Laminate flooring is usually affected by temperature, humidity, and moisture in the air. Temperature changes affects your laminate flooring. An increase in temperature leads to expansion whereas the decrease in temperature leads to contraction.
You need to leave an adequate gap for expansion and contractions for properly laid laminate flooring. A meter of laminate flooring material can undergo a grow and shink for about a millimeter. It’s essential to leave a gap between 8-10mm about the door frames, water pipes, near the pannels or walls, etc. Worry not, in the gaps left you can install expansion joints in your laminate flooring to avoid buckling, cupping, and bubbling.
Why does the laminate floor expand and contract?
Occasionally in any environment, temperature and humidity keep changing. Laminate flooring is prone to absorb moisture in the air, in such conditions making it expand. Temperature decrease makes your laminate floor contract reducing the space required. Therefore, it’s necessary to consider leaving the necessary space for your laminate flooring.
Just like any engineered wood floor, this will help overcome and prevent buckling, cracking and bubbling. When installing our flooring you may require to carry out a baseline survey to determine humidity and moisture levels.
How to manage the expansion gap?
Properly installed laminate flooring should not touch the walls, stairs, pipes, kitchen units, adjacent flooring, etc. The questions linger, what should I do with the expansion gaps left? Worry not, you can easily cover the expansion gaps with skirting boards, door bars, beading, and radiator collars depending on where they are.
To overcome and address the spacing issues, use laminate flooring spacers. Laminate spacers will help ensure the correct gaps between the laminate and adjacent flooring or objects. With laminate spacers and correct preparations, you can easily avoid laminate flooring problems.
Does laminate flooring expand?
Yes, laminate flooring expand and contract due to temperature and humidity changes in a room. Temperature and humidity keep changing on a daily basis.
What is the expansion gap for laminate flooring? 8-10 mm gap will be adequate to handle expansion and contraction for an 8*12 meters room. The gap may be left on the door, walls, pipes, and stairs. However for a room bigger than 8*12 meters you may need to add an extra or more additional expansion joint in the middle.
What do I use for the middle laminate expansion gap? You may get “transition profiles” instead of clicking the laminate panels together. Transition profiles are available in specialized supply stores or DIY markets. It’s advisable to enquire about the kind of profiles available for laminate flooring before installing.
Does plastic laminate expand and contract?
Does COREtec flooring expand and contract? Important facts for expansion joints needed if the room is more than 8*12 meters they are used to cover expansion and contraction gaps they are of different varieties and colors, choose one appropriate for you. They can be installed parallel to any wall or adjacent floors.
