Do I need to level the floor under the laminate - leveling wooden and concrete floors, the right materials and best technologies. How to level the floor under the laminate: leveling methods with a concrete screed, self-leveling mixture, plywood or chipboard

If the plank floor has lost its appearance and there is a desire to replace it with a laminate, it is not at all necessary to start a large-scale repair. Dismantling the old coating is justified only in case of serious wear and large damage, for example, a lot of rotten or cracked boards. If the floor is still strong, it may well serve as a rough foundation, you only need to eliminate minor defects and properly prepare the surface. And now more about how to level a wooden floor under a laminate and why to do it.

The laminate itself is relatively rigid and can withstand short-term loads without visible deformation, of course, within reasonable limits. But under the weight of a person or large-sized furniture, the panels will definitely sag, and the longer the impact, the stronger the deformation. With a sharp pressure, the laminate can even break through if there is a void under it.

If the irregularities are very small, the panels are unlikely to break, but they will not hold firmly either. First, the coating will begin to spring underfoot, then the locks will loosen, gaps between the lamellas and an unpleasant creak will appear. All this leads to rapid wear of the laminate, and very soon it will also have to be changed. It is easy to avoid such problems - it is enough just to level the old floor with high quality.

Panel creaking is the least of the problems that can happen when laying laminate on an uneven floor.

We identify problem areas

First of all, you need to make sure the strength of the structure. To do this, you should walk around the entire area, stepping on each floorboard.

The absence of deflections and strong squeaks indicates a good condition of the floor, but if such defects are found, you should try to find their cause. Perhaps it's just dried boards or loosened nails, which can be determined visually. Heavily damaged floorboards, that is, rotten, with wide longitudinal cracks, gnawed by mice, must be replaced with new boards.

Kronospan laminate prices

Kronospan laminate

Next, the baseboards and one or two boards are carefully dismantled to assess the state of the lag. It often happens that the flooring is in good condition, and the logs have already begun to rot or crack, sagged under load. If such damage is detected, as well as the smell of dampness from the underground space, the flooring will definitely have to be removed and the damaged elements replaced. But if everything is in order, the boards can be laid in place.

If necessary, the floor is stretched with self-tapping screws, strengthening problem areas, protruding nails are hammered in, and rusted ones are changed. Hats of hardware must be deepened into the boards by 1-2 mm.

Now you need to determine the degree of unevenness of the floor, since the complexity of the work depends on it. In different places of the room, a level is laid on the floor and the height of the clearance is measured. At the same time, they check whether the floor has a slope, which will also have to be eliminated.

Alignment methods

So, having determined the degree of unevenness of the wooden floor, you can easily choose the best way to level the surface. The more drops, the more time and effort will be needed, but the result is worth it.

With a significant deformation of the floorboards, severe wear and drying of the tree, these methods will be ineffective. If such a floor is covered with plywood, this will not stop the destructive processes, and one day the base under the sheathing may fail.

Material requirements

When choosing materials, it is necessary to take into account the operating conditions of the floor and the type of room. For residential buildings and apartments, environmentally friendly materials with appropriate labeling should be selected. This applies not only to the floor covering itself, but also to repair compounds, impregnations, as well as boards used for leveling - OSB, plywood, chipboard. Do not think that the laminate will protect against harmful fumes: no matter how tightly the lamellas are laid, toxic substances will definitely find a way out, especially when the temperature in the room rises.

When choosing chipboard, OSB or plywood, be sure to pay attention to the emission class - in residential premises it is allowed to use materials of class E1, with the lowest formaldehyde content. The higher the class, the more toxic resins in the slabs. Now you can find OSB with an emission class of E0 - in these boards, formaldehyde resin is replaced by a synthetic binder that is safe for health.

As for the thickness of the plates, it all depends on the degree of load on the floor and the strength of the flooring itself. If the floor boards are thick and strong, and the intensity of the loads is low, plywood or OSB 12-15 mm thick will do. For a walk-through room, it is better to take slabs 18 mm thick, and if the flooring is done directly on the logs, then it is recommended to use slabs 15-18 mm thick and lay them in two layers with dressing of the joints.

Sealants, fillers and leveling mixtures should be designed specifically for wooden surfaces. They have sufficient elasticity and do not crack during the thermal expansion of the boards, which means that the floor under the laminate will last longer. The same applies to protective impregnations: you need to use only those compounds that are suitable for wood processing indoors. When buying such products, carefully read the information on the package so as not to be mistaken.

How to level the floor with your own hands

Consider two options for leveling plank floors - using plywood and DSP. Both methods allow you to achieve an ideal plane, but at the same time they differ in the complexity of execution and the duration of the work.

Plywood leveling

This method makes it possible without much effort to eliminate large differences in the floor - up to several centimeters. True, it is not suitable for rooms with heavy traffic and heavy loads on the floor, but for a bedroom, living room, office, it is quite an acceptable option.

What you need for work:

• level;
• screwdriver;
• self-tapping screws 5x60 mm;
• plywood sheets 8 and 10 mm thick;
• scraps of plywood, drywall, wooden planks for substrates;
• jigsaw;
• a circular saw;
• tape measure and marker.

Step 1. First you need to determine the zero level and put markings on the walls. It is most convenient to use a laser level, but if it is not available, a water level is also suitable. Along the markings on the walls, you need to put dots every 25 cm - these will be beacons for laying substrates.

Step 2 From scraps of wood, plywood and other improvised materials, square-shaped blanks are cut for substrates. It is desirable to make them the same in size, but the thickness should be different, since the height differences at different points of the floor also differ. The more irregularities, the more blanks will be needed.

Advice. Instead of a large number of substrates, you can use strong wooden slats of various thicknesses, which are stuffed in increments of 30-40 cm over the entire subfloor area. They act as a log for plywood and can effectively eliminate slopes up to several centimeters.

Step 3 The floor is cleaned of debris and dust, and markings are made on the floor using the beacons on the wall: a cord is pulled between the marks on opposite walls and straight lines are drawn on the floor.

Step 4 The substrates are screwed along the lines to the floor in increments of 20-25 cm. First, the substrate is applied to the floor, checked against the zero level, then screwed with a self-tapping screw in the center. Having completed the row, a level is laid on top of the substrates and the plane is checked again.

Advice. In order not to check each element, you can screw the outermost substrates in a row and lay a metal profile on them. After that, it is enough just to attach the part to the profile to find out whether it fits in thickness or not.

Step 5 Having fixed the substrates over the entire area, proceed to the installation of the skin. The first sheet is laid from the corner of the far wall, leaving a gap of 10-15 mm around the perimeter. The horizontal is checked again by applying a level to the plywood in several places.

