What cement is best for the foundation of the bath. The choice of cement for the foundation of the building

Regardless of the type of finished flooring, if the floor slabs are uneven or have a strong slope, then they will have to be leveled. Such a pouring of the floor screed is carried out with your own hands using a cement or gypsum mortar or various plate materials (GVL, chipboard, OSB). Making it yourself in an apartment or cottage is not so difficult. The main thing is to follow the building rules and the instructions below, as well as be ready to work.

  • Types of screed

    The floor screed is a layer of rough finish. Below it is an interfloor overlap or soil, and above - a floor covering in the form of linoleum, parquet, ceramic tiles, etc.
    A screed is made for:

    • concealment of communications (underfloor heating pipes or water supply, electrical wiring, etc.);
    • redistribution of loads from the upper decorative layer down to the base;
    • leveling the surface and / or giving it the desired slope;
    • hardening the base for finishing flooring;
    • providing sound, hydro and thermal insulation.

    You can make a screed yourself in several ways. And the choice of method largely depends here on the requirements for the loads that will then arise on the floor. This is when deciding how to connect the drain of the washing machine to the sewer, you just have to follow the instructions for the plumbing fixture.

    In the case of a screed, everything is an order of magnitude more complicated. Each technology has its own pros and cons. First, you need to clearly define the existing needs.

    There are three main types of floor screeds:

    1. Dry team.
    2. Wet (classic version).
    3. Semi-dry.

    The first technology involves laying wood and gypsum boards. This method eliminates the use of a liquid mortar of gypsum or cement and is characterized by a high speed of screed installation. Plus, due to the low weight of materials, it exerts the least load among analogues on the overlap from below. However, in terms of price, this option is the most expensive. And he is afraid of moisture.

    Features of expanded clay screed with insulation

    The second method is based on pouring liquid concrete from cement and sand. This screed is characterized by the greatest strength, durability and resistance to moisture. However, due to the large mass, it is not allowed to use it everywhere. If the floor is leveled in an apartment in a new building, then this option is quite acceptable. Only too thick a layer of concrete should not be poured. But for an old house with wooden floors, this technology is not suitable.

    Wet screed

    The third method is an improved variation of the second. A cement-sand mixture is also used here. However, the amount of water used for its mixing is several times less than in the preparation of ordinary concrete. As a result, the hardening time of the floor screed and the volumes of construction dirt formed during the work are significantly reduced. But you have to pay for this by the need to use the technique for grinding and the strict observance of the technology.

    Semi-dry screed

    In addition, ties are:

    • related;
    • floating;
    • on the separating layer.

    The first ones are the most durable and imply a rigid adhesion of the poured solution to the underlying base. The latter have a heat and sound insulating substrate made of mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, wood or cork boards. They do not come into contact with the floor and are not rigidly bonded to it, like screeds of the associated variety.

    The third option also has a separating substrate. But in this case, it is thin and performs the functions of exclusively waterproofing. Usually it is oiled or bituminous paper or polyethylene. Unlike the floating counterpart, this floor screed in the apartment can be made in a thinner layer. Plus, it's also more durable.

    Types of screed

    A separate line are self-leveling mixtures of the "self-leveling floor" type. They are cement and gypsum, but all have polymer plasticizers for quick hardening.

    Their main purpose is to create a perfectly flat surface up to 10 mm thick without much effort on the part of the performer. Often this option is used in conjunction with other types of floor screed as an upper leveling layer. Then the general design of the rough coating is called a combined two-layer.

    What you may need, materials

    To make a floor screed, you will need the following tools:

    • beacons for horizontal alignment;
    • building level;
    • concrete mixer-mixer;
    • rule;
    • trowel and / or shovel;
    • grinder (for semi-dry screed);
    • roller (for self-leveling mixture);
    • bucket and drill with a nozzle for mixing the solution;
    • tape measure and pencil.

    Materials and tools for screed

    It is best to take a mixture for making a mortar for a floor screed immediately ready with the required proportions of the components. So there is less chance of making a mistake when mixing cement, sand and other components. But you can also purchase these components separately and do the kneading yourself. Only for a self-leveling composition, this is not worth doing, it is extremely difficult to prepare it yourself with the proper ratio of ingredients.

    Features of surface preparation

    When preparing the surface for the screed, it is necessary to remove the existing skirting boards, old flooring and logs (if used). As a result, a wooden or concrete floor should remain without any extraneous construction debris.

    Further, the cleaned base is repaired in case of deep cracks or ragged potholes and primed. The sealing of defects is done with concrete mortar after preliminary priming of repair areas. Leaving flaws unsealed is not worth it. If you make a floor screed over such weak spots, then they will continue to collapse. As a result, inevitable damage to the new top layer will occur.

