Plywood floor without lag in the apartment. Plywood on concrete floor without lag

The floor is a very important surface in any room. The main thing is that it should be even, aesthetically beautiful and not lose its properties for a long time.

An important step in the repair of the room is the leveling of the floor. Laying any floor covering, be it laminate, tile or linoleum, requires a level base. After all, it depends on him how long the modern coating will last.

The easiest way to get a beautiful front lawn

Of course, you have seen the perfect lawn in the movies, on the alley, and perhaps on the neighbor's lawn. Those who have ever tried to grow a green area in their area will no doubt say that this is a huge job. The lawn requires careful planting, care, fertilization, watering. However, only inexperienced gardeners think so, professionals have long known about the innovative tool - liquid turf AquaGrazz.

Various ways to level the floor

You can level the surface of the floor in different ways, each of them has its pros and cons. Let's consider each of them separately.

Ways to level the floor surface:

How to choose the right plywood flooring sheets

Plywood is an almost indispensable building material. This is due to the following factors:

• relatively cheap price;
• fast installation;
• perfect for removing various irregularities.

When choosing plywood sheets, you should pay attention to the following parameters:

• it must be made of environmentally friendly materials;
• its surface must be moisture resistant;
• in order to save time, it is better to choose plywood that has already been sanded.

There are 4 types of plywood:

1. The best - no defects, but small cracks are possible.
2. It may have wood inserts, glue may be present.
3. Variety already with knots.
4. The lowest quality, on such a plywood sheet there are many different defects.

Of course, the price of plywood directly depends on the grade. After all, the better the quality of the product, the higher the cost. Grade II is most preferable for leveling the flooring (price-quality ratio). The latter variety is not recommended for use for these purposes.

Types of floor leveling with plywood sheets

In order to make the base of the floor even, you can use two methods:

Method 1 - this is alignment with an additional crate (using a log);

Method 2 - without the use of crates.

The floor base is of two types:

• concrete;
• wooden.

Leveling the floor on a concrete base

When laying plywood on a concrete floor, careful preparation is required. After all, concrete is a fairly complex material. Before starting work on leveling the base, it is necessary to determine how wet this surface is. To do this, lay a small piece of film on the concrete and press it, after a couple of days you should check whether condensation has formed on the inside of the film. If this happens, then the plywood surfaces should be treated with additional agents against fungus and mold.

Floor leveling technology

Tools needed for this job:

• building level;
• roulette;
• perforator;
• self-tapping screws;
• jigsaw;
• electric or cordless screwdriver.

Before laying plywood sheets, we prepare the base. It is necessary to remove the old surface to concrete, clean, vacuum. The concrete surface must be perfectly clean and dry. Now, using the level, you need to determine the boundaries of the new surface, and you can proceed to preparing the lag. For them, you need to purchase ready-made wooden bars. They can be purchased at specialized stores or at construction markets. When buying, you need to pay attention to what kind of wood they are made of, determine the degree of drying.

Under the bars it is necessary to prepare wooden linings with a width of 10 to 15 cm, and a length of up to 20 cm, a thickness of 2.5 cm. The logs are laid across the direction of the light that falls from the window, observing a distance of 40 to 50 cm.

The space between the wooden blocks can be filled with sound and heat insulating materials, so that as a result the floor surface is not only warm, but also silent. When installing the log, you should leave some space between the wall and the bar so that the floor covering does not deform due to changes in room temperature.

It is necessary to make the crate exactly according to the pre-marked floor level. After sheathing the concrete surface with the help of a log, you should proceed to fixing the plywood itself. The prepared surface of the plywood sheet should be divided into pieces approximately 75x75 cm in size using an electric jigsaw.

These small pieces of plywood must be screwed to the prepared logs. Be sure to leave a gap of 2 to 4 mm between the plywood. If this is not done, then the floor will creak after a while.

This happens because wooden structures can change their volume. The process depends on the time of year, on the level of humidity in the room. And the gaps will allow the tree to freely change in size, while not changing the integrity of the floor.

To screw plywood, you need to use self-tapping screws and a screwdriver. This should be done, leaving a distance of 50 to 100 mm between the screws.

