In many apartments, slabs serve as the basis for the floor, which, as a rule, have irregularities. Flooring is hard work. But today there are new building technologies that greatly simplify the task of how to quickly level the floor. The conversation will focus on bulk self-leveling floors. If you're not sure if your room needs floor leveling, take some measurements. You need to take a long ruler (1 m) and, applying it to the floor, check if there is a gap between the ruler and the floor. If there is a gap exceeding 2 mm, alignment must be done. You can also check the floor using the building level.
The color of the self-leveling floor should match the interior of the room.
Variety of floor leveling compounds
Before proceeding to the question of how, let's talk about how this can be done. The composition for leveling the floor can be made independently by mixing cement with sand. In today's world, new technologies have appeared that use different mixtures that have not only binding properties, but also thermal and sound insulation. Leveling the floor with the use of such mixtures greatly facilitates the work.
There are many such solutions on the market. They mainly consist of quartz sand, cement, modifying additives and even pigments. There are special compounds for leveling concrete and wood floors. They are distinguished by strength, smoothness, a layer of fill and are divided into basic and finishing. The latter are truly full-weight flooring made of poured polymer or epoxy. And the base mixture is just a base that needs additional flooring. Of all the mixtures, builders note another type - thick-layer. They are used to fill in depressions and crevices, as well as to level large bumpy floors.
In addition to them, there are mixtures for repair - to eliminate major flaws, primers - for arranging concrete floors, sealing - for sealing cracks and holes.
If you need to speed up the hardening process of the mixture and at the same time improve its properties, you can buy a special plasticizer - an active additive that is added to mortars.
The main thing is to properly knead the mortar in order to level the floor in the room. It is necessary to prepare a container of 20 liters for the mixture. Then prepare water at the rate of 1 liter per 5 kg of dry mixture. To get a good homogeneous solution, you need to pour the dry composition into water, and not vice versa. Then, with a drill with a special nozzle, stir the mixture for 5-7 minutes. After that, take a break for 1-2 minutes and mix again.
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How to level the floor in the room?
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Level wood floor
If the floors are made of wood, you first need to check their strength. Rotten and sagging boards need to be replaced. To remove protrusions and any irregularities, the floor can be processed with a grinder. It is not necessary to take sheets of chipboard to level the wooden floor. Due to the release of formaldehyde during operation, they are harmful to human health.
After repair, the floor from the boards usually does not require special preparation. If there are irregularities on it, you can additionally lay plywood sheets.
If the wood floor is badly damaged or rotted, there is no need to invent something. It is better to get rid of old boards and make a concrete screed.
When a screed is made, the floor level rises. Therefore, you will need to change the location of the doors. To avoid this, you must first calculate the height of the screed for the free closing of the doors.
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Leveling the concrete floor
To level the floor of concrete, you need to make a screed. The order of work to be carried out is as follows.
- First, remove the entire floor covering to bare concrete.
- Examine all voids, irregularities, cracks, check the moisture content of the floor. Then buy building materials.
- Carry out a primer. 24 hours after priming, you can proceed to further work.
- Prepare a rough base - seal all cracks and holes with a dry mixture.
- Make the floor horizontal by making a concrete screed as follows. First, install special beacons indicating the height of the screed. Beacons can be bought at a building supermarket. Then prepare a cement-sand mortar and apply it to the floor, leveling it with a rule and checking it with a building level. The rule should be long enough to completely cover the distance between the beacons. The thickness of the laid mixture must be at least 7 mm.
- After drying the cement-sand composition, it is necessary to re-primer.
- Pour the self-leveling mixture and close the room for a day until completely dry. How fast does the mixture dry? Depends on the thickness of the fill: the smaller it is, the faster. If the room is hot, then after 2 hours you need to cover the entire floor with plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out too quickly. If this procedure is not done, cracks may appear. You can add any washing powder to the solution to prevent cracks.
Ceramic tiles can be laid on the smoothed concrete floor in the room after 3 days, and laminate, linoleum, parquet or carpet - in a week.
Major repairs are rarely complete without work such as leveling the floor. The quality of the preparation of this horizontal surface affects the service life of the materials laid on top - carpet, tile or laminate. And in order to level the floors correctly, you should use the appropriate technology. All of them are simple enough to do the work with your own hands.