Step 6 Another sheet is laid next to it with a gap at the junction of a few millimeters, the edges are adjusted. Be sure to check the absence of a difference along the seam between the sheets.

Step 7 Screw the plywood to the floor. For secure fastening, the plywood must be screwed through the substrates, but since they are located below and are not visible, it is necessary to make markings on the surface of the sheathing. The reference for this is the rows of substrates that have not yet been covered with plywood. Self-tapping screws are screwed along the marked lines at a distance of 25 cm from each other.

Step 8 Cut and trim the remaining sheets. Since in this case the plywood is mounted in two layers, it is not necessary to move the joints in the rows - they will overlap with the top layer of material.

Step 9 The plates of the second layer are laid so that the direction of the fibers is perpendicular to the fibers of the lower layer, and the intersections of the seams completely overlap. In addition, plywood should be positioned so that the side cuts are directly above the substrates. For accuracy of fixation, it is desirable to make the same markup as on the bottom layer. At the joints between the sheets, you can insert thin pieces of fiberboard to maintain the uniformity of the gaps.

Advice. Before screwing in the self-tapping screw, it is necessary to drill holes in the plywood with a thin drill. This will securely pull the sheets to the floor and not damage the fibers.

Step 10 After completing the installation of the second layer, once again check the plane with a level. You also need to make sure that all the screws are sufficiently recessed into the skin, otherwise the sharp protrusions will damage the laminate over time. Now it remains only to clean the surface of dust and debris.

As a rule, such a floor does not need additional processing. You can immediately lay a thin substrate and proceed with the installation of the floor covering. But some masters recommend sealing the joints and recesses from the caps of self-tapping screws with putty.

DSP alignment

This is a more costly and time-consuming method, although quite common. It is used in case of small drops or slope of the floor plane.

Step 1. Dismantle the baseboards and clean the floor of debris. Now you need to determine the location of the lag. Usually you can see them by the heads of the nails in the floor, arranged in rows across the flooring, but if the nails are hidden under a thick layer of paint, you will have to proceed differently. To do this, just remove one of the boards under the wall - the edges of the lag will be in sight. If the flooring is parquet, you need to remove a few extreme planks, insert a screwdriver into the hole and run along the gap.

Step 2 They mark on the surface of the floor where the logs pass and stretch the boards with self-tapping screws. Self-tapping screws are screwed in every 10 cm to tighten the coating more tightly.

Step 3 In places of the greatest differences, substrates from boards, plywood scraps or fiberboard of suitable thickness are screwed to the floor.

Step 5 Having laid the first sheet, screw it around the perimeter in increments of 15 cm and in the center. Wood screws are used for fixing. In the same way, the rest of the sheets are mounted, laying them in a run.

Step 6 After installing the DSP, the surface is carefully dedusted, primed and, after waiting for the soil to dry, is covered with a thin layer of leveling mixture. The mixture is rolled out using a spiked roller. This layer will eliminate minor defects, such as recesses from the heads of self-tapping screws and possible drops at the joints.

Step 7 The dried floor is primed again, and after a few hours, they begin laying the substrate under the laminate and the laminate itself.

Video - How to level a wooden floor under a laminate

When choosing laminate flooring as your new flooring, be aware that laying it requires an almost perfectly even base. If the surface has defects, depressions or bulges, over time, the laminate locks may loosen, a creak will appear, and then the panel may crack. When choosing a way to level the floor under the laminate: with a screed or plywood, consider the design features of the floor, the effort and finances that need to be spent.

How to level the floor under the laminate

Methods for leveling the floor under the laminate vary depending on the starting conditions, which floor: wooden or concrete. Some methods are universal for both types of sexes.

How to level a concrete floor under a laminate

If the concrete floor is a slab/floor slabs or simply a poorly poured concrete base, it must be leveled. To do this, first of all, we remove the old floor covering, clean the floor from debris, concrete chips and dust.

Leveling with concrete screed

This method is used when the floor has significant defects and irregularities that cannot be corrected by half measures. The complexity of leveling with a cement-sand screed lies in the need to install "beacons".

A concrete screed is necessary if the floor has significant defects

To level the floor with a concrete screed:

1. Using the level, determine the highest point of the floor. We outline a line along the perimeter of the walls, to which we will pour concrete and pull the cord.
2. We install special "beacons". We fix them on the floor with slides of concrete mortar, which we knead to the consistency of thick sour cream. We control the horizontal level of the "beacons" and correct it.
3. We knead the solution: 1 part of M500 cement + 3 parts of sifted sand + water. For better kneading, we use a drill with a special nozzle.
4. Pour the concrete screed to the marked level. Let's focus on the lighthouses.
5. We level the screed. We take the rule, press it to the neighboring lighthouse rails, pull it towards ourselves. Excess mortar will spread through the voids or collect at the end of the floor.
6. With a spiked roller, we remove bubbles from the concrete, rolling it over the entire surface.
7. While the concrete dries, for 2 days, constantly wet the floor with water.
8. After two days, we take out the beacons.
9. The voids formed after the extraction of the "beacons" are filled with fresh mortar and overwritten.
10. We cover the floor with polyethylene for 2 weeks.

After the screed has completely dried, after a couple of weeks, you can lay the laminate.

Leveling with self leveling compound

This method is used when the floor does not have too obvious defects, potholes, but there are small bumps and height differences. A maximum difference of 5 mm is allowed.

Leveling the floor with a self-leveling mixture is a modern and effective method

To level the concrete floor with a self-leveling mixture, you do not need to install "beacons", you just need:

• Use a level to determine the highest point on the floor. Mark the line on the walls to which we will pour the mixture.
• Prime and waterproof the floor.
• Prepare the self-levelling compound according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Important! Most often, to prepare a self-leveling mixture, it is necessary to pour the mixture powder into water, and not vice versa.

• Pour the mixture in a small strip, smooth with a spatula.
• Knead the next portion and also pour and level.

Important! The prepared self-leveling mixture must be used within 15 minutes, after which time it will be unusable. That is why it is recommended to knead and pour it in parts.

• Wait until the mixture dries. This will take 3 days. All this time there should be no drafts in the room.

After complete drying, you can lay the laminate. If the floor humidity is less than 5%, then lay the laminate directly on the mixture. If more, then first we lay a layer of waterproofing and a cork substrate.

The so-called dry screed with plywood or chipboard can only be done if the ceiling height allows you to reduce the space by 10 cm, because plywood cannot be laid directly on a concrete base, but only on logs.

