How to make a self-leveling floor on a wooden floor. How to make a self-leveling floor on a wooden surface. Required base properties

To obtain a smooth, strong and wear-resistant surface, it is necessary to carefully prepare the base, use materials declared by the manufacturer as suitable for working with wooden surfaces. Adapted mixtures (primer, putty) form a good adhesion to the wood base, which is the key to the quality of the future floor.

Preparation of a wooden base for pouring a bulk mixture

Before starting work, you should make sure that the wooden floors do not have rotten, loose floorboards, and are firmly attached to the base (logs, rough screed). If defective areas are found, they should be repaired - rotten fragments should be replaced, bending and creaking floorboards should be screwed tightly.

• Dismantle the plinth (if this was not done during the repair work to eliminate the defects of the wooden floor).
• Cycle the entire surface of the floor. Removing the top wood layer helps to detect cracks and other surface imperfections. In addition, the level of the finished floor after pouring will rise to the height of the mixture layer, and the selection of the top layer will reduce the final height of the floor and help to avoid a large difference with the floor of the adjacent room.
• After cleaning the scraped surface from debris and dust, it is treated with a primer to protect the wood from fungus, decay, etc.
• After the primer dries, carefully inspect the surface for cracks and gaps. Detected defects are marked with a marker.
• Putty marked places, not excluding the smallest cracks. The self-leveling floor under the tree has great plasticity and mobility, so the smallest crack can become a place for the mixture to flow out, thereby forming a small dent on the solidifying flat surface.
• Next, the floor is treated with a primer for better adhesion of the self-leveling floor to a wooden base. It is better to carry out the primer in two layers, adding corundum sawdust to the second layer. You can also use special factory soils containing a coarse sand fraction as a filler.

Note: instead of a primer with an adhesive filler, a reinforcing mesh is sometimes used. In this case, it must be glued to the surface with an appropriate adhesive, carefully observing a snug fit to the plane without scallops and wrinkles.

• The last stage is the sticker of the damper tape around the perimeter. It will prevent cracking of the floor when it expands from temperature changes.

Some builders believe that primers for different purposes (on wood and on concrete) may be incompatible when applied to each other due to their chemical composition. However, to exclude the possibility of their mutual antagonism, it is enough just to pre-check them for compatibility on a limited area of ​​​​the floor.

Pour the floor correctly

Filling the floor in the room is done at a time - it is unacceptable to do this in several approaches.

When preparing a bulk solution, the ratio of water and mixture specified by the manufacturer, as well as the mixing algorithm, are observed. Most resin formulations need to be remixed after 2 to 3 minutes. Do not neglect these rules.

The finished mixture is methodically poured over the floor, starting from the lowest point. As the plastic composition spreads, it is leveled with a spatula or spiked roller.

The benchmarks (if they were used) are removed as they move towards the exit, carefully smoothing out the irregularities formed from them with a spatula or roller. If it is necessary to correct any flooded area, use paint studs.

Advantages of a self-leveling floor for a wooden base

The presence of a strong, stable, even base makes it possible to avoid large financial and labor costs for a cement-sand screed. The work of pouring the floor on a wooden surface is so economical that many, when building a private house, specially form a wooden base from moisture-resistant plywood, which is poured with a self-leveling mixture.

It is better to learn about the time of complete drying of the self-leveling floor and the possibility of its operation after pouring from the manufacturer's recommendations on the packaging. Usually this period is at least a week.

Compliance with simple rules will allow you to get cheap, durable, even floors at minimal cost.

The main advantages of self-leveling floors lie in their wear resistance, durability and strength of the coating. In addition, they have such qualities as: environmental friendliness and safety.

Serious changes have also taken place since their inception, today polyurethane coatings have a rich number of color options, especially for such a type as a 3d self-leveling floor. With their help, it is possible to create real design masterpieces with a stunning three-dimensional effect.

When laying the bulk mixture, one of the labor-intensive processes is the preparation of the base. Many homeowners are put off by the removal of old hardwood flooring. At the same time, not all of them know that along with concrete, a wooden base can also be used. The installation of a self-leveling coating on wood should be carried out if the wood is solid. A thin mixture should be chosen so as not to increase the height.

Preparatory work

Before pouring, carefully prepare the base. This procedure must be done with any type of base, and especially if the surface is to be mounted on an existing wood flooring.

The first step is to remove all the skirting boards from the floor, as well as remove their fasteners from the walls. After that, the surface is scraped. For this you should use . However, if the room is small, then a manual cycle can handle it.

