How to properly level the wooden floor in the apartment with your own hands. How to level a wooden floor Leveling the floor in an old house

reservoirs 25.06.2019
reservoirs

If indoors uneven wood floor, it becomes uncomfortable to live in it. The boards creak, bend or, conversely, bulge, diverge, forming cracks.

The aesthetics of the premises are violated, a traumatic situation is created. On such a floor, it is easy to fall and hurt yourself. To avoid serious troubles and improve the condition of the home, uneven floors are leveled. They do it in different ways.

Dry Methods

An uneven wooden floor must be leveled if the height difference is more than 5 cm. This uneven floor is noticeable naked eye. The surface can be sloped in either direction. In another case, the boards are unevenly arranged, in waves: one protrudes, the other sinks, bends. There are several ways to eliminate the unevenness of the floor in a dry way.

Installing a mini-lag from bars (tape support)

The belt support is one of the most reliable ways for leveling uneven wood floors. The method is used for height differences from 3 to 10 cm. The timber acts as a lining under the boardwalk. It must be of different thicknesses in order to be evenly located in the direction of increasing slope. For ease of installation, craftsmen do not use wood, but pieces of plywood.

To install minilags correctly, spend estimation and compare readings with a meter level. The distance between them corresponds to the thickness of the sheets made from wood waste.

Sheets that are too thick to level an uneven wooden floor are not recommended to be laid:

  • they are heavy and inconvenient for do-it-yourself installation;
  • create an additional load on the floor and base.

Beams of different sections and sheet products are screwed with screws to the wooden base of the floor. Fasteners must be different lengths because the distance to the boards varies. Minilags are attached across and along the boards. It is important to mark the sheets as precisely as possible at the points of drilling holes.

Installation of leveling point supports (sheds)

If indoors uneven wood floor, you can eliminate the defect and level it with the help of point supports, which are called cobs. They are installed under sheet products in the form of a grid. In this case, cells are obtained, the dimensions of which are determined by the thickness of the sheets.

Such cell sizes will not allow bending in subsequent operation.

Since the supporting "columns" are located pointwise, careful markings are made on the sheets and self-tapping screws are screwed in at the points. Additionally, the sheets are fixed to the very base of the floor, choosing longer fasteners.

Methods for leveling an uneven wooden floor without a screed are highly effective. After the leveling work, the surface acquires an ideal shape and holds the finish coat well. 8-10 cm - height difference, at which it is better to dismantle the old floor and lay a new base with a log replacement.

Wet screed method

With minor irregularities (up to 3 mm), the wooden floor can be covered with acrylic putty or sealant. Before work, the boards are primed to protect the wood and ensure better adhesion to the leveling compound. The composition is applied in a thin layer, distributing evenly along the pre-made marks on the walls, along the lighthouses.

Important to know: the thickness of the layer determines the amount of time it takes to dry. So that over time the putty does not crack, PVA glue is added to it. After the mixture has dried, the surface is polished.

If a uneven wood floor has a slope of more than 3 mm, apply. It's not quite suitable way for a wooden base. The screed creates a significant load on the base and floors. It is most possible when the boards are laid on concrete or brick posts, reinforced concrete supports. The need for it arises, for example, when using tiles as a finishing coating.

To level an uneven wooden floor in a “wet” way, dry mixes are used with components that provide the screed with elasticity and special strength. These include various plasticizers and synthetic fillers.

  1. Before applying the leveling compound, wooden floors are checked for ventilation. If it is not there, then holes are drilled in certain places on the surface, and decorative grilles are installed on top of the finish coating.
  2. The boards are covered with a plastic film, which performs the function of waterproofing. The tree is afraid of water. And with a wet screed, the dry mixture is diluted with this liquid.
  3. The leveling composition is poured in portions onto the surface and evenly distributed by a special rule. You can work gradually, filling small areas.
  4. After the screed has dried, it is sanded and primed.

Wet screed on a wooden base is rarely done. main reason is the incompatibility of wood and leveling compound. Wood is movable cement mixture static, so over time it can crack and crumble.

When choosing a method for leveling an uneven wooden floor, they are guided by the specific conditions of the room. It is important that in subsequent operation the surface is not deformed, and the finish coating is not damaged.