Leveling with plywood or chipboard - dry screed method

To level the floor with sheets of plywood or chipboard, we perform the following steps:

1. Using the level, we make marks on the walls, to which the top of the floor should reach.
2. We lay waterproofing, soundproofing and a shock-absorbing lining under the logs.
3. We buy lags. You can use adjustable lags, then we buy them ready-made. And you can use ordinary wooden bars. Dimensions 40 * 100 mm, 40 * 80 mm, 50 * 60 mm for a concrete floor and plywood sheets on top will be enough.
4. We lay the lags. The distance from the walls should be 3 cm, between the lags 40-50 cm.

Important! We constantly control the horizontal level of the location of the lag. If necessary, we put wedges in places of depressions, and in places of bulge we cut off the excess.

5. We fix the logs with anchors or dowels.

6. We lay sheets of plywood or chipboard. The gap between the sheets is 0.2-0.4 mm. The end joints of the sheets must necessarily fall in the middle of the lag.

7. We fix the plywood with self-tapping screws in increments of 50-70 cm.

An important feature of this leveling method is that you can lay the laminate immediately after all work is completed.

How to level a wooden floor under a laminate

If the wooden floor has obvious dips, it must be disassembled and the lags adjusted. It is even possible to replace some logs or boards. If the floor is relatively flat, it is enough to use one of the following methods.

Cycling

Sanding is the only leveling method that is suitable exclusively for a wooden floor.

Sanding a wood floor will create a level surface for laminate flooring. It is produced either by hand, but this is too complicated and time-consuming work, or with the help of a scraping machine.

In order not to damage the knives of the machine, all the heads of nails or self-tapping screws must be “drowned” in the tree deeper with the help of a puncher.

The scraper removes the top layer of wood, creating a flat subfloor. Then the surface must be thoroughly cleaned of dust and you can lay the laminate.

Leveling the floor with plywood or chipboard

The same method is used to level the concrete floor, which we have already described above. A design feature is that the logs must be laid on top of the wooden floor and secured with self-tapping screws. Between the lags, it is desirable to lay an additional layer of waterproofing, insulation and sound insulation.

Puttying with a mixture of sawdust and PVA glue

The method of leveling a wooden floor by puttying with a mixture based on PVA glue and sawdust raises the level of the floor by an insignificant amount.

This method is the cheapest, but can only be used if the floor does not have significant flaws and failures.

Another significant advantage of puttying a wooden floor with a mixture based on PVA glue is that the rise in the floor level in this case is insignificant.

Stages of work:

• If the floor boards are “dry” and slightly deformed, arched, in this case it is necessary to use “beacons”. We install wooden "beacons" using the level. Fasten with nails.
• We knead sawdust and PVA glue to the consistency of thick sour cream.
• We fill with a mixture all the space between the "lighthouses" and all the cracks.

Important! The mixture based on PVA shrinks very much, so we perform the puttying procedure in two or three steps.

• After the glue has completely hardened, we lay thin plywood 5 mm. We fix it with self-tapping screws with a countersunk head.

After assessing the condition of the surface of your floor, you can choose any suitable method of leveling the floor under the laminate, given above. The durability of a laminate flooring will directly depend on the quality of the work performed.

Laying laminate in residential areas is not a difficult task, which even a novice home master can handle with a minimum set of tools. However, if you do not use the recommendations of experts, then the floor covering will begin to sag and creak over time. The reason for this is unevenness on the base floor. Therefore, a reasonable question arises: how to level the floor under the laminate with your own hands so that it lasts a long time and does not creak?

There are several ways to make a flat base for a laminate, depending on the type of surface, the degree of wear and tear and financial capabilities.

Basic requirements for the surface of the base floor

The specificity of the laminate lies in the high requirements for the surface on which it will be laid. Therefore, it is very important to carefully level the base floor before laying the laminate flooring. To check, we need a long building level or rule and a regular level.

The maximum height difference of the prepared base should not exceed one millimeter per 20 square centimeters of surface or two millimeters per 2 square meters.

If you do not complete the preparatory stage, but simply lay the substrate and lay the laminate, then soon beautiful floors will no longer please you. There may be several reasons for this:

• Due to unevenness, the laminate will begin to sag under the weight of a person or interior items;
• Panel locks will not be able to fully cope with their task, which leads to the appearance of cracks;
• Due to the relief, moisture will penetrate into the joints of the panels, which will lead to swelling of the laminate and complete deformation of the surface.

That is why it is so important to level the floor under the laminate and follow the laying rules.

Leveling the concrete floor

In new apartments and houses, most often the concrete subfloor is unsuitable for direct laying of the laminate. And in old houses, the coating has served for several decades, which led to the destruction of the carrier layer.

Therefore, before proceeding with the laying of a new floor covering, it is necessary to decide how to level the concrete floor. You can do this with your own hands, you just need to figure out which method is better to use to create an ideal and durable plane.

grinding

Leveling the base floor by grinding is applied under the following conditions:

1. When it is not possible to use bulk floors or self-leveling compounds;
2. With minor damage and surface differences not exceeding 4 mm.

For processing large spaces, it is better to use a special grinder. If the area of ​​​​the room is small, then you can use coarse sandpaper (grit 40, 60 or 80) attached to a wooden or plastic bar.

After sanding, the floor must be thoroughly cleaned of dust. This is best done with an industrial vacuum cleaner.

Be careful, a household vacuum cleaner may not withstand such a load and burn out.

On a clean base floor, 2-3 coats of primer are applied, which strengthens the surface and forms a durable top layer.

If grinding did not help, and the height differences are too large, then leveling compounds cannot be dispensed with.

Partial leveling with repair mortars

This method is suitable for a surface that does not involve multi-level floor pouring. For example, with a slight deviation from the requirements or the presence of small defects in the top layer that cannot be eliminated by grinding. To eliminate these shortcomings, repair self-leveling compounds are excellent.

Today, there is a wide range of floor leveling solutions on the construction markets. Each package is supplied with instructions, which indicate in detail which surfaces they are best used for and how to use them. However, so that everyone can independently make the perfect surface for the laminate, we will describe in detail how and with what repair mixtures it is better to work.

Self-levelling screeds

Self-leveling floors are a type of concrete base, for the creation of which the so-called self-leveling mixtures are used. This is an expensive, but very effective way to eliminate defects in the base floor. The poured mixture self-levels, providing a perfectly flat surface suitable for laminate installation.

According to the purpose of the mixture are divided into three types:

1. Self-levelling compound for rough leveling. With the help of this composition, irregularities from 1 to 6 centimeters can be eliminated.
2. Mixtures for the elimination of large cracks and potholes. Such a solution is used only in certain areas. Due to the content of glue, it easily connects to the rough surface and has high strength.
3. Finishing mix for final leveling of a surface. It is used to eliminate small irregularities from 1 to 5 mm. This layer serves as the basis for laying the laminate.

