How to level a cement floor under linoleum. How to level the floor under linoleum

Leveling a concrete floor under linoleum is one of the urgent tasks in modern construction and repair, since the specified flooring is still popular and its high-quality installation requires certain surface requirements. It is imperative to level the floor in cases where there are areas with level differences in height, damage to the base (chips, cracks, grooves and other deformations).

The life and quality of the floor covering, practicality, and aesthetics depend on the correctness of the alignment. Subject to a carefully prepared base and strict adherence to the technology, after laying, the linoleum will last at least 25 years while maintaining all its positive properties.

How and how to level the concrete floor under linoleum

For linoleum, it can be done in several ways. Each of them is suitable for certain operating conditions, the size and type of defects, features renovation works... All three methods can be used in carrying out repairs; they do not require the involvement of special equipment, a large number of specialists.

Alignment methods:

1) Self-leveling floor - fluid self-leveling mixtures are used. It is very simple to lay the screed: the substance is simply poured onto the surface and evenly distributed over the area independently, compensating for all the bumps, grooves, cracks. There is no need to manually level the surface, since a feature of such solutions is the ability to take the desired position without outside interference.

2) Semi-dry screed - a thick leveling mixture is used, then manually distributed over the level. Next, you need to grout, finish the screed with a special finishing mixture.

3) The screed is dry - mainly assembled from sheet materials, which are installed on a leveled expanded clay mound.

The most reliable and durable are considered semi-dry and wet screed, they are not afraid of sudden changes in temperature, moisture, but take time to dry. A dry screed, due to the use of gypsum fiber or wooden sheets, is inferior in strength to concrete analogs, is afraid of moisture, is more expensive, but it is installed within 1-2 days.

Before leveling the floor, a number of measures are taken to prepare the surface: they dismantle the old floor covering, assess the bases for chips, cracks, degree of wear, clean the surface, carefully remove the debris and dust residues. Next, use one of the alignment methods, wait for the right time and lay the linoleum.

Why is it needed

Leveling the concrete floor under the linoleum must be done. Linoleum is universal material with a foam-rubber structure reinforced with a backing. If you lay it on an unprepared surface with differences in the level of the base, bumps and depressions, then very soon it will simply break in places of deformation, unable to withstand the effort.

Linoleum does not respond well to changes, even if it comes about smooth irregularities, it will still deform due to poor fit. Sharp irregularities can immediately tear material that cannot withstand tensile loads concentrated at one point.

Alignment methods

Before deciding what to level before laying linoleum, you need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Most often, the floors are equal to a cement screed, using chipboard or plywood sheets, self-leveling mixtures are used. The choice of a specific method depends on the characteristics of the operation of the room, the estimate and the quality of the concrete base (size, number of deformations).

Method 1: leveling the base with slab materials

The method is suitable for floors, the base of which has a considerable number of irregularities, defects and drops. Laying chipboard or plywood sheets is the fastest and easiest way to level the floor with your own hands. Special plywood is used, impregnated with moisture-resistant compounds.

Usually, sheets are chosen with a thickness of 10-14 millimeters, they are mounted with self-tapping screws to the previously installed logs. The lags are aligned horizontally, in their role are square wooden blocks sections of 4-5 centimeters, pre-impregnated with antiseptic compounds. They are installed with an optimal step so that the plywood sheets fall in the middle of the bars.

Damper tape is glued around the perimeter of the room, beacons are installed. Next, the floor is covered with expanded clay or quartz sand, expanded polystyrene can also be used.

Sheets must be adjusted as close as possible to one another, glued and / or fastened with self-tapping screws, and after the joints and holes are processed using putty, be sure to clean sandpaper.

Method 2: leveling with thin screeds

In this case, can be used cement mortars and self-leveling polymer-based mixtures. The mixtures are suitable for pouring in a thin layer maximum 1 cm thick and serve as finishing... Use is possible special formulations for stairs, treatment of serious cracks. Cement mixture can be poured to eliminate more serious defects and distortions.

When pouring different polymer mixtures, the surface is first treated with a primer, and then a screed is made. If there are irregularities above 2-3 millimeters, it is better to choose a cement-acrylic mortar, which can be used to make a layer up to 6 centimeters thick. Self-leveling mixtures are prepared according to the recipe indicated in the instructions, poured in parts, distributed with a needle roller. Step-by-step pouring is performed quickly, since the mixture sets in a short time.

To do the leveling of the floor with your own hands concrete mortar, you will need levels, drywall guides, a screed mixture, spatulas, a regular set of repair tools. Concrete is prepared according to the following recipe: 3 parts of M200 cement for 1 part of sand, 0.5 part of water. You can add gravel, glass, expanded clay to the composition. Prepare the screed in a concrete mixer, mixing first the sand with a part of the cement and water afterwards. You will also need containers for mixing the solution.

