Without exaggeration, we can say that this flooring option has been tested for centuries. The technology of laying wooden floors on logs has been used for several centuries with minor changes. This is the most environmentally friendly solution for flooring, but at the same time this coating has a number of disadvantages and important nuances, which you need to know before starting work.
Currently, the main area of application for wooden floors is the construction of small private houses. Especially often the floor on joists is arranged in wooden houses and log houses, in which the floors between floors are made of beams.
Much less often, wooden floors are laid in city apartments with reinforced concrete floors. However, the technology is still used, especially in cases where pouring a full leveling screed is impossible for some reason.
Sometimes plank flooring is a finishing coating and part of the designer’s idea when creating a renovation concept. In this case, beautiful wood species such as oak, larch or pine are chosen for the flooring. The boards are thoroughly polished, impregnated with an antiseptic and covered with varnish or wax. The end result is very beautiful and durable coating, pleasing to the eye with natural wood texture.
Wooden floors can be used even when arranging wet areas such as baths and bathrooms. However, this is done infrequently, as it requires careful selection of wood, reliable waterproofing and impregnation of the boards with very expensive solutions that prevent moisture absorption.
Features of laying wooden floors on joists
The main feature of this type of floor, which must be taken into account, is that wood can absorb moisture from environment, deform due to temperature changes, and are also susceptible to rotting. Therefore, when laying a wooden floor, it is extremely important to take care of reliable vapor barrier and impregnate the joists and boards with an antiseptic.
The joists must be attached to the base and the floor boards to the joists as securely as possible; it is necessary to prevent the formation of cracks, voids and “sagging” of the boards and joists. When laying the finishing boards, be sure to use expansion wedges that will press the boards together as tightly as possible.
Wood screws provide maximum security of fastening. The length of the screw must exceed the thickness of the board being fixed by at least 2.5 times. To prevent the board from splitting when you screw in the screw, you must first drill a hole in it with a diameter 2-3 mm smaller than the diameter of the screw.
If the boards are planned as a finishing coating, then care should be taken to hide the heads of the screws or nails. To do this, use either a special putty or small plugs made of the same type of wood as the entire floor. But the best option is screwing a screw into the chamfer of the board at an angle to the joist. The disadvantage of this option is that it is more labor intensive.
You should also make sure that all the finishing boards are from the same batch, because the color of the wood depends on the growing conditions, and the shade of different batches may differ.
What are the consequences of mistakes when laying a wooden floor on joists?
The biggest mistake you can make when laying a wooden floor is insufficient vapor barrier. It is usually made of dense polyethylene or foam foam, which will also provide additional sound insulation. If this step is neglected or the insulating coating is damaged, the floor will very soon begin to rot and mold will appear on it. This will not only significantly shorten the life of the floor, but can also negatively affect people’s health.
The second most common mistake is using wood that is not dry enough. The humidity of boards and joists should be no more than 15%. It is important to remember that in wet weather, even initially dry boards very quickly absorb moisture from the air. If there are prolonged rains outside the window, then it is better to refuse to lay the floor on these days. If you lay a floor with wet planks, they will begin to warp as they dry. This will lead to creaking, the appearance of cracks and differences in height between adjacent boards, which, in turn, will affect the finishing coating.
An insufficiently precise level when laying joists will lead to creaking of the floor and gradual loosening of the boards. This will greatly reduce the service life of the coating and will require periodic repairs.
Another common mistake is insufficient distance from the end board to the wall; it should be at least 10 mm. This distance is necessary to compensate for the thermal expansion of wood. If they are neglected, then seasonal change temperature, the floor will experience very serious internal loads, which will lead to cracking of some boards and the appearance of creaking.
Advantages and disadvantages of wooden floors on joists
The advantages of this coating
Disadvantages of wooden floors on joists
Step-by-step instructions for laying a wooden floor on joists
Below is step by step instructions for laying wooden floors. The installation of such a floor in a private house with a soil foundation is somewhat more complicated than in a house with a reinforced concrete foundation, but in general the stages of work are the same in both cases.
Laying logs on the ground base
If you are laying a wooden floor directly above the soil, then it must be cleared of turf and plant roots and a layer at least 20 cm thick must be removed. After which the soil is covered with fine crushed stone and thoroughly compacted.
On this basis, brick columns with a cross-section of 250 x 250 mm and a height of at least two layers of brick are built. The tops of all columns should be at the same level, this will prevent sagging of the joists and floor boards.