If you have to level the floor in the hallway, then you need to lay out the logs across the movement. This will make the floor surface more stable, reliable.

Leveling on the battens should be used if the differences in the floor surface are more than 50 mm.

If the floor differences are not more than 10 mm, then it is possible to attach the plywood directly to the concrete pavement without prior lathing.

The technology of leveling the concrete floor without the use of logs

Plywood for such cases should be chosen with a thickness of more than 18 mm. This is the simplest method compared to the previous one.

To fix plywood to the floor surface, you can use the following methods:

• with glue;
• regulation.

When attaching plywood sheets using adhesive solutions, it must be taken into account that there should not be significant level differences on the required floor surface. The concrete surface before applying the adhesive must be perfectly dry, with minimal moisture.

The regulated method is not particularly popular. For it, specialized adjustable racks are used to level the surface. Plywood spreads in two layers on wooden blocks. The thickness of the first layer is 0.2 cm, and the second layer should be slightly less.

Leveling the floor surface with plywood on wooden bases

Without using lag

For a wooden covering, plywood can be laid quite simply - screw the sheets to the base. The main thing is that the foundation is strong. For this method, plywood must be purchased with a thickness of at least 10 mm.

Starting to level the wooden floor, you should step back from the wall about 20 mm. Between plywood sheets, the gap should be from 3 to 8 mm. When laying them, you need to imitate, as it were, brick laying - the sheet should be laid with an offset to the next one by at least ¼ of the sheet of the previous row.

Alignment with lag

It is also possible to level the wooden base of the floor along the logs. True, this method is the most complex and time-consuming. But on the other hand, laminate, tile and other types of flooring can be safely laid out on such a surface. Thus, we get a floor surface that is perfectly flat for any modern floor covering.

To level the wooden base of the floor along the logs, you must first dismantle the old floor covering. After this procedure, the existing logs should be inspected, they will probably need to be replaced. Now it follows in increments of 60 cm to sheathe the surface of the floor longitudinally with bars. Plywood sheets are already attached directly to the logs so that the joints fall on the supports.

Before sewing plywood, an additional layer of insulation must be laid. To do this, you can use polystyrene, mineral wool. Then lay the vapor barrier on top. Plywood is mounted on bars in the same way as when leveling concrete floor bases.

Finishing the floor surface

After laying plywood sheets using one of the above methods, you should proceed to finishing the floor surface.

Checking the correct laying of plywood:

• carefully inspect the floor surface;
• check for gaps between sheets;
• sheets of plywood should not fit snugly against the wall;
• check the horizontal surface with a building level. It must be even, only a difference of 2 mm is allowed.
• the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe floor covering must be tapped with a mallet. If a dull sound suddenly appears, then it is necessary to remove this part of the plywood sheet and redo it. The presence of this sound indicates a void under the material.

After checking the work done and eliminating all defects, if any, you can start sealing the joints with putty. The surface of the floor is cleaned with a vacuum cleaner and covered with a primer.

Summing up, it is necessary to highlight the general rules for working with plywood sheets:

Thus, having considered all possible ways - how to level the floor with plywood on wooden and concrete bases, we can conclude that this option is very affordable, lightweight, durable and quite durable. After preparing the surface, you can safely go to building supply stores and choose a modern coating that is close to your liking.

The floor is an important part of any building. It must be smooth, as well as durable and attractive. A very important step in the repair of an apartment is the alignment of the flooring. For the installation of any material, regardless of its type, an even base should be built. How long the finish coat will last depends on its quality. Leveling the floor with plywood under the laminate is carried out quite quickly. To do this, you need to know the technology of work.

Common Ways

When leveling the base under linoleum, parquet or tiles, it is carried out in various ways. Each method has a certain number of advantages and disadvantages. They should be considered in more detail. It is worth highlighting the following ways to level the base for the floor:

• Using beacons. This method of leveling the floor with plywood is very popular. It is usually used when laying the floor in spacious rooms. This method consists in the installation of beacons and the subsequent alignment of the screed. The main advantage of this option is to obtain the final state. As a result, you can get a fairly high-quality and even coating. The disadvantage of installing beacons is that the new surface will dry for a month.
• Self-leveling floors. The peculiarity of this method is the use of a special solution, which is evenly distributed over the floor. The result is a smooth and durable surface. However, these materials also have a significant drawback. This method is not used to level floors that have an unevenness of more than 35 mm.
• With the help of an additional crate. This method is simpler and faster. It is made using ordinary plywood. During the work, a lot of effort is not expended.