The amount of screed is determined before pouring concrete according to the state of the base - if the slope of the surface and potholes, bumps are no more than 3 centimeters, it is enough to fill in a layer 7-8 centimeters high. When more serious distortions need to be leveled, a foundation is laid.

How to do it yourself under linoleum:

1) Dismantling the old coating, thoroughly cleaning the floor, removing dust.

2) Investigation of all defects and irregularities, determination of the lower and upper points of irregularities, marking the floor with a laser level (you can use a regular level and a nylon cord), installation of lighthouse rails.

A straight line is drawn on the wall around the perimeter of the room, distances are measured from it down to the plate itself. Where the shortest indent is the upper point of the unevenness, they retreat upward by 3-6 centimeters and draw a line. This is the height of the future floor, which is guided by when setting the guides.

3) Reinforcement of the floor with metal reinforcement (if necessary) in mesh format, the pitch and diameter of which is selected in accordance with the thickness of the screed.

4) A damper tape is glued along the lower edge of the wall just above the level of the future floor, which will help the screed to survive the impact external factors and will help to avoid cracking.

5) Installation of beacons - it can be humidified wooden bar, profile for drywall sheets... The step between the guides should be smaller the tool selected for spreading, leveling the mixture.

6) Dilution of the mixture (or preparation of concrete).

7) Pouring the mixture between the beacons. It is better to serve from the far corner of the room, gradually approaching the exit. When the pouring is completed, the solution is distributed, the surface is leveled.

8) Cover the screed with plastic wrap for a day, then remove it, dismantle the lighthouses and rub the seams.

Method 3: align with mattes

To level the floor under linoleum based on foamed PVC without glue, various substrates are chosen, which simultaneously act as a sound, heat-insulating layer and eliminate irregularities. When choosing, take into account the type and size of floor irregularities, as well as the properties of each of the substrates.

Linoleum substrates:

• Jute - the most practical and durable, are not afraid of moisture, fit on glue under linoleum. They can be of different thicknesses, capable of leveling surfaces with drops of up to 3 millimeters.
• Cork - made from crumbs. This is a natural environmentally friendly material that is afraid of local mechanical stress from sharp heels and furniture legs. Possesses excellent heat and sound insulation properties. Usually used for arranging the floor in children's rooms, mounted on double-sided tape.
• Natural linen - such substrates are cheaper than jute ones, but in comparison with them they have a much shorter service life.
• Combined underlays - a mixture of linen, jute, wool, impregnated with antifungal agents and flame retardants. Can be performed as one self cover, and from several layers, are mounted on mastic or glue. Well suited for home use.
• Foam plastic are cheap, do not cope well with loads, have a short service life, therefore they are usually used together with cork or as a temporary base.

Video: leveling the floor under linoleum

Do-it-yourself floor leveling under linoleum can be done easily, efficiently and quickly, provided the right choice materials and technology, compliance with all requirements and standards. It is advisable to carry out calculations in advance, having carefully thought out and written down everything, use everything in the work necessary tools and quality materials, which will provide the best result and make the floor under the linoleum even, durable, strong and reliable.

Are you planning to lay linoleum in the room, but think that the floors are not even enough? You are absolutely right - they need to be brought back to normal operating condition.

Leveling the floor is one of the critical milestones works in construction and repair. Careful leveling should not be neglected, since a floor with defects can be the main reason for the rapid deterioration of its coating - linoleum.

The choice of a method for leveling the floor before laying linoleum depends on the following factors:

• repair time;
• the nature of the planned work;
• the strength of the base and coating material (linoleum is different in thickness.

It is also worth considering the factor associated with heat and sound insulation.

Preparation

Regardless of the way in which the leveling of the floor under the linoleum will be performed, there are several mandatory operations for each type of rough coating.

In addition, you need to take into account the thickness of the linoleum that you plan to install. A thin fabric needs very high quality work, since even minor irregularities can be seen. In another version, a thick material can make it visually smoother concrete base or a wooden canvas.

Based on this, before leveling the surface for linoleum, you initially need to assess the condition of the floor well, calculate the angle of inclination, and if there is one, determine its direction. Based on the characteristics obtained, choose optimal method... To a large extent, this procedure will depend on which base of the floor is wooden or concrete floor.

Methods for preparing the floor for laying linoleum

Floor leveling methods depend on the initial condition of the floor and the material. They include such a range of options.

1. Preparing the floor from wood material the way of scraping... They use it with small irregularities, starting the operation of scraping with special equipment or with their own hands. Here the floor turns out High Quality.
2. Leveling with plywood sheets. This option is considered cheap, does not take much time and effort.
3. Getting rid of irregularities with special solutions and mixtures. Excellent for those surfaces where there are differences in height of about 20 mm.
4. This method of preparing the floor is appropriate when there are significant differences in height levels.

To work with concrete surface for the subsequent laying of linoleum, you can use such optimal technology like a floor screed. All its advantage lies in a rather simple execution scheme, which does not require labor-intensive preparation of the solution and the implementation of a complex technique for leveling the composition based on cement. In general words, this method makes it very easy to fill the floor, and the process itself will take only one hour of work.