If beams 100 x 50 mm and up to 3 meters long are used as logs, then two columns at the edges of the logs are sufficient. The distance between the logs, and therefore between adjacent columns, should be 600 mm. If the length of the log is more than 3 meters, then one is strengthened with an additional column in the middle.
The top of the column is lined with a rigid waterproofing material, for example, dense polyethylene film. Wooden spacers or wedges are installed on top of it, which are necessary for the final horizontal adjustment of the joists.
After this, you can begin laying the joists. Initially, the two outermost logs are laid level. A fishing line is stretched between them, along which all other logs are set. Adjustment is carried out using spacers or wedges. The lags are fastened to the posts using anchor bolts.
In this case, the procedure is much simpler; it is enough to cover the floor with waterproofing, for example, made of polyethylene, and logs are laid on top of it at a distance of 400-600 mm on wooden adjusting spacers. First, the two outermost logs are laid level, after which a fishing line is stretched between them, along which the height of all other logs is adjusted.
Adjustment is carried out by adding or, conversely, removing adjusting shims.
Currently, the use of adjustable logs is sometimes practiced. These logs have drilled holes with threads into which a special pin is screwed, attached to the concrete base using dowels. Rotating the pin adjusts the height of the log.
After all the logs are aligned to the same level, the protruding parts of the studs are cut off using a grinder. This method greatly simplifies the horizontal alignment of the logs, but is not used very widely due to the noticeable increase in the cost of the structure.
Adjustable lags with clamps
It is important to remember that there must be a distance of at least 10 mm between the edges of the joist and the wall. It is necessary to compensate for the thermal expansion of wood.
Preparing for flooring
Before you begin laying the boards, you need to lay a layer of thermal insulation between the joists. It could be mineral wool or polystyrene. At the same stage, wires in plastic corrugation can be laid between the logs, if necessary. Standard width Insulation sheets are most often 600 mm, which makes it easy to lay it between the joists.
After all the necessary communications and insulation have been laid, you can begin laying the rough or finished floor.
Laying rough wood flooring
If laminate, carpet or linoleum is intended to be used as a finishing coating, then, as a rule, a rough covering of uncut boards, plywood or fiberboard is laid on the logs.
Sheets of plywood or fiberboard are laid on the joists and secured with nails or screws. You should not skimp on fastening points; screws should be screwed into each joist at intervals of no more than 30 cm. The head of the screw or nail should be recessed into the slab by 1-2 mm. It is important to leave a distance of at least 10 mm between the wall and the coating. This gap will also provide ventilation of the space under the floor. 2-3 weeks after completion of work, it can be covered with a plinth.
When laying a subfloor made of boards, you need to start work from the far corner of the room and move towards the entrance. The length of the boards is selected so that their joint is in the middle of the log. The boards are laid as closely as possible to each other and fixed with screws. To prevent the board from splitting when screwing in a screw, you must first drill a hole for it with a drill with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw. Using a drill of a slightly larger diameter, you need to make a small recess into which the screw head will hide.
Laying finished wood flooring
A folded board or a board made of laminated veneer lumber is usually used as a final finishing coating. These boards must be impregnated with a protective antiseptic solution. There are some nuances in laying such boards. Since this floor will no longer be covered with anything, it is extremely important to avoid the slightest gaps between the boards, and it is also important to hide the screw heads so that they do not spoil the appearance of the floor.
Laying folded boards is carried out according to the same principle as laying boards for a subfloor with the only difference being that two adjacent boards are pressed against each other as tightly as possible. To do this, a bracket is driven into the joist at a distance of 4-6 cm from the board, between which and the edge of the board a wedge is installed, pressing the board. When the pressure on the board is maximum, it is fixed with screws, after which the wedge and bracket are removed. The operation must be repeated for each row of boards, this will prevent the formation of cracks. The board is attached to the joist using a screw, which is screwed into the chamfer at an angle, this allows you to hide its head and improve the appearance of the floor. You can also use special decorative nails for the floor, driving them in strictly at equal distances, but this is a compromise option; the absence of visible fastening looks much better.
