Flooring in a wooden house
The construction of any house is a complex process that includes several stages. Among these stages, the process of erecting floors stands out separately. In wooden structures, many prefer a wooden floor. Such a decision is quite justified, because a country house implies closeness to the surrounding nature, so natural material will look most impressive compared to concrete screed and synthetic finishing coatings. The device of the floor in a wooden house is characterized by its own characteristics, so the installation of the floor structure should be taken seriously. What floor can be built in a private house?
Methods for laying a wooden floor
The installation of a wooden floor can only be started after the frame device of the posts and beams is finally ready. A layer of roofing material is laid on the posts, which serves as a good waterproofing. Beams are installed on the waterproofing layer, and logs are fixed on the beams for additional strength. It’s good when the width of the room corresponds to the length of the lag, but if you have to connect the lags, then it’s better that the joints are right on the support pillars, and they are fastened with self-tapping screws.
The very device of the wooden floor is both single and double. Single floors are not very durable, and they are usually placed in summer country houses. Such a floor does not tolerate weather fluctuations and is not intended for year-round use. In order to feel comfortable in winter, it is recommended to build double insulated floors. It will take a lot of time and the right material. But the extra effort is worth it, as it increases the degree of strength and reliability. To do this, a list of works is performed in a certain sequence:
- Install lags;
- Lay moisture-resistant plywood between them, and lay insulation on top;
- Lay the rough base of the floor on the logs.
Double plank floor pie
To create a subfloor, boards of low grades are suitable, the thickness of which is 15-50 mm. Such boards, carefully processed, are adjusted to each other. Then the finished boards on the screws are attached to the logs.
Boards are laid 15-20 mm from the wall. This promotes ventilation and prevents the floor from swelling during the seasonal deformation of the tree. Waterproofing is carried out using a polyethylene film 200 microns thick, and additional thermal insulation is made of foamed polyethylene. The film is overlapped, the edges are glued together with adhesive tape. On the walls you need to make an overlap of 20 cm and stick it on adhesive tape. After that, the finishing floor and topcoat are laid.
For flooring, plywood sheets or solid wood are used. Plywood is placed on top of the heat-insulating layer and fixed with self-tapping screws.
The massive board has an attractive appearance, it is convenient to lay it, and besides, it is easy to operate. The advantage of solid wood flooring is that you can apply varnish or paint to the floor and thus do without additional costs for finishing materials. The massive board is produced in two versions: regular and tongue-and-groove. The difference between them is in the installation method. The tongue-and-groove board is much easier to install. However, before installation, it must lie down in the room for three days.
Pouring concrete floor
Arrangement of a concrete floor in a private house begins with preparatory work. First, markings and gravel filling are done at the site of the future floor. The soil is preliminarily cleared of plants and the top layer, and then compacted.Next, a layer of gravel is poured, which also needs to be well compacted. In the construction of a concrete floor in a private house, gravel will play the role of thermal insulation. Sand is poured over the gravel. After it is compacted, a thick polyethylene film is spread on the surface, which acts as a waterproofing material.
How to make a concrete floor in a private house? After installing the waterproofing layer, you can start pouring the screed. A cement screed in a country house is poured in the same way as a screed in an apartment: levels are set and a mortar is poured, which is leveled from wall to door by the rule.
When pouring a concrete screed, several features should be taken into account. The solution for pouring must be fresh, for its preparation it is recommended to use cement grade not lower than M-300, screening of sand and water. To increase the strength of the concrete layer, special compounds can be added to the solution - plasticizers, which will give additional strength to the future coating.
When pouring a screed with a height of 5 cm, you can use reinforcing elements or a reinforcing mesh, which is laid on the waterproofing layer before pouring. In the case of arranging warm water floors in a private house, the use of a reinforcing mesh and the addition of plasticizers to the cement mortar are mandatory procedures.
When the concrete hardens a little after pouring, you can remove the beacons. The voids left after their removal are filled with the same solution. After filling and leveling all the cracks, the floor is covered with polyethylene and left to dry. Drying a concrete floor is a long and responsible undertaking. The concrete must dry itself within a month; if there is a floor heating system, heating is prohibited until the screed is completely dry. By turning on the heating elements, you will help the concrete to crack even before the room is used. When drying, it is recommended to periodically moisten the concrete screed with water and cover it again with polyethylene: if this requirement is met, the coating will gain maximum strength and will not crack.