According to the composition, self-leveling floors are classified into three types:

1. Mixtures with epoxy or polyurethane resin as a binder. Provides a very durable and dust-free surface. Often used for surfaces with heavy loads (shopping or industrial premises).
2. Mixtures based on cement. The fill layer can reach up to 5 centimeters.
3. Mixtures containing gypsum. Not recommended for use in high humidity areas.

Gypsum and cement self-leveling floors are used in residential premises. The choice of mixture depends on the humidity of the room and the required coating thickness.

There are thin and thick self-leveling floors. The combination of such solutions makes it possible to level the surface in a wide range of thicknesses: from 1 to 60 mm.

Before filling it is necessary:

1. Remove anything that could impair adhesion: dust, oil or glue stains, etc.
2. If there are cracks on the surface, they should be covered with putty;
3. Prime the floor and allow to dry for 3 hours.

After that, you can pour the prepared self-leveling mixture. To prepare the solution, you should:

1. Pour 5-6 liters of clean water into a 50l container;
2. Pour a 25 kg bag of mixture;
3. Place for 3-4 minutes until the consistency of liquid sour cream so that no lumps remain;
4. Leave for 5 minutes and mix again. The solution is ready for pouring.

Attention! See the packaging of the dry mix used for the exact proportions and instructions for preparing the solution.

Filling is done in portions from the far corner of the room towards the exit. A rule is applied for leveling. While the solution is liquid, it is necessary to walk with a spiked roller to expel air bubbles.

Remember! Self-leveling floors dry very quickly, therefore, for large areas, the solution should be prepared in small quantities and used immediately.

After that, the self-leveling floor is left to harden. The room should be free of drafts and direct sunlight. It will be possible to walk on the floor after 5-6 hours, but it is recommended to lay the laminate no earlier than 6 days after pouring. If you start laying the flooring earlier, then moisture that is not completely weathered can cause it to swell and damage.

Self-levelling compounds have a lot of advantages, among other building materials used to create base floors:

• They are easy to apply to the surface. Even a person without professional training can cope with alignment;
• The coating quickly hardens, does not crumble and does not deform. You can move on it in 5-6 hours;
• The surface of the floor after leveling is perfectly even and smooth.

Based on the characteristics of the mixtures, we can say that this is a great way to prepare the floor for a laminate. Self-leveling floors provide an ideal plane that will not deform the laminate for many years.

Concrete screed

Screed is another way to level a concrete floor before laying laminate flooring. In essence, a screed is a base floor layer that is applied to concrete floors or a subfloor. It is made on the basis of a cement-sand mixture and is most often used to eliminate large differences that cannot be corrected with self-leveling mortars.

For screed, you can buy ready-made dry mixes or make the mixture yourself based on the proportions of 1 part cement to 3 parts sand.

Attention! The proportions for self-preparation of the mixture depend on the brand of cement and the grain size of the sand.

The resulting mixture is poured with water and stirred until the consistency of thick sour cream.

The ready solution is bookmarked as follows:

• A dense plastic film is laid on the floor so that the edges rest on the walls just above the planned level of the screed;
• Using the level between the wall and the floor, marks are set;
• Rack beacons are attached to the base of the marks. These will be guides for further pouring;
• Concrete is poured between the slats and, using the rule, the solution is stretched along the guides;
• 2-3 hours after pouring, the surface must be rubbed;

If necessary, you can repeat the grouting in a day. Complete drying of the concrete occurs after 30 days. During this period, the surfaces should be regularly wetted with water to avoid cracking. At high air temperatures, concrete after moistening must be covered with polyethylene.

This method is quite economical, but has several negative points:

• The complexity of the process;
• Dries for a long time;
• If the proportions are incorrectly observed, it can crumble and crack.

Dry screed

The dry screed technique involves leveling the floor by installing a frame of wooden beacons, on which sheets of plywood, DSP or GVL are attached. The space inside is filled with a special backfill.

The order of work is as follows:

• The wooden or concrete base dries well so that excess moisture does not get into the dry backfill.
• A dense film is spread on the rough surface to increase the waterproofing of the backfill;
• With the help of the building level, marks of the planned floor are marked on the walls;
• Next, a structure is being constructed that will serve as a mount for the covering plates and at the same time as guides for backfilling. To do this, the bars are placed parallel to each other at an equal distance throughout the room and fixed with dowels or building plaster to the base base;
• The dry mixture is evenly poured and leveled by the rule along the mounted guides;
• Sheets of the selected material are laid on top of the structure and fastened to the bars with wood screws. The second layer of sheets is laid so that the joints do not coincide with the first.

Most often, expanded clay with different granule sizes is used as backfill.

After carrying out all the work, it is necessary to prime the surface with a special solution.

This coating has many advantages:

1. Does not require a long time to dry the surface;
2. No splashes, smudges, etc. pollution;
3. Low load on the floors of the premises (especially important for old private houses);
4. Good heat and sound insulation;
5. Low cost of materials and labor.

But still, with all the advantages, there is one drawback: such floors should not be installed in rooms with high humidity. Because natural materials in contact with moisture tend to deform.

It is better to decide how to do the leveling of the concrete floor with your own hands, this video will help you.

Leveling a wooden floor

Wooden floors are mainly typical for private houses. Unlike concrete, their alignment requires less effort and materials.

If you plan to install a laminate on an old wooden surface, then you should prepare the base as carefully as possible. It is necessary to replace rotten and broken planks, and those that have fallen out should be put in place and secured with self-tapping screws so that they do not hang out.

• Putty gaps, seams and fallen areas with putty on wood;
• With slight fluctuations in the surface level, carry out scraping work using a grinder (it will remove all bumps and bulges);
• Lay sheets of plywood or GVL with a thickness of 16-20 mm in two layers on the old floor, and so that the joints of the sheets do not match.

Below in the video you can see how to level old wooden floors and lay laminate on them.

Leveling wooden floors for laminate in a new home has a different technique. To create a base floor, wooden floors are filled with heat and sound insulating material. For example, mineral wool. Previously, the logs are covered with a vapor barrier membrane. Then, lighthouse bars are installed according to the level, which should provide an ideal horizontal surface.

The final part of the preparation of the base floor is the laying of sheets of GVL, OSB or plywood. It is advisable to do this in two layers with overlapping joints, on which temperature gaps should be left. Such a base can withstand heavy loads and last a long time without deformation.

If everything is done correctly and accurately, then a substrate will not necessarily be laid under the laminate. The surface will be perfectly flat, without depressions and bulges. The main thing is not to forget to clean it of dust, chips and other debris so that the laminate does not creak over time.

