Floor screed is necessary for several reasons: before arranging the topcoat, when creating a "warm floor" system, when laying insulating materials. Find out how to fill the floors in the apartment yourself from our article.
How to fill the floors in an apartment with your own hands - the preparatory stage
Any construction and repair work begins with the preparation of work surfaces. In the case of the floor, the preparatory work will include the following actions:
- The old coating, if any, is dismantled from the floor.
- Then the surface is swept, collecting all debris, wiping off the dust and washing off the dirt.
- Grease stains are removed with solvent compounds.
- Then the floor is covered with a layer of primer, which will improve the adhesion of the materials used. If the working base is too dry or porous, then it is primed 2 times. Let the primer dry before proceeding.
How to fill the floors in an apartment with your own hands - floor waterproofing
After preparatory work, it is advisable to waterproof the floor. For this, polymer, bituminous, mineral or mixed compositions are used. The types of materials for waterproofing are different:
- Rolled or film - these are multilayer membranes that perform both hydro- and thermal-insulating functions.
- Mastic are a kind of adhesive mixtures based on resins, rubber or polymers. They are good because they do not leave any gaps anywhere and fill all cavities.
- Liquid - after hardening, cover the base with a strong waterproof film.
- Powdered - is a mixture of plasticizers and astringent ingredients that must be diluted with water in accordance with the instructions.
Waterproofing the floor is especially necessary if work is carried out in a bathroom or toilet, if there are significant gaps and gaps at the joints of the walls with the floor or near communications.
When waterproofing, you can immediately equip the thermal insulation of the floor by laying a layer of the appropriate material: mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, expanded clay.
How to fill the floors in an apartment with your own hands - measuring the horizontalness of the floor and setting lighthouses
The screed is poured strictly horizontally, for which the horizontal position is preliminarily determined by a laser or water level. Here's how to do it:
- From the lower level of the door upwards measure 1 m upwards and make a mark there.
- A line is drawn along all the walls of the room corresponding to this mark. So that the line is parallel everywhere, it is checked with a level.
- Down from the first line at a distance of 1 m, draw the second.
- In the corners of the room at the level of the lower mark, nails are driven in and a cord is pulled between them.
Marks drawn on the walls will help you place the beacons. Sections of metal profiles or wooden slats can be used as beacons. They are placed on the edge, observing a distance less than the length of the rule for leveling cement mortar.
How to fill the floors in an apartment with your own hands - preparing and pouring a solution
A mixture for preparing a solution can be purchased ready-made or made by hand. If the area of the room is small, then some people prefer not to save money and buy the composition ready-made. Well, those who want to save money or do a large amount of work choose the independent cooking option. A cement-sand mortar is made as follows:
- Water and perlite are mixed in a 2: 4 ratio.
- Then 1 part of cement and another 1 part of water are introduced into this composition.
- Mix the mass thoroughly again and add 2 parts of sand. Then add another 5 parts of water and stir again until a plastic consistency.
Pour the solution in the following way:
- It is laid out in parts between the lighthouses and leveled with a building rule that looks like a mop. If there is no such rule at hand, instead of it they take a plastering trowel or a very wide spatula.
- While leveling the solution, vibrating movements are carried out so that the composition fills all cavities with itself, and air bubbles come out of it.
- If expanded clay is placed under the screed as a heater, then it is poured with cement milk, a very liquid mixture of cement and water, before pouring the solution.
- In some cases, expanded clay is added directly to the cement mortar.
Sometimes the floors are poured not with cement mortar, but with special plastic mixtures, which are sold ready-made. Such self-leveling floors are stronger and more durable. The composition obtained in powder form is diluted with water, a sufficiently liquid mixture is obtained, which is poured using the same technology. As a rule, a self-leveling floor is smoother due to the fact that the liquid composition spreads better over the surface.