    Preparing the floor before screed

    If there is an old screed on the floor, then it should be carefully checked for integrity and reliability. In most cases, such concrete is recommended to be completely removed. But if it is still strong and does not peel off from the base, then it is quite acceptable to pour a new leveling layer on it.

    Step by step instructions - how to make a floor screed

    The general step-by-step instruction for the correct durable screed is as follows:

    1. Foundation preparation.
    2. Laying or filling of underlying materials.
    3. Setting up beacons and laying out the edge damper tape.
    4. Reinforcement with a mesh (if necessary) and mixing the solution.
    5. Pouring and leveling the prepared mixture.

    If a dry floor screed is being made in an apartment or a private house, then the last two points come down to laying and fixing wood or gypsum fiber boards. There are no special difficulties. Figuring out how to connect a toilet is often more problematic than leveling under the floor.

    The main stages of work on the implementation of floor screed

    Dry

    A prefabricated structure made of OSB, chipboard or GVL sheets is not particularly durable and is prone to delamination during a flood. But on the other hand, these disadvantages are offset by the speed of installation, as well as excellent heat and sound insulation.

    A floor screed is made using this technology, usually on top of a backfill of perlite or expanded clay. Then the waterproofing is spread. Direct adhesion of the stacked sheets to each other is carried out on glue and self-tapping screws. At the same time, the latter should be carefully selected in length so that, when screwing in, they do not rest against a dense base and do not lift the floor covering.

    Backfilling is done with a height of 3-5 cm. If more is required (for example, to hide pipes), then the screed should be made with plates in two overlapping layers. One will not be enough to provide the required strength standards.

    How to make a dry floor screed with beacons inside

    Wet

    When performing a wet screed, the main thing is to pour the entire volume of the solution in one go. It is impossible to allow one layer to solidify and pour another on top of it, they will inevitably disperse later.

    It takes about one week to strengthen 1 cm of concrete in the screed. In this case, the screed is usually made in 3–5 cm - as a result, until it is fully ready for further work, you will have to wait at least a month. This is the main disadvantage of this technology.

    The second important point is the lighthouses. They are easiest to make from drywall profiles. You can also use tripod pins. The more precisely these horizontal guides are set, the smoother the surface will be.

    • Nowadays, the answer to the question of why it is necessary to level the floor will be obvious: a flat floor is the main component of a successful renovation of the entire room, the best base for covering the floor with laminate, parquet or ceramic tiles.

    The main component of a successful renovation in the house is a flat floor.

    To level the floor, you must first make an even screed. To do this, you need a concrete solution, this type of work can be done independently.

    In recent years, self-leveling concrete floors, despite the complexity and duration of the process, have gained great popularity. Their main task is to withstand a certain load.

    Kinds

    The material is classified according to the type of binder. The most common types are concrete and cement-sand. They are used to repair the floor in any premises and buildings. For concrete materials, a concrete solution is used, which is laid on a layer of gravel or crushed stone, and for cement-sand - a mixture of cement, sand and water.

    Anhydride bonds are made from gypsum (a binder), sand, water, and gravel. They are characterized by great strength, no deformation, but at the same time, the reaction of water-soluble gypsum with moisture, which can create small problems.

    Depending on the type of construction, floor screeds are rigid, separating, floating.

    1. Magnesite materials are based on caustic magnesite, bischofite solution, as well as organic or mineral fillers.
    2. Self-leveling floors - a novelty in the construction industry. They are made on the basis of mixtures of cement, sand, aggregates and plasticizers. In addition, screeds are mosaic, asphalt and epoxy.

    According to the type of construction can be divided into:

    • rigid, laid directly on the floor;
    • separating, which are laid on a special layer that prevents the adhesion of the screed to the ceiling;
    • "floating", which cover heat and sound insulating materials.

    Preparatory work

    Before you start making a screed, you need to prepare all the tools: a building level, a rule, a trowel, a mortar container, an electric drill with a mixer nozzle, boards or metal profiles.

    How to do everything right? First, the surface must be carefully swept, cleaned of debris and dust, primed. Ideally, dust is best removed with a special vacuum cleaner. Any delamination of the surface must be cleaned, and cracks must be covered with a thick solution. We need a list of the following tools and materials:

    1. Building level.
    2. Rule.
    3. Master OK.
    4. Mortar (concrete).
    5. Solution container.
    6. Electric drill with mixer attachment.
    7. Boards or metal profiles.

    It is necessary to waterproof all walls and partitions that the screed will touch, that is, protect them from moisture absorption. To do this, a strip of roofing material is glued to the walls so that the upper edge of the tape protrudes 15 cm above the level. Next, using the level, we make the markup that defines the level. If you only have a water level, then mark the desired same height on the wall in several places and use straight lines to connect the marks.

