Linoleum is considered the most popular finishing material. It is used both in residential and in industrial premises. This topcoat is suitable for every budget and has a wide range. As a result, you don’t have to think about the nuances of design. Any material has its drawbacks. Linoleum is soft in structure, so after a long period of operation it can go in waves. In case of improper storage, excesses and not only appear.
But this is not so tragic. Any question is easy to solve even at home. How to smooth linoleum after an excess? The basis is to take any of the following instructions and act strictly on it. Situations are different, after laying and before it. Therefore, the issue has to be solved until linoleum is fixed.
Is it possible to align after fixing?
How to smooth linoleum, if it is already on the floor? Before you start work, you will have to understand why the bumps and defects appeared. If for a long period of time the floor material was in a roll condition, it needs to be given time to lie down on a hard plane - over time it will occupy the correct position. If this does not happen, then you need to resort to a mechanical method of exposure. There are special rollers in construction tools, with their help the task is quickly solved.
Tools at hand
But there are simpler methods:
- Often the surface of such a finish swells, folds appear. You can use simple metal balls, they are rolled on the surface. The procedure is simple - movement from the edges to the center and in the opposite direction. Thus, the surface is easily leveled. But before you smooth out linoleum, you need to prepare these balls.
- Use a thick needle. This is a simple and proven method that many wizards use. It turns out that smoothing the waves on linoleum is not so difficult. In the place where it swells, you need to carefully pierce the needle. This allows air to escape. Further to this place is fixed any heavy object. The finish layer is unstable to compression, so a shock absorber or something soft must be put on the load.
- The use of iron. There is an effect from such a procedure, but you need to act carefully, through any canvas. When the surface warms up, a sheet of plywood is laid on it. But for cheap models, this method is not suitable. The surface must be thick, otherwise it will just stretch.
- Rubber heating pad. It is filled with hot water, placed on the problem area. The effect will be noticeable if this is a small error. Since the heating pad becomes heavier due to water, this is a method of warming and press.
To understand how to smooth linoleum, you need to check whether it was glued to the floor or not. When it is fixed only on the baseboard, the coating is dismantled and the entire surface is re-tensioned. After this procedure, you will need to trim. Skirting boards are fixed in place, and the floor becomes flat.
What methods are no less effective?
As a rule, repair and construction work related to floor coverings are always associated with any difficulties in the form of irregularities and defects. However, the most urgent problem in this process still remains the formation of waves on the floor. How to smooth linoleum, why is this happening? Unfortunately, this situation appears more often than others. This happens for various reasons - moved furniture, exploited for a long time, etc. If the coverage is new, then solving the problem is easier. Linoleum is left unfolded for a couple of days under pressure, after which the problem will be solved.
When this does not help, then you have to heat up, put the load. It happens that this procedure is not useful. The methods are the most unpleasant - cut into strips, lay neatly on top of each other and on top of the extra weight.
When this does not help, heat is added to the load. Before you smooth out the waves of linoleum on the floor, it is worthwhile to understand that each procedure must be controlled so that the situation does not worsen. When a load is placed on top, the base must be solid (any tree will do).
Situations are different. Often after gluing the coating to the floor, a large bubble appears. In this case, you have to cut the surface crosswise. After which the air is removed, the size is measured out, the linoleum segments are glued back. When each minor repair procedure is carried out carefully, it will not be noticeable. How to smooth wrinkles on linoleum? When the base is fixed to the glue, the deformation is removed using a syringe and a needle. Glue is carefully introduced inside, it is well pressed and left for several days.
An excess has been detected, what should I do?
If linoleum is not rolled up, but rolled up, then excesses appear on it. Some begin to deal with the problem of how to smooth linoleum on the floor, already in the process itself. However, it is not worth laying in this form, otherwise you will have to even out the defects of the already fixed finish. Sometimes this problem also occurs during roll storage - they put something, crushed it. When the material is acquired in a twist, it is restored in a couple of days and becomes smooth.