Comfortable living in the house depends on many conditions. These include the quality of finishes and general state surfaces, including leveling uneven wooden floors.

Plank floor leveling.

In some old houses from the times of Stalinist and Khrushchev buildings, plank uneven wooden floors remain. Over time, the floorboards rot, loosen and begin to creak. And during the repair, in order to hide the defects of the old uneven floor, a new coating is used in the form of a laminate or linoleum.

But before laying a new floor, it is recommended to level the subfloor by using sheet material. You can do this procedure yourself without the involvement of construction specialists and with minimal cost. To level the floor, it is best to use plywood, as the fiberboard sheets will eventually take the form of an uneven floor and waves will appear again. Plywood has indispensable qualities for a material that is used to level an old wooden floor.

It has a relatively small weight, is strong enough, resistant to loads and water, well polished, it has no bad smell. The material does not change its properties with changes in temperature and humidity.

In order to carry out the procedure for leveling a wooden floor, it is necessary to prepare the tools and materials that will be needed in the process.

  • plywood sheets;
  • roll insulation;
  • screwdriver and screws;
  • jigsaw;

Preparation for leveling the wooden floor in the apartment

  • Initially, it is necessary to check the condition of the communications that are laid under the floor, since after completion of the work there will be no free access to them.
  • Next, you need to get rid of various irregularities that are very characteristic of a wooden floor.
  • Fix and, if necessary, replace old, rotten, creaky boards.
  • As additional insulation if the floor is initially cold, you can use a mineral wool roll insulation.

Prepared plywood sheets are laid on the floor and in order to assess the strength and reliability of the coating, one should walk on it. During such tests, additional defects may be revealed that can be corrected at the moment without dismantling the floor. If it turns out that the floor is sagging, then it is necessary to additionally put pieces of fiberboard in these places.

The most optimal and reliable fastening of plywood sheets will be fastening with self-tapping screws, which at the initial stage of fastening do not need to be driven in to the end. In places where plywood sags, it is unacceptable to make fasteners. After fixing the sheets, you need to carefully walk over the finished flooring again.

This is necessary in order to check how firmly and correctly the sheets are fitted to each other. If the test result satisfied and pleased, then all the screws will be driven to the end, tightly drowning the hat in the tree.

After fixing the sheet material, the caps of the self-tapping screws and the seams are puttied with an acrylic sealant. The advantage of such a putty is that even if the boards and sheets sag a little, the sealant will not collapse and fall out due to its high plasticity.

After the installation of plywood sheets is completed, you can start laying another linoleum or laminate flooring.

Leveling an uneven wooden floor - video

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From the author: we welcome our readers who are interested in the question of how to level a wooden floor in a room, and what is needed for this. Those who live in old-built houses are probably faced with, on which it is impossible to lay new flooring with high quality. It is not always necessary to completely dismantle the boards, because otherwise they do their job well. We will tell you more about how to do all the work with your own hands today.

Benefits of wood flooring

Wood is without a doubt the most eco-friendly material, which has long been used in construction. The floors made of it are reliable, warm, attractive in appearance. Of course, all this is true only if they proper styling and careful operation. For example, in some old houses, baths, wooden floors were not originally laid on the level, respectively, there was no talk of their perfectly flat surface. Knowing, you can eliminate such a defect and prepare the basis for the future floor covering.

Irregularities that occur on the surface of the boards may have different kind and origin - wormholes, chips, abrasion, subsidence. Depending on this, as well as on the material of the selected topcoat, it is determined what to level.

Alignment methods

There are several alignment methods. To review and choose the right suitable option, we divide all the irregularities into 2 groups:

  1. Small - from 5 to 10 millimeters. Such defects are eliminated using the following methods:
    • scraping;
    • laying sheets of plywood, OSB or chipboard;
    • putty.
  2. Significant - from 20 to 100 millimeters. In these cases, the floor can be leveled with a concrete screed or the flooring sheets can be laid on the logs. The methods listed above will not be effective.

Sharing a helpful video:

Let us dwell on each of the methods in more detail in order to give the most comprehensive answers to possible questions. Small differences in floor height, in some cases, are allowed when laying soft coatings (linoleum, carpet) on them. Rigid materials such as parquet and laminate can only be mounted on completely smooth surface.