Here, a mixture is used as a solution, which, in addition to standard cement, in its combination includes fine sand and several modifiers that add ready mix high strength and plastic properties. Significant indicators of reliability finished material even a thin layer of such a screed has. This makes it possible to make a flat surface in an already existing plane.

The technology of floor leveling, which has long been used in practice, with the help of special mixtures, is carried out according to the following sequence of actions.

1. Remove all pieces of furniture from the room.
2. Clean the floor surface of dirt, debris and cover well with a primer that can penetrate deeply.
3. Then the standard cement-sand mortar or with glue for laying tiles, repair the base in individual parts rooms. At the same time, it is necessary to eliminate all existing irregularities. The purpose of such procedures is to reduce the cost of a leveling mass (otherwise, a screed) and to reduce the surface's ability to absorb moisture.
4. Prepare the solution correctly. You will need a significant container size (bucket, basin) and a mixer for construction needs. Water is poured into the container, then the ready-made dry mixture is poured and the composition is mixed well using a construction mixer. The density of the solution is of great importance, which depends on the layer to be poured: if it is necessary for it to be thick, then it is better to prepare a thicker consistency. For a 2-3 mm layer of screed, a mixture similar in consistency to sour cream is suitable.
5. A properly prepared solution is poured directly onto the floor surface, then it is spread with a wide spatula throughout the room and rolled out with a spiked roller - it allows the mixture to become smoother in the horizontal plane.
6. Then the operations are repeated again - the ingredients are mixed in the same proportions. The procedure for applying to the surface is repeated. Only at this stage is it worth remembering the ability of filling made by this method to absorb moisture. A fresh portion of the solution will need to be combined with the previous one. Ideal option will do this when, at the moment of combining the compositions, they are equally liquid. Therefore, the main emphasis is on a high quality two-layer primer and speed of operations. It is better to do them with a partner - while one is working with an already poured screed, the other is preparing a new portion of the solution.

Usually, already on the second day after work on such a floor, you can safely move around. It is worth laying linoleum only after the screed has dried.

As for the composition of the mixture, it can be different. The simplest is one part of M400 grade cement and three parts of sifted and refined sand. Dry substances are thoroughly mixed construction mixer or a drill with a nozzle in a spacious bowl. Then all this is poured into a bowl of water in a ratio of 1 to 2 and is also thoroughly mixed.

Preparation of wooden floors

If you want to prepare wood floors for laying linoleum, then first of all they need to be restored. Old paint should be removed using a trowel and a hair dryer used in construction. The joints of the boards and the entire floor area must be leveled using a grinding machine or by scraping in order to eliminate large irregularities and differences (more than 1 mm).

Then the preparation stage can be performed in one of two ways:

• using putty on the joints of the boards placed on the floor;
• using plywood sheets or chipboard.

The first option is more difficult and time-consuming. But it is used if the floors are new and there is no need for sealing joints. Putty joints are suitable and if there is no danger that the old wooden canvases will creak and deform, causing inconvenience in operation.

The second option is considered the best, since it produces a more uniform and uniform base. No need to lay a layer here waterproofing material, since the tree should not store moisture in itself, but on the contrary - be able to ventilate and give moisture to the lower layer. If this principle is not followed, then mold will appear on the surface of the chipboard or plywood sheets and the material will begin to rot.

In this case, foamed polyethylene can be used as a sound-insulating layer. In fact, it turns out that it is best to prepare a wooden floor in such a way that it does not include creaky canvases. For this purpose, boards are attached to the logs. When laying plywood sheets or chipboard throughout the room, you need to prepare in advance a shock-absorbing tape made of special polyethylene foam in order to prevent the harmful effects of thermal expansion. To avoid squeaking, you need to leave a gap of 0.5-1 mm between the sheets.

Floor preparation with plywood sheets

The most popular is the leveling of the wood floor with plywood. Performing it in accordance with all the rules, you can get a very even floor, on the surface of which you can lay any coating.

Surface preparation operations using plywood sheets look like this.

It's great when the width of the canvas matches the size of the room. So you can lay the covering with one whole piece linoleum. In addition to the ease of installation, this floor covering will serve reliably and look beautiful, look uniform, without additional seams.

If this is not possible, you should opt for linoleum with a width that would make it possible to leave a seam in the center of the floor. But not always a seam in the center of the room will be appropriate. Based on the location of interior items in the room, it can be removed to the side, for example, under a future wardrobe or sofa. When purchasing linoleum, you should take it with a certain margin - approximately 5-8 cm from all sides.

DIY linoleum laying

Today there are several ways to level wooden floors, but most often they use scraping, level the floor using self-leveling mixtures, PVA-based putty and using plywood. Scraping a wooden floor is the most time consuming and rather efficient way for leveling the wooden floor. It is used if there will be no laying of the floor covering, but only varnishing. There are two known methods of scraping - manual and mechanical. In the manual method, the floor is scraped out with a glass shard or a hand-held scraper. This method is very time consuming and ineffective.