The last method is worth considering in more detail. It is becoming increasingly popular due to its accessibility and simplicity.

Choice of plywood sheet

Plywood is an indispensable material used in construction. This can be explained by the following features:

• relatively low price;
• simplicity and high speed of installation;
• the ability to use plywood panels when eliminating numerous irregularities in the base for linoleum or other coatings.

When choosing plywood sheets, you need to pay attention to the following material parameters:

• panels must be made of environmentally friendly materials;
• it is necessary that plywood be moisture resistant;
• to save time, you should choose a ground material.

Plywood sheets vary in quality. The best panels are free of defects. The maximum that is allowed in the manufacture of such sheets is minor cracks. On medium quality plywood, you can see the remains of glue, various wood inclusions. Low quality products are different, which have many different defects.

The price directly depends on the type of material chosen. The higher the quality of the material laid under the linoleum, the more reliable it will be when performing work. Usually high quality sheets are chosen for leveling the bases.

Types of alignment

To make the base for linoleum, parquet or laminate as smooth as possible, you should use 2 methods:

• crate alignment - in this case, logs are used;
• without a crate.

The base of the floor covering can be made of concrete and boards. Depending on the material of their manufacture, the alignment process will differ.

When laying plywood on concrete floors, it is necessary to carefully prepare. This is due to the fact that concrete is difficult to pour. First you need to determine what kind of humidity such a surface has. For this purpose, a concrete film is laid and pressed. After 2-3 days, it is necessary to check whether condensation has appeared under it. If it is available, plywood, which will be used to level the surface, should be treated with protective agents against fungus and mold.

Alignment with lags

Such work has certain features that should be taken into account when preparing and performing installation procedures. To work, you will need to use the following tools:

• roulette;
• self-tapping screws;
• jigsaw;
• screwdriver

Before laying plywood, it is necessary to prepare the base. First, the old coating is removed, the concrete is vacuumed and cleaned. The surface must be dry. Now, with the help of the level, it is necessary to mark the boundaries of the new coverage. After that, you can start preparing the lag. For them, wooden bars are chosen. During the acquisition, you should figure out what kind of wood the elements are made of.

Under the bars, it is necessary to place linings with a width of 15 cm. Their length is usually 20 cm. The logs must be laid across the light rays falling from the window.

Heat and sound insulation is laid between the bars. In this case, the floor surface will be silent and warm. During the installation of the log, it is necessary to leave a certain space between them and the walls. This is necessary to compensate for the thermal expansion of the floor elements.

Lathing is carried out at a precisely defined floor level. After sheathing the concrete base with lags, it is necessary to start laying sheets of material. The panels are divided into parts 75x75 cm.

Such pieces of material must be screwed to the lags. Leave a gap of 4 mm between the plywood. It is needed to eliminate squeaks while moving across the floor. Wooden flooring tends to change its size. This is due to the deformation of individual structural elements. Due to the presence of gaps, it will freely change dimensions, while maintaining its previous shape.

For fixing plywood, self-tapping screws should be prepared. If necessary, level the floor in the hallway should lay out the logs across the movement. This will provide greater reliability and stability of the coating.

Leveling on the crate is used for floor level differences of more than 50 mm. In the case of minor differences (10 mm or less), the plywood is laid directly on the concrete base.

Without using lag

For such work, plywood with a thickness of 18 mm is selected. This installation method is simpler and more popular than the previous one. Sheets are fastened using:

• regulations;
• adhesive formulations.

If glue is chosen for fastening, it is worth considering that the surface should not have large height differences. Before applying the adhesive composition, the surface is dried and dust-free. Only under such conditions can reliable and durable fastening of plywood be achieved.

The regulated method is not very popular. For this method, special racks are used, with the help of which the surface is leveled. Plywood is laid on wooden blocks in 2 layers. The first one should be 0.2 cm thick. The second one is a little thinner.

