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Guide for pouring concrete screed on a wooden floor. Self-leveling floor on a wooden floor, wooden base Self-leveling floor on a wooden floor

There are a lot of advantages of self-leveling floors so popular today. Self-leveling floor on a wooden base is not only strong and durable, but safe and environmentally friendly, so it is perfect for residential premises, including children's rooms and kitchens.

The first self-leveling floors were not particularly diverse. Now times have changed, and experts offer polyurethane coatings in numerous colors. Floors made in 3D technology are very popular, with their help you can create a stunning effect that will decorate the design of any room.

More often self-leveling floors can be found in houses with a concrete base. But wood flooring is also suitable for this type of work. Filling a floor with a wooden base is somewhat more complicated and has certain nuances.

Preparation for work

Laying the bulk mixture is a labor-intensive process. Much depends on how carefully the preparation for it takes place. First of all, you need to determine whether it is possible to work with a particular wooden base. The self-leveling floor will last a long time and will be of really high quality only when the wooden coating is of good enough quality.

Preparing the base is to get rid of the skirting boards and their fixtures against the walls. Next, the wooden floor is cycled using a special machine. In small rooms, you can get by with a manual cycle.

Next, a grinder comes into play, the task of which will be to open cracks in a wooden coating. If they were not initially visible, then after processing they will definitely appear. All cracks and irregularities on the surface should be treated with putty and wait for it to dry completely. After that, the base for the self-leveling floor is ground with coarse-grained emery. In this case, it is better to give preference to wood combined with polyurethane.

The final stage of preparation is the priming of the surface. Before starting this procedure, it is necessary to degrease the base and carefully get rid of all debris and dust. It is better to apply the primer in two layers. For more reliable adhesion, it is worth adding quartz sand to the primer.

For preparatory work, you will need a chisel, a nail puller, a scraper and grinder, coarse-grained emery, a primer roller, a spatula, and a mixer for mixing a polyurethane solution. In addition, it is worth stocking up on gloves, respirators, overalls, goggles and spiked shoes for moving on a freshly applied coating.

Floor pouring technology

According to the principle of operation, pouring polyurethane on a wooden floor is no different from a similar process with a concrete base.

First of all, it is important to properly prepare the solution. This procedure must be carried out in accordance with the rules indicated in the manufacturer's instructions. Basically, this happens according to the same scheme: the dry mixture is poured with water, and then mixed until smooth with a construction mixer.

The finished mixture must be laid out on a wooden floor, starting from the farthest corner of the room. The thickness of the finished coating is very important. In the case of wood, it should not be more than 5 mm. Polyurethane leveling occurs with a spatula, as well as a spiked roller. The latter is necessary in order to remove all air bubbles from the mixture. An even layer of polyurethane must be dried for about 15 minutes, and then covered with a film so that dust does not settle on the hardening self-leveling floor.

The base coat must dry completely and harden well. Only then can the final layer be applied. As a rule, it is a varnish or a polymer mixture.

Experts advise choosing self-leveling floors for living quarters, which are based on polymer resin. Where humidity is particularly high, such as in the bathroom, it is better to use an epoxy coating.

Self-leveling floors can be very durable, but each individual case has its own characteristics of preparation and installation. For example, in a room with the possibility of sudden temperature changes, you should use mounting tape. It must be laid around the entire perimeter of the wall of the room. The result is a damper pad that can protect the polyurethane surface if the wood begins to expand as the temperature rises.

In rooms with a wooden floor base, after finishing the preparatory work, you need to check the humidity and temperature in the room. The instructions for the polyurethane mixture should indicate the optimal values \u200b\u200bfor starting work.

Masters recommend immediately pouring a surface area of \u200b\u200babout 2 sq.m. Then it must be quickly leveled and work can be continued on other areas. Do not interrupt the pouring process of the polyurethane coating for more than 10 minutes, otherwise an uneven surface may be obtained. It is most convenient to fill in the strips, starting from the door farthest from the entrance.

The spiked roller plays an important role in pouring the floor, as it makes the coating as uniform as possible. Experts recommend not to save on the finish coating. A good varnish will give the self-leveling floor a beautiful glossy sheen and increase durability.

The self-leveling floor becomes hard after 10-12 hours. However, it is better to wait a few days before stepping on the surface. In some cases, the period of complete drying can last a week.

If you follow all the rules, you can achieve an amazing effect that will delight for many years.