Comparative characteristics of floorboards
Batten. Prices
| Floor board. Name, material, size | Price, rub./m2 |
|---|---|
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (25x90) 1.8m | 250 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (25x90) 1.0m | 250 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (28x130) 1.8m | 290 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (28x130) 2.0m | 480 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (28x130) 6.0m | 480 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (32x100) 5.4m | 570 |
| Floorboard Pine K1-2 (32x130) 5.85m | 570 |
| Floorboard Larch K2-3 (27x90) 5.4m | 460 |
| Floorboard Larch K2-3 (27x90) 5.1m | 460 |
| Floorboard Larch K2-3 (27x90) 4.8m | 460 |
| Floorboard Larch K1-2 (27x130) 3.0m | 560 |
| Floorboard Larch K1-2 (27x110) 3.0m | 560 |
| Heat-treated pine LUNAWOOD (Finland). Floor board (tongue and groove) 26x92 | 195 rub. /linear m |
| Europol (pine, 32 mm) | grade 0 (Extra) 970.56 rub/m2; grade 1 (Prima) 676.80 rub/m2; grade 2 (B) 460.00 rub/m2; grade 3 (C) 384.00 rub/m2; grade N/K (D) 301.76 rub/m2. |
Video - Laying a wooden floor on joists
Rules for choosing floorboards, preparing bases for laying floorboards, techniques for installing flooring on different surfaces, methods of fastening the material.
Contents of the article:
The floorboard is building material from natural wood, intended for the manufacture of floor coverings. The products have special milling on the longitudinal ends, which ensure gapless connection of elements and high strength of the floor. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the methods of laying floorboards and the rules for processing various bases that ensure high-quality execution assembly works.
Features of choosing a floorboard
When purchasing material, it is important to consider factors that affect the durability of the floor. At making the right choice floorboards you will admire the flooring for many years.
Selecting floor boards based on manufacturing methods
Manufacturers offer users two types of floorboards: solid and jointed. Each type of product has its own characteristics, which determine the applicability of the material and the methods of its attachment to the base.
A solid board is obtained from a single piece of workpiece. Depending on the quality of the material, products are divided into 4 classes, but even the best samples have defects - knots, resin pockets, etc. There are few defects on the boards of the first and second classes, they look harmonious. Such samples are used to make the main flooring. After installation, the surface is not painted, but varnished to highlight the natural beauty of the wood.
Boards of the third and fourth classes must be painted if the finishing coating is knocked down from them, or used as a rough subfloor. Ideally smooth surface solid board difficult to obtain, but its relatively low cost makes it popular among buyers. After installation of the coating, the surface is ground or sanded.
Solid eurolining has higher quality. WITH back side The boards have ventilation grooves that provide air access to the underside and prevent the formation of fungus and mold. The front side is processed with high quality and rarely requires modification after assembling the floor, but euro-lined flooring is more expensive than a regular board.
A finger-jointed board is made by installing it on a mini-tenon or by gluing several small samples. Finger-joined boards differ from massive boards in their excellent geometry, absence of defects, and high strength. After laying the floorboards, the surface does not require any modification. In its finished form, a floor made from spliced elements is very similar to parquet.
Selecting floorboards by wood type
If you are in doubt which floorboard lay in the room, buy products made from larch or oak. These tree species are the hardest and are suitable for any purpose. They are laid even in rooms with extreme humidity - baths, saunas.
The lowest hardness of boards made of coniferous trees(pines, spruces). Soft floorboards are used mainly for subfloors. For finishing flooring, you can use lumber from coniferous trees if their thickness is more than 35 mm. Less thin boards can be laid on logs in increments of 30-40 cm or on a solid base, for example, on concrete screed.
Walnut, aspen and alder are not hard enough for flooring and are used less frequently. Such boards can be laid in rooms with little traffic - a nursery or a living room. It is not advisable to lay poplar and linden boards on the floor because of their softness.
Selecting floor boards by size
Boards with a thickness of 18 to 40 mm are suitable for floors. The most popular thickness of floorboards is 30, 32, 35 mm. For floorboards of this thickness, the joists are placed in increments of 40 to 60 cm.
The beams for boards of maximum thickness are fastened at intervals of 70 cm or more. Products with a thickness of 15-25 mm are used to create double floors, but in this case it is recommended to use hard rocks wood
The width of the floorboards ranges from 60 to 135 mm. Narrow samples are used to create original designs. Wide floorboards are laid in large rooms or houses made of beams and round timber. IN small rooms they use elements of small width, because the more boards, the wider the room appears. The most optimal width of the floorboard is 100 mm.