If this requirement is not met, their design scheme will be violated, they will not be able to withstand the load and will quickly become unusable. Therefore, it is better to level the floor in advance than to re-pay for laying an expensive finish. For this we use:

  1. Cyclevka. This is the cheapest way to eliminate irregularities, however, it is quite laborious if done manually using a cycle. Using a scraping machine, the process can be accelerated, the work will consist of the following steps:
    • hammer all protruding nail heads into the boards to prevent damage to the sanding skin;
    • before processing the floor in the apartment with scraping, you need to take out all the furniture from the room, and if this is not possible, cover it with a cloth and rewind it tightly to protect it from dust;
    • you need to start work from the corner of the room, moving along the wall. You should move evenly and smoothly so that the machine cuts off a layer of the same thickness in all places;
    • after removing the first layer from all the boards, you need to sweep away the resulting chip dust, mix it with PVA glue and fill in the cracks and potholes found with the resulting slurry. When it dries, it is necessary to install a fine-grain sandpaper in the sanding machine and walk around the room again;
    • cleaning - the boards are vacuumed, after which they are treated with white spirit.
  2. Self-levelling compounds. This method allows you to get a flat surface even on a very worn subfloor. Modern manufacturers of building materials offer big choice, therefore, the choice of a mixture for the floor depends only on your preferences. The sequence of actions is as follows:
    • clean the floor surface from the remnants of varnish, paint;
    • "drown" in the boards all the screws and nails;
    • fasten loose floorboards with screws;
    • sand the boards and close up all the gaps in them;
    • apply a primer layer with high water-repellent properties;
    • fix the reinforcing frame to the floor with a stapler;
    • prepare the self-leveling compound according to the instructions on the package, apply to the surface and spread evenly with a mop.
    • Leveling with a self-levelling screed means ideally preparing it for the subsequent laying of a hard topcoat.
  3. Puttying. It is quick and easy to do and doesn't require a lot of money. Putty can be made independently using sawdust and PVA glue. Such a mixture, after hardening, approaches in strength to a chipboard board.

    Important! On the floor, leveled with putty, you can lay any finish, with the exception of ceramic tiles.

    The procedure for the implementation of work:

    • sawdust is pre-soaked in water, before mixing them with PVA glue, they are well wrung out by hand;
    • boards are cleaned from the remnants of the previous coating, dust, dirt;
    • the top layer of wood is sanded;
    • before leveling the old floor with putty, it is necessary to attach the loose floorboards to the logs with self-tapping screws in advance;
    • thin slats are nailed to the floor, which will serve as beacons;
    • the prepared mixture of sawdust and glue is applied, leveled with a spatula. You can apply putty in several layers, waiting until the previous one is completely dry. Last layer aligned only with the help of the rule.
  4. Plywood leveling- a proven way of how to create with your own hands solid foundation for the subsequent laying of a finishing floor covering. With this method, large elevation differences are eliminated. Used sheet materials bend well, do not form cracks, have uniform strength in all directions.

Before use, it is advisable to sprinkle the sheets with water from all sides and leave in the room where the repair will take place for 48 hours. After that, they can be laid directly on the subfloor and fixed with countersunk screws. The cracks at the joints are sealed with putty.

To eliminate significant unevenness of the wooden floor with the help of sheet material, it is laid on logs. You must perform the steps in the following order:

  • install beacons, which are used as self-tapping screws. It is necessary with their help to form squares of 30 × 30 centimeters. They are not completely screwed into the floorboards, the hats must be left at the level of the measured height difference;
  • to the old wooden surface fastened with glue or self-tapping screws plywood strips up to 5 cm thick, which will be used as new logs. The gaps between the floorboards and new joists are sealed with pieces of plywood treated with glue.
  • before laying plywood under laminate, parquet, linoleum, it must be cut in advance into pieces that are convenient for installation (usually 60 × 60 centimeters). Laying begins only after the glue has completely dried on the logs;
  • all openings, protrusions are carefully cut out;
  • the laying sheets are fastened with the help of hardware with a countersunk head.

Important! Professionals give such advice. If the finish is linoleum, wooden base it is recommended to process with a grinder. Plywood sheets must be treated with several layers of varnish if carpet is laid on them. In the case when the final coating is a laminate, a special substrate must be used under it.