For wooden floorboards, plywood is very easy to install. Sheets are screwed to the base. The main goal is to have high strength. For this method, plywood is purchased with a thickness of at least 10 mm.

When leveling the floor under linoleum, it is necessary to step back from the wall by 20 mm. A distance of 8 mm should be made between plywood panels. When laying sheets, imitate brickwork. Leveling the floor with plywood without a lag is quite simple. The main thing is to follow the instructions.

Surface finishing

At the final stage of work, surface finishing is performed. Before work, you should check how correctly the plywood was laid:

• attentively
• . the entire floor surface is inspected;
• the presence and size of the gaps that are between the panels are checked;
• plywood sheets should not be tightly mounted to the wall;
• using the building level, the horizontalness of the surface is checked. The maximum allowable difference is 2 mm

The entire floor area is tapped with a mallet. In the event of dull sounds, remove the plywood sheet and install it again. A dull sound indicates the presence of air under the sheet. Leveling the concrete floor with plywood is carried out taking into account the characteristics of the material and coating.

When the check is completed, and all defects are eliminated, you can begin to seal the joints with putty. A primer is applied on top of it.

findings

Summing up, we should remember a few basic rules that apply when working with plywood panels:

• Plywood is susceptible to moisture. As a result of a long stay in a humid room, the sheets begin to deform, changing their shape and size.
• There is no need to overpay for top quality plywood if it is to be used for surface leveling.
• For ease of working with panels, they are sawn into smaller elements. It is easiest to work with sheets of plywood 75x75 mm.
• If plywood is laid directly on the base, it is better to choose sheets with a thickness of at least 18 mm.
• During the installation of plywood sheets with lags in the hallway, the bars are laid across the room.
• Panels are screwed on. When choosing this method of leveling the surface, it should be taken into account that the level of the floor will rise.

As you can see, there are several ways to level the floor using plywood sheets. They are used in the case of concrete and wood bases. This method is very affordable, as well as durable and reliable. After the preparation for work and the necessary calculations are completed, you can go to the hardware store for materials.

You can additionally learn how floor leveling is performed from the video:

Almost any finish coat needs a flat surface, and there are several ways to do leveling work. The easiest way to level the floor with plywood, this method, by the way, will not be so expensive.

Leveling the floor with plywood is one of the cheapest ways to finish the floor, but it is also very high quality.

In order to get the perfect effect, it is necessary to make a complete dismantling of the floors, this will allow the installation of a new coating to be carried out with the highest quality. Leveling the floor with plywood can be done with or without logs, but the latter option will be less labor-intensive.

Necessary tools and materials

• plywood;
• primer;
• roller;
• bituminous mastic;
• needle roller;
• self-tapping screws;
• perforator;
• sandpaper.

Leveling the base with plywood without using a log

Before leveling the floor on the base of the wooden floor, it should be noted that the surface will end up being flat, but not horizontally aligned. However, this is not always required.

If you have to level the concrete floor, then it should be noted that immediately after laying the screed, you should not start work. In addition, it is necessary to analyze the level of surface moisture, during which a piece of polyethylene should be used, which must be laid on the floor and pressed with bars around the entire perimeter of the room. After 4 days, you need to check if there is condensation under the base of the film. If it is absent, then you can start working on.

The process must begin with cutting the material, the elements of which are to be laid out in the room. This will help prepare the elements that will lie near communications, arches, openings, corners, etc.

Plywood is sold in the form of square sheets with a side equal to 125 cm. Material of standard sizes must be cut into 4 squares. As soon as it was possible to make a cut, you should check if the ends of the workpieces are damaged.

Sheets should not be stacked excessively close to each other, this is due to the fact that the material tends to deform, and also reacts to periodic changes in temperature and air humidity.

If the sheets are laid close, then over time the floor will begin to change its linear dimensions and creak. Thus, the gap between the sheets should be equal to the limit of 5-10 mm. When leveling the floor with plywood, it is necessary to leave a gap between the walls and the coating, which should be equal to 10-20 mm. These grooves are necessary for free air circulation.

When laying sheets, they should be shifted relative to each other, avoiding the formation of a junction of four corners. It is preferable to lay the canvases first, without strengthening them, and number them - this will allow you to remember the installation order. If necessary, you can depict the laying scheme by making notes on the rough coating.