Types of floorboards by connection method
To facilitate the assembly of floors and improve performance, milling of various shapes is performed at the ends of the floorboards:
- Tongue and groove boards have ridges and grooves at the ends, with the help of which a high quality connection is achieved and the strength of the floor is increased. But the cost of such products is quite high.
- The connection can be made “in a quarter”. At the ends of each board there are milling steps in the form of steps. Making grooves is cheaper than making grooves and tenons. The connection of elements is less dependent on the degree of deformation of the boards after drying, which is why floorboards with stepped fixation are quite popular among users.
- Connection using inserts that are installed in the grooves of adjacent boards. Used when installing short boards.
Preparatory work before laying boards
Floorboards high quality Sold packed in plastic film. Before purchasing, inspect the packaging for condensation. Do not take goods with drops of water on the back of the film, this indicates that the material is not dry enough.
Check the moisture content of the boards, which should not exceed 12-16%. The exact humidity values are shown by a special device called a moisture meter. The indicator is also assessed indirectly:
- A very wet board can be determined by placing your palm on the surface.
- Tap your knuckles on the floorboard. A dry board will sound loud, a damp board will sound dull.
- Inspect the product carefully. Dry has a barely noticeable shine. The color of the wet board is matte.
Sort the remaining material. Samples with knots, with geometric distortions, with a blue or orange color set aside, they can be used in auxiliary rooms. Make sure that the tongues and grooves of the tongue and groove boards are easily connected. The joints should close with a slight click.
To ensure that the floor retains its original condition for a long time, provide room humidity in the range from 40 to 80%. In dry air the board will dry out quickly, and in high humidity conditions the coating will swell. Temperature also affects the lifespan of the floor. At temperatures from 17 to 25 degrees, it does not lose its quality for many years.
Technology for laying floorboards on joists
The method of laying floorboards involves the sequential implementation of several stages of work, on which the quality of the floor depends.
Fixing lags for the board on the base
Floor installation work begins with waterproofing the base to protect the lumber from moisture. The easiest way to waterproof is to use mastic and roofing felt. The roofing material is laid over the mastic overlapping and butted with the wall, only visually laying it in the horizon. To install the logs, the base does not need to be flat, but rigidity is required.
Logs (beams) are laid on the screed waterproofing rectangular shape) and secured to the floor with self-tapping screws, dowels, staples or another method.
Beams for floor boards must meet the following requirements:
- The horizontal surfaces of all beams must be located in the same plane. If necessary, place pads under the beams required thickness or cut off the excess.
- The optimal distance between the joists is 50 cm, but when using thick floorboards, the step can be increased.
- For jointed boards, the distance between the joists should not exceed 40 cm.
- Always lay floorboards perpendicular to the joists.
- IN living rooms the logs should be positioned so that the light through the window falls on the floor along the boards.
- In the corridors, boards are laid in the direction of the most intense traffic.
Attaching floorboards to joists
Laying the floorboards is done in two ways - without shifting the floorboards and with displacement. To install a floor with offset products, you will need to make many cuts at right angles. Not everyone can cut boards evenly, so you will need a template for your work.
Let's consider the technology of installing floorboards with milling in the form of grooves and ridges. The procedure for working with tongue and groove floorboards is no different from assembling other types of boards.
Place the first board on the joists with the tenon facing the wall and fix it at a distance of 1-2 cm from the ceiling, because product dimensions increase with increasing ambient temperature. The fastener can be screwed into the floorboard from above, near the wall, where it will be covered by baseboards. On other boards, marks from the heads are masked with sealant or plugs, which some manufacturers supply with them.
You can fasten the boards in the following ways:
- Using self-tapping screws, the length of which is twice the thickness of the board. To fix floorboards 30 mm thick, buy black self-tapping screws 60-70 mm long and 4-4.5 mm in diameter. The hardware is screwed in increments of 25-30 cm along the length of the board.
- If nails are used for fastening, their length should exceed the thickness of the floorboard by 3 times (the ancient name is troetes).
- Narrow thin products with a width of 90 mm are secured with one nail or self-tapping screw in the center of the product.
- Boards up to 135 mm wide - with two fasteners, with a width of more than 150 mm - with three.
- You can fasten them with self-tapping screws, which are screwed at an angle of 45 degrees into the tongue. To prevent the element from bursting when screwing in the fasteners, holes are drilled in the floorboards. The boards are also secured with self-tapping screws on the groove side.