However, even on a perfectly flat base, we still recommend the use of an underlay, however inexpensive and thin. It will add a shock-absorbing effect, which will positively affect the tactile perception of the floor, keep the laminate locks for a long time and reduce the load on the human joints when walking.

Both in the old and in the new house, you can level the floor under the laminate using the dry screed method, which was described above.

Using any of the methods proposed above, you can achieve on your own an ideal and durable surface on which you can safely lay any floor covering. Now you know how to level the floor for laying laminate.

Laminate is one of the most beautiful, sought-after, modern and high-quality floor coverings. Laminate is suitable for both residential apartments and offices and other buildings of administrative and public purposes. Floors covered with laminate delight the owners with an extremely aesthetic appearance, durability, and strength. In addition, it is very pleasant to walk barefoot on the laminate. But before laying the laminate, you need to perform some preliminary procedures. It's about leveling the floor.

Floor leveling: what is it for?

Laminate is very demanding on the evenness of the surface on which it will be laid. The specificity of laminate boards is such that for their proper connection and many years of high-quality service, a completely flat floor is required.

With all its advantages, the laminate has one drawback: it does not smooth out existing floor irregularities, it needs a fully prepared and even field.

And if you still neglect this stage and lay the laminate on the floor that you have, what will happen? In this case, no matter how high-quality the laminate is and no matter how carefully you lay it, it will not please you with its beautiful appearance for a long time.

• Laminate panels will begin to sag under the weight of human weight if there are voids underneath as a result of laying on a relief surface.
• The interpanel seams will begin to move apart, the inner surface of the laminate will be unprotected and thus moisture will be able to freely penetrate to it. Soon this will lead to delamination of the inside of the panel.
• The locking grip of laminate panels will not be able to cope with an overwhelming load. Over time, laminate locks loosen, and in severe cases, they can crack.
• In especially critical situations, if you lay a laminate on a floor that has very serious irregularities, it may swell or the panels themselves will crack.
• When walking on the laminate, the panels will creak.

All these signs can appear together or separately, but in any case, the appearance of the room and the laminate itself will be hopelessly damaged.

Therefore, the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to level the floor under the laminate flooring is unequivocal - only level and nothing else. There are many ways to accomplish this task.

The maximum allowable deviation from a perfectly flat surface is 2 millimeters.

Application of different materials

You can level the floor with different materials. The choice of material depends on several factors. Consider what properties the most popular leveling materials have and on which coatings they are recommended to be used.

This material can be used if you need to level the wooden floor. A good and simple option for a budget repair. The disadvantage of this method is that the putty often has to be applied in several layers, when the irregularities are deep and one layer is not enough. As a result, the need to thoroughly dry each layer before applying the next one, which means a lot of time.

A very popular material for leveling wooden floors. It is inexpensive, quickly and easily fits, covers all existing defects. You need to pay attention to a couple of nuances - do not use plywood sheets with delaminated edges in your work and ensure the same level of humidity in the sheets and the room itself.

Used on concrete floors. It is good for primary leveling, when it is necessary to close significant cracks, potholes, depressions in concrete and other noticeable flaws, but it is completely unsuitable for a finished floor, so another layer of mortar is poured over the screed - thin, giving a smooth and perfectly flat surface. It has low thermal insulation properties, therefore, to make the concrete floor warm, you need to lay a substrate over the finishing coating. The disadvantages include the fact that the screed is very heavy and creates a large load on concrete slabs.

It is applied on concrete floors when it is necessary to carry out final leveling works. It self-spreads over the entire surface of the floor, eliminates all minor flaws, after drying it gives a perfectly even coating. However, it is completely unsuitable for use on a very uneven concrete base, since it spreads in a very thin layer, which will not be enough to fill all more or less noticeable irregularities.

A very popular material, endowed with many useful qualities. Expanded clay is very light, so when using it, the load on the load-bearing and supporting structures will be minimal. At the same time, it has high strength, can last for many years. Provides good sound insulation, does not support combustion (fireproof), environmentally friendly, chemically inert (does not enter into chemical reactions with other substances and materials, does not release anything into the environment). The floor covered with expanded clay has heat-preserving qualities, you will never freeze with it. In addition, it is not afraid of rotting, fungus or mold, is widely available in any hardware stores and has a low cost.

Substrate

Used to level the floor and material such as the substrate. The use of this material is advisable if the irregularities are no more than 4 millimeters. In this situation, it is impossible to lay the laminate directly on the floor, but at the same time it is too expensive to carry out more thorough leveling work. In this case, the use of the substrate will be quite sufficient to achieve the required degree of relief leveling. Substrates come in several varieties:

• Cork;
• Cork-bituminous;
• polyurethane foam;
• Polyethylene;
• Foam.

For greater evenness, you can also lay the underlay on an already leveled floor. It is inexpensive and will not cause damage to the owner's pocket, but it will provide more reliable safety of the underside of the laminate panels.

Comparison table of materials

Step by step instructions

Concrete floor

Concrete flooring is very common in our homes and public buildings. And almost always such a floor has more or less serious irregularities and other defects, including chips, cracks, differences in planes, recesses in the form of shells, concrete sags, potholes, crumbled and exfoliated areas. All these defects must be corrected if you intend to install laminate flooring.

The leveling of the concrete floor is carried out in two stages: first, coarse and large irregularities are eliminated with the help of a cement-sand mortar (screed), and then a fine leveling is performed with a self-leveling mixture, which fills all the smallest cracks, smoothes out the slight relief resulting from the application of the previous solution, and gives a semi-final perfect evenness.

If your floor is fairly level, you can immediately use a self-levelling compound. But in this case, the original flooring should have minimal unevenness, since the layer of such a mixture is thin and does not eliminate serious defects.

Cement-sand screed

Here is what the sequential scheme of work looks like when leveling a concrete base:

1. First of all, we remove from the concrete floor all traces left from the previous coating. We remove paint stains with solvents or drying oil, oil stains must be annealed.
2. To fill potholes and cracks, a cement-based working composition is used. The influx of concrete is eliminated by means of a perforator, small ones can be left - they will be hidden by a screed.
3. The entire concrete surface is treated with a soil solution.
4. Then you need to decide on the height of the future screed layer. For this, a level is used, marks are made on the walls around the entire perimeter. In accordance with the level, we place beacons (we use slats for this), fixing them with a solution.
5. Next, a screed mortar is prepared, consisting of 75% sifted sand and 25% cement grade M 400. The consistency of the mortar should be such as not to allow it to spread ahead of time.
6. The resulting solution is poured onto the floor and leveled in accordance with the beacons.
7. When the screed grabs, we remove the beacons-rails. The resulting holes are also filled with a solution, we give time to completely grab.

This completes the rough leveling of the floor.