Alignment using wet screed concrete is used least often, since its solution has a significant weight and can damage the boards.

We hope that today's information will help you to repair the floor at a decent level. We are waiting for your feedback and comments, we will be glad if you share the link with your friends! See you soon!

The wooden floor begins to crack over time and lose its smooth surface. Therefore, sooner or later, the owners of houses with such floors face the question of covering them with new material. And for this, as you know, you first need to make the base perfectly flat.

Of course, leveling a wooden floor is not so easy, but if you follow all the tips and recommendations, then every home craftsman can handle this task.

General information

Wooden floors are those types of coatings that require constant care, as wood is subject to drying, warping and cracking. alignment wood flooring allows you to eliminate various irregularities that in the future can ruin the new coating.

This applies to both hard floor materials, such as parquet or laminate, and soft floor materials, such as carpet or linoleum.

Do-it-yourself floor leveling can be done in one of several ways:

  • Cycling;
  • Using putty and PVA glue;
  • plywood;
  • Self leveling compound.

Determination of the state of coverage

To choose The right way leveling, it is necessary to determine the condition of the wooden floor.

This is done as follows:

  • First you need to check the boards for non-susceptibility to rot and insect damage.. To do this, tear off one board and inspect its reverse side and log. If the board is dry and sound, with no signs of insect damage, then the floor does not need to be changed. If foci of decay or cracks are found, then low-quality boards will have to be replaced.
  • Then you need to determine how much the floor deviated from the horizontal. This procedure can be performed using laser level.

If the floor has many irregularities and deviations from the horizontal, then leveling or self-leveling mixture. If the floor is horizontal, but has surface defects, then they can be repaired with putty or scraped.

floor leveling

Alignment with scraper

Looping is one of the simplest and, but at the same time, the most time-consuming. Most often it is used in cases where they do not want to cover the tree with another material. Therefore, scraping is especially popular when leveling floors in wooden houses.

This method is of two types:

  • Manual;
  • Mechanical.

Manual scraping for the floor is too laborious and almost always unjustified. The mechanical one is carried out by a special scraping machine, respectively, it is of better quality. Therefore, if you have a question - how to level the floors in wooden house,then best solution there will be a mechanical sanding, provided that the condition of the coating allows this procedure.

This operation is carried out as follows:

  • Before leveling the floor in a wooden house, it is necessary to prepare the surface. To do this, you need to pull out all the nails and buttons that can damage the scraping machine.
  • Then all security measures should be taken, i.e. wear a respirator that will protect against dust and wood dispersion, as well as tight gloves.
  • After that, you can proceed to the loop itself. You should start the operation from the corner and move with a snake from one wall to another, removing the first layer.
  • Hard-to-reach places must be processed by manual sanding.
  • It is possible that after this the floor surface will not be perfect, in which case cracks and holes should be repaired with putty, which has a color similar to wood.
  • When the putty dries well, the floor should be cycled again.

Advice!
If a board is too badly damaged, then it can be turned over to the other side.

After the scraping work is completed, you should start cleaning up debris and dust. The surface must be thoroughly vacuumed and wiped with a cloth impregnated with a degreasing agent before varnishing.

Note!
Leveling can only be considered successful if the entire surface is smooth and free of any irregularities.

Leveling with PVA and putty

Recently, homeowners are increasingly using the method of leveling floors with PVA glue and putty. This method is the most unusual and innovative. With the help of sawdust, putty and PVA, a mixture is made that covers the floor. After hardening, it becomes strong and difficult to process.

Since the price of all components of such a coating is not at all high, it can be called a budget solution. The result is reminiscent of chipboard, with the only difference that the liquid putty can penetrate into the cracks. This type of leveling also combines floor insulation.

The work is carried out in several stages:

  • First of all, slats-beacons are set on the floor according to the level, in the likeness of beacons for a screed;
  • Then the floor is filled with a prepared mixture of PVA and sawdust.
  • If it is necessary to apply a thick layer of sawdust, then the procedure should be performed in several stages. First, the first layer is applied, then, after complete drying, the second layer can be applied. All subsequent layers are applied after the previous one has dried.
  • Then all errors must be checked using a level. If any are found, irregularities should be eliminated by applying additional putty material.