Experts believe that even at home, excesses are removed. There are several ways. This relates to how to smooth out the new linoleum:
- New material rolls around the room for which it is intended. The edges are precisely cut, otherwise waves will form. They don’t put anything on him, he is allowed to walk. So he lies for three days - and can be fixed. You can use plinths, double-sided tape, glue for fixing. Everything is in stores.
- The material is laid out, and a plywood sheet is installed on top, there will be no bends under it. Along the perimeter, linoleum should be evenly trimmed.
- Sand is poured into containers and placed on the surface. But they do it in such a way that they do not make dents under pressure.
- When linoleum breaks, then it can only be glued. For this, the material is leveled, air is expelled and linoleum is fixed on the adhesive composition.
Hair dryer
You can also remove the bend with a simple hairdryer. The surface is exposed to a hot stream of air for 30 minutes. But sometimes this method gives the opposite effect - the wave grows. Heat brings effect in working with such a finishing material, but the air must be dry.
Home Recovery
It happens that all the methods have already been completed, but the desired effect is not observed - all the same on the floor of the wave. How to smooth linoleum in this case? You can try to stretch the surface. This procedure is not easy, but it is suitable for coating regardless of thickness. At the same time, accuracy is a prerequisite, otherwise the material will simply burst.
Stages
What actions do:
- The material is spread in the room, trimmed with a slight gap (15 millimeters from the walls).
- Leaves for 3 days to level. If it increases in size, it is re-trimmed with a gap.
- One side is fixed with the baseboard, depending on where the excesses are.
- A board is laid around the perimeter, but without any gaps and screws, so as not to damage the surface of the coating. It is good to wrap any fabric on top.
- After which any cargo is installed.
- Next, you need to move this design, gently pulling the material.
Therefore, before you smooth the caked linoleum, you will have to prepare and think through every step. Do not do work when the room is cold. When heated, the coating is easier to stretch and takes on the desired shape.
Linoleum is the most demanded finishing material for today. Manufacturers create unique colors and patterns. If it is not fat, then its price is 600 rubles per meter. Much depends on the chosen width. It is mainly stored and transported in rolls. But even when you buy it in this state, you cannot immediately begin fixing to the floor. It should lie down for at least two days. For fixing use plinths. You just can’t fasten it - it will quickly break through and go in bubbles.
Floor work
After purchase, the material is laid out and left to straighten. You should not save time, especially if you choose a finish with a thick top layer. When the canvas does not have a large thickening, it is enough for complete straightening about 6-7 hours. There are enough techniques - experts believe that it will always succeed in reaching the desired effect.
When there is no time to expect a day or more, then you can cope with other recommendations:
- To do this, it should be twisted in the opposite direction. It is necessary to spread along the perimeter and start the procedure, while paying attention to dents and bends so that they turn in the opposite direction.
- One side is fixed under the baseboard, after which the block is taken and trailed in those places where excesses are visible. This is done slowly and accurately: they reached the wall, fixed. This is done up and down.
- Hot water is taken, poured onto the surface of the inflection. Then, with frequent movements, smoothing begins in different directions. But there is a risk of blistering in such a procedure, so be careful.
Such methods help to make linoleum quickly smooth and attach it to the surface. There is also a professional recommendation on how to smooth the crease on linoleum - you need to create a warm microclimate in the room. When finishing on the floor is completed, you need to remove the resulting minor bubbles and excess glue. This helps not only to create a flat surface before laying, but also to correct existing shortcomings.
This process is carried out using a roller. It is important to smooth from the center to the edges, gradually and slowly. The whole process is performed several times. If you carefully do each stage, as the masters recommend, then you can achieve the result quickly.
Finishing done, how to remove defects?
Often you need to do everything in a short time. How to quickly smooth out linoleum? Make poor-quality styling can not only people without experience, but also masters. What to do in such a situation? Most often, bubbles and waves form. If you do not remove them, then linoleum will quickly wear out and you will have to completely dismantle it.
The first step is to remove air from existing bubbles. To do this, take a thick needle, an awl, a narrow screwdriver. Then air is gently released, smoothed out, pressed by the load. Sometimes inside the glue will be hard. Then make the surface smooth does not work. How to act in such a situation? To restore an even coating, you need to introduce a special solvent inside. When the uplift is manifested not by one small bubble, but along the entire perimeter, the only way out is complete dismantling.