The next stage is the opening of cracks with a grinder, which, one way or another, are formed on a wooden coating. Then all the bumps and cracks are covered with putty. After it dries, the surface is polished with coarse-grained emery. This procedure is necessary to ensure better adhesion.

Then, cleaned of dust with an industrial vacuum cleaner, the coating should be degreased before priming. The primer of the basis is necessary for increase in durability of adhesion of a tree with polyurethane material.

The base should be primed in two layers. Screened quartz sand can be added to the composition, thus, the most reliable adhesion between the base and the polymer coating will be ensured.

Necessary tool for the job

To carry out work on the preparation of the foundation, you will need:

• Nail puller, wooden wedges and a chisel for removing skirting boards.
• Cycling machine or manual scraper.
• Grinder.
• Coarse-grained emery.
• Industrial vacuum cleaner.
• Roller or brush for applying primer.
• Flat brush or short-haired roller for spreading the polymer coating.
• Squeegee and spatula.
• Construction mixer or drill for mixing the self-leveling floor mortar.

This should also include working overalls, goggles, gloves and respirators. Soles with spikes are also needed to allow walking on a freshly applied layer.

Self-leveling floor technology

The technology of pouring a polymer floor onto an ordinary wooden floor is no different from a similar procedure, where concrete acts as the base. The difference lies only in the preparatory stage, which we examined in detail above.

Before pouring the self-leveling floor on a wooden surface, it is necessary to prepare the solution in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

In a nutshell, the dry mixture is mixed with water using a construction mixer until a homogeneous mass is formed. Then, the resulting solution is laid out on a wooden base, starting from the far corner of the room.

The mass must be leveled with a spatula until the required thickness is reached. In the case of a wooden floor, this is a maximum of 5 mm. The best tool for leveling and eliminating air bubbles is a spiked roller.

The intervals between filling batches of mortar should not exceed 10 minutes, while the joints must be carefully rolled with a roller.

At the end of the pour, after 15 minutes, it is necessary to cover the hardening surface with a film, preventing dust from settling. After applying the base layer of the self-leveling floor and its hardening, a finishing coating is applied. It can be a polymer or varnish.

Installation cost

In general, the procedure is quite simple, and you can do it yourself, but if financial possibilities allow, nevertheless, you should hire a team of specialists who practically know how to make self-leveling floors.

Hiring professionals will provide:

• High quality workmanship
• Guarantee for all work done
• Installation according to technologies
• The use of expensive but necessary construction tools in the work.

The cost of installing a self-leveling floor consists of several stages, these are:

• Preparatory work (average price 400 rubles per 1 sq.m.);
• Foundation primer (average price 200 rubles per 1 sq.m.);
• Filling the surface (average price 400 rubles per 1 sq.m).

The cost of installing decorative floors is calculated individually. It is imperative to use the services of specialists if you plan to install a self-leveling floor in 3d format.

In the case of independent work, do not neglect the advice of professionals. Their experience will help to avoid costly rework later.

For residential premises, you should choose a mixture of self-leveling floors based on polymer resins. At the same time, in places of high humidity, an epoxy type of flooring is used, while a polyurethane floor is used in the rest of the house.

It is better to pour on a concrete base, but nevertheless, installation on a plank wooden surface is also allowed.

At the same time, its preparation is no less laborious, and both the service life and the appearance of the floor depend on the quality of its work. It is imperative to prime the base in two layers - this will facilitate the main work of pouring and increase the strength of the coating.

To create a high-quality bulk coating on a wooden base, in each case, you should produce your own necessary complex. Much is directly dependent on the conditions of further operation, the area and type of premises, as well as the type of foundation. If you doubt your ability to carry out high-quality installation, contact specialists who will not only perform the work, but also help with the choice of optimal materials.

All photos from the article

In what cases should you prefer a self-leveling floor on a wooden base? How to properly prepare the boardwalk under it? How to mix and pour the mixture? Finally, what can replace the solution we are discussing? Let's try to figure it out.

It is believed that self-leveling compounds are only suitable for concrete substrates. Whether this is so, we have to find out.

Why is it needed

In some rooms with high levels of humidity, tiles have traditionally been a typical floor covering. It is mechanically strong, easily cleaned of any contaminants, has an almost unlimited service life and equally unlimited water resistance.

The tiled floor is the perfect solution for the kitchen.

However, laying tiles on a plank base is, to put it mildly, problematic:

• Deformation of the boards will inevitably lead to the fact that the tile will move away from the adhesive layer.
• Under significant loads, the deflection of the boards can cause the tile to crack.

Obviously, under the tile, a stable base that is not prone to deformation is needed. A reinforced screed suggests itself for this role; however, the load created by it with a thickness of at least 5 centimeters is already about 150 kg / m2, which is excessive for wooden logs and boards.