Manual scraper

It is recommended to use a scraper when leveling. A deafening noise is generated by a running looping machine. Therefore, you should purchase high quality ear muffs. Respiratory organs dust should be protected with a respirator. Starting mechanical scraping, you need to prepare the room: remove the curtains, cover the furniture with plastic wrap. This way the room environment is preserved from finely dispersed wooden dust that is formed when the floor is scraped.

As for the scraper itself, there are also some precautions that help to avoid damage to it. Carpet buttons and nails pose a particular danger to the scraper blades. When starting work, you should remove all buttons and, with the help of a doboiner, sink the heads of nails below the level. They begin to cycle from one corner of the room, slowly moving like a "snake". Remove the top contaminated layer, carefully fill up the cracks and holes in the floor with putty

When the putty is completely dry and polymerized, which happens after about 5-8 hours, you can cycle further. If the board is severely damaged, it is removed, turned over and laid there. This action eliminates a significant difference in colors floor, which is inevitable when replacing a damaged board with a new one. Processing at skirting boards and in hard-to-reach places is carried out using a manual angle scraper. At the end of the cycle, you need to wait until the dust has completely settled, and vacuum the room. Once the floor is completely clean, it can be varnished.

Before applying varnish, the floor is wiped with a lint-free cloth moistened with solvent (white spirit). If you plan to put a new one on the old floor, then one cycling procedure will not help, or rather, it will not be enough. Moreover, if the floor is old and warped. The floor surface must be perfectly flat. Mixes for leveling wooden floors can help. They are used to get a perfectly even coating 5 to 20 millimeters thick on a plank floor.

How to level the floor using self-leveling mixtures?

Leveling a wooden floor using self-leveling mixtures is as follows. First, a wooden base is prepared for applying the mixture. All boards that are springy are additionally attached to the logs with screws or self-tapping screws. The heads of nails and screws are sunk below floor level. The base is cleaned of paint or varnish residues and sanded.

Wide seams or voids between the boards are sealed with acrylic putty or a leveling compound that is diluted to a thicker consistency. When the putty is completely dry, the surface is primed with a special moisture-proof primer. Such a primer provides the necessary adhesion of the self-leveling mixture to wooden base... The walls around the entire perimeter of the room are pasted over with insulating material. In the place where one coating passes into another, an expansion joint is created. It can be done using a thin strip of expanded polystyrene. Using the water level, the level of the self-leveling floor is marked. This takes into account the minimum permissible thickness coating specified by the manufacturer. V doorway a wooden plank is installed, corresponding in height to the planned floor level.

Note! If, simultaneously with leveling the floor, it is planned to raise the floor level to a significant height - the filling is carried out in two steps.

To primed wooden floor with the help of a construction stapler, a reinforcing mesh is attached. The joints of the mesh canvases are connected with an overlap of at least 5 centimeters. Following the manufacturer's instructions, a leveling mixture is prepared, It is thoroughly mixed using a drill with a special nozzle. After mixing, the mixture is left to stand for 10-15 minutes to obtain a more uniform consistency, and mix again. The prepared mixture is poured onto the prepared reinforced surface. Using a rubber roller with spikes, remove the formed air bubbles, and then level the surface of the self-leveling floor using a rubber squeegee, spatula or rule.

Drying and installation of plywood

Drying of the surface is carried out strictly in accordance with the recommendations of the manufacturer of the self-leveling mixture. When using this method, it must be borne in mind that self-leveling mixtures for leveling have a minimum acceptable coating thickness. Consequently, the floor level will inevitably rise. Although, the ease of use of these mixtures is many times greater than this very relative flaw. To date, quite a lot of popularity has been acquired by putty mixtures based on PVA glue and sawdust... With such a filler, you can level a wooden floor that has a fairly large area, and its cost makes such work also economically profitable. A screed based on the technology of a mixture of PVA and sawdust is equipped as follows. On the pre-cleaned floor, beacon slats are stuffed, which are set according to the level.

Plywood installation

The space between the slats is filled with a mixture of PVA and sawdust (the consistency of the mixture should resemble thick sour cream). In order for the sawdust not to pull the water out of the PVA too quickly, they are pre-moistened and squeezed slightly, allowing excess moisture to drain off. If it is necessary to apply a thick layer of putty, apply 2-3 layers of coating, 1-2 centimeters thick. Each subsequent layer is applied when the previous one is completely dry and shrinks.

The resulting surface is checked using a level. Where necessary, apply additional portions of the putty. The main disadvantage with this method is that it takes a lot of time for the PVA to dry. And yet, the quality of the resulting surface may be insufficient for further laying the floor covering. However, even in this case, it is advisable to use this leveling method, since it allows you to significantly save on building materials, using in the future for alignment thinner, which means cheaper plywood.