    When installing “beacons”, the distance between them should be no more than 1.5 cm.

    To make it even, it is necessary to install beacons, which can be used as ordinary boards or metal profiles attached to the surface with screws or thick mortar. The distance between the "beacons" should be no more than 1.5 cm.

    After installing the beacons, they proceed directly to the preparation of the solution in order to make a self-leveling mixture.

    1. Using a bucket or basin, we prepare a solution for the material, mixing, for example, sand and cement with an electric drill with a special mixer nozzle. In terms of density, the solution should resemble a tough dough. It is necessary to prepare the solution immediately before use, because after 1.5 hours it becomes unusable.
    2. It is recommended to start laying from the highest point, that is, from the largest distance between the base and the mark. The solution is laid in such a way that the surface of the "beacons" is closed, but not more than 1 cm. Then it is leveled, rolled with a needle roller in order to avoid the appearance of irregularities and air gaps. Excess solution is cut off by the rule, applying it to the "beacons".
    3. In order for the screed to have sufficient strength, its thickness must be at least 4-5 cm. An important condition for successful work on the screed is the temperature, which should not exceed 20 ° C, and the absence of drafts. It is recommended to start and finish the screed of one level or one room on the same day.

    After finishing the main screed in a large room, do not forget to fill in expansion joints (small gaps between parts of the screed), and also moisten the finished screed with water so that it does not crack. After a couple of days, you can take out the "beacons", and fill the resulting voids with a solution.

    In order for your floor to serve you for a large number of years and look perfectly even, before you start laying floor tiles, you must first make preparatory work and level the floor surface. Now let's try to consider how it is worth competently approaching the solution of this problem. Let's learn how to produce a floor screed indoors together with the portal.

    What is the screed

    If you do not know how to make a floor screed with your own hands, then you should watch the video below. Before you start talking about this process, you need to talk about what a floor screed is.

    So, floor screed can be made using various materials and using various techniques. There are the following types of ties:

    Concrete screed. This type of screed is one of the most common. Such a screed is mainly used for the initial leveling of the surface of the floor. If the surface has a large number of drops, then this method can be called the most suitable. The fillers of the mixture for this leveling method, as a rule, are sand and cement. But to complete this work, you will need to spend a lot of time and effort.

    Self-leveling screed is carried out mainly from already prepared mixtures. The leveling layer is about 3 cm thick. It is used at the end of the work to level various differences in the floor surface. This method is suitable for almost all types of existing floor coverings.

    Dry screed it is mainly produced if it is necessary to level the floor, which has very large irregularities from 4 to 11 cm high. There are two options for manufacturing this type of screed.

    A) Alignment by lags. Materials such as plywood, chipboard or various other types of sheet materials are used.

    B) Leveling using gypsum fiber sheets. For this type of screed, German materials from Knauf are often used. To choose the right material for leveling the floor, you need to know what the general condition of the floor surface is and what type of floor covering you will use at the end of all work.

    Purpose of the screed

    In order to make complex repairs to your floor, in any case, you should screed its surface. Now let's try to find out what functions this screed has.

    • The main purpose of the screed is to form a flat floor surface. For example, a material such as laminate, parquet or linoleum requires a perfectly flat base on the floor surface.
    • Another main function of this framework is to increase the rigidity of structures.
    • The base has excellent heat and sound insulation properties.
    • Thanks to the use of a screed, it is possible to raise the floor to any level without any problems.

    floor screed requirements

    To perform its functions as much as possible, the screed must meet all the necessary requirements and standards. Namely:

    1. The screed must be strong in order to withstand the compressive loads established by the standards.
    2. The density of the constituent substance of the screed over the entire surface of the room must have the same thickness.
    3. If the screed is poured along the soundproof layer, then it should be at least 4 cm thick and not more than 2.5 cm thick, along the floor slabs.
    4. The screed should be 2 cm thicker than the diameter of the pipes that need to be hidden in it.
    5. When pouring onto a soundproofing layer, 3-6 cm must be retreated from the edge of the wall. This indentation will also be filled with soundproofing in the future.
    6. A monolithic layer is poured onto the waterproofing. For this, as a rule, a film of very thick polyethylene is used or roofing material is used. The waterproofing layer in this case is led up to 6-11 cm on the walls of the room.
    7. The surface layers of the screed must not have chips or cracks.

    Necessary preparatory work

    The amount of work that, as a rule, must be done before laying the screed depends mainly on its type and on the condition of the floor surface. However, you will still need to do the following:

    1. First, you should conduct a survey of the floor, and if necessary, dismantle the old coating.
    2. After dismantling, it is necessary to carry out a complete cleaning of construction debris.
    3. Now it is worth making a wet or dry cleaning of the floor surface with a brush or vacuum cleaner.
    4. Engage in determining the desired floor level for its subsequent rise, by using a laser tape measure.
    5. Now it's time to install beacons.