Preparing for alignment
Before you level the floor, you should perform preparatory work, which consists in measuring the room, choosing the appropriate technique and materials. During the preparation process, the main problems with the quality of the flooring are identified, and its level is established. To determine all sizes and mark the floor, building (liquid) or laser levels are used.
Maximum leveling efficiency is ensured by using a material that matches the unevenness of the surface. For almost even floors it is worth using. Large differences require the laying of sheet materials, and sometimes even the use of a cement-sand mixture screed.
| floor material |
Height difference on the floor, mm |
Leveling material |
| Concrete | < 30 | self leveling compound |
| > 30 | traditional coupler | |
| Wood | < 20 | levelers, self-leveling compounds |
| 20 – 60 | plywood, OSB, gypsum boards | |
| > 60 | coupler |
Leveling concrete floors
To level the concrete pavement with small differences, it is most effective to use self-leveling mixtures, the main component of which is cement. The advantages of such materials are:
- the ability to level the floor with your own hands - to complete the work, it is enough to pour dry material with water and gradually lay it on concrete. The solution fills in irregularities, providing a perfectly smooth surface;
- high drying rate. After 3-4 hours, you can move on the surface, and after a day -;
- no shrinkage;
- relatively small minimum thickness, starting from 5 mm, which is especially convenient when leveling floors in rooms with low ceilings.
The disadvantages of self-leveling compounds include the need for careful preparation of the base. Concrete should be free of dust and defects. In addition, the cost of such a self-leveling floor is higher compared to other options. And the fluidity of the material requires the use of special tools.
Performing work with large differences in the concrete base
Cement screed is the cheapest way to level the floor. and is required in the presence of large differences. And in order to further simplify the process, guide structures are used -. They are fixed on the floor at a distance of 500–800 mm, leveling in one plane using a level.
The next step is to prepare a solution of the appropriate consistency, add plasticizers to it and put the resulting material on concrete. After the screed has set, the guides must be removed by filling the remaining grooves with mortar. After 4 weeks, the surface of the screed is rubbed and hardened by treating it with a primer. A faster way to level a large area is .
The main methods of leveling a wooden coating
If the base flooring is made of wood, do-it-yourself floor leveling can be done using sheet materials. One of them is plywood, laid on special logs. In this case, the floor height increases by more than 100 mm, and the room becomes lower. Therefore, this option is used mainly in the presence of serious irregularities and drops.
The reason for the significant increase in the level of the floor lies in its design:
- The first layer of flooring is made of wooden boards;
- Logs are fixed on the draft floor;
- Plywood is installed on top of the frame.
This provides a high degree of noise protection and thermal insulation. And most often this technique is used to install laminate on top of plywood sheets. After all, this material has increased requirements for the quality of the base.
You should know: Self-leveling logs allow you to compensate for the shrinkage of a wooden house with a floor made of the same wood. They are installed using special structures for lowering and raising wooden bars.
A fairly even floor is also obtained when using OSB oriented strand boards, the installation technology of which practically does not differ from leveling the coating with plywood. The difference lies in the need to partially level the wooden base before laying the sheets of material.
Alignment with OSBI sheets Large differences cannot be closed with OSB boards - the maximum distance should not exceed 6 cm. If there is a significant difference in floor levels, a cement screed is used.
Another way to quickly and relatively reliably level the floor is. To make this material more durable allows dry bedding and laying in two layers. The sheets are stacked on top of each other in a perpendicular direction. The technique is cleaner than screeds and provides alignment with almost any drop. However, the cost of laying such sheets is much higher. And the backfill can shrink over time, worsening the performance of the floor.
Floor leveling technology using GVL sheets Additional methods for processing a wooden base
A small difference in the surface of the wooden floor, within 0.5–2 cm, allows the use of such a technique as scraping. Works are carried out manually or mechanically, depending on the area of the premises. The process requires care and accuracy from the performer - protruding nail heads and other defects that can lead to breakage of the scraping machine must be eliminated. Therefore, it is worth entrusting the scraping to professionals. Moreover, they may have a tool that an inexperienced specialist does not have - high-performance scraping and parquetry grinders or hand tools that are indispensable when processing floors in the corner of a room.