In order to correctly make the cement pour, remove the beacons and dry the concrete, it is recommended to consider photos with the work of builders specializing in arranging floors in private homes.
How to insulate the floor in a wooden house
Warming must be carried out regardless of what material you made the floor from - concrete or wood. If you have a floor made of boards, which consists of several layers, then it is recommended to lay insulation between the upper and lower layers (rough and finish), which allows for effective insulation of the floor surface.
Now there are many modern heaters, for example, mineral wool, polyurethane, but the old, proven methods of insulation should not be excluded: dry foliage, any wood shavings or sawdust. Regardless of which heaters you will use when deciding how to insulate the floor, above the heat-insulating material, in order to effectively ventilate the underground space, it is necessary to leave a free space with a height of 15-50 mm.
How to make a draft floor?
Double wooden floor options.
In order for the floors to have high strength and not rot, it is necessary that good air circulation be ensured, the scheme for their creation provides for the installation of a subfloor. Its presence provides a higher rigidity of the frame, allows you to create an air gap, which retains heat and prevents the boards from rotting.
Some builders call the subfloor the base on which the flooring is laid, but this is wrong. This is just a substrate, it is needed to level the base of the floor and evenly distribute the load created on it, usually plywood or chipboard is installed.
If there is a large step between the lags, then in this option, in order to increase the strength of the floor covering, it is necessary that the boards of the rough and finishing floors are laid diagonally to each other. Another option for the subfloor is the creation of double insulation, then the bottom layer acts as a support on which the insulation is laid.
Floor installation in a wooden house tips for laying and building two types of structures
When pronouncing the word “floor”, most of us imagine the finishing floor covering, without thinking that under it, like under the icing of a pie, there are several layers of filling - complex engineering structures. This or that floor arrangement in a wooden house depends, first of all, on the purpose of the house and its individual premises, on the quality and capabilities of the supporting base, that is, the floor or ground. And the highest quality floors will not be able to ensure the durability of the floor if the base for them has not been properly prepared and does not have the required physical and mechanical characteristics.
How to lay an array with your own hands
The massive board keeps within on plywood sheets. The base can be either a concrete floor or a wooden one on the logs.
- It is necessary to measure 15 mm from the walls to create a ventilation gap and in case of seasonal deformations.
- The boards of the finishing floor must be laid so that they are located across the boards of the subfloor. The first row is placed with a spike against the wall and screwed with self-tapping screws. It is necessary to tighten the screws so that they are covered with a plinth near the wall. From the second side, the screws are screwed into the groove at an angle of 45 °.
- A wooden spacer is placed in the gap between the board and the wall. If the dimensions of the room are greater than the length of the floorboards, then the boards are spread "in a row". This will make the floor more durable.
- The second and subsequent rows of boards are placed with a spike in the groove of the previous row, sealed with a mallet and fastened to the groove on the other side with self-tapping screws. If you want the wooden floor to last as long as possible, you need to lay the boards in such a way that the growth rings are opposite to each other.
The parquet board is laid "in a row". A solid parquet board can also be used as a finishing floor. In fact, this is the same grooved massive board, only shorter. Its installation is somewhat different:
- It can be fixed on self-tapping screws only from the side of the spike.
- Installation is carried out only "out of the box".
- If the base is made of plywood, then it is better to glue the parquet board first, and then additionally fix it with self-tapping screws.
- If you lay the board diagonally, the room will visually look larger.
Related Materials:
Choosing a floor board - thickness, wood species and how to lay it correctly
How to make a new floor in a private house
- Floor repair: sequence of actions
- Restoration of the old floor
Most Russian houses were built back in Soviet times and are now in need of major repairs. It is necessary to start updating the old structural elements in a private house by repairing the floor, since it is through it that most of the heat escapes in winter. The floor in a private house is best to start from scratch. Therefore, first of all, you should dismantle the old structure and buy new materials that will make the floor with good thermal insulation.
Old elements in the house should be updated from the repair of the floor, because in the cold season it is from it that heat leaves.
How to make the floor on your own in a private house reliable and warm? There are many options. The choice of technology, first of all, depends on how much money people are willing to invest in repairs. Depending on the available budget for repairs, it is possible to determine the materials and method of reconstructing the floor in a private house.