The next step is to prepare the surface by removing dust from the floor. Now you can cover the surface with a primer, which can be a primer. It can be prepared by mixing glue intended for plywood, solvent (gasoline) and bituminous mastic. The resulting solution has good absorption into the concrete base. This process will ensure the safety and strength of the cement floor, increase the adhesion of plywood sheets to the surface. Apply the primer to the floor with a roller or a wide brush. As soon as the base is dry, it is permissible to begin the process of leveling the floor.

Correction of the floor with plywood without the use of a log can be carried out using glue. As it can be used and bituminous mastic. The composition must be applied in a layer with a thickness of 2 mm. The needle roller will contribute to the uniform distribution of the composition. Plywood sheets to the floor surface should be fixed not only with the glue itself, but also mechanically. Fasteners can be self-tapping screws or anchor bolts. Fasteners must be selected taking into account that its length is 3 times the thickness of the plywood. Leveling the floor must be done by installing fasteners at a distance of 20 cm.

After the sheet is laid, it will have to be drilled and a hole made in the base of the screed to the required thickness and depth. Using a large drill, you need to countersink a hole in the sheet, which will later allow you to completely drown the fasteners. After the alignment process is completed, the sheets can be sanded using sandpaper, a grinder will help to carry out these works faster.

Leveling the floor with plywood can also be done using an adjustable method. To do this, you have to drill holes according to the scheme, then attach the sheet to the floor surface and equip the holes in the base. Anchors with nuts and washers should be installed in the holes obtained. The location of the nuts can be set using a laser level. After installing the anchors on the floor surface and determining the level, you can mount the plywood, fixing everything on top with nuts and washers. The rods will have leftovers that need to be disposed of. This method involves laying a second layer of plywood. It is necessary to carry out the installation with an overlap so that the joints of the lower layer are located in the center of the plates of the second layer.

Leveling the base with plywood along the logs

Leveling the surface with plywood without a log, although cheaper, however, allows you to get a coating that is not as durable as in the case of using a log. In order to ensure that the surface is leveled horizontally, you can first lay logs on the rough base, which will be fixed with anchors, but first you need to lay a substrate of elements made on the basis of fiberboard on the floor. As the optimal distance between the lags, a step of 60 cm is used. A higher degree of strength will be provided by a mesh that needs to be formed from the lag. Across the main lag, you need to lay the trim, observing the level.

If the logs are supposed to be mounted in the living space, then they must be laid perpendicular to the direction of the light.

Logs can also be laid on beams, which will increase the rigidity of the floor structure, extending its life.

If you want to level the floor with less labor, then initially you can install two lighthouse logs, which should be removed a considerable distance from each other. Between the lighthouse lags, it is necessary to carry out the installation of the remaining lags, taking the level of the first as a basis.

Before the final laying of the sheets, it is necessary to determine the points at which the fasteners are supposed to be installed. After the marks, you can drill holes, the diameter of which should not be larger than the head of the self-tapping screws. The holes should be 10-30 cm apart from each other. In the end, the plywood sheet needs to be reinforced with self-tapping screws. You can level the floor in this way by laying plywood in several layers. After it was possible to level the floor with the first layer of plywood, it is necessary to seal the gaps, during which it is recommended to use an elastic mastic, which is pressed into the seam, and then rubbed with a spatula.

It is much easier to correct the floor with plywood without a log, but then it will not be possible to achieve horizontal alignment of the surface. But the use of logs involves raising the height of the floor by a few centimeters.

Leveling the floor with plywood without a lag does not require as much physical effort and labor as laying a floor screed, and the best part is that this saves time. After all, you can start installing the finish coating immediately after you lay the plywood. This method is also good because it ensures the vapor permeability and ventilation of the floor, which is especially important when laying laminate or parquet.

Method 1 "On glue"

This method is used at times when the height difference is insignificant and in the presence of a ready-made screed. If the screed was finished recently, be sure to wait for it to dry completely. First of all, check the level of humidity in the room, for this, take a meter-long piece of plastic wrap and press it with bars to the floor around the entire perimeter. If after 3-4 days perspiration has not formed, you can start working with plywood.

cutting plywood

Before you start laying plywood, it must be cut into pieces and laid out in the room, in such a way as it will be attached. Due to this, it is possible to adjust the dimensions and cut out pieces of the required configuration for arches, corners, doorways, pillars, entry points to the floor of engineering networks.