Advice!
To sawdust did not absorb all the moisture from the PVA, they can be pre-wetted.

Leveling with self leveling compound

If you want to cover the floor with new material, and not just paint or varnish, then sanding will not work in this case. You will have to use another way to level the floor - a self-leveling mixture.

To date, there are mixtures on the market that are designed exclusively for leveling wooden floors. They will allow even the most warped floor to find a perfectly flat and smooth surface. In this case, the thickness of the coating will be 0.5-2 cm.

The instruction for leveling the surface in this way is as follows:

  • First you need to prepare the surface, i.e. fix all the boards so that they do not stagger. To do this, you can use screws or self-tapping screws. All nail heads must be driven below floor level.
  • The next stage of preparation consists in grinding the surface, removing all varnish or paint residues from it. If there are large gaps in the floor, then they must be sealed with a self-levelling mixture of a thicker consistency than for pouring floors.
  • Then the surface should be primed with a waterproof primer.
  • After that, the level, the thickness of the layer are determined and a bar is installed in the doorway, equal in height to the thickness of the future coating.
  • Then, a reinforced mesh with an overlap of several centimeters should be laid on the primed floor. You can fix it with a construction stapler.
  • When the surface is prepared, you can prepare the mixture according to the instructions on the package and pour it onto the reinforced floor. The resulting bubbles should be eliminated with a studded roller. After that, the mixture must be leveled on the floor with a rubber smooth roller.

In the photo - removing bubbles with a roller

Note!
An excess volume of water can simplify the process, but it will lead to delamination of the coating.

Leveling wood flooring with plywood

This method is extremely common and popular. If you follow the instructions, it will allow you to get a flat surface suitable for covering with any floor material.

To align with plywood, you must perform the following steps:

  • Along the entire perimeter, it is necessary to place self-tapping screws or screws like beacons at a certain level. Then the floor should be divided into squares with sides of 200-300 mm and beacons should be placed in the corners.
  • After the level is set, it is necessary to lay the logs - plywood strips 3 cm wide, attaching them to the floor with self-tapping screws or glue.
  • Then you need to cut the sheets into squares of approximately 60x60 cm.
  • Sheets must be attached to the logs with self-tapping screws, placing them in checkerboard pattern.

Advice!
Before mounting plywood sheets, you need to pay attention to their ends.
If they delaminate, then the material is not suitable for installation.

Conclusion

See the video in this article for more information on this topic." width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">

Conclusion

As we see modern technologies allow every homeowner to quickly and accurately level a wooden floor. The main thing is to have at least minor skills in working with the tool and follow the instructions above.

For more information on this topic, see the video in this article.

Wooden floors can look very attractive and beautiful, they save heat well. However, a significant drawback is the frequent and easy subsidence, the formation of cracks on it. Only special processing methods help to cope with these problems and prevent their occurrence in the future.



Peculiarities

The need to level a wooden floor is often due not only to the desire to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but also to improve the comfort of life. It is very inconvenient and sometimes unsafe to walk around the rooms, different parts of the floor of which have different height. Also, one should not forget that improving the properties of the floor prolongs its service life and allows less frequent use overhaul , spend less money on replacing damaged boards and planks. All hard floors have a clear design scheme, and if it is violated, it will not perform its functions. Wear and tear is rapidly accelerating, and in the near future you will need to solve the problem of arranging new flooring again.


You can level the floor different ways, but they should not be chosen for simplicity or convenience, but for practicality in specific circumstances. Laying plywood is often practiced, but similar results can be achieved with the help of putties based on PVA glue, self-leveling mixtures. Very strong distortions of the floor geometry in a house or apartment will have to be eliminated by creating lags.

It happens that the removal of the previous coating is very difficult or even impossible without the complete destruction of the structure. Then you need to leave them in place and level the floor with a planer or grinders. This situation most often occurs in a private dwelling, since if wooden floors are made in apartments, they are much more perfect.





When grinding inevitably appears great amount dust, so special measures are required so that it does not get into neighboring rooms, does not spoil furniture and other valuable property.