If the difference in the levels of different sections of the floor is less than 20 mm, the surface is leveled using a self-leveling mixture. The principle of laying the material practically does not differ from the work on leveling the concrete base, although some nuances should be taken into account:
- before performing work, it is necessary to ensure the replacement of all worn and broken boards, as well as puttying cracks and defects;
- before pouring the solution, the floor is additionally primed and waterproofed;
- to further improve the performance of the treated surface, a reinforcing polyethylene mesh, which is laid on a layer of a cement mixture that begins to set, helps.
One of the cheapest ways to level the floor is to use PVA glue and putty made from sawdust. It consists of laying guides and applying a thick mixture of adhesive and base material to the floor. When such a mixture dries, plywood sheets are fixed on top of it.
Video selection on alignment technologies
In order to level the floor with its subsequent finishing, we need to properly prepare its base. Few of the owners can boast of having absolutely even floors in their apartment. Our floors come not only with an uneven surface, but also with an uneven plane, and therefore, this has a very negative effect on the future flooring, and also negatively affects the operation of the room. Well, let's devote our article today entirely to the initial stage of floor repair - leveling. Next, we will consider why it is necessary to level the floor, with which building mixtures you can level the floor, and also consider ways to level the floor with your own hands.
Why you need to level the floor
Many beginners ask themselves: why level the floor? The answer to this question is based on several factors. It is wrong to produce any floor finish on an uneven and unprepared surface.Firstly, if you lay, for example, then the unevenness of the floor will be immediately visible on its surface. When laying laminate or parquet on an uneven surface, it may creak in the area of irregularities or simply begin to deform and crack, especially at the joints.
Secondly, an uneven floor negatively affects the furniture when it stands skewed in the bottom side.
Thirdly, if you decide to take up the floor, then this must be done thoroughly, and not, as the people say: “tyap-blunder”.
You can level the floor yourself and for this it is not necessary to hire a team of builders and make unnecessary waste, because you can do this work yourself, there is absolutely nothing complicated about them.
Floor preparation for leveling
Of course, before leveling the floor, it must be cleaned and all measurements and calculations necessary for further work should be made. In view of the fact that the preparatory stage of the floor before leveling plays a very important role, we will dwell on it in more detail.Initially, we must remove the existing floor covering: linoleum, boards, floor tiles, skirting boards, etc. After you have dismantled the old floor material, the floor must be well cleaned of debris and dust.
Then, using two levels, long and small, we proceed to measure the level of the surface and the plane of the floor. What is the difference between a surface and a plane - you need to know for any leveling work. The surface of the floor, probably everyone understands that this is the level of the floor itself, but the plane of the floor, remember the course of geometry, is the location of the plate itself, or rather its evenness. In other words, we can say that the surface of the floor is the surface of the floor slab, and the plane of the slab is how correctly (even or crooked) it is laid.
To begin with, we take a long level and determine the so-called big picture from it in order to know what we have to work with. Thus, with the help of this level, we determine the plane of the slab, its evenness of laying. Knowing the skills of our builders, and how interestingly they built houses, very often our floor slab can be laid crookedly, which means that we will need a lot of leveling mixture on that part of the slope. Next, with the help of a long and a small level, we check the floor surface itself and the irregularities present on it. When we have made all the level measurements, we make a decision regarding the method of leveling the floor, which we will discuss below.
After you have taken measurements, consider laying any communications in the floor. Such communications can be autonomous heating pipes, electrical wiring, television and network cables, etc., all wires must be laid in a corrugation.
The final stage of preparation for leveling the floor will be the primer of its surface. For some reason, some people neglect this issue, either for the sake of economy, or because they do not understand the importance of this process. Firstly, the primer will provide a high-quality and reliable connection between the cement screed and the floor. Secondly, the primer will prevent the possible formation of cracks on the leveling screed, and also contributes to waterproofing. To prime the surface, carefully clean the floor surface, after which, using a roller, thoroughly treat the floor with a primer, not sparing it. After 2-4 hours, depending on the room temperature, the primer should dry.