- You can find it at construction markets special screws for fixing floorboards. They have an anti-corrosion coating and are equipped with a small cutter at the tip of the fastener. It allows you to screw it in without first making holes. The geometry of the fastener prevents the wood from cracking when screwed in. Also, the screws have an upper part without threads, which allows the boards to be pulled more tightly to the joists.
The product is also pressed with wedges. To do this, nail a block to the joists, stepping back from the board by 100-150 mm. Between the board and the block, place a wooden block and two wedges with the tips facing each other. Hitting the wedges with a mallet, move the spacer all the way into the board and further until the gaps between the products disappear. Permissible gaps between floorboards are no more than 1 mm. After this, screw in the screws and secure the board. Secure all floor elements in a similar manner.
Before laying the last board, measure the distance between the penultimate floorboard and the wall and cut a board of the required thickness from the blank, taking into account a guaranteed gap of 10-15 mm near the wall. To eliminate gaps, drive wedges between the wall and the board. If the floorboards are slightly curvature, the tenons and grooves are coated with glue to increase the reliability of the connection, and then tightened with clamps or jacks.
If they are difficult to connect, inspect the tenons and grooves for burrs. If necessary, sand problem surfaces.
If the boards are not dry enough, secure them temporarily and leave them in this condition for 5-6 months. In this case, not all products are fastened, but only the fourth or fifth floorboard. After the lumber has dried, dismantle the temporary fasteners, remove the boards and fasten them again, pressing them as tightly as possible to each other.
- Inspect the surface for any unevenness.
- Eliminate them by scraping the floorboards.
- Coat the floor with a starter varnish, which will show poorly sanded areas. Remove detected defects sanding paper.
- Install the baseboard and check its fit to the floor. If necessary, fill the cracks with putty to match the color of the wood.
- To increase the durability of the coating and give it respectability, cover the floor with paint, varnish, oil, or wax. The choice of product depends on the operating conditions and user wishes.
Technology for installing floorboards on plywood
Installation of floorboards on plywood is carried out if logs cannot be used. For example, if the ceilings in the room are low or it will be impossible to open the door after installing the floor. Most often, plywood is laid on a cement screed or on an old floor covering.
Preparing a concrete floor for laying floorboards
If the floor base is concrete, work begins with checking the humidity cement screed, which should not exceed 3%. Concrete with a lot of water increases the humidity in the room, which causes the plywood and finished flooring to rot.
Humidity can be checked special device moisture meter or traditional methods. Place a piece of cellophane on the concrete floor and secure it with tape. If after a day drops of water appear on the underside of the material, then the screed is not dry enough for laying lumber.
Check the horizontal surface of the concrete screed. A slope of no more than 0.2% of the maximum length rooms. The value can be measured using a hydrostatic level.
Check for flatness of the screed surface using a long ruler. To measure, place the tool on the floor and use a feeler gauge to measure the gaps between the ruler and the floor. At a length of 2 m, gaps of no more than 2 mm are allowed. Eliminate defects by modifying the screed: high areas sand, and fill the low ones with self-leveling mixture.
If the concrete screed is dry, coat it with a polyurethane primer mixture in several layers. Place a foam film over the primer, which will create a moisture-proof barrier between the concrete and plywood.
Laying floorboards on plywood
For the base, use plywood with a thickness of 18 mm or more, preferably moisture-resistant. Cut the sheets of material into several pieces 500 mm wide and lay them on the floor. When installing, leave 10 mm gaps between sheets and walls and 3 mm between individual parts.
Secure the sheets to the concrete with screws and dowels. Sink the fastener heads into the material. Check the horizontalness of the top plane of the plywood. Sand the surface grinder, vacuum and seal with sealant. After drying, the plywood is ready for laying boards.
Fix the floorboards to the plywood using glue. Short products are glued with epoxy or polyurethane resins. Long samples - glue based epoxy resins or polyurethane. After hardening, such compositions are plastic and allow the boards to expand when high temperatures. The choice of glue is also influenced by the type of primer used to treat the plywood.
To glue boards made of exotic trees or beech, you cannot use water-soluble adhesives due to the specific properties of wood.
How to lay a board on an old floor
To use an old floor as a base, make sure it is strong. Reinforce or replace individual boards as necessary. Next, perform the following operations:
- Remove protruding elements from the surface, sand the boards with 40 or 60 grit sandpaper. It is advisable to do the work with a sanding machine.
- Clean the flooring from dust.
- Check waterproof and thermal insulation properties old floor. If necessary, cover it with moisture-proof polyethylene foam film.