When kneading the screed, you should pour the dry ingredient into the water, and not fill it with water.

If the solution thickens, it must be thrown away. A solution diluted with water loses its properties, such a screed becomes of poor quality.

Video: leveling the floor with a cement screed

Now comes the turn of the "jewelry" leveling of the concrete floor. A self-levelling compound is a special mortar that spreads over the floor and is optimally distributed so that the result is a perfectly even and smooth surface.

Otherwise, such mixtures are called self-levelling, self-leveling floors, floor levelers, seamless polymer floors.

1. The mixture is prepared in strict accordance with the instructions, after which it is stirred using a construction mixer.
2. The concrete floor is poured with the prepared mixture.
3. If the room has a large area, the floor is divided into sections and each is poured in turn, but the entire room must be filled with the mixture at a time, that is, part of the room cannot be put off for the evening or the next day.
4. After pouring, you need to walk through the solution with a toothed roller so that there are no air bubbles left in it.

Self-leveling mixtures look dried up after an hour, but further work should be started at least after three days. It is forbidden to change the proportions of the dry composition and water at your own discretion. Self-levelling compounds dry quickly, so you need to be precise and quick, but not rushed. The mixture should have a temperature of +10 degrees and above, and the temperature in the room should be the same.

Your floor is now ready for laminate flooring, but you can also add underlayment to keep your laminate flooring more comfortable and safe.

Video: leveling the floor with a self-leveling mixture

This method is quite simple to perform, but it cannot be called cheap. Expanded clay has many attractive properties, so it is often preferred among all leveling materials. If you decide to level the floor under the expanded clay laminate, the sequence of your actions will be as follows.

1. Before laying expanded clay, the entire surface of the floor is covered with a film that provides a waterproofing effect. The film should climb onto the walls by at least 10–15 centimeters.
2. Further, an edge tape is placed along the entire perimeter, whose width should be equal to the height of the future expanded clay layer or exceed it.
3. Then, expanded clay sheets, GVL, chipboard or plywood are laid on the expanded clay distributed over the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe entire room.
4. Each new sheet is attached to those already laid with special glue and self-tapping screws. It is necessary to observe a step of 10 to 15 centimeters.
5. It is also necessary to ensure that there are no cross seams, for which the sheets are stacked in a checkerboard pattern.
6. Sheets of superfloor (GVL, plywood) located near the walls should be with a cut fold. This is necessary in order to provide a double layer of material near the wall.
7. After the entire territory of the room is covered with a superfloor, the substrate is laid, and the laminate is laid on it.

Video: leveling the floor with expanded clay

Wooden floor

Leveling a wooden floor under a laminate is both easier and at the same time more difficult than concrete. It is easier because a wooden base is much easier to process than a concrete one; and more difficult - because to date, a single universal method for leveling wooden floors has not yet been invented. Depending on the nuances of a particular wooden flooring, different methods are used.

Leveling the floor with plywood before laying the laminate is a very good solution in terms of financial costs. This method is used when the wooden floor has many different defects. When choosing this leveling method, please note that the humidity level in the plywood sheets and in the room where the laminate is planned to be laid should be the same. This is achieved by wetting the plywood with plain water, after which you need to leave the sheets to dry in this room.

Before starting work on leveling, it is necessary to carefully check the condition of utilities running under the floor; at the same time, the insulation also needs to be checked. These works are carried out in advance, because after the laminate is laid, it will be very difficult to get to communications. Also, one should not forget that air must circulate freely under the laminate boards. Plywood sheets intended for leveling should have a thickness of no more than 50 mm.

To successfully level the floor with plywood, you should have a screwdriver, self-tapping screws, a laser level, PVA glue and the actual plywood sheets at hand.

First of all, you need to install beacons, for which simple self-tapping screws are used. We screw them all over the floor, observing the desired height. The frequency of beacons depends on the thickness of the plywood: the thinner the sheets, the more often beacons should be installed, and vice versa.

Next steps:

1. To install the log, you will need plywood strips, slats or boards, whose thickness is about 3 cm. They are fastened with a special glue for wooden parts or self-tapping screws. Sometimes there are gaps between the lags and the old flooring, they need to be filled with pieces of plywood smeared with glue. Pieces are prepared in advance.
2. For greater convenience, it is better to cut plywood into square sheets of 60 square meters. centimeters. At the same time, try to avoid delamination of the edges of the resulting squares. If the edge is stratified, this square is not recommended to be used, it is better to take another one.
3. Then the entire surface should be cleaned of dust and dirt - both those that were already here earlier, and those formed as a result of these manipulations.
4. Plywood squares should be placed on the logs only after all the glue has completely dried. When laying plywood, it is necessary to pay attention to ensuring that the sheets are joined strictly on the logs, and also not to allow four sheets to be joined at the seams at the same time.
5. After that, all the necessary ledges, arches and other holes are cut.
6. Now comes the turn of self-tapping screws with an invisible head - with their help, plywood sheets are fixed on the logs.

To avoid bulging self-tapping hats, you need to take care of this in advance. To do this, we drill and countersink the places of their future location.

Please note that plywood sheets should not be placed close to each other. There must be a distance of several millimeters between them so that temperature fluctuations do not cause their deformations.

Putty

Another budget way to level the floor for laying laminate. Using a mixture of sawdust and PVA-based putty, you can level a room with a fairly large footage, spending very little.

First of all, you need to prepare the floor by cleaning it. The sawdust that will be involved in the leveling process should be moistened so that they do not dry out too quickly, otherwise they will draw moisture out of the putty. The sequence of actions when leveling the floor with a putty compound mixed with sawdust looks like this.

1. Using a level on the floor, you need to fill beacons - ordinary wooden slats.
2. Then the space between the slats is filled with a mixture of PVA putty and sawdust. In the event that one layer is not enough to even out the existing depressions, several layers are applied, each of which must be given time to dry completely. The thickness of each such layer is a maximum of 20 millimeters. In no case should a new layer be poured if the previous one has not completely dried out.
3. In the process of work, the horizontalness of the resulting surface must be constantly checked by the level.

For all its economy and ease of execution, this method takes a lot of time, which is associated with the obligatory drying of each layer.

The wooden subfloor can also be sanded, it's a quick and easy way. Scraping work is carried out using a scraper, but hard-to-reach places can be processed with a manual scraper. Scraping is resorted to when the condition of the original floor is good enough and the boards do not have serious irregularities. A scraper machine cannot remove a pronounced floor relief, but it will cope with minor defects perfectly. This method is suitable for both parquet floors and ordinary wood.