Leveling a wooden floor with plywood

The most popular today is the leveling of a wooden floor with plywood. With this method, observing all the requirements for the quality of work, a perfectly flat one is provided on which any floor covering is laid. This method is most justified in the case when a wooden one is leveled. In this case, it is better to use plywood FC, class 4/4 and higher, having a thickness of at least 12 millimeters (with sufficiently flat surfaces, plywood of 8-10 millimeters can be used). Align with plywood as follows.

Begin leveling the floor by installing beacons. Self-tapping screws are used as beacons, screwed onto the desired height over the entire surface. Lighthouses are installed in the corners of squares with sides of 20-30 centimeters. Using a level and a screwdriver, beacons of the required height are set, after which the logs are laid. Logs are plywood strips 30-35 millimeters wide. The logs are attached to the floor with glue (PVA-joiner, PVA-moment, other adhesives for wood) or self-tapping screws. In places of voids between the logs and the boards, plywood pieces greased with glue are placed.

Plywood sheets are prepared for laying on a wooden floor. The best is to pre-cut the plywood sheets into squares with sides of about 60 centimeters (such squares are obtained when cutting a standard plywood sheet of 125x125 centimeters into four parts). After cutting, the ends of the workpieces are carefully examined, looking for delaminations that are often not visible on whole sheets of plywood. If delamination is found, such a sheet is replaced with another. Plywood squares are laid on the formed log grid so that the joints of the sheets fall on the logs. Laying should be done with an offset, in the manner brickwork so that there is no intersection of the four seams at one point. Then the plywood is cut exactly to size. Special attention given configuration in places of ledges, arches, bay windows, etc.

Advice! To save material, time and effort when cutting plywood, you need to lay the plywood sheets on the floor BEFORE. By marking the joints of the plywood sheets with chalk, you will install the logs exactly in the required place.

Plywood sheets are attached to the logs with countersunk head screws, pre-countersinking the attachment points. Leveling with plywood produces a floor that is level enough to accommodate any kind of flooring. When leveling a wooden floor under linoleum, the plywood is roughly sanded. Particular attention is paid to the joints and attachment points to the joists. After sanding, the entire surface of the plywood is varnished. When planning to lay the laminate in the future, you can immediately lay a substrate (cork sheets or polyethylene foam) on the plywood, on which the laminate is then laid.

If you plan to lay linoleum, then after leveling the surface with plywood, you need to nail down thin sheets of fiberboard. After that, glue is applied to these sheets and the linoleum itself is glued. In addition, fiberboard under linoleum must be nailed to plywood. It should be remembered that the joints of linoleum and fiberboard should not coincide, so that gaps do not form. Linoleum must be marked so that all pieces are in remote and inconspicuous corners of the room.

Leveling a wooden floor under linoleum and laminate video

Read on - find out more!

4 years ago

If you make repairs yourself, then using a manual scraper to level the floor is long and laborious, you need to buy a scraper if you don't have one, so it is best to level the floor with plywood or call professional craftsmen. The machine removes everything very quickly and fairly efficiently, the most the best way for leveling floors.

From the author: hello dear reader. Quite recently, one of my friends decided to renovate the floor in the apartment and wondered how to do it quickly and cheaply. We talked, and after discussing this issue, he decided to stay on linoleum. The coating is relatively cheap, has good thermal insulation properties, it happens with a special lining, is absolutely not afraid of moisture, and there is nothing at all complicated in the installation. There was only one question - how to do it right. He had one peculiarity in his apartment: some rooms had wooden floors, while others had old concrete screed... I had to tell him how to level the floor under the linoleum.

Why is this needed?

Linoleum is a universal porous rubberized material on a substrate. If it is laid on an unprepared surface that has various flaws, such as pits, depressions, cracks with a difference in height, then soon it will have to be repaired or patched.

The fact is that leveling the floor is a mandatory procedure. Linoleum does not tolerate bumps and pits, and if the floor has smooth gradients, then it will not adhere in this place, it will create unnecessary noise when walking, bumps and "waves" will appear. Relatively sharp irregularities after a while will completely rupture the coating, since it does not tolerate tensile loads concentrated at one point.

A source: http://masternpol.ru

Alignment methods

Depending on the type of coating, alignment is distinguished:

• cement screed;
• plywood, chipboard sheets;
• cycling;
• putty

A source: http://otdelkaexp.ru

Let's consider each method in more detail.

Cement strainer

This method suitable for rooms with extremely uneven surface... The cheapest way to make a screed is to use ordinary cement. With a thick layer, even in small room it will take a lot of solution. Therefore, you will most likely need a concrete mixer.

It is advisable to reinforce the layer with special welded cells, which are sold in any hardware store and are relatively inexpensive. But you will get a high-quality surface that will not crack in the future.