Surface preparation for work

The floor is not always even. Often the surface retains the flaws of past repair teams, sometimes it is deformed from time to time. In order to determine the condition of the main wooden floor, some work needs to be done. First of all, you need to get to it by removing the layers of the topcoat, which can be linoleum, carpet, laminate. This must be done carefully, without deforming the base. To do this, you should first look at the type of attachment in order to purposefully direct the force. When the surface is cleared of both the coating and the layer of insulating film and insulation, you need to pay attention to the boards. If you notice signs of decay, they are no longer suitable, as this process is irreversible. The appearance of small "bugs" is also an alarming symptom. If the tree is not damaged, steps can be taken to restore it and lay a new coating.

Evenness is very important in the arrangement of the floor. It will avoid problems with laying ceramic and cork tiles, a layer of laminate, solid wood planks or veneered MDF. Any excess bend will inevitably affect the appearance of the surface, forming bumps, cracks, preventing good adhesion of the adhesive. How do you know what the quality of your floor is? To do this, you can not only use the eye, but also make a calculation with the help of several threads stretched over the floor from one wall to another. Fasten the ends of the threads at the same height from the floor, then lower them to the level where at one point the thread touches the floor. Measure the distance from the thread to the floor in other areas. If the difference in height does not exceed a few millimeters, this is an acceptable error. If the height differences are more than 5 mm, it is likely that additional screeding will be required in this area. If there are gaps in the floor, they must be sealed with putty, otherwise the mixture will leak and bumps will appear.

Composition and features of the mixture

Leveling compounds can be a real help in the hands of the master, both for cement and wooden floors. They prepare the base for any kind of finish. Some of them need to be carefully rolled out over the surface and distributed by hand, while some spread themselves, filling all the cracks and cavities. It is with the latter types of mixtures that the beginner is easiest to work with.

The composition traditionally includes cement or gypsum, sand, as well as additional additives that are responsible for the properties of the product - drying speed, strength, preferred layer thickness. It is very important to follow all manufacturer's instructions. The main difference between the mixture for leveling a wooden floor is the presence of fibrous additives that are responsible for better adhesion to the surface, such as fiberglass. The features can also include the absence of casein in the composition - a substance that can destroy the structure of the tree. Also, polymeric modifiers may be present in the composition.

Required inventory

Self-leveling compounds are also called self-leveling floors, which vividly describes the way they are applied. If your room in the future may be subject to temperature extremes and high humidity, it is better to choose cement-based mixtures. Anhydride compounds are not ready for such a load. The purchase should be made at a hardware store, where they will tell you which samples interact better with wood, and how to calculate the required volume of the mixture. Of the necessary tools, you should have: a bucket, a wide spatula, a needle roller and a mortar mixer. Proven manufacturers in this area: Knauf, Horizont, Vetonit, Ceresit, Prospectors, Volma, Paul Bolars.

Dilution of the mixture

Leveling a wooden floor with a self-levelling compound can be a real torture if the ratio of water to dry matter is not respected. The mixture is poured into the water gradually, mixing. It is very important to have time to mix the mixture and apply it without exceeding the time period of half an hour, since it is at this time that the mixture has the best adhesion to the surface. If there is too little water, the mixture will begin to solidify and be distributed into granules-crystals even in the mixer, but if it is more than it should be, the self-leveling floor will dry for a long time.

This work is difficult to carry out alone, so it is better to invite specialists or friends who are competent in construction matters. The mixture costs a lot, but only improper mixing can render it unusable, because the frozen mixture can no longer be re-diluted with water and reused. Stir the mixture until the lumps are completely dissolved. It is better to isolate the room from the flow of fresh air by closing the windows. Drafts and high humidity can adversely affect the hardening of the coating. The best temperature for work is from 5 to 25 degrees Celsius. If the mixture does not spread properly, use a roller. If its needles are shorter than the thickness of the floor, they will break up air bubbles without affecting the distribution of the mixture as a whole.

If you are making a floor in a room where there is no one that separates it from the next one, install limiters in advance that will keep the adjacent room clean. They can also be installed near plumbing fixtures if you plan on artistic processing.

It is quite possible to do such work with your own hands. Buying a quality mixture will ensure ease of work, efficiency - a good result.

Application of a self-levelling floor

Self-leveling floors have certain advantages. They are environmentally friendly and safe. Their thickness varies from a millimeter to several centimeters, which allows you to find your own solution. Their thickness does not take the height of the room, allowing you to freely dispose of its space. The result of the work is a perfectly even, smooth, durable coating that is ready for further work. You can install a floor heating system on it, or you can immediately lay the finish layer. The floor covering can be any, since the self-leveling floor does not react with any material. The temperature of the medium and the temperature of the water with which the mixture is diluted are very important, it should be cold, at room temperature.

