The main requirement for flawless laying of modern floor coverings is a perfectly even subfloor. However, floor slabs do not always comply with established standards: cracks and potholes, height differences and pits not only violate the overall harmony, but can also cause damage to parquet or abrasion of linoleum. To prevent this situation, the floor is leveled with a solution. Beacons for floor screed serve as control points, which help to make the base strictly horizontal, without bevels and displacements to one side. Features of their installation are determined by the type of structural elements and alignment methods.
Tie Types and Zero Level Definition
Depending on the composition and laying technology, the screed can be:
Dry
Represents the best option for leveling concrete slabs in an apartment, since it does not require the addition of water. With the help of beacons dry screed, you can smooth out differences in the base up to 12-15 cm, but it is difficult to achieve impeccable accuracy. Usually, for such a floor, special mixtures are used, ready-to-use. When hardeners and plasticizers are added to it, a composition for a semi-dry screed is obtained. The ideal surface is obtained by gypsum fiber sheets, which are adjusted to the desired level.
Cement-sand
It is made from cement and sand in a ratio of 1: 3 and water by mixing, resulting in a thick mortar. Having performed the correct installation of beacons for a cement-sand screed, it can be used to easily hide large cracks and pits, and smooth out base defects. However, due to the presence of a microrelief, such a floor is not even enough and is not suitable for laying parquet or laminate.
Wet
It is used to level the bases, the height differences of which are no more than 1-2 cm. Special mixtures hide all the recesses of the surface microrelief, the main thing is to set the beacons correctly. The result is an even and solid base on which parquet and laminate can be laid.
Advice! picking up coupler and when calculating its thickness, it is necessary to calculate in advance the expected load on the floor, taking into account furniture, interior items and people in the room. The maximum allowable weight must not exceed 500 kg/m2.
Zero Level Definition
Before proceeding with the installation of beacons and laying the screed, it is necessary to determine the zero level. For this you need:
- find the highest point;
- mark its location on all walls;
- connect the received marks around the perimeter using a horizontal level.
The highest point of the base is not always in the corner: it can also be in the middle of the room. The correctness of the level determination is checked with a cord, and then it is raised above the highest point by 10-100 mm (depending on the type of screed). This is necessary to obtain the minimum thickness of the leveling layer. Beacons are placed relative to the raised zero level.
Advice! When marking, the location of the doors should be taken into account. If they are not already set, then the zero level is marked so that it does not overlap the expected threshold level.
Types and methods of installing beacons
For the installation of concrete screeds, several different options for beacons are used.
From the bars
It is an outdated way of leveling the floor. In it, for the use of beacons under a cement-sand mixture screed, wooden bars are used, the thickness of which should be at least 30 mm. To prevent deformation of the material, they are pre-soaked in water. The height of the slats is adjusted using self-tapping screws or wooden wedges, which are placed under the bars.After pouring, the beacons are removed, and the resulting voids are filled with a concrete mixture.
From plaster profiles
Are used for laying of a coupler in rooms of the limited area. First, self-tapping screws are screwed into the base according to the intended placement of the guides, be sure to check the correct location of the fastener relative to the horizon. Then the mortar slides are laid out, and a plaster profile is installed on them, pressing it to the desired level. Such beacons should be handled with care as they are easily damaged even without significant load. It is advisable to use plaster profiles for screeds with layer thickness 2-3 cm.
From guides for plasterboard
Such profiles have the shape of the letter "P" and are located with the base up. Preliminarily, self-tapping screws are screwed into the floor at a distance of 40-50 cm from each other, focusing on the zero level. Then, between the fasteners at opposite walls, a wire or thread is pulled, along which beacons are placed. Drywall profiles placed on self-tapping screws, twisting so that they coincide with the zero level.
After leveling, a concrete solution is laid in the fasteners. As soon as it dries, the location of the beacons relative to the horizontal is checked again, and then they are also covered with a cement-sand mixture. The screed is poured after the solution has dried.
From pipes
They are indispensable in the construction of screeds in large areas, and you can use rolled sections of various shapes: a circle, a rectangle, and a square. Pipes are highly durable and retain their linear dimensions even under significant loads.
To install beacons, you must first decompose the solution with "tubercles", focusing on the zero level. Then pipes are placed on them, which need to be slightly pressed into the sand-cement mixture. The correctness of the location is checked using the level and the rule. Height adjustment is carried out by pressing into the solution or adding an additional portion.
After re-checking the location of the pipe, they completely cover the mixture and wait for it to dry. After pouring the screed, the guides are taken out, and the voids are filled with fresh mortar.
From a solution
It is used as follows: at a distance that corresponds to the length of the beacon, screws are screwed in, and a wire (fishing line) is wound between them. Then it is covered with a concrete solution, forming a stylized wall, and the top is leveled using the rule. The advantage of using such beacons is that they do not need to be installed.
As beacons, when installing a dry floor screed, a U-shaped profile is used, the height of which must correspond to the thickness of the bulk floor. Usually it is at least 3 cm. The profile should be chosen strong so that it does not bend or deform during the installation process.
Floors from self leveling compounds poured over beacons, which are professional structures ─ benchmarks or self-tapping screws.