Laying sheet materials

A curved floor can be corrected using plywood sheets, and at the very easy way lags are not needed at all. The perimeter of the walls is framed with bosses (they will allow you to maintain a gap of 20 mm without taking a tape measure all the time). between plywood sheets intervals of 0.3-0.8 cm should be left, so that at the first slight movement or increase in temperature, the draft layer is not deformed. Sheets should be laid with a run, all the following ones are shifted by half compared to their predecessors.

It is imperative to fix the sheets with self-tapping screws, and it is best to immediately make holes in the right places. In another way, the perimeter of the room is filled with logs, as a result of which a tape base appears. The run-up and intervals are done according to the same principles, but be sure to first lay out the sheets without fastening them, and just look at the result. So it will become clear whether there is enough material and whether its dimensions are correctly estimated. All those blocks that must be applied in the next step are numbered.



The transverse jumpers must be fixed with self-tapping screws, then the evenness of the installation of the log and supports is verified, after which the frame is already attached to the base. Now you can lay and fasten plywood, and on top of it - a laminate or linoleum. Plywood can also be laid on top of the point supports "covens".

The size of each cob is determined by how uneven the floor in a given room is. You need to lay linings more often, since their reliability is less than that of lags. The basic scheme of actions is the same, the difference is expressed only in geometry. When a leveler (sanding machine) is used to correct individual defects be sure to wear gloves and a respirator for maximum protection.


If parquet is laid on top, and the logs creak, professionals often recommend filling them with expanded clay screed. This solution is suitable no matter how insulated your home is. Alternatively, you can make a screed for sheet materials on top of an insulating or soundproofing layer. There is nothing as a lining under the main layer of the floor better than plywood, and chipboard, and even OSB, inevitably lose to her. Using a plate, it is impossible to use it, like plywood, as a front covering in a pinch.

Chipboards have a very important advantage - they are noticeably cheaper and allow, for all the cost-effectiveness of the design, to make it as convenient and high-quality as possible. Work begins with fastening products to beams, the cross section of which may not be significant, only 30 mm. Each beam is aligned horizontally and fixed on the old bases. After 800 mm they are attached to the boards with self-tapping screws. If you make the interval longer, the coating may bend.



For chipboard, the mandatory compensation indentation from the walls is 20 - 30 mm. They lay the panels with a run, shifting them by 0.4 m (not strictly), and mutually adjacent sheets can only be shifted in the middle of the beam, otherwise sagging will occur.

If you use a tongue-and-groove type of slab, you can not make any gaps and form a monolithic layer.



Screed

Leveling with screeds is a very old technique, but still quite effective. Professionals believe that expanded clay is no less suitable for this than cement-sand mortar. Moreover, such a solution is lighter and reduces the specific load on the floors. Even in private houses, this is very important, but there is no question of apartments. To prepare the solution, take part of the M400 category Portland cement for three parts of sand and eight parts of expanded clay. The beacons are placed 0.5-0.6 m apart, and the solution is poured over them so much that a screed of 80-100 mm is obtained.



To make the base even, you will have to cover it first with polyethylene, wrapping the ends of the film on the wall just above the expected layer thickness. The material is laid with an overlap, and all its borders are pasted over with construction tape for highest strength. Be sure to use a reinforcing masonry mesh (raised 30 - 40 mm above the base). There should be two layers, the solution must be compacted and outer surface align. If you do not want to prepare the screed yourself, use one of the standard expanded clay concrete mixtures, which are not too difficult to find on sale.

Sanding and putty are more perfect than pouring, they will help to cope with minor deformations, but if you want to eliminate solid defects, you will still have to use sheet materials.

Always first analyze the actual condition of the floor and its base, and only then choose the method of forming the tie-down structure.





Mixes

Self-leveling compounds are better than ordinary screeds in that they spread by themselves and form a layer of the same thickness. No effort is needed, it is only required to strictly observe the technology. The slightest bumps and depressions will be covered. But a very uneven floor cannot be corrected in this way, because the highest height of pouring the mixture - 20 mm. If there are more defects, you will have to use lags.

Floor levelers are divided into two key groups: the first is intended for rough finish, and the second - for finishing, which allows you to lay any coating. Basic properties are attached with gypsum or cement, to which mineral and polymeric components are added to guarantee increased mechanical resistance. It is not difficult to recognize a rough leveling agent, it is always a mixture with a large grain, and the fraction determines how thick a layer of the mixture can be applied to a sagging floor without fear of cracking.