The work can take all day, as preliminary measures are necessary, and sometimes a multi-level pouring process. The leveling compound may leave debris that is unacceptable for a wood floor. It will take about an hour to clean the room for the finish coat.

Most mixes cannot be used as a topcoat and require a top coat of other materials. Some of them can be top-painted.

The arrangement of your home must necessarily begin with a project of the premises, and it must have a place not only for finishing coatings, design solutions for colors and accents, but also for basic construction work. You can’t build a castle in the sand, and you can’t get a safe and durable home without a similar foundation. Self-levelling compound is worth the money spent, good insulation and filling of voids and cracks is very important for a wooden floor. This material breathes, but at the same time becomes vulnerable, so only mixtures specially designed for wood can help solve the issue of quality repairs.

If your old wood flooring in your home has lost its appearance, has not rotted or cracked, or you want to arrange heating, you may be interested in information on how to pour flooring on wooden floors without dismantling them. So, the concrete screed will be poured from above onto the existing base, for which it is initially necessary to coordinate the height of the future coating with doorways and communication lines (pipes, radiators, etc.). In most cases, you have to shorten the door leafs by sawing them from the bottom. Sometimes they resort to installing new doors, and all the highways are laid in a new way, here the decision is made by the owners of the dwelling.

To install a high-quality screed on an existing wooden flooring, choose mixtures that are suitable for such purposes, otherwise there is a risk of destruction of the screed if the old floor is rotten or sagged from old age. Here, bulk mixtures are the best suited, which are easily leveled and quickly harden. For greater strength, such a screed should be reinforced by reinforcing it, and it is desirable to check the compressive strength 28-30 days after laying. Typically, the height of the concrete layer is 10 mm.

Concrete as a screed: installation steps

Anyone who is familiar with construction knows that any such process begins with preparatory work, and flooring in a wooden house is no exception.

Foundation preparation

Be sure to check that the old floor is not rotten and can withstand the load from the new screed.

The main task facing the craftsmen in this case is to ensure high strength of the screed after it has hardened.

If you are dealing with a very worn out previous foundation in a house filled with concrete, you need to eliminate the exfoliated layer by grinding or milling. The fat accumulated over the years of long-term operation of the floor structure, the adhesive base, the old bulk mixtures must be removed, as well as unevenness, the differences of which exceed 10 mm, must be leveled. For such purposes, special cement-based mixtures are used, or, more simply, concrete. Final leveling can only be carried out after the complete hardening of the mass that has filled the recesses.

Arranging the pouring on the old wooden flooring in the house, all rotten and broken boards are removed, and new ones are nailed to the logs in their place. You also need to ensure that each board is securely fixed and does not sway, which can be eliminated with ordinary self-tapping screws. In no case should there be a creak or deflection of the floor when exposed to its surface. If there are holes in the flooring through which concrete will flow, they are sealed with wood putty, which consists of wood dust and plastic components. You can also prepare such a putty yourself: mix sawdust with oil paint in a 4: 1 ratio. Water-soluble putties are not suitable for such purposes.

Step by step, before the main process, the subfloor is prepared as follows:

Skirting boards are dismantled, and boards are put in their place, which will cover the openings between the wall and the floor.
The gaps between the installed boards and the base are puttied. After removing the boards between the wall and the covering, the ventilation of the underground space will be restored.

Padding

The wooden flooring in the house must be sanded, and then with a vacuum cleaner remove all debris and primed. The primer will significantly improve the adhesion between the concrete and the old coating and prevent the formation of air bubbles. Also, the soil will not allow the water contained in the solution to quickly soak into the wood and ensure uniform spreading of the mixture over the base. Dry flooring must be primed twice, and in the case of multi-layer leveling, each layer of the fill is processed. Make sure that before applying the primer, the floor is not wet, even to a slight extent, otherwise the result will not give the desired effect.

Reinforcement

For a weak wooden base in the house, it is best to purchase fiberglass-based mesh, which will strengthen the leveling layer. It is attached directly to the base with staples and a special stapler. Staples will not allow the grid to emerge after pouring the solution. The reinforcement system must be mounted in the middle or just below a third of the thickness of the screed. When hammering the staples, control the strength of their fixation to the flooring.