Plywood is sold in the form of square sheets of a standard size with a side of 125 cm. However, for installation and operation, this format is impractical and not convenient. Therefore, a plywood sheet is usually sawn into four identical squares. When the sheet is sawn, it is very important to check the ends of the blanks for delaminations or cracks. When the plywood boards are ready, you can start experimental laying.

Plywood should not be stacked too tightly together. The fact is that this material is subject to deformation, reacts to strong temperature changes and an increase in air humidity, therefore, in order to avoid deformation and as a result of creaking, a gap of 5-10 mm must necessarily remain between the plywood sheets.

The gap between the plywood sheet and the wall is approximately 10-20 mm. Thanks to the gaps, air will circulate freely, thus creating the optimal mode for the operation of plywood-based flooring. By leveling the floor with plywood under laminate, you thereby reduce the risk of defects in this moisture-sensitive material. The same applies to parquet.

The sheets must be offset relative to each other and at the same time there should not be a junction of four corners at one point. When all the material is laid on the floor, all the details are made and in front of you is an almost finished plywood base, the sheets should be numbered. It is necessary to remember the laying order, and for this you need to draw a diagram and make notes with chalk on the floor. Then you won't assemble the puzzle. Now the plywood can be removed.

Foundation preparation

If you decide to lay plywood without a lag, then you are sure that the floor is even. It remains to remove minor defects and carefully remove dust on the base. The next step is the primer. for this, you can take a primer, which is prepared by mixing plywood glue with a solvent or gasoline with bituminous mastic. The resulting solution is well absorbed, they need to cover the concrete. This procedure will ensure the safety and strength of the cement floor, will improve the adhesion of plywood sheets to the base. The primer is applied with a roller or a wide brush. When the surface is dry, you can begin the installation of plywood sheets.

plywood laying

You already have a plan for laying plywood sheets in your hands, now you need to determine which composition to use as glue. As you remember, you can use both glue and bituminous mastic. The agent is applied in a layer 2 mm thick. To evenly distribute the composition, use a spiked roller.

Plywood sheets are fastened not only with glue, but also with fasteners such as self-tapping screws, anchor bolts, which should be 3 times longer than the thickness of plywood, dowels. Here you will need a perforator. There must be a distance of at least 20 cm between the fasteners.

When the plywood is laid, it is necessary to drill it and make a hole in the screed to the required thickness and depth. Using a large drill, a hole in the plywood sheet is countersunk so that the self-tapping screw can then be completely drowned. After finishing all the laying work, the plywood must be sanded with sandpaper or a grinder.

Method 2 "adjustable plywood"

Newly designed adjustable plywood eliminates the need for glue. To do this, you need to drill holes in accordance with the diagram, then attach the sheet to the floor and make holes in the floor. Anchors with nuts and washers are installed in the holes. The height of the nuts is set using a laser level. After the anchors are installed over the entire surface of the floor, the level is determined, it remains to lay the plywood sheets and fix them on top with nuts and washers. The rest of the rods should be cut off.

However, this method involves laying a second layer of plywood. It is overlapped so that the joints of the lower layer are in the center of the plates from the second layer.

Additional Information:

• Leveling a wooden floor with plywood is one of the most relevant and reliable ways to level a floor. Tools As you understand, the installation of plywood ...
• Laying laminate on plywood is used when the floor is quite uneven. Using plywood, you can create a flat surface, which is ...
• Before laying the finish coat, the wooden floor must be leveled, because over time, cracks form in the floor and the boards bend. Floor leveling...

The use of plywood is rightfully considered an economical and well-established way of leveling the floor surface in wooden buildings. Dry screed using sheet material does not require incredible labor costs, does not require significant financial investments. There are no tangible technological breaks in the process that delay the finishing. But there are nuances that an independent performer needs to know about. Before proceeding with the planned repair, you should figure out how to level the wooden floor using plywood sheets in order to avoid unwanted and not at all cheap alterations.

