Why Avoid H Joints In Laminate

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.

Why avoid h joints in laminate. It s a common saying that wood works. Follow these guidelines on solid strip and plank flooring installation. H joints occur when the end joints of two boards separated by a single board line up. Laminate flooring planks come in 3 and 4 foot lengths and when you re installing 3 foot planks you ll want to use a shorter spacing to avoid h joints.

What this means is the wood expands or contracts or grows and shrinks in response to changing temperatures and humidity. The length of the planks you re installing is a limiting factor when spacing end joints. Two things to avoid when staggering either laminate or hardwood boards are h joints and steps or lightning. 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.

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

They are all at least 6 minimum apart from eac. Expansion joints in laminate flooring laminate flooring consists to about 90 of wood. Being a natural organic material wood is always in motion. 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.

Decent laminate worktop suppliers that i d recommend are axiom egger prima odyssey and omega. Avoid h joints when installing flooring to give your floor a more professional look. 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.