It is preferable to completely redo the floor in a private house, but this will require more money.If a minimum budget is allocated for repairs, you can limit yourself to updating the old structure.
Installation of wooden floors
When building a private house, many people prefer to make the floor out of wood. Such a desire to have high-quality wooden flooring underfoot is explained by the desire to use environmentally friendly materials, which include wood. In addition to high environmental friendliness, such a floor has a number of other advantages.
Wooden floors are easy to install and easy to repair during operation. Due to the low thermal conductivity of the material, such a floor will keep heat inside the house without releasing it outside. Plank flooring made of quality wood is characterized by a long service life and an attractive "natural" appearance.
To make a floor in a private house, you need to choose the right wood. The choice of starting materials should be based on the design features of the structure itself. The device of the floor in a country house must necessarily provide for the presence of a subfloor that acts as an air gap. If such a layer is absent, then the wooden floor will quickly become unusable due to moisture.
In addition, for a good floor, it is important to have all the layers of the structure, including logs, rough flooring, hydro and thermal insulation, finishing
The floor in a private house is subjected to significant mechanical stress, so for its construction it is required to choose wood with good technological characteristics. The boards must be well dried, the recommended moisture content is no more than 12%. Any chips and cracks on the surface of the material are not allowed. Experts recommend giving preference to coniferous wood, suitable for pine, larch, fir, cedar. To increase the life of the future floor, all boards must be treated with an antiseptic and fire retardant.
The installation of a wooden floor begins with the determination of places for the supporting pillars and their installation. The fertile layer of soil around the entire perimeter of the house is removed and removed, gravel is poured in its place, and sand is placed on top of it. Layers of gravel and sand must be well compacted. Waterproofing material is laid on the ends of the supporting pillars, most often ordinary roofing material is used for these purposes.
Next, we make beams that need to be fixed on poles with metal corners. Floors in a private house are best done with double insulation. Experts suggest first laying plywood sheets on the sides of the beams, and then placing mineral wool or other insulating material on them.
When the insulation layer is ready, you can start laying the rough coating. The boards of this layer should fit well to each other; ordinary self-tapping screws can be used as their fastening to the beams. It is better to leave some distance between the flooring and the walls of the house: a gap of 1.5 cm can be considered the norm for this part of the floor. These gaps provide ventilation for the entire floor structure and protect the walls from expansion of the floorboards when they dry out.
A layer of vapor barrier made of polyethylene film with a thickness of 200 microns is laid over the subfloor. The joints of individual pieces of film must be glued with adhesive tape, and the edges should be wrapped on the walls to a height of about 20 cm - to the height of the finish coating. When the film is laid and fixed, you can proceed to the assembly of the finished floor.
The finished floor is assembled from solid boards or plywood sheets. Plywood sheets are easier to attach, but in the end they do not look very attractive. Therefore, if you want to leave wooden floors in your house, then it is best to immediately collect the finishing coating from a grooved board, and if you plan to cover it with decorative material, it is enough to fix the plywood sheets.Plank floors after assembling the finished floor must be varnished, which will not only protect the material from external influences of a mechanical and chemical nature, but also emphasize the decorative qualities of natural wood.
Features of installing concrete floors
Making a concrete floor is much easier; for this, a reinforced concrete screed is made. The advantages of a concrete floor are its strength, long service life and reliability. There are two ways to pour concrete in a wooden house: directly onto the ground or onto logs.
How to lay concrete on the ground
This way is more simple. First, the level at which the future floor will be located is beaten off using a cord. A layer of gravel is poured onto the ground, then a layer of sand is poured and everything is well compacted. To create a waterproofing, a plastic film is suitable, only then concrete is poured.
The finished floor is leveled, and in order for it to gain the necessary strength characteristics faster, it is covered with a film and periodically moistened. After a month, the concrete will acquire the desired strength, it is covered with a cement screed. To insulate such a floor, you can use a warm floor system, it can be either on the basis of an electric cable or on the basis of pipes with hot water. The thickness of the concrete coating should not exceed 25 cm. Tiles, laminate or linoleum can be used to cover such a floor.
When implementing water floor insulation, the pipe must be laid in increments of 10 to 30 cm; such a system is appropriate in a bathroom or a children's bedroom. If you decide to insulate the floor with an electric cable, then it is even easier to install such a system, the size of the cells should be 5x5 cm.