The final mixtures, upon contact with water, become more plastic, they are easy to distinguish by accelerated spreading. First, the surface is cleaned and polished, then a primer is applied to the subfloor (preferably compounds that are not afraid of moisture and can penetrate deep). Then a waterproofing (polyethylene) is placed, covered with a reinforcing mesh (fixed as carefully as possible), and only then the final mixture is poured. To smooth out the differences, to eliminate air from the layer, use spiked rollers. How long you need to wait for the result depends on the specific composition used.

Leveling with self-leveling compounds allows you to abandon the use of beacons and save a lot of time.

But on the other hand, lack of experience or poor knowledge about a particular drug can become a problem. After all, if you violate the basic rules for its use, an expensive tool will be spent senselessly.



Mastic (rubber, bitumen or polymer) is most often used if there is no need for finishing coatings. In addition to leveling the tree, it allows you to focus on its color and relief, brilliance. Improved protection against moisture penetration and solar lighting from mechanical defects. An alternative is often the use of putty, which is made in a handicraft way from PVA and sawdust. The resulting composition is very cheap and at the same time very durable, able to fill absolutely all cracks and unnecessary gaps in old floors.

Please note that when laying a laminate, a similar solution does not guarantee the necessary strength, so you will have to put sheet materials on top. Most often, filling is done several times, but they wait until the previous layer dries.



Suitable over rough coating lay the front sheet layer, screwing it to the base with self-tapping screws. They will help to strengthen areas that are not tightly adjacent to the lags.

Before you start pouring any mixture, prepare the tool. You will definitely need a container for preparing the necessary composition, as well as a puncher or drill with mixing nozzles. With a notched trowel up to 100 mm long, roll out the layer to an even thin state. The size of the spatula teeth should correspond to the size of the treated layer. Single large gaps will be correctly filled mounting foam, and not resort to other methods of alignment, do not refuse to fill.




Tsiklevka

Putty helps to cope with minor irregularities, the composition of the mixture is just sawdust and polyvinyl acetate glue. The cost of work will be relatively small, and the base being created makes it possible to lay laminate, linoleum and even the best varieties parquet. There is no need for lags and other auxiliary structures, which greatly simplifies the course of work.

They begin with the removal of the existing coating and a thorough cleaning of all contaminants. Next, the surface will need to be sanded, and all those boards that bend under load or creak need to be reinforced with self-tapping screws. The same is done with lags; then they nail the slats, which will act as beacons. Only after all these actions can putty be applied and leveled using the rule.



The applied composition will dry in approximately 48 hours; After making sure of this, you can begin the following work.

Using a planer, it is easy to remove a slab, a depression that has appeared somewhere locally. If the board is concave, instead of tooling, elastic putties, sealants or paste based on a combination of PVA with wood flour are used. Please note that processed mechanically bases must be protected with varnishes or enamels from further destruction.

Scraping works well only if the floor has not dried out, is not swollen, and has not been invaded by wood-gnawing beetles. If there is at least one of these problems, it is required to either replace or repair the damaged areas. Not only surface grinders, but also drum parquet grinders help to quickly process. But in hard-to-reach places it is more correct to use manual cycles or angle grinders, their characteristics in such cases are invaluable.

The liquid separator, sometimes used instead of films, should not form an oily crust. Therefore, choosing it in preparation for scraping or another way of leveling the floor, you need to make sure that the substance will be well absorbed.


Living in a private house is truly happiness. However, one must be prepared for many difficulties that are associated with the content wooden houses. Wood is a material that needs to be carefully monitored and restored from time to time. It is unlikely that anyone will like to walk on cracked, creaky, uneven floors. To prevent these problems and extend the life of wooden floors, it is necessary to choose high-quality materials, properly process and lay them. If, nevertheless, your floors have become uneven, there are several ways to level them.

First you need to determine what condition the coating is in. How to do it? It is necessary to tear off one of the floorboards and inspect its back side for cracks, signs of rot or insect damage. If such defects are present, then the boards must be replaced. If the board is dry and not damaged, then there is no need to change the floor.


The first thing to start with is to inspect the condition of the floorboards and log

After a visual inspection using a laser level, determine how much the floor has deviated from the horizontal. If the floor is relatively even, but there are minor defects, scraping or puttying is suitable for leveling. If there are many irregularities, then it is better to level the floor with plywood or a self-levelling mixture.

