
Podium. This option helps if the difference between the levels of two coatings is impressive. It allows you to elegantly process the joint, zoning the room. Before you begin processing the screed with tiles or other materials, you need to develop a design project that takes into account all the necessary measurements.
Thresholds. A wide variety of models of these products are used in processing both the simplest joints and connections of fancy shapes. In the first case, straight thresholds made of plastic or metal of the required width are used. They can always be cut or filed with a hacksaw. There are also bendable aluminum and plastic thresholds with rubber lining. They are more widely used.