How to create an impeccably flat surface using factory adjustable systems, the videos will demonstrate in great detail. The video is aimed at owners of city apartments with concrete floors.

In principle, the method of installing adjustable logs with plywood or plywood sheets with anchor posts on a wooden base does not differ from the scheme of their installation over cement slabs.

If the owner of a country bath has a surplus of money, he may well use ready-made adjustable sets. Alignment in the rest room, in the billiard room or in the dressing room will be carried out quickly and without much effort. However, we certainly will not classify adjustable plywood and logs as cheap methods. Let's explore budget options.

Methods and techniques for leveling plywood

The choice of the optimal technology for leveling a wooden floor with plywood determines the condition of the floors and the degree of deviation of the “relief” of the surface from the norm specified by the building requirements:

• with a difference in height levels of 2 mm, found on a plot of 1 m 2, even for laying linoleum, which is extremely sensitive to deviations, alignment is not required. A sufficient measure would be processing with acrylic sealant or puttying with a home-made mixture of moistened sawdust and PVA glue;
• with uniform deformation of properly laid floorboards with a difference in height levels of 5 mm, leveling the floor with plywood can be done by attaching the sheets directly to the plank floor;
• height differences of more than 1 cm, but not more than 8 cm, require the creation of point or strip supports. In fact, the process consists in arranging a crate from a bar or from cobs that replace solid logs, for the manufacture of which thick plywood or board is used.

Proper laying means that the builders alternated boards with different directions of the pattern of annual wood rings according to technological requirements. This means that bulges-humps or concavities-boats on the floor appeared through one or two boards.

If it is not possible to level the wooden floor with your own hands without problems due to too large height fluctuations, the structure must be dismantled and built from new lumber. Such serious deviations certainly have no less serious reasons.

It is important to note that dry leveling plywood can only be used if there are no complaints about the technical characteristics of the floor.

How to determine the difference in height?

A laser device is an excellent thing, but a two-meter level gauge will be more effective as a measuring tool in this case. It makes it easier to study the surface. It is necessary to mark the points in the corners of the room being repaired, to find and designate the centers of the floor and wall interface lines, the center of the room. Having divided the room into peculiar segments, it is necessary to examine each section. Evaluation of the recorded results will draw a picture of the upcoming repair.

Regardless of the range of upcoming work, it is imperative to carry out an audit and repair of the foundation. It is necessary to eliminate the creak, update the fasteners, replace the damaged elements, check the performance of the "underground" communications.

Method #1 - The "easiest" without installing a lag

Before laying plywood, it is necessary to provide the opportunity to "get used" to the conditions of the upcoming service. The material intended for arranging a regularly heated room needs to stand on the edge for a couple of days where it will be laid. In a room that is not spoiled by permanent, sheets moistened with warm water should stand for at least a day.

All wood floor elements and dry screed materials based on wood veneer or fibers are pre-treated with an antiseptic.

The easiest way to level the floor with plywood is the method without installing a lag. Installation of the support beam is not required, since its function will be adequately performed by the evenly distributed tubercles of the curved floorboards. In addition to plywood, DSP or GVL boards are suitable for such alignment.

It is pointless to level the wave-like deformed fiberboard floor. During operation, the material will shrink and repeat all the notches with tubercles of the rough base.

For a plank floor with a floorboard width of up to 20 cm, each of which is “swollen” evenly, we will buy plywood 8-10 mm thick. If a board with a width of more than 20 cm was used for flooring, and also if not every floorboard will rest against a plywood sheet with a convex “hump”, sheet material will be required with a thickness of 18-20 mm.

The sequence of actions for leveling the subfloor with plywood:

• Along the perimeter of the repaired floor, we will set the bosses to form a mandatory two-centimeter indent from the walls.
• Plywood sheets are laid with a gap between them of 3-8 mm to cushion the movements caused by moisture fluctuations. When laying several rows, we imitate brickwork. That is, we place the plates of the next row with an offset to the plates of the previous one. There should not be a cruciform intersection of four butt welds at one point. The minimum offset size is a quarter of the sheet, the maximum is half.
• We fasten to the “crests” of the boardwalk at the points with the maximum height established during the preliminary survey. We try to distribute the attachment points evenly, focusing on the distances between the bulges identified as a result of measurements.