The solution is prepared in a ratio of one to three. Also, do not forget to stick a damper tape around the perimeter, otherwise damage cannot be avoided even with reinforcement. And in order to protect yourself from repairs to neighbors, in the event of a burst of heating or other communication, we recommend that you make the floor waterproofing before pouring. To remove air from the mixture, walk over the surface with a needle roller, which will exclude further emergence small potholes left over from air bubbles.

In order for the screed to be perfectly flat, before pouring it is necessary to expose the beacons using a hydro level or a laser level. Place the lighthouses using a mixture of putty and alabaster, in the ratio of one to four - thus, the mixture will set very quickly, and the lighthouse will not have time to "lead".

The lighthouse is attached to the floor by means of a "slide" of the mixture, on the peak of which the lighthouse is placed and aligned with the marks and the usual level. The two perpendicular beacons are also compared and adjusted. "Slides" should be done at a distance of 30-40 cm, so that you can safely drive the rule and not be afraid that the lighthouse will bend. See how simple everything is done:

The disadvantage of this method is that a thick layer, 5-10 cm, dries for a very long time - it happens about 10 days, with high humidity in the House. If you can't wait that long, and you can pay a little more, then a special leveling compound is an excellent option. Dries in a day, has the most durable structure, mechanical strength achieved in a smaller layer than conventional cementitious coatings.

Most often, this method is used in order to prepare linoleum for laying.

Plywood alignment

If you need to align quickly, then this is exactly the case. Faster way you won't find. In a room with a small area, this operation can be carried out in 3-4 hours and immediately after that you can start laying linoleum.

If the floor is wooden and relatively even, with only slight flaws - for example, at the convergence of the boards (chips of a thick layer old paint, small potholes), then plywood alignment will be the best of all methods.

The plywood sheet is simply laid on the wooden floor and screwed on with self-tapping screws. The method is also suitable for cement floors with minor damage and no obvious bumps. In order to achieve an even more impressive result - a high-quality flat surface, plywood is covered with sheets of fiberboard on top - it is very cheap, but it will make your floor perfect.

A source: http://polprofy.ru

Plywood or chipboard - in essence, a universal material for self-leveling, can hide both small differences and large flaws. If, after beating off the floor level, you find a large drop, you will need a method of fastening to logs.

The lags are stacked as follows. Boards with a width of 30–40 mm are cut to the required length of the room. Then, along the line of the future placement of the board, a special glue for wood based on PVA is laid out. It is not recommended to use cement, as it is too fragile and will quickly collapse.

Lags are set by levels in the same way as beacons. The voids between the glue bridges are filled with wedges made of boards or strips of wood with glue. Lags are laid out at a distance of 50 cm from each other. If a large load will be concentrated on the floor, this distance should be reduced.

To save material, more easy installation and preventing incorrect sawing, solid sheets of plywood are laid on the floor with an overlap, marked at intersections and cut according to marks.

Remember two important points. First, do not allow the cutting lines of the four sheets to converge at one point; lay them so that only two points converge. And second, leave allowances of about 7 mm between the wall and the chipboard sheets - the gap will act as a compensator for thermal expansion and will eliminate excess noise from friction during bending.

After the glue has dried, the plywood sheets are screwed on, having previously processed the edges with sandpaper or a rasp. They are screwed in with the same wood screws. Not to be confused with self-tapping screws for metal! For those on wood, the pitch of the carving is twice that of those on metal.

Cycling

The method consists in removing with the help of a special apparatus upper layer wood, while making it level. What kind of special apparatus? In a nutshell, it is a large plane with a round or band knife.

Attention: when working, use personal protective equipment (headphones, glasses) - in no case should you use the machine without protective covers or other devices!

To use this apparatus, prepare the surface. It is required to remove all metal objects from the floor, drive in nails. Moreover, not half a millimeter, but deeper than you will cut. The depth of penetration of the knife in the scraper is adjustable.

After the work with the device is finished, you will need to manually process the corners, for a start, with a chisel, and then wipe with sandpaper. If the layer to be cut was too small, then work with a chisel or a plane is not required.

Then prepare the putty and seal all cracks and pits, wait until it dries and go through the machine again. If desired, the wood can be treated with varnish or other wood protection material. The floor is ready for installation.

This method is the most laborious and is rarely used in practice. However, it allows you to quickly and easily level the base without screed and the use of fillers.

Leveling with putty

For me, this is a very long, difficult and irrational way of doing work with your own hands. This is as follows. Slats are nailed or screwed onto the floor (at a distance from each other from 50 to 100 cm). The composition is divorced,. This composition fills the space between the rails.

The maximum layer that can be applied at a time is 1-2 cm. Then, you need to wait until the glue dries and repeat the procedure until the level is equal to the slats. And using them as beacons, make the final alignment.

Self-leveling mixtures

Application is one option. The maximum that can be covered in this way is 5–20 mm. Everything is very similar to a cement screed, but unlike it, here it is required to prepare the mixture clearly according to the instructions and before coating the boards well with a deep penetration primer or concrete contact.