In addition: the tile screed must be aligned with the beacons.
This is a rather lengthy and laborious process.

But a relatively thin and durable self-leveling floor in a wooden house is quite capable of solving our problem: with a thickness of 0.5 - 3 centimeters, it will create a very moderate load on the plank floor and at the same time prevent its deflection under load (of course, taking into account the distribution load on the tile laid on top).

Restrictions

They flow directly from the structure of the pie we are creating.

• Legs should not bend. Rot and dust are strictly prohibited.

• The thickness of the floor boards must completely exclude deformation in the entire range of design loads. Yes, the self-leveling floor layer has a fairly significant rigidity; however, its own weight cannot be discounted either.
• Boards should be tightly fitted to each other. The gaps between the floorboards are sealed as tightly as possible with wood putty. In case of serious defects, the floor is simply re-layed with the adjustment of the floorboards.

Please note: strictly speaking, it would be more correct to remove a section of wooden flooring along with logs, build formwork around the perimeter and pour a conventional reinforced screed under the tile.
The design we are discussing will be a compromise between strength and durability on the one hand and minimal time and cost on the other.

Technology

Material selection

What should be the self-leveling floor for wooden bases? In the store you need to look for a polymer concrete mixture, the description of which mentions the possibility of pouring not only on concrete or cement screed, but also on more complex surfaces.

Let's get acquainted with a couple of compositions from this category.

The approximate consumption of the dry mixture is 16 - 18 kg / 1 m2 with a layer thickness of 10 millimeters.

Floor preparation

We have already mentioned some of the stages: logs and flooring need to be strengthened, if necessary, completely or partially re-layed.

How to close individual gaps?

• The largest holes between the floorboards are clogged with wooden wedge-shaped inserts.

• Minor defects in the base are sealed with acrylic putty on wood, a home-made putty mixture of sawdust and PVA glue, or ... an ordinary sand-cement mixture.

In addition, two more important stages of preparation are necessary:

1. For better adhesion, you need to remove the paintwork from the boards. This can be done with a scraper (after all the nails have been sunk with a finisher) or with an ordinary spatula - after pre-applying a wash or warming up the paint with a building hair dryer.

Attention: in any case, work is carried out with open windows or in a respirator.
Breathing in small sawdust, fumes from a wash or heated paint is equally harmful.

1. Cleaned boards are treated with antiseptic primer at least twice. For obvious reasons, we are not interested in rotting wood under a massive slab of poured mixture and tiles.

fill

So what is the right way to pour self-leveling floor on a wooden floor?

More or less like this:

1. Using a water or laser level, we determine the highest point of the flooring.
2. We put there any beacon that marks the minimum required coating thickness. It has its own for each mixture; as a rule, manufacturers recommend a minimum thickness in the range of 6 to 10 mm.
3. We mix the dry mixture with water using a construction mixer or an appropriate nozzle for a drill / hammer. The manufacturer's instructions for the ratio of water and mixture must be strictly followed. With deviations, we will get either a drop in strength or setting until it is evenly distributed over the surface of the base.
4. The composition is distributed over the surface of the floor and rolled with a spiked roller. This operation will speed up the spreading and help get rid of air bubbles. The floor level, as you might guess, should be aligned with a pre-installed beacon.

Further work continues after the coating has gained strength within the time specified by the manufacturer.

Alternatives

Are there any alternatives to the described solution?

Yes, and the implementation of most of them is much cheaper. Let's give a couple of examples.

Plywood and linoleum

If the main goal of laying tiles on a self-leveling floor is to organize high-quality waterproofing in the kitchen, you should think about replacing this design with linoleum laid on a base previously leveled with plywood. The durability of the coating will be somewhat lower; on the other hand, we will significantly reduce costs and reduce the duration of repairs: we will not have to wait for the self-levelling compound and tile adhesive to set.

DSP for wood

Another “lazy” way of laying tiles on a wooden base was implemented by the author with his own hands.

It consists in mounting a cement-bonded particle board 24 mm thick over the flooring.

1. DSPs are cut out according to the size of the room. Expansion joints are not needed: the material practically does not change linear dimensions with fluctuations in humidity and temperature.
2. Holes for self-tapping screws are drilled and countersunk in the plates.
3. Mounting foam is applied pointwise to the base cleared of debris. It will perform the function of glue and prevent the slightest.
   
4. DSP is screwed with self-tapping screws and primed under tile adhesive.

Conclusion

We sincerely hope that a few of the solutions we have given will make it easier for the reader to solve numerous repair problems. The video in this article will offer him additional thematic information. Good luck!