What are the types of floor leveling
Today, 3 types of floor leveling are used:- Alignment with a self-leveling floor;
- Alignment with the help of a leveling solution, “along the beacons”;
- Alignment with wooden lag.
self-leveling floor
The self-leveling floor is made using an appropriate mixture, which is prepared in special proportions with water in order to ensure its uniform spreading around the entire perimeter of the room. Thus, you do not need to perform complex work with mixing the cement mixture, uniformly distributing it and leveling it with a rule.
This method will help you solve the issue of an uneven floor, if there are minor irregularities on its surface or if the plane of the slab goes a little to the side. Based on the depth of the irregularities and the "care" of the slab, it is necessary to calculate the level of the floor filling, while keeping in mind that the self-leveling floor should be from 3 to 35 mm high. Accordingly, if you need a screed over 35mm to level the floor, then this option is not suitable for you. In other cases, we recommend using this particular method of leveling the floor, in view of its prostate and low cost.
Lighthouse Alignment
A distinctive feature of this method of leveling the floor from the previous one is that a completely different leveling procedure is used here, first the so-called beacons are built along which the floor is actually leveled, that is, the beacons are an approximate level, the height of the new floor.
With this method, you can even out significant surface irregularities and floor planes. In addition, this method is suitable if you want to lay any communications in the floor, and if so, they must be hidden under a sufficient layer of screed, which can be solved by leveling with a leveling mortar.
Leveling with wooden joists
Unlike previous methods, this method does not use cement and other leveling mixtures. The alignment procedure consists in the fact that, with a step of several centimeters from each other, wooden slats are mounted on special anchors, at an adjustable height. Thus, you can raise the level of the floor to the height you need, and carry out overall communication structures under the floor, or else produce inter-floor insulation.
This type of floor leveling is suitable in cases where you have a cold floor, most often it happens in private houses or on the first floors of apartment buildings, so that there is space between the slab and the floor surface that can be used for laying insulation. Also, this method is an excellent solution if it is planned to carry out ventilation, drain and other overall communications under the floor.
Floor leveling methods
After you have decided on the method of leveling the floor, having completed all the preparatory steps in advance, we proceed to the leveling procedure. We will consider each alignment procedure in more detail.Self leveling floor
As mentioned earlier, the self-leveling floor includes a fairly simple leveling procedure. Self-leveling floors are a self-leveling mixture, due to its rare consistency, it spreads over the entire floor area, thereby more mixture flows into the places of depressions and recesses, and less into the places of sagging.
To make a self-leveling floor, you need to purchase a special mixture, where it will be written: "for self-leveling floor." On the packaging of this mixture, it will be written in what proportions it is diluted. To dilute the mixture, you will need a container, preferably a plastic bucket, as it will be more convenient for them to fill in the leveling mixture. Pour the required amount of dry mixture, pour the specified amount of water and knead the bulk substance in this container.
Further, when the bulk mixture is ready, from the far corner we make a gradual filling of the substance, moving towards the exit. The mixture should spread over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe room. When the mixture has spread, we take a spiked roller and use it to get rid of possible air bubbles that may be in the bulk mixture. Roll out very carefully, in different directions several times, this is necessary not only to exclude air bubbles inside the mixture, but also to evenly distribute the bulk mixture. The height of the needles in the roller must be greater than the height of the layer of bulk mixture. It is worth noting that if you use this method to level the floor in a large room, then the filling must be done after dividing the room into sectors, but at the same time, try to do everything quickly so that all sectors are connected together.
The advantage of the self-leveling floor is that it dries quickly and after a few hours you will be able to carry out further repairs.
Now for the calculations. If your room is 8 square meters, then you will need at least 6 bags of leveling compound for the self-leveling floor.
Leveling the floor with a leveler
Now let's look at the second way to level the floor - along the beacons. When the floor surface is prepared: cleaned and treated with a primer, we take special slats, which we will serve as beacons. Why "beacons" and what kind of rails are they? Let's start in order.
Since for this leveling method we will use a thick leveling mixture, it will not spread by itself, and therefore we will need to level it ourselves. If you think logically, then how can you level the room in this case? To do this, the so-called beacons are laid along the room, according to the level of which we will level the floor. Both perforated metal corners and any similar flat metal material can be used as beacons, but of course, it is best to give preference to perforated corners.