Then pour it onto a prepared surface and distribute. Naturally, we insulate the walls with a damper. We pass through the distributed mixture with a needle roller, removing bubbles. The movements of the roller should be exactly from the wall towards you, but in no case, not from you to the wall.

Laying linoleum

This operation itself takes literally one hour, you just need to know a few important points... About a day before laying, unfold the linoleum - it must necessarily lie down in a "working" condition and straighten out.

When we bought it, we calculated, naturally, with a small allowance. After laying and distributing around the room, an overlap remains on the wall - it must be cut so that around the entire perimeter of the room, between the edge of the linoleum and the wall, there is a distance of 5–10 mm, no less. If the linoleum touches the wall, then over time it will go in a "wave".

So how do you cut this overlap? To cut it correctly, you need to bend it exactly at the corner of the wall and cut it 5–10 mm with a cardboard cutter. To bend it so correctly, it is best to use a hatchet or a similar tool - just knock on the linoleum, and it sits rigidly in the corner between the hay and the floor, acquiring a strict 90 °.

Cut off the excess. We give the linoleum a little more time to lie down - as soon as all the "waves" disappear, we nail the plinths. If the linoleum is thin, you can also use a trowel to adjust it to the corner, but this is rare. You can also use a professional cropping tool.

Well, that's all, now you can do the work of preparing the floor and laying the linoleum on your own and save your money. If you are still not sure, then don't take risks and invite specialists. Good luck!

The floor in the rooms of a house or apartment may be different. However, the owners always want its surface to have an attractive appearance. Many people prefer to install a wooden floor in their home. Such a coating looks beautiful, it is environmentally friendly, strong and durable. But sooner or later you have to carry out repair work. One of the more popular problems is wood floor leveling. For many, especially for beginners, this is a real headache. However, in reality, everything is not so complicated. How can I do that? Do the boards need to be disassembled to the ground? Next, we will consider in what way and what is the best way to level the wooden floor.

General information

Experts recommend that at least two people carry out the work. But you can level the wooden floor with your own hands and alone. No special knowledge is required for this. There is enough accuracy and following some simple rules.

Elimination of small irregularities

If the floor in the house is slightly uneven, then this situation can be corrected with a minimum of materials and tools. If surface treatment of the boards is required, they will need to be removed, peeled off and re-laid. This option is considered to be quite long and laborious. But at the same time, it is relatively inexpensive. To level the coating, you can use grinder... This method has its drawbacks. Firstly, this is a rather "dirty" option, since a lot of dust remains after work. In addition, before starting processing, the heads of nails and screws should be sunk deeper into the boards so that they do not damage the tool. Minor blemishes can be repaired with an acrylic filler. This process does not require any special skills. The floor can be processed by any novice master on his own.

Elimination of cracks

For processing boards with such defects, a special mixture is used, which includes sawdust, putty and varnish. With its help, it is possible to eliminate cavities and cracks in the wood, as well as insect nests that destroy it. Before starting work, the processing area should be cleaned and degreased. After the mixture is dry, the surface should be sanded and varnished.

Special solutions

It is often necessary to level the wood floor under the laminate flooring. The first step is to find out how strong the deviation is at the base. If the skew is small, then you can apply leveling mixtures for a wooden floor. Such a solution is evenly distributed over the base. However, experts recommend using these mixtures with drops of no more than 1-2 cm. They can be effectively used in the case when it is necessary to close up small depressions and grooves in the base. The cost of such materials is quite high. But, as practice shows, they do an excellent job with their task.

Application of the solution

Wood floors must be cleaned before leveling. Water is added to the solution the required amount and mixes. It is better to apply the mixture together: one is preparing, the other is leveling the floor. Beacons should be installed first. The solution must be poured into the far corner of the room. Level it with a long spatula or squeegee. Next, the solution is rolled with a roller (needle). Particular attention should be paid to the junction of the various mixes. These areas need to be processed with a spatula. Use stiff-bristled rollers to remove air bubbles. After the solution has solidified, when it will be possible to walk freely on it, expansion joints are made with the help of a grinder. They are sealed with elastic material.

How to level an old wood floor?

What if the bottom has very large swings? It often happens that the wooden floor in the middle of the room is collapsed, but at the walls, on the contrary, it bulges up. In these cases, as a rule, the old coating is removed. But often it is quite difficult to disassemble a wooden floor. In addition, after carrying out such work, all doors will become higher. We'll have to fix that too. But if the differences are very large, then dismantling is indispensable.

First step

You need to take a laser level. This tool is very useful when carrying out repair work. The level should be placed at the highest point of the base. After switching on, a line will appear (along the entire perimeter). The leveling of the wooden floor will be carried out along it. Marks with chalk or pencil. Then you need to make beacons. As them, you can use the guides for plasterboard sheets. The advantage of these elements is their evenness. They should be laid out on the floor at a distance of approximately 60-80 cm. In this case, their upper part should coincide with the line marked along the perimeter. To check this, you need to take a flat narrow board or plywood and a mounting level. You can correct the guides by placing boards or plywood under them.