Before the scraping process begins, all furniture, paintings, a chandelier and other interior elements are removed from the room. If something cannot be taken out, these objects are covered with a film, the edges of the film are fixed with adhesive tape. The entrance door to the premises is being removed because the floor in this area also needs to be repaired. To prevent debris from entering the corridor or adjacent rooms, you need to seal the doorway with polyethylene. To ensure proper ventilation, do not forget to open the windows.

The floor is inspected for various defects. Found chips, cracks puttied. Empty spaces between the floorboards are also puttied or filled with sawdust. If individual boards are in very poor condition, they must be replaced with new ones. You should also make sure that the nails are deep enough into the floor. If the hats still protrude, you need to use the finisher and deepen them.

A wire brush will help remove old varnish or paint. After brushing, the floor is treated with a roughing machine to fix the effect and finally remove paint and varnish residues. You can also wipe the floors with mineral spirits. Then the floor must be thoroughly washed. This can be done with plain water or alcohol solution. Do not save on water - all garbage to the last mote must be removed. After washing, you need to give the boards time to dry, so do not start the next work if the floor is not completely dry.

Take care of personal protective equipment. Scraping produces a lot of dust and noise, so you will need a respirator (there will be little use from a regular cotton-gauze bandage), goggles, and tight clothing with a closed collar and long sleeves is also desirable. Good construction headphones or at least earplugs will help against noise. In addition, the scraper produces quite noticeable vibrations, which require special gloves to dampen. However, ordinary thick mittens can be used instead.

Handling the scraper requires some skill: it has a lot of power, and during operation you will constantly feel that the machine is trying to escape from your hands.

So, all the preparatory measures are completed, and now you go directly to the looping. The sequence of work looks like this:

1. Fill the scraper with coarse sandpaper and turn it on. The scraping process is started by loading coarse-grained tapes into the machine; before each successive layer, the graininess decreases.
2. Start scraping from the corner, gently moving in a straight line to the opposite wall.
3. When you reach the wall, turn around and start moving back. You must move in such a way as to capture the raw space. Your movements around the room will resemble a snake.
4. Each new floor strip is processed slightly overlapping with the already processed area.
5. In the process of cycling, it is best to keep the cord from the apparatus on your shoulder - this way you will prevent it from falling under the car.
6. In the process, do not forget to follow the sandpaper. If the area is large, then the tape will probably wear off before the room is completed, and it will have to be changed.
7. Also, sandpaper needs to be cleaned during scraping. You can clean it by brushing it with a broom or a rag. The dust collector also needs to be checked and cleaned.
8. Having completely covered the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room and about to start scraping a new layer, keep in mind that each time the layers are perpendicular to the previous one.
9. Passing the last stage, move parallel to the laid boards.

If the tapes at the beginning of work roughly smooth out uneven areas and remove the remaining paint, then fine-grained tapes carefully polish the surface before the end of the scraping process, giving it smoothness and shine.

After completion, the floor must be thoroughly swept or, even better, use a vacuum cleaner. The final touch is white spirit treatment. The cycled floor has sufficient evenness and allows you to safely cover it with laminate. But for greater evenness, softness and neutralization of possible microroughnesses, it will not be superfluous to additionally lay a substrate under the laminate.

Video: floor leveling by scraping

So, as we can see, it is impossible to neglect the leveling of the floors before starting to lay the laminate. The service life of your laminate flooring will depend on the quality of the procedure and the right materials, which means your nerves, cleanliness and comfort in the house, the perfect evenness of the floors and the good mood of all households. Spend a couple of days on this procedure and enjoy a great repair for years to come!

My name is Elena. Hobbies - music, literature, attending concerts, dancing, photography / photoshop, learning to edit videos, regional studies, history of Europe and North America, history of Catholicism, cycling, writing various stories, sometimes stories and poems, sometimes modeling from plasticine and polymer clay.

Rigid, clean, dry and always even - these are the requirements that apply to the base for laying laminate flooring. Unfortunately, despite the numerous efforts of manufacturers, many craftsmen still do not know how much it is necessary to level the floor under the laminate.

According to the requirements of all manufacturers of hard floor coverings, including laminate and parquet board, the carrier layer must comply with the instructions and SP 29.13330.2011/SNiP 2.03.13-88. In particular, the basis must be:

• Rigid and durable. That is, the floor should not bend or collapse with a force of 15 MPa or more.
• Clean - dust-free, free from traces of bitumen, glue, old paintwork and other coatings, soot, etc.
• Dry. For cement-sand and concrete screeds, the residual moisture coefficient should not exceed 5%, for anhydride screeds - 1.5%, for wood and wood-containing screeds - 12%. Subject to the above indicators, changes in the geometric dimensions of the draft floors are minimal. Even with sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
• Smooth and monolithic. The permissible level of unevenness is no more than 2 mm for every 2 meters of surface. The base must be virtually smooth, without pits or tubercles, nodules or cracks.

Checking the evenness of the base.

As practice shows, it is the latter condition that is most often violated. Checking the evenness of mineral and wood floors is easy. It is much more difficult to correct the deficiency. But why level the floor in an apartment, house, office or store under a laminate? The answer is simple - for a durable coating service. Any defects under the flooring are a source of constant creaking, crunching and crackling, as well as the rapid destruction of locks and slabs.

Manufacturers of building and finishing materials have developed many optimal schemes for eliminating irregularities, dips, drops, distortions, cracks and other defects in the base. Namely:

The advantage of mineral screeds is high compressive and shear strength, improved density. In addition, they can be used in rooms with normal and high humidity in combination with waterproofing materials. The layer thickness varies from 1 to 100 mm, that is, this series is suitable for eliminating both minor irregularities and significant differences. The disadvantages are a decent mass (with the exception of perlite-based, etc.), a laborious process and a long drying time - from 7 to 28 days.

Prefabricated carrier layers allow you to level the floor under the laminate with your own hands in 1-3 days. This is the most convenient and fastest way to eliminate the shortcomings of the base with a layer of 20 mm or more. A finished dry screed weighs much less than a mineral screed, and you can lay the finishing material immediately, without a technological break of 2-5 weeks. The downside is that this type of rough coating is not recommended for wet rooms, moreover, the strength does not exceed 15 MPa.

It would be useful to mention soundproofing. Laminate flooring is laid in a "floating" way, that is, without bonding to the base. For this and some other reasons, the floor material resonates with impact and airborne (sound) noise. Therefore, it is recommended to lay a noise-dissipating or noise-suppressing layer of vibroacoustic membranes, elastic polymer plates, fibrous mats, frame systems with GVL and other similar materials under a solid or prefabricated screed. The range of similar products for the floor is wide, it is better to entrust the selection of the best option to a specialist.