So, for laying beacons, we retreat from a parallel wall a few centimeters, in steps of a meter, and we lay them across the room. We fix the beacons themselves to the floor with the help of a building mixture: alabaster, or cement. With slapping movements, using a spatula, we apply a small amount of the mixture in a row, the layer of which depends on the new level of the floor. Then we put the beacon on top and level it. After making sure that it is evenly laid, we fill the voids between the floor and the lighthouse with this mixture. Then we do this procedure with the rest of the beacons. When the beacons are securely fixed, we begin work.
From the far corner, in the opening between the first and second lighthouses, we throw in a special cement mortar so that it is slightly higher than the level of the lighthouses and, using the rule, move to the sides, towards ourselves, and then from ourselves we level this area based on the rule on the lighthouses. Use a section no longer than a meter for alignment. Then, in the same way, we level the rest of the floor.
Such a floor will dry for at least 3 days. As for the amount of the mixture used, it is very difficult to name it, since it will depend on the area of \u200b\u200bthe room and the height of the floor being increased.
Leveling the floor with wooden logs
Well, the last option for leveling the floor is with the help of rails. In order to properly level the floor with wooden logs on your own, you will need special anchor bolts. Such a bolt consists of the anchor itself, which is inserted into the concrete floor and tightened with a nut, and a long threaded base, on which the fixing nut is screwed and a washer is placed, then we insert wooden logs through a pre-made hole, put a washer on top of the log on the anchor and fix it on top with a nut.
Thus, we mount the logs on the anchors, which are installed in increments of 50-60 cm from each other, and then, using the level, we adjust their evenness. Between the lags themselves there should be a distance of about 20-30 cm. In the upper part of the log, it is necessary to make special grooves so that the nut does not protrude beyond the surface of the log.
If necessary, heat-insulating material, such as glass wool, can be laid under the logs. Such a floor will be perfectly insulated and has good sound insulation. On top of the lag, the very surface of the new floor is made from plywood, or from chipboard sheets.
Frequent questions that beginners ask when leveling the floor:
How to level a concrete floorIf the surface of the concrete floor is flat and you need to make a high-quality leveling of the concrete floor surface, then the self-leveling floor is the best option for solving this problem.
How to level the floor under linoleum and parquet
Produced from these materials requires a perfectly flat surface, so it is recommended to use leveling with a self-leveling floor again. If the floor is very uneven, then its alignment can be done using a leveling solution. If for some reason the surface is not even enough, you can make a second layer of the floor, self-leveling, to obtain a high-quality even surface.
How to level the floor in the bathroom
If you are puzzling over the question: how to level the floor under the tiles in the bathroom, then there can be 2 ways to do this. The first way: to make a preliminary leveling of the floor surface and lay the tiles directly on this surface. The second way: leveling the floor directly when laying the tiles, that is, when you apply a large layer of adhesive mixture on the floor or tiles (depending on the laying technology) and level the floor already on the laid tiles.
Video instructions for leveling the floor:
Advantages of cement-sand screed:
Among the main disadvantages it is worth highlighting:
- long curing time;
- the need for skills to perform such work or the involvement of professionals.
Stretching starts with zero level definitions. To do this, you can use the building level, with which, at a height of about 1.5 m from the floor, a single line is created, from which the distance to the floor level is measured. You should focus on the minimum distance that will help determine the level of floor height, but it should be borne in mind that the minimum thickness of the screed is 2 cm. along the bottom of the wall, also outline the lines of the future floor level, which will help to make the screed as even as possible.
Next stage - displaying lighthouses, which allow you to achieve the most even surface. They can be used as T-shaped metal guides, which are attached to the base with adjustable screws. An easier way is to install guides on slides from a thick cement-sand mortar of the required height. The evenness of the lighthouses is constantly checked using the building level. The first is installed at a distance of 20 cm from the wall, the rest are mounted parallel to it in increments of 40-60 cm.
The basis of the self-leveling mixture is cement, but in addition to it, the composition also includes special modifying additives that can increase the plasticity and fluidity of the solution. Some additives make it possible to restrain the appearance of microcracks in the future. Depending on composition self-leveling compounds are divided into:
- high-strength;
- for ;
- fast hardening;
- thin-layer.
