Make Sure Attic Is Sturdy Before Adding Laminate Floors

Before installing laminate first prepare the subfloor.

Make sure attic is sturdy before adding laminate floors.

If you have recently used laminate for your floors this material makes a beautiful veneer that can be applied over a piece of solid wood. Build a new floor base with this in mind. Then you ll need to build a grid like structure that can hold up the plywood flooring. Remove all spacers from around the room.

Laminate flooring in the kitchen is okay as long as you re diligent about cleaning up spills and splashes. Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist. Before you start creating a floor for your attic you must make sure that it can handle the additional load. Even the best laminate flooring is susceptible to moisture damage and shouldn t be installed laundry rooms and rooms with sump pumps or floor drains.

Now that you ve installed your laminate flooring it s time to add the finishing touches. In the future you may want to construct a small apartment or master suite in the attic. This article will show you three better ways to take the bounce out of a floor. If your floors are bouncy and also noticeably sagging they probably are too weak.

Boarding the attic floor will add to the structure s stability just as plywood does and give you a surface to store things on and walk on. Adding a floor to an attic can increase storage space or create a new room. The ideal solution is to make sure the joist cavities below the attic floor sheathing are fully filled with bat fiberglass or blown in cellulose or styrofoam insulation. Strengthening attic joists for live loads by sistering.

Before you start make sure that your floor is designed to hold the weight of a floor and stored items. The methods we ll cover make floors stiffer but not necessarily stronger. When you use the laminate to create a shelf it s also a great way to create a cohesive matching look in your home. Go into the attic to inspect how wiring is routed through joists or on top of them for example.

Installations on basement floors and slabs should include a moisture barrier. Not only will this minimize heat loss or gain in the attic but it will create a good sound deadening layer to muffle the sound of footsteps to the level below. If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists. You can stiffen the floor in just one room or in as many rooms as you like.

Also make sure the floor is clean flat and smooth.