- Place plywood with a thickness of at least 12 mm on the old covering.
How to lay a floorboard - watch the video:
Floorboards are made according to modern technologies with high precision, so installation can be done on your own. To obtain a good result, knowledge of floor assembly technology and a serious attitude to the job are required.
Floors from wooden planks are among the most comfortable and environmentally friendly coatings. They are preferred not only for their noble appearance, but also for the opportunity to do it yourself.
Types of wooden floors
Wood flooring can be created from different types of building materials:
- Solid wood boards.
- Parquet (small planks with grooves and tongues).
- Solid wood parquet boards with grooves. Standard length: 0.5-2 m; acceptable thickness: 1.8-2.5 cm.
- Glued parquet boards. It looks almost like a solid parquet board, has the same dimensions and similar performance properties. It is somewhat cheaper, since only the top layer is created from valuable species wood (thickness 5 mm), the rest are from inexpensive species.
Important! Glued board contains at least 3 layers.
Wood selection
The wooden covering is selected based on its ability to match: the type of room, temperature and humidity, the degree of expected loads and other operating conditions. Most often, residential buildings have flooring made of pine, spruce or larch. These species are strong, wear-resistant and much cheaper than deciduous species. However, aspen or oak will last much longer - not years, but several decades.
Important! Most often, edged boards or tongue and groove wood are used for laying a wooden floor. They do not need additional sanding.
Material selection criteria
How to choose a floor board?
- The material is carefully inspected for cracks, splits and stains. Wood with such defects is absolutely not suitable for laying floors.
What are the material requirements?
- The optimal length for boards is 2 meters. You can do more, but not less.
- The material must be dry. If you lay damp boards, after some time the coating will lose its shape, and overdried wood may become deformed.
- It is recommended to buy 15% more required quantity boards
- The wood must be from the same batch, then the material will not differ in color or pattern, and there will be no doubt that the wood was processed using the same technology.
Important! The boards are unpacked immediately before installation. Otherwise they may become deformed.
The following video will help you choose material:
Floor installation
There are two methods for laying floors in your home. One of them involves laying boards directly on the base, the second involves laying a wooden floor using logs.
The following tools are used to lay boards:
- Self-tapping screws;
- Dowels;
- Saw;
- Screwdriver/screwdriver;
- Hammer;
- Nails;
- Stapler;
- Pruning saw;
- Construction level;
- Grinding machine;
- Mount.
Variations are possible.
Wood processing
Before installing logs and laying the floor, it is necessary to completely treat the wooden material: with bio-impregnation - to protect against rot and fungi; fire retardant - to increase fire resistance.
You can learn how to properly process boards from the following video:
Waterproofing
It is imperative to lay waterproofing under the future floor. Penofol or polyethylene are perfect for this. It’s better, of course, to put penofol. It will protect from moisture and noise, and will become an obstacle to electromagnetic radiation.
Installation of the base on the joists
In private houses, it is customary to lay the floor on joists. Correct styling such a design will hide level differences wooden flooring. By the way, you can put it under it various pipes and other communications. The lag is usually a wooden beam 5x10 cm.
Important! Laying a floor on joists with your own hands is only possible in a house with high ceilings, since when laying such a base, 7-15 centimeters of height are hidden.
The logs are brought into the room several days before the start of work. The beams should be placed at a short distance from each other to eliminate the possibility of the boards sagging.
Laying lags
First, two logs are laid at opposite walls at the same level. Threads are pulled between them every 1.5 meters. The remaining lags are set based on the threads. Between the beams you need to lay insulation or several layers of fiberboard.
Important! For laying boards up to 30 cm thick, the logs are laid at a distance of up to 60 cm. To lay material 30-40 cm thick, you need to place the beams within 80 cm of each other. For wood thicker than 40 cm, it is allowed to install logs at a distance of 1 m.
The height of the logs is adjusted using plywood wedges. They, together with the beams, are attached to a wooden base with nails or self-tapping screws. They are fixed to concrete with dowels or anchors. Plywood should be laid on top of the fixed joists.