In addition, there are self-leveling mixtures on sale, designed not only for rough finishes, but also for the finish, as well as compositions with special properties. There are also compounds for rough leveling, they are designed for surfaces with significant irregularities.
All self-levelling compounds boast a number of advantages:
- simplicity and high speed of work with them;
- freezing speed;
- high strength indicators, so this leveling method is quite applicable for rooms with a high degree of traffic;
- resistance to temperature changes.
Cons of this method there is little leveling of the floor - these are, rather, its features. Large differences in the level of the floor surface cannot be leveled with a self-leveling floor. You need to work with mixtures very quickly - if you hesitate and allow drying, then a flat surface is unlikely to be achieved.
Working with such mixtures is really easy. They are usually leveled concrete and sand bases. Preparing the mixture consists in diluting the purchased powder with the right amount of water. For mixing, it is better to use a construction mixer or a drill with a nozzle. The composition is prepared in portions, since its properties are lost within 20 minutes. Naturally, before starting work, it is worth carefully preparing the original surface: clean it from dust, repair all cracks, and treat it with a primer.
When the mixture is ready, it is immediately poured onto the floor. The principle of its operation is based on the law of gravity, so you do not have to install beacons and level the solution with them. It is worth remembering that this solution is self-leveling, and not self-spreading, so after pouring it on the floor you need to smooth with a wide spatula or needle roller. It is better to immediately fill the entire floor in the room, but if its area is large, but the solution is applied in strips, acting very quickly and not allowing the edge of the strip to dry out. In this case, only professionals can achieve a perfectly flat surface.
The curing speed depends on the room temperature, humidity and layer thickness. On average, after 6-12 hours you can move on the surface, and after 3-4 days - mount the finish coat.
No. 4. Leveling with gypsum-fiber sheets (GVL)
Leveling with GVL is called a dry screed. This process is much simpler and faster, but the quality of the finished screed is inferior to the monolithic one. A layer of expanded clay is laid under the GVL, which plays. The technology allows the use of other materials that have similar thermal insulation properties.
GVL alignment begins with surface cleaning from dust and dirt, after which a waterproofing material is laid on it, which can be a plastic film. Its strips are laid with an overlap of about 10-15 cm on each other and with a 10 cm approach to the walls. It is better to use an edge tape around the perimeter of the room, which is located between the plastic film and the expanded clay layer.
Expanded clay must be carefully compacted and leveled at the intended level. The first plate is mounted in the closest to
To date, leveling the floor with your own hands using a screed is the best solution. This is due to the fact that the process itself is quite simple, does not require special tools, knowledge and skills. And there are other ways too.
You just need to follow the instructions that we will provide you with, we will describe in detail the process of arranging the floors in various ways.
Classification and various methods of screed
Leveling the floor in an apartment with a screed is very simple, but there are several types of floors, so their classification was created:
Simple coupler
Actually a simple screed, which is made from concrete and impurities to increase its volume, in order to save money. But such savings do not affect strength and durability.
national team
The process of creating such a coating is very different from the standard, because many consider it a special variety, but still it remains the same screed.
floating
It is produced according to the same principle as a standard screed, but a floating layer is poured on top, which significantly increases strength and improves adhesion processes.
monolithic
It is the most durable and highest quality option. The whole mixture is poured in one layer, forming a purely cementitious surface without impurities and additives that weaken the material. As a result, you get almost natural natural stone as your floor.
To make a screed of sand and cement, you need to follow the following step-by-step instructions:
- Cleaning and priming of the base surface.
- Using a laser or water level, find the highest and lowest point in the room. They will serve as a guide. From the highest place, make a mark on the nearest wall about 4-5 centimeters, this will be the level of the future floor.
- We mix cement with sand in a large container, in the proportion of 1 part of cement to 4 parts of sand. To do this, we use a special mixer or nozzle for a perforator.
- We install beacons on self-tapping screws, which we screw in half a meter increments around the entire perimeter of the room. Then we display them in such a way that each beacon is strictly level relative to the starting mark and each other.
- We fix the screws with our mixture along the entire length, and wait for them to harden.
- After that, we begin to actively knead the concrete, and pour it between the beacons.
- You can spread the mixture using the rule by which we evenly distribute the concrete over the area.