Leveling the concrete floor

The concrete base is universal. You can work on it with any existing composition or complex. Therefore, depending on the type of defects, the following alignment methods are used:

grinding

If the surface has slight bumps, sagging, drops, then you can choose the fastest, but dusty way of smoothing - grinding. For this, sandpaper on a manual grater or professional grinders are used, often complete with construction vacuum cleaners.

The units can be rented, but the components (abrasive wheels, nozzle cups for stone and concrete, a respirator, goggles) will have to be bought. Or hire specialists with their own equipment.

Partial leveling with repair mortars

To seal cracks, potholes, local depressions, as well as to create slopes on balconies or terraces, it is not necessary to re-form a thin or medium layer screed. Use special compounds called repair. These are dry mixes based on cement / gypsum binder, ready-made pastes or polymer filling compounds, the main difference of which is in the following properties:

• fast set of strength;
• small processing area or layer thickness;
• short drying time - from 1 hour to 3 days.

When choosing products, keep in mind that the compositions are universal (for indoor and outdoor use) and intended exclusively for indoor use. According to the manufacturers, they are suitable for any finish coating in residential and commercial buildings.

Concrete screed

Under the screed layer is meant the upper part of the subfloor structure, on which absolutely any finishing coating is mounted, from ceramics to laminate. The tie is designed for:

• creating a flat, as smooth as possible surface;
• ensuring the static and dynamic strength of the structure;
• uniform distribution of deformation loads on the underlying layers or supports;
• formation of the required slopes.

Mineral screeds are characterized by the same density of the entire formation and compressive strength of 150 kg / cm² or more. The surface should not have cracks, sags, chips and other defects. The thickness varies from 3 to 10 cm depending on specific conditions (type of base base, availability of communications or floor heating systems, type of reinforcement, etc.).

Screed layers are made from:

• industrial dry mixes. Easy to use ready-made DSP, packaged in bags of 25-50 kg. They are closed with water or polymer dispersions.
• cement-sand mortar, manufactured independently. This will require cement grade not lower than M400, fine-grained quartz sand in an approximate ratio of 1: 3 (by weight). Pure water is added to the composition, approximately 0.45 or 0.55 liters per 1 kg of binder. The finished mass should be homogeneous, gray in color, grades of at least 150-200.
• concrete. Foam concrete of category not lower than B3.5 (ρ=600-1000 kg/m³), light masses like expanded clay concrete, perlite concrete of class not lower than 5.0 (ρ≥1300 kg/m³), as well as standard concrete of class B15 (corresponds to M200) are used . Screeds made of cellular and lightweight concrete masses are distinguished by porosity and high heat-insulating properties. In contrast, classic concrete gives less shrinkage and a stronger layer.

Mineral floor screed is formed in 5 stages:

The optimal drying time for the screed is at least 28 days, regardless of the layer thickness.

Self-leveling floors

They are dry industrial mixtures consisting of a binder, fillers, modifying additives. Available in a wide range and include:

• Thin-layer levelers working with a layer from 0 to 30 mm. They are characterized by a high degree of spreadability and a minimum drying time - up to 5 days;
• Finishing thin- and medium-layer compositions designed to form a smooth and even floor up to 60 mm thick for laying laminate, parquet, linoleum. Drying period - up to 14 days;
• Basic or universal mixtures for primary leveling with a layer up to 100 mm. Used both indoors and outdoors. After 14-21 days, the surface is ready for installation of the laminate.

For weak bearing structures, lightweight mixtures are produced in which the quartz filler is replaced with crushed perlite, expanded clay, etc.

It is not difficult to form a floor from self-leveling compounds: the mixture must be mixed with water, applied as quickly as possible manually or mechanically to the prepared base, slightly leveled and rolled with a spiked roller to deaerate.

Draft self-leveling mixtures are often confused with self-leveling decorative floors. The first are dry compositions based on cement or gypsum, the second are polymeric (polyurethane, epoxy, methyl methacrylate) liquid or semi-liquid compositions designed to form so-called 3D coatings.

In fact, this is a prefabricated flooring made of sheet durable materials, fixed on a concrete floor with self-tapping screws or on a frame support. Such structures are indispensable if:

• Wet processes must be avoided;
• It is necessary to speed up the production of works;
• It is required to significantly raise the level of the carrier layer (adjustable floors) or smooth out the differences.

There are many design options. We list the main ones:

Bulk

This is a structure, the lower layer of which is a filling of expanded clay, expanded perlite mass, quartz or silica sand, fine-grained slag and other inorganic bulk materials with a maximum fineness modulus of 2-5 mm, moisture content of not more than 1%. Instead of a non-metallic filler, it is possible to use XPS, mineral wool or polystyrene boards (PSB-35 or 50) tightly laid to each other.

Dry screed on a bulk basis.

The top layer is formed from durable sheets of GVL, chipboard, OSB or plywood. It is best to use Knauf-Superpol with a 50 mm mounting seam, tongue-and-groove chipboard from QuickDeck, etc.

The minimum thickness of the backfill screed is 40 mm and the maximum is 100 mm. This type of subfloor is suitable for both slab and beam floors (monolithic, prefabricated, etc.).

frame

In fact, this is a well-known floor on logs. On a concrete base, wooden slats or metal profiles are installed according to the level with an interval of no more than 40-50 cm, insulation is placed in the “windows” if desired. Sheets of plywood, chipboard and other similar materials are fixed on top of the frame.

Adjustable

The floor is laborious in execution, but useful in new construction or reconstruction. Wooden logs or sheets of plywood are supported by threaded fastening and supporting elements screwed into them: rods-racks, bolts-racks, anchors, etc. The position of the supports in height varies due to the rotation of the bolt around its axis. They fix the level of the rack with a dowel-nail or a special stop that does not allow the structure to go astray.

The principle of adjustable floor.

Hard

This is the simplest carrier layer in execution, which allows you to level the concrete base and increase its heat-insulating properties. Sheets of plywood, GVL, chipboard and other similar materials are fixed in 1-2 layers on the cleaned and primed floor with the help of hardware, "liquid nails" or polymer glue. The optimal thickness of the flooring is 12-24 mm.

The choice of method depends on the financial capabilities and the condition of the base concrete base. It is best to invite a specialist who will determine the necessary parameters and offer options for eliminating deficiencies with detailed costing.

How to level a wood floor

If you plan to install laminated parquet on boardwalk, then you need to check each plank. Floor elements must sit firmly, evenly and tightly to each other. A base that meets these criteria does not need additional preparation.

But if there are noticeable differences, irregularities and other shortcomings, then the following technologies are used for alignment:

Any of the above leveling methods allows you to create an even, strong and reliable base for laminate flooring. Of course, some skills and knowledge will be required for the job, so if you are not confident in your abilities, contact the professionals.

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