    Work technology and features

    In this article, we are talking about how a do-it-yourself floor screed should look like in an apartment. In addition to our tips in this article, there is a video that will also help you see this.

    The correct implementation of the floor screed depends on the implementation of all the standards provided for this work. You should know what composition of the mixture should be used in this case, as well as how to properly knead it and carry out the installation. From what type of screed you choose, the order of your further actions will depend.

    Carrying out work on laying concrete screed.

    Leveling the floor in this way is very popular and quite common, despite the fact that this work is quite complicated and long. First of all, it is necessary to completely free the entire floor surface from objects: remove furniture, various interior items, etc. from the room. Then they begin to remove its old coating from the floor, while painstakingly examining its foundations. The composition of the concrete screed, as a rule, includes the following components: sand, cement and other fillers. To complete this work, you will need:

    • Building level.
    • Roulette.
    • Beacons.
    • Spatula and trowel.
    • Mixture utensils.
    • Construction knife.
    • A drill with a nozzle for mixing the mixture.

    Most construction stores sell ready-made sand and cement mixtures for making concrete mortar. In them, as a rule, all these elements are already present. But if you do not want to spend money, then it is quite possible to make this solution with your own hands, if you have all the necessary ingredients in the right proportional ratio.

    Basically, in order to make a screed, three parts of sand should be taken for one part of cement. And plasticizers will help the mixture to become more elastic, and it will not harden quickly enough, which will prevent the appearance of chips and cracks on it. If you need to level the floor with large differences (more than 6 cm), then fiber, which has reinforcing properties, should be added to this mixture, or a metal mesh should be used for laying.

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    The screed of the floor surface in the room with a mortar of concrete should be carried out in the following sequence:

    1. The floor surface is measured using the building level, then all existing differences and irregularities are determined.
    2. All chips and cracks on the floor surface are carefully cleaned and embroidered.
    3. The surface of the floor covering is cleaned of debris and dirt.
    4. Laying a waterproofing layer (if necessary).
    5. With the help of the building level, the beacons are installed and fixed on the floor surface.
    6. Now the floor is being primed.
    7. After that, a concrete solution is made from a dry ready-mix and additional components. As a rule, immediately after the preparation of the mixture, it is laid on the floor surface.
    8. When leveling the solution, pay attention to the installed beacons. In one room, the solution should be tried to be laid in one day. In order for the adhesion of individual sections filled with mortar to occur better, it is necessary to use a metal mesh or reinforcement.
    9. After all the work on pouring the floor is completed, you need to start laying a polyethylene film on its entire surface and leave it until it completely hardens. This procedure will help you avoid cracks.

    You should also ensure that the room is completely protected from drafts and the sun. Depending on which mixture was used to fill the floor, the first steps on it can only be done after 4 days. Using the building level, you need to once again carefully check the floor surface to see if it is even, or there are small irregularities somewhere, which, immediately after detection, will need to be wiped with a special device. It must always be remembered that the full curing time of the concrete screed is 25-30 days. Only after the expiration of the specified period, you can start laying the floor covering or laying thermal insulation. An exceptional option in this case is laying ceramic tiles. This work can be carried out within 6 days after the screed.

    Laying a self-levelling screed

    This screed is used mainly in order to obtain a perfectly flat floor surface. In this case, we mean the finishing laying of linoleum, laminate, or any polymer coatings. The bulk of construction stores sell a variety of self-leveling compounds, which are prepared at home according to the instructions attached to them. It is necessary to carry out these works in the following order All debris and dirt should be removed from the entire surface of the floor. This work must be done with special care, since the small debris that may remain after cleaning may float to the surface of the filled layer.

    According to the instructions, you need to start preparing the solution. In its manufacture, in order to avoid the appearance of lumps, the mixture should be added to the liquid, but not vice versa. A construction mixer will help you mix the mixture thoroughly. The resulting solution should look like a creamy mass. It is saturated with oxygen, leaving for 10 minutes.

    Filling is carried out, as a rule, starting from the farthest corner of the room to the corner of the door along its entire wall.

    Thanks to the use of a metal brush and a needle-shaped roller, the solution is leveled and its thickness is made. Based on this, the floor surface dries quickly enough, unlike concrete. It will be possible to make the first steps on the floor after 9-10 hours. These terms may depend on the internal climate in the room and the thickness of the resulting layer. After pouring the floor, it must be protected from sunlight and drafts, as well as water ingress on its surface.

    If you try to follow all of the above recommendations, then you will get a very hard surface that will not absorb any moisture in the future.