- After the whole room is covered with a new surface, we wait two days for its complete hardening and you can move around on the new floor without any problems.
As you can see, the process is not too complicated, but still requires some care from you.
Bulk mixtures
Now you will learn how to level the floor in the apartment with the help of a self-leveling mixture, which itself will be installed in the desired position. First, let's analyze what a bulk mixture is - this is a substrate that is diluted with water, in the proportion indicated on the package and, pouring over the area, begins to level itself to an ideal horizontal level.
Complete drying occurs in the same way as with a floor screed; for confident movement on the surface, it is enough to wait about twenty hours.
The process of installing a self-leveling floor
Equipping the floor with such a mixture is much easier than using a screed, since you do not need to look for the maximum and minimum points, set beacons, wait until they harden and other unnecessary actions. You just need to completely clean the surface of the entire room from dust and dirt, prime and pour the necessary amount of self-leveling mixture on the old floor.
The layer thickness should not exceed 3.5 cm. When performing work on pouring the solution, you need to remember that the self-leveling floor “gets up” very quickly.
After that, using the same rule or a wooden mop, distribute it evenly over the area. After a few hours, the mixture should straighten out on its own and form a flat surface, after which it will completely harden in a day.
GVL or dry leveling
Gypsum fiber sheets are a modern method of leveling floors, which helps to level the floor with any difference very quickly and without a drop of water. They are great for high-rise buildings where there is a risk of flooding neighbors in the process of pouring watery mixtures.
For laying on the floor, it is advisable to choose a waterproof gypsum-fiber sheet (GVLV) - it is resistant to high humidity.
GVL installation process
Installation takes place in the following steps:
- Complete cleaning of the surface from the old coating.
- Primer.
- Installation of a compensating tape that compensates for the expansion and contraction of sheets.
- Gluing sheets to the tape with glue.
- Finishing the seams with glue residue or any putty.
Laying plywood floor
If you prefer to use natural finishes, then plywood is exactly what you need. It is made from natural wood, which is glued into a single denser and thicker sheet with natural adhesives without the admixture of toxic materials.
Plywood comes in a variety of thicknesses and strengths to suit your needs. A floor made of such material is light, durable, and absolutely even if everything is done according to the instructions, which tells how to level the surface and adhering to all requirements.
The process begins with the installation of beacons, which are self-tapping screws located over the entire surface at a certain height.
Mounting process
Now we will tell you how to level the floor under linoleum, laminate, tile or any other material using plywood yourself. The whole process is very simple and takes place according to the following technology:
- First, we determine the highest and lowest points in the room. To do this, use a laser or water level, they will help to carry out the marking as accurately and very quickly as possible. We mark the indicated points around the entire perimeter of the room.
- Then we mark the lines where the point support elements will be installed to adjust the level of the future floor.
- In increments of fifty centimeters, we distribute the support pillars along the marked lines.
- After all the supports are installed, set them according to the level, so that each one is exactly relative to the first exposed support.
- Then we fasten the bars to the supports along the entire room.
- We screw transverse bars on top of the longitudinal bars, which will serve as a support for plywood sheets. The bars must be screwed in increments of thirty, forty centimeters.
- We install sheets of plywood on top of our frame and fasten them with self-tapping screws or nail them.
To effectively cut plywood while saving material, effort and time, lay the sheets on the floor BEFORE installing the joists
Joints between plywood sheets can be covered with glue, sealant or resin to prevent moisture from penetrating from under the floor.
Which floor is faster and more profitable
If you decide to make yourself a flat floor under a linoleum laminate or tile, but still wondered which one would be more profitable and faster to do, then you have come to the right place, we will help you with this issue. First you need to separate the two concepts of fast and cheap, they are incompatible in this matter. First of all, let's disassemble the floor, which can be leveled quickly.
The screed and self-leveling floor will dry more than stock, while the wooden floor is built in one day, after which you can immediately continue working on it. So in this matter, of course, the fastest way will be the construction of a wooden floor under plywood linoleum.
If you want to save money, then leveling the floor according to the screed principle will be the best solution for you. Since sand and cement have the lowest cost compared to self-levelling compounds and wood, this floor will be the most beneficial for you. So, if you want to level the floor under linoleum and save money at the same time, then the floor screed is for you.
