Why Avoid H Joints In Laminate

To avoid common problems when installing laminate flooring inspect the sub floor before installation to ensure that it is level.

Why avoid h joints in laminate.

Follow these guidelines on solid strip and plank flooring installation. Mar 20 2016 wondering how to install solid hardwood flooring. H joints are often found on floors laid in a regular pattern these should be avoided for both aesthetical reasons and structural reasons. Try to keep a minimum stagger of about one board width or 3 inches between such joints.

Laying a laminate floor in a regular pattern decreases its ability to contract and expand as a whole unit and instead does so as single laminate boards often causing gaps or even lifting like a hinge. I just had laminate floors installed today and they seem to have a set pattern and i thought laminate floors should be installed in a random pattern. If you find any depressions or peaks that are more than 1 8 inch you will probably need to use mortar to level out the floor. Avoid h joints when installing flooring to give your floor a more professional look.

What this means is the wood expands or contracts or grows and shrinks in response to changing temperatures and humidity. Expansion joints in laminate flooring laminate flooring consists to about 90 of wood. You need to work out which is cost effective to avoid waste. Trolling many of the diy and home improvement subreddits i have noticed a good percentage of laminate vinyl plank and even some hardwood installations that are installed using h joints rather than staggered joints.

Two things to avoid when staggering either laminate or hardwood boards are h joints and steps or lightning. Being a natural organic material wood is always in motion. H joints occur when the end joints of two boards separated by a single board line up. It s a common saying that wood works.

Between the 5 of them they sometimes have similar designs so look at each one to see what lengths they offer as some are 3 metres some 3 6 and some 4 metres. If you look it almost looks like stairs running up from left to right from this picture i posted. The length of the planks you re installing is a limiting factor when spacing end joints.