Scraping is perhaps the easiest way to level the floor in a private house. If you are a supporter of pure wood and do not want to cover the wooden floor with any other material, then sanding is for you. This work can be done both manually and mechanically. It is very difficult and time consuming to do this manually, so experts recommend using scraping machines, and not only because it is easier, but also because the result will be better. How?


After completion of work, the base must be thoroughly cleaned of dust and debris. The best way to handle it construction vacuum cleaner. Before covering the base with varnish, it is wiped with a cloth soaked in a degreaser.

Wood putty

One of the most common methods for leveling a wooden floor is wood putty based on PVA glue. This method requires more strength, but at the same time it is one of the most economical. The mixture is prepared from putty and sawdust of a fine fraction, as a result, the solution should have the consistency of thick sour cream. The sawdust is first moistened with water and squeezed out - this way they draw less moisture out of the glue. When the mixture hardens, it becomes very strong.


Ideal putty - a mixture of PVA and sawdust, the consistency of which resembles thick sour cream

The advantage of liquid putty, for example, over a chipboard floor is that the mixture penetrates into the cracks. Puttying is also the insulation of the floor in the house.

To level the floor, follow these steps:

  1. Set beacons using a level. Wooden planks can be used as beacons.
  2. Pour the floor with a mixture of putty and sawdust and level it. As a rule, the layer thickness is 10-20 mm. If the surface has pronounced defects and several layers are required, then each subsequent one is applied after the previous one has dried.
  3. Use a level to check how smooth the surface is. If there are irregularities, they are additionally filled with a putty solution.

When the floor is leveled, you can install the finish coating (plywood with a backing, linoleum, laminate).

plywood laying

You can level the wooden floor using or chipboard. Both materials are quite affordable, but plywood is more durable, so it's better to use it. In this case, the thickness of the sheet must be at least 10 mm.

Leveling the floor in the house with plywood consists of several stages:

  1. The base is divided into sections measuring 20x30 cm. Beacons are installed at their corners.
  2. When the level is set, fit. Their thickness is 30-50 mm. Then the logs are fixed with wood glue or self-tapping screws.
  3. The last step will be cutting plywood sheets 60x60 cm in size and laying them in a checkerboard pattern. The edges of the sheets should be located strictly on the markup made at the beginning. Sheets are fixed with self-tapping screws, while their head should not protrude.

A topcoat is laid on top of the plywood, which can be linoleum, laminate or carpet.

For additional thermal insulation of a wooden floor, a substrate can be laid under the plywood.

Self leveling compound

The use of self-leveling compounds is the most exotic way to make a perfectly flat floor in a private house. It does not require special skills and a lot of effort. However, this method is used only in rooms where there is a slight difference in height. In addition, professionals do not advise the use of self-leveling compounds in new buildings due to the possible shrinkage of the wooden floor.

When choosing a mixture, pay attention to its purpose, it should be suitable for a wooden floor.

It is carried out in several stages:

  1. First of all, you need to prepare the base. All boards must be securely fastened. In this case, the heads of nails or self-tapping screws must be recessed.
  2. The surface is polished, cleaned of the old paintwork. If there are gaps or cracks in the floor, they are sealed with sawdust or a thicker mortar.
  3. The base is treated with a primer. It is recommended to use a primer from the same manufacturer as the self-leveling floor.
  4. When the surface is prepared, you need to determine the level to which the floor will be poured. Usually the layer thickness is from 3 to 20 mm. AT doorway a bar is installed so that the mixture does not flood the adjacent room, and the perimeter of the room is pasted over with a damper tape.
  5. A reinforcing mesh is laid on the surface and fixed with a construction stapler.
  6. The self-leveling mixture is kneaded according to the instructions on the package, poured onto the floor and leveled. Using a needle roller, air bubbles are removed from the solution.

Floor drying time is up to 48 hours. The surface should be covered plastic wrap and prevent drafts in the room. You can start finishing in two weeks.

Leveling a wood floor is easy. The main thing is to take into account the features of the coating and choose the right method suitable for specific conditions. Add comments, leave your opinions, criticism and additions to the article!

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