Alternative option

If there is no opportunity or desire to use laser level, you can resort to another method. In this case, you also need to find the highest point of the base near the wall. From it you should measure 5-6 cm up and put a mark. After that, you should take a straight long rail or guide and attach it parallel to the floor along the wall. The height must be corrected using the mounting level. Next, the mark is placed on the opposite side of the wall. Points must be placed around the entire perimeter. Next, you should take a rope or cord and stretch it from the mark located on one side of the room to the one on the opposite wall - crosswise. It's good if the rope doesn't touch the floor. If the cord touches the surface, then all the marks should be raised by 2-3 cm.

Second phase

It is advisable to attach the guides to the floor. This can be done using self-tapping screws. Further between the guides is poured building mixture... The layer should be even. Next, you should use the rule. With this tool, the mixture is leveling. The solution can take quite a lot.

Using DSP

The leveling of a wooden floor can be done without mortars. For this, cement-bonded particle boards are used. Before leveling wood floors, prepare them. The work, as usual, includes the cleansing of the base. During preparatory phase a perimeter line is also drawn. To level a wooden floor with DSP, it is necessary to lay boards on the base - instead of guides. They should be laid at the level of the perimeter line. Pieces of plywood are placed under the boards. The base should be secured. For this, the same screws are used. Further, DSP is placed on the boards. Sheets are pre-cut taking into account the area of ​​the room. DSPs are attached to the boards using self-tapping screws. The cracks are covered with rotband. The quality of the installation is checked by the installation level.

How to level a wooden floor with plywood?

The use of this material is rightfully considered the fastest and in a simple way arrangement of the base. In this way, you can level the wooden floor under the linoleum. What are the advantages of this foundation? Plywood is considered an irreplaceable material. It has a relatively low weight, flexibility, hardness, and resistance to stress. Due to the perpendicular placement of adjacent layers, plywood is highly durable in all directions. To shorten the work time, you can choose large sheets... This is especially true in large areas. An undoubted advantage dry screeds are considered a small financial investment.

Technology

Before leveling wooden floors, it is necessary, as mentioned above, to assess the condition of the surface and establish the level of its deviation from the norm. A two-meter level is used to measure the base. In the corners of the room, points should be noted, the centers of conjugation of the floor and walls and the middle of the room should be found. Next, you need to divide the base into so-called segments and examine each area. If the deformation of the floorboards is uniform, and the height level has a difference of 5 mm, the plywood can be fastened directly to the wooden base. If the drops are more than one, but less than eight centimeters, then a crate should be made. Experts recommend creating tape or point supports.

Preparatory work

Plywood is aged indoors for several days. This achieves the same humidity as the room. Subsequently, this will avoid deformation of the material after installation. If the room is heated regularly, then the sheets are installed on the edge. In this position, the material is kept for at least two days. If the work is carried out in a heated room, the edges of the sheets are moistened with water at room temperature.

Fitting material

Before leveling wood floors, the sheets should be adjusted to the size of the room. When cutting material, it is imperative to take into account the width of the damper joints. The walls should have a gap of 1 cm, and between the workpieces - 3-4 mm. If these gaps do not exist, the material may deform due to temperature and humidity changes. After the cutting is completed, the ends should be checked for delamination and defects. If there are damaged sheets, then it is better to replace them. Next, you need to lay the material in the order in which it will be fixed. All sheets should be numbered. It is also necessary to mark the places where the logs will be placed. This is done by focusing on the joints between the sheets. The connections should hit the center of the log.

Base

Leveling lugs are also made of plywood. Their width should be 3-4 cm. The logs are laid according to the marks made in advance. If there is a gap between the floor and the strips, then fit pieces of plywood that are suitable in size. The surfaces must first be greased with glue. The logs are attached to the floor with self-tapping screws. Additionally, glue is used during the installation process. Horizontal placement is defined using a level. The evenness of the subsequent coating will depend on how carefully the lag is fastened. Place a sealant between them.

Fastening sheets

After installing the lag, you can proceed directly to laying the plywood. The sheets are attached in order, in accordance with the indicated numbers. Before laying, the material should be treated with an antiseptic. Plywood is fastened with self-tapping screws with plastic dowels. In order not to damage the sheets with hammer blows, in the places where the screws are screwed in, holes should be drilled along the diameter of the dowels.

Final processing

The final work will depend on the type of material that is planned to be laid on top. For example, if it is a carpet, then the surface is varnished in several layers. Before laying the laminate, the base is sanded and processed protective compounds... If there is parquet on top, a special noise-absorbing substrate is laid on the surface.

Finally

Using the above technologies, you can quickly and easily level the wooden floor with any differences. With careful implementation of the work, you can get, among other things, a solid and durable base. The coating laid on plywood will last more than one year. In addition, the material will act as additional thermal insulation.