Flooring boards
The dimensions of the boards are selected with the expectation that each joint should be at a right angle to the edge of the board, in the center of the log. The first row of wood should be laid on beams along a stretched thread with a distance of 1.5 cm from the wall. The boards are fixed on all the joists. Holes for self-tapping screws are pre-drilled. Sometimes floorboards are fastened with staples and then with nails. The gaps between the wall and the covering are well masked with skirting boards. How to make a wooden floor on joists can be seen in the video:
Flooring over plywood
Often subfloors in houses are made of plywood. The material is valued for its strength and reliability. It practically does not deform during operation. It is advisable to lay a finished floor on top only if the existing coating has dried out or become loose. If desired, it can be easily dismantled with your own hands. No plywood base required pre-treatment. The new coating can be laid directly on its surface. If you plan to lay the floor in the house for the first time, you need to level the base using joists or fill it with a self-leveling mixture.
Before leveling, plywood is placed on the floor and a diagram of the future arrangement of the sheets is drawn. The logs are laid out on its basis. Leveling the base begins with placing beacons around the room. The area is divided into squares (side 20-30 cm). Self-tapping screws are screwed into the corners.
Important! Plywood is not used in rooms with high humidity(or in places where the floor may flood) or frequent temperature changes.
Installation of guides
The beacons are set using a level and fixed with a screwdriver. Then the logs are installed. The thicker the plywood, the further apart the beams are laid out (on average 40 cm).
Installation of logs
To prevent the logs from sagging, pieces of plywood are placed under them. The beams can be attached to the base in different ways - using corners, anchors, pads (they need to be filled with adhesive) or self-tapping screws. To prevent the floor from cracking, the structure should be treated with glue.
Important! The anchor caps should be pressed into the wood by 2 mm.
To protect against condensation, the logs are covered with glassine, and only then with plywood. A gap of a couple of millimeters is left between the sheets in case the material deforms. They fix it with self-tapping screws (usually 8-9 pieces per sheet). Plywood is sanded at the joints to avoid unevenness. The boards are laid on top of the plywood, secured with nails or screws. Be sure to leave a small gap near the wall.
Laying boards on a concrete base
To level concrete base, you need to install beacons and fill in the self-leveling mixture. Wood can only be laid on a perfectly flat floor, but the cement should not come into contact with the wood. To do this, the screed is covered with foamed polyethylene. It is laid with an overlap, creating excellent waterproofing. You can use mastic.
Final floor treatment
Upon completion of installation, the floor:
- Grinding;
- Leach;
- Primed;
- Paint or varnish.
Important! Impregnation and varnishes/paints are applied parallel to the wood fibers. Then marks from a roller or brush are not so noticeable.
In order to properly lay the flooring in your home, you need to adhere to the following recommendations.
One of the most popular and popular floor coverings is considered to be boards. This is high quality environmentally friendly material. A wooden floor will give your home warmth, comfort and coziness. This material has high sound insulation, absorbs excess moisture well, maintaining a certain microclimate in the room. Another advantage is ease of installation. If necessary, a floorboard can be easily installed with your own hands.
Modern industry offers the buyer a wide range of floor boards. The most popular and easy-to-use material is tongue-and-groove floorboards. On one side there is a groove, and on the other there is a special ridge. This design makes it easy to assemble the flooring into a lock. For ease of assembly, models are available with a lock on all sides. The tongue-and-groove floorboards are provided with a cut on the inside. Thanks to it, the flexibility of the material increases.
When choosing a board, pay attention special attention on its quality. The maximum permissible humidity level is 10%. Increasingly, material with a moisture content of 7% appears on the market. This option is ideal. Only using a dry board will allow you to succeed and install a durable coating. The presence of knots and inaccuracies in geometric dimensions is unacceptable. The starting material for the manufacture of floor boards is high-quality premium wood.
Boards are released different sizes. The minimum length is 3 m, the maximum is 6 m. The thickness of the board mainly depends on the type of wood. The most popular boards are those with a thickness of 28 mm or more. For example, a great option for installing floors on joists is to use pine boards 35 mm thick. But oak boards are thinner. This is due to the increased strength of this material. The width of the board ranges from 8 to 15 cm. The most convenient and popular size is 10 cm. As the width increases, errors in geometric dimensions also increase. Therefore, it is better not to use wide boards.
Increasingly, varnished boards are appearing on sale. This is very comfortable material. Its use will allow the consumer to save a lot of effort and time. And it is impossible to achieve such quality processing at home. The only drawback is the high price.
I would like to pay special attention to another option for flooring material – glued floorboards. Consists of three layers bonded together. Has the following advantages:
- Very high quality.
- Good performance.
- No knots or other defects.
- The board is carefully selected according to texture and color.