Holes for fasteners are recommended to be drilled in advance in two stages. First you need to use a drill, the size of which is equal to the diameter of the self-tapping screw. Then you need to make a hole with the diameter of the cap so that it can be completely sunk into the plywood sheet. The dowels along the perimeter of the plywood sheet should recede from the edge by at least 2 cm.

It is recommended to lay plywood sheets with one-sided roughness intended for the subsequent laying of a finishing coating with the unsanded side up to improve the adhesion of the coating to the leveling layer. It is better to turn the sanded side if you plan to simply mask the screw heads with acrylic sealant, and open the plywood with varnish from above.

Method #2 - with a band support device

The technology consists in the construction of a crate of longitudinal logs and crossbars, exposed in one horizontal plane. The logs along the perimeter are placed at a distance of 3 cm from the walls. The laying step of the longitudinal components of the frame system under construction determines the size of the plywood sheet. Usually its values ​​vary from 40 cm to half a meter.

Example - if the side is 152.5 cm, then the optimal distance between the axes, both the log and the crossbars, will be 48 - 50 cm. If the side is 122.0 cm, it is recommended to leave 37 - 40 cm between the axes of the support beam.

Step by step guide:

• Let's start with an example. Let's lay out the plywood without fastening, adhering to the standard brickwork scheme and providing gaps. Let's outline the outline of the plates, these lines will become guides for future marking the location of the lag. Don't forget to number the sample sheets.
• According to the markings made on the floor, we first mount the logs along the walls. The optimal material for the installation of a strip sheathing for plywood is considered a square beam with a side of 40 to 60 cm, options are allowed. If it is undesirable and not necessary to raise the floor too much, logs can be made by cutting plywood into strips, or using second-class boards.
• We install transverse jumpers with a step calculated according to the size of the sheet. They are attached to the lags with self-tapping screws, preferably using metal corners.
• We set the logs and transverse elements vertically into a single plane according to the readings of the level gauge. Those who wish to figure out how to correctly level the surface of an old wooden floor should adhere to the requirements specified in SNiP number 3.04.01-87. According to this collection of standards, it is forbidden to drive wedges from the remnants of lumber under the logs. Alignment is carried out by adding sand, with minor deviations by lining roofing material or roofing felt. Most often, a single lag plane is achieved by placing wooden pads such as point supports under them.
• After leveling, the log system is attached to the base with galvanized metal corners; it can be used to fix the dowel crate, the length of which is three times the thickness of the log.
• We complete the alignment by laying and fastening plywood.

The space between the lag bars can be filled with additional insulation or a home-made screed made of wet sawdust mixed in half with PVA glue.

We apply a mixture with a consistency resembling thick sour cream in two or three layers and wait for it to completely harden for two days. In such cases, thinner plywood can be purchased for leveling.

Method #3 - Alignment with a mini-lag device

It is used to level floors with a slope and with significant height differences up to 8 cm. It consists in installing slats and wooden linings in order to create a single support system for plywood. Without an accurate engineering calculation, it will be extremely difficult for the contractor to cope with a very difficult task.

First you need to try on, and then, using the lines marked on the floor, carefully calculate the size of each supporting element. You need to calculate the height and select the dimensions very carefully, since all elements of the supporting structure will be different.

Method #4 - with a crate of point supports

The point method consists in installing separate pillars, cut from a board, OSB board or all the same plywood. The thickness of the cob is selected in accordance with the difference between the created flat surface and the actual level. Ultimately, the support system should form a kind of grid that replaces the tape crate.

Since it is inferior to the tape type in terms of reliability and stability, the coven linings are installed with a smaller step. You should get peculiar cells with imaginary squares of 30 cm for sheet material up to 14 mm thick, 45 cm for thick plywood.

And don't forget to ventilate the underground! After completing the separation and installation of the skirting board, it is necessary to drill ventilation holes in it at the previously existing points. Cover the openings with a ventilation grill.

Figured out the best way to line your wood floor with plywood? The point is small, it remains to prepare mentally and technically and begin to implement plans. Surely everything will turn out fine, because the repair procedure does not present any particular difficulties.