Mixing concrete

The preparation of the solution is given special attention, because the final result depends on its quality. Basically, for such purposes, dry formulations are purchased in bags of 25 kg. This amount of dry matter takes about 6.5 liters of water, if the desired consistency is not obtained, you can gradually add another 0.5 liters of liquid. Do not overdo it, as a thin solution is difficult to fill, and it will not have the necessary strength properties. The mixing process itself is best done using a drill with a special nozzle until a homogeneous consistency is obtained. The finished solution must be used within 15 minutes after mixing, otherwise it will harden and be unsuitable for work. Also, do not forget to control the temperature in the wooden house and in the solution. The optimal indicator is not lower than + 10C. If you are working in a new, unheated building, warm water will come to the rescue, the temperature of which should not exceed + 35C.

Pouring concrete

Now that the wooden base and mortar are ready, you can install self-leveling floors in the house. The screed is poured continuously until its surface is perfectly aligned. In the work, spatulas with steel or serrated blades are used. After 4-5 hours after the wooden flooring is covered with mortar, you can carefully step on it. After 6 hours after the completed process, grinding of the surface is allowed, if necessary. It is usually carried out for future staining or applying liquid floors. Before sanding, boards are removed that are temporarily installed instead of skirting boards, they have fulfilled their mission and are no longer needed.

We process expansion joints

In those places where there were expansion joints (doorways), a layer of screed is cut out using a grinder with a diamond wheel. This process is carried out only after the bulk surfaces have hardened and it is allowed to walk on them. Further, each seam must be filled with a special material that is intended exclusively for such purposes. It is highly elastic and seals the holes in the screed hermetically. When you calculate the required amount of material for self-leveling floors, proceed from the following parameters: for a layer thickness of 1 mm, 1.5 kg / sq.m. mixtures.

After finishing work, be sure to clean the tool before the solution has hardened on it, which will complicate such actions. To do this, wash the spatulas and rules with water, and clean off the hardened mass with a coarse brush or a spatula with a flat blade. Now you know that in a house with an old wood coating, you can arrange a concrete mortar screed, and you are also familiar with the technology of such work.

A good example of filling the floor is shown in the video:

Self-leveling floor Lugato is designed for wooden floors, including old floors that need to be refurbished and reused.

A fast-acting, flexible and self-levelling screed for wood flooring can replace costly and thick-layer alternative solutions (chipboards). In combination with a universal primer and reinforcing mesh, a system is offered that overcomes the stress of wooden floors without cracking. An absolutely flat surface is created for various subsequent work, such as: laying carpets or gluing ceramic tiles, applying paint. For layers with a thickness of 1 to 20 mm (wooden floors: 5 to 20 mm). After 5 hours, you can walk on the base (wooden floors), and after 12 hours, start subsequent work.

Technical data of the self-leveling floor for wooden floors Lugato NeuAufAlt:

Consumption, effectiveness of the mixture depending on the thickness of the layer.

Layer thickness	Consumption	Efficiency 20 kg of material
5 mm	7.5 kg/m2	OK. 2.6 m2
20 mm	30 kg/m2	OK. 0.6 m2

Pot life of the prepared mixture in a container: 15-20 minutes.
Working temperature: 5 - 30 °C.
Time after which you can walk on the base: after 5 hours - wooden floor
after 2-4 hours - other grounds.
Break in work before gluing with LUGATO adhesives (mixture layer thickness up to 10 mm):
12 hours - gluing tiles
day - gluing the flooring, painting
3 days - gluing PVC parts.
The time refers to a temperature of 15-20 °C and a relative humidity of 65%.
Temperature resistance: from 0 to 70 °C.
Flexural Tensile Strength / Compressive Strength (28 days):
4.7 N/mm2 / 15 N/mm2.
Tensile bond strength (28 days): 2.5 N/mm2.
Ingredients: standard and special cement, quartz sand, synthetic additives, spreading agent, antifoam.
Ecology: without fibers and quartz flour. No casein. Contains little chromate according to TRGS 613. GISCODE ZP 1.
Packing: 20 kg bag.
Shelf life: in original packaging about 12 months. Store in a dry place.

Substrate preparation for Lugato NeuAufAlt self-leveling floor:

Suitable grounds:	tongue-and-groove wooden subfloors, particle boards, cement boards, poured asphalt, anhydrite and magnesia screeds, dry solid screeds, such as gypsum boards, gypsum boards, old tiles, hard-adhering paint, concrete, cement screeds .
Base Structure:	load-bearing, no cracks, clean, not wet. Free of grease, wax, floor care products and loose paint. Wooden floors and chipboards must rest firmly on the surface.
Foundation preparation:	old wooden floor: attach loose boards. Seal the joints between the floor and the wall with Styrofoam tapes to prevent the penetration of putty and the formation of sound bridges. Prime. Chipboard (minimum thickness 22 mm): Glue into tongue and groove and attach with bolts. Prime. Ceramic tiles, poured asphalt: clean. Primer is not required. Anhydrite and magnesia screed: sand, remove dust with a vacuum cleaner, prime. Concrete and cement screed: remove the cement film with water and a steel brush. Let the base dry. Prime.

