Laminate is one of the modern finishing materials used to finish the floor. Lining the stairs with a laminate allows you to get a high-quality and inexpensive coating with a pattern that imitates valuable wood species. In addition, the laminate can be laid on any foundation - concrete, wood and metal - which makes this option universal, and the ease of installation allows even a novice homeworker to finish the staircase with a laminate.
The advantages of facing a staircase with a laminate include:
- high abrasion resistance of the material surface;
- low cost of material;
- simplicity of work;
- long term of operation (from five to ten or more years);
- does not need complicated care (it is enough to periodically wipe the laminate with a slightly damp cloth);
- environmentally friendly, not a source of chemical fumes;
- in appearance it is difficult to distinguish from natural wood or stone.
Necessary materials and tools
If the owner decided to independently build a staircase from the laminate, he will need a certain set of tools and materials.
Required Materials:
- adhesive mastic;
- primer for treating concrete or metal surfaces;
- leveling mixture for uneven concrete surfaces;
- corner for a laminate for steps;
- profile for installing the coating;
- substrate;
- plywood for leveling steps;
- rubber pads;
- screws, dowels;
- laminate.
Tools Required:
- electric jigsaw;
- rubber spatula with large teeth;
- roulette;
- screwdriver;
- pencil and ruler;
- hacksaw;
- sandpaper for processing metal surfaces.
Preparatory work
Particular attention should be paid to the careful preparation of the supporting structure of the march, since a reliable foundation will guarantee the trouble-free laying of slats.
Laminate flooring is performed on a level basis, and therefore, before starting work, it is necessary to prepare the surface. The steps that are planned to be sheathed with laminate should not only have a flat surface, but also a strong structure. If it bends under load, changes its shape, then the finishing material will quickly lose its appearance: cracks, chips and other deformations will appear. Therefore, before starting the finishing work, it is necessary to check and eliminate the play at each step.
Also, before sheathe the staircase with laminate, the entire flight of stairs is restored and strengthened. The recovery process depends on the material the staircase is made of.
To finish the concrete stairs with a laminate, in some cases, the surface leveling of the steps is required. To do this, formwork is used, with which they achieve the same height and width of the steps, after which they apply a leveling mixture and allow it to withstand the time necessary for building strength.
At the final stage of preparation of the concrete surface, it is ground and treated with primers, which can eliminate excess fine fractions that interfere with the laying of the finishing material.
To prepare wooden surfaces, it is recommended to perform the following work:
- replace worn or defective steps and risers;
- to get the same size of the steps, align them with plywood;
- check the reliability of fastenings and joints, if necessary, strengthen the dubious connections of the parts of the flight of stairs with screws or bolts;
- clean the surface of steps, risers and kosour from old finishing materials (varnish, paint);
- the protruding parts of the steps are compared flush with the riser, so that later it is possible to join the parts of the laminate;
- the cleaned wooden surface is treated with antiseptic and antifungal impregnations, and then varnished;
- all elements which are not subject to facing by a laminate are completely painted.
For metal surfaces, special primers are required that protect the material from rust.
Before starting work, the surface is cleaned of dirt and dust.
If necessary, a template is prepared for cutting the laminate under the steps. It can be made of thin plywood or thick cardboard. Such a need arises when you are faced with facing steps of complex shape or steps of a spiral staircase.
Before buying a laminate board, you should calculate the amount of material, taking into account the trimming of a part of the product when fitting in place. If the staircase is of a standard marching type, calculate the material necessary for finishing one step and a riser, and multiply it by the total number of steps.
Important! Before starting work with a laminate, he needs to “acclimatize”. After the material was brought and placed in the place of work, he needs to lie down for two days in the room. It is desirable that the air temperature in this room was from 18 to 25oC, and humidity within 70%.
Laminate cutting
Preparing steps from a laminate is not easy. To obtain the exact size, stencils for each part should be used, especially, as already mentioned, if you have to lining a spiral staircase.
With the help of a jigsaw you can get an even cut, but you cannot achieve an ideal lateral surface without using a special guillotine. This unusual tool makes it possible to chop a laminate board strictly perpendicular to its long side. The result is a flat edge without roughness and chips.
If the staircase is decorated with a laminate with the subsequent closure of the seams with sills or corners, then it is unreasonable to make excessive demands on the quality of the cut. With this approach, the side surfaces are covered with a self-adhesive tape, repeating the pattern of the main coating. They perfectly mask small errors when cutting a laminate.
Instruction manual
After completing the preparatory work, begin the process of assembling the coating. Laminate installation technology consists of several main stages:
- Laying the substrate.
- Preparing boards to size.
- Facing the surface of the steps.
- Facing the surface of the risers.
- Corner installation.
The use of a substrate is justified when equipping large areas. It is laid with a single carpet on a monolithic base, which allows to achieve additional sound insulation and noiseless movement on the surface of the laminate. In addition, it prevents unwanted contact of the inside of the laminate board with a poorly prepared surface of the base.
For stairs, the substrate is also laid with a single carpet, covering both steps and risers, but it should be noted that for stairs that are often used, the use of the substrate can play a negative role. In places where the main load on the step appears, a bedsore will appear over time, while the side parts of the step will retain their original thickness.
Lining the steps with a laminate
Finished boards are laid on the surface of the step, pre-treated with adhesive. If a profile is used, then first fix it, and a board for facing the steps is installed after fixing the riser. On a wooden surface, the laminate can be attached using self-tapping screws, followed by masking the hats with a false metal profile.
Finishing the risers
The next step is to set the risers. If the installation of the laminate is carried out using a profile, risers are installed up to the steps. They are attached to the adhesive mastic with special rubber gaskets, equal to the thickness of the board, so that after the glue dries, a step board can be placed under the facing of the riser.
Installation instructions for the plinth on the stairs
If the installation of risers and steps was carried out using self-tapping screws, a metal corner is installed on the attachment points, which masks the caps of the self-tapping screws and reliably fixes the joints. When installing the laminate on the profile, a special laminated overlay is attached to it - molding, which closes the joint.
Types and fastening of edge profiles
These steps allow you to understand how to finish the stairs with a laminate, but for the full picture you need to consider the installation options for moldings or edge profiles that cover the edge of the step, masking the joint.
This part fixes the finished step and protects the edge from rapid wear. In addition to the functional component, the molding has an aesthetic purpose and serves as a decoration for the staircase design and the entire interior.
Usually use a metal edge profile of the L-shaped section. They are made of aluminum with the application of various paints for gold, steel, bronze or wood.
Plastic moldings are cheaper, but also designed to protect the junction of the step and riser. They are available in various colors, so you can choose the right option for the main coating without any problems. Install plastic edge profiles on adhesive mastic.
To mask joints of complex configuration using wooden sills. They are perfectly suited to a laminate imitating a wood structure, in addition, wooden sills can be maintained (sanded, varnished, puttyed). The disadvantages of these products include high cost.
The maximum structural strength of a laminate stair can be achieved by using special Quick Step metal profiles. They are a metal L-shaped strip with an external guide system for fixing the patch strip, which plays the role of a corner and disguises the joint.
The profile itself is attached with screws to the base of the step and riser, and the laminate and patch strip are fixed with adhesive mastic, which makes it possible to obtain a strong and reliable connection.