It is believed that the most convenient is to store such floor coverings in rolls. But if this happens for a long time, then after installation, waves can be observed. Even after he stood for a couple of days, you can not make the surface even. The method of piling up the surface will help. Anything is taken for this. It is quite possible to choose a bag of sand or cement.
Can linoleum be smoothed out?
In order not to solve the problem of how to smooth dents on linoleum after laying the coating, it is important to observe the basic requirements for preparing the base. This will allow you to correctly fix it on the surface. It is necessary to make a flat area and completely remove dust and dirt. Wooden floors should be well grinded. Hollows and cracks are removed on concrete with putty. Further, any surface is treated with a primer. You also need to know that it takes time to dry. Only after completing such procedures is it permissible to lay the topcoat.
If you do not let the linoleum lie down after the purchase, you will have to solve the problem with creases, swellings and other irregularities already on the fixed surface. However, not everyone has time to wait. There are many methods for creating an ideal surface, you just need to choose the right one.
Before you smooth out linoleum on the floor after the bend, you need to prepare sand, bags. This method is rarely used today, because sand needs to be heated, and for many it is problematic. Using cold bulk material will not work.
It is necessary to measure the desired size, spread it in the room, after which a bag of hot sand is placed on the bend. It is left for half an hour, after which you can fix the coating.
But it’s not so easy to heat so much sand. It is not always possible to purchase a full-fledged piece of coating on the entire surface of the room. In this situation, you have to deal with docking. This process has its own small features, they have to be taken into account.
How to connect linoleum?
One of the methods is overlapping, but the material must also be aged, or any available method for leveling can be applied. Then the pieces and butt sides are laid out in the room. Then they are fixed. For this, various options are used, the simplest is the use of adhesive tape.
Not everyone likes it when you see where the two canvases connect. Therefore, it is recommended to use welding of two canvases - there is cold and hot. The first is the simplest, because glue is taken as the basis. For the new linoleum, it has a liquid consistency and simply sticks together. When it comes to updating an already operating coating, it is worth giving preference to a denser mass.
For the process to happen quickly, you will have to prepare everything you need:
- Scotch.
- Sharp knife.
- Personal protective equipment.
- Apparatus for welding.
In order not to cause problems during fixation, the seam area is degreased and all dust is removed. Then apply adhesive tape. A slit is made on it with a sharp knife. It will be filled with glue mass. After 40-50 minutes, the adhesive tape is removed, if there are drops on the surface, they are carefully removed.
Another way to fix it is with simple soldering irons. They are quite suitable for connecting two parts. But this method is not relevant for too thick canvases. In addition, it is worthwhile to find a sharp sting, so that they lead along the junction, otherwise it will not work to achieve the desired effect. To do this, the unit is heated as much as possible, so that it turns out to bring the edges of the material to the desired state and quickly connect.
Failure to work with a soldering iron can lead to serious damage to the sheet. So not everyone will be able to cope with such a task himself. How is this process done in production? They have several devices in operation - hot air, cords, special welding devices, etc.
Can stick
Most often, on the prepared surface, the flooring is fixed to glue. This is the easiest option, and everyone can handle it. Before this, linoleum is smoothed and aligned in area. When the room is small, then the glue base in the form of tape or a plinth acts as a fastening.
If the room is more than 30 square meters, then mastic, special glue, a roller for leveling and a brush for drawing are taken. Sometimes the mixture is spread with a spatula. The linoleum manufacturer always gives useful recommendations for fastening - do not go far from them. Application is done pointwise, in strips or over the entire surface. But it is worth making a small layer so that after drying the masses do not form irregularities.
What next?
Further, it is important to expel all the air from the inside so that no bubbles form. Otherwise, you will have to look for a method of creating a perfectly flat surface.
Today in the implementation of a large number of a wide variety of linoleums. But before you buy the right one, you should know how to fix it and how to deal with shortcomings. This is easy to do. Do not rush and fix it right away - let it mature and take its permanent form. If there is no time, then it can be slightly helped by heating.