Self-leveling floors have recently begun to gain great popularity. This is due to the fact that thanks to them you can get an almost perfect surface that is resistant to mechanical stress and can easily tolerate a humid environment.

At the same time, the components of such mixtures are able to allow the installation of a self-leveling floor on a wooden floor, without first creating a screed.

Mounting

First of all, it should be noted that the wooden surface should not be rotten or loose. It should not have significant damage or large irregularities. Otherwise, self-leveling floors on a wooden floor should not be applied.

Preparatory work

First you need to dismantle the old . At the same time, the elements of their fastening are also removed.
At the next stage, it is necessary to scrape the floor, removing a small layer of material. This is done not only in order to detect all the cracks, but also taking into account that the self-leveling floor on a wooden base will raise its level, which means that it is necessary to remove a little surface.
Next, the floor is carefully inspected to detect cracks, which are marked with a marker. The gaps between the boards can also be attributed to this defect.

Then, with the help of putty, all damages are sealed. It is worth noting that the installation instructions recommend using a material designed to work with wood.
After that, the surface is covered with a primer layer with an antibacterial coating. It should not only increase adhesion, but also become a protection for wood.

In order for the self-leveling floor for wooden bases to get a good bond with the surface, it is necessary to apply a second layer after 4 hours. In this case, a small amount of sifted corundum can be added to the mixture.

Advice!
Some craftsmen recommend first applying a primer designed for woodworking, and then, a material for concrete work.
However, this is not necessary and, if the components are chosen incorrectly, may lead to an unnecessary reaction.

fill

Before applying the self-leveling floor on a wooden floor, you need to install a special tape around the perimeter of the walls. It will act as a damper pad, protecting the surface from the effects of expansion when heated.

It is also necessary to install special beacons of benchmarks. This is necessary so that the self-leveling floors on wood have a certain level, which is controlled by them.

It is worth noting that the beacons are set according to the water level, and the distance from the floor is set in accordance with the required layer of the future screed. At the same time, it is worth remembering that for this type of work it is better to use thin-layer mixtures that make it possible to obtain a coating with a thickness of 1 to 5 mm. This is due to the fact that the coating is applied to the finished floor, which means that there is no need to create drops on the threshold.

After all the preparatory work has been done, it is necessary to check the humidity of the room and the air temperature. Compliance with certain values of these parameters is often required by production technology, and given that self-leveling floors are arranged in a wooden house, this requirement should be approached especially carefully.

The floor is poured in one stage, starting from the deepest places.. In this case, you can use a special soft spatula, which distributes the material over the surface. You can make it yourself by attaching a soft but wide tool to a long wooden handle.

During installation, quite often there is a need to move over a surface that is already flooded. For this, special linings on the soles of shoes with spikes have been developed.

So that the self-leveling floor in a wooden house does not contain small air bubbles, you should walk along it with a plastic roller with long spikes. It has been specially developed for the installation of such floors and especially for fast curing mortars.

When the self-leveling floors are applied on a wooden base, all beacons should be removed from the surface. After that, you need to wait until it completely solidifies.

It is worth noting that the period after which you can walk on the surface is indicated on the packaging of the mixture.. At the same time, professionals recommend not starting other work with the floor earlier than in a week.

Advice!
To remove moisture from the room and maintain the required temperature in it, you can use a household air heater with a fan.
So this process will be much faster.

Conclusion

It should be noted that there are special brands of mixtures for self-leveling surfaces, which were developed for application to wood. They have a high level of adhesion to this material and have great plasticity, retaining all the necessary properties. However, not all manufacturers produce them, arguing that they have universal components for such work." width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">

Conclusion

In the presented video you will find additional information on this topic. Also, based on the above text, we can conclude that the cost of creating self-leveling floors on a wooden surface will be somewhat less than when organizing a preliminary screed or leveling large differences. Therefore, if the coating is in a satisfactory condition, then the filling is carried out directly on it.

It should be noted that there are special brands of mixtures for self-leveling surfaces, which were developed for application to wood. They have a high level of adhesion to this material and have great plasticity, retaining all the necessary properties. However, not all manufacturers produce them, arguing that they have universal components for such work.