- With changes in such indicators as humidity and temperature, very slight deformations are observed.
- Geometric dimensions are stable over time.
There is only one drawback - the material looks too perfect, unnatural.
It is better to purchase floor boards in advance. The purchased material is delivered to the premises to be finished no later than 14 days before the start of work. During this time, the wood will have time to acclimatize.
Methods for laying floorboards
There are two main methods for laying floorboards:
1. Laying the floorboard using the parquet method. It is advisable to use only if there is a flat base. Otherwise, the number increases preparatory work. There will be a need for:
- performing concrete screed,
- the use of self-leveling mass,
- laying a waterproofing layer.
There are several types of parquet methods for making concrete screeds:
- Installation of floorboards directly on a concrete base.
- Installation on a base made of waterproof plywood.
- Installation of floorboards on old flooring.
The parquet method is used extremely rarely. This is due to its high labor intensity and significant material costs for preparatory work. The only exception is installation on old flooring.
2. Installing the floor board on the joists. A very popular method. This technology It compares favorably with the parquet method in its simplicity and low material costs. Anyone can handle the job successfully. The main thing is to be persistent, patient and strictly follow the instructions. An important advantage of installing boards on joists is the ability to lay communications under them. The computer cord will no longer get tangled under your feet.
Laying floorboards using the parquet method
Most often, the need to use the parquet method arises during renovations. The owners do not want to dismantle the old flooring. It is used as a basis for a new floor. In this case, there is no need for labor-intensive and expensive preparatory work.
Tip: before you decide to use an old floor as a base, make sure it can withstand heavy loads. A damaged and insufficiently strong floor cannot be used as a base. It needs to be dismantled.
Procedure for installing floorboards on old flooring:
- Level the old floor. Sand it thoroughly. Use a tape machine. The grit of the abrasive belt is 40 or 60.
- Cover the entire floor surface with a moisture-proof film made from foam plastic. This step is optional. If you are confident in the thermal insulation and moisture-proof properties of the old floor, skip it.
- It is recommended to lay new floorboards perpendicular to the floorboards of the old flooring. If this is unacceptable, be sure to cover the floor with plywood sheets. Sheet thickness from 12 mm. Sand the plywood. Use a tape machine. Remove all dust and dirt from the surface.
- Lay floorboards. Try to fit them very tightly together. It is recommended to use wedges. Along the perimeter of the room, leave a 10 mm wide gap between the floor covering and the walls.
- The boards are fastened to the base using self-tapping screws, maintaining a pitch of 250 mm. It is necessary to mark and drill holes for self-tapping screws in advance. To improve the aesthetic appearance of the flooring, the self-tapping screw is recessed 10 mm deep into the board. The holes are masked with special plugs made from the same type of wood.
- If the floor boards are laid on a plywood base and not on a moisture-proof film, glue the boards to the base with parquet glue. Using glue will improve the adhesion of the coating to the base. In this case, it is still necessary to use self-tapping screws. Glue alone is not enough.
But if the old floor still had to be dismantled, the process becomes more complex and time-consuming. This is due to the abundance of preparatory work.
The procedure for installing floorboards on a concrete base is as follows:
1. Determine the moisture level of the concrete screed. Use any of two options:
Option number one:
- take the plastic film. Film size 1x1 m;
- stick it to the concrete screed with tape;
- leave for a day;
- remove the film. If you find a wet spot on the concrete under the film, the base is too wet. Do not rush to install the boards, wait until dry.
Option number two:
- take a rubber mat;
- lay it on a concrete base;
- press down with a brick;
- leave for 24 hours;
- lift the mat. If you find a wet spot underneath, do not rush to lay the boards.
Tip: Consider dark concrete carefully. A wet spot on it is difficult to notice.
2. When the concrete base is completely dry, begin laying the boards. The procedure for installing them is similar to the installation option on the old coating. The difference is that instead of old boards or plywood base, new boards are laid directly on the concrete base.
The procedure for installing floorboards on a plywood base:
- Take sheets of plywood, preferably moisture-resistant. Use plywood with a thickness of 18 mm or more.
- Cut the sheet into strips along the narrow side. Maintain a strip width of about half a meter.
- Lay the pieces of plywood on the concrete diagonally to the intended direction of the boards. The distance between adjacent plywood strips is 3 mm. The distance from the sheet to the wall is 1 cm.
- Lock plywood sheets using screws or dowels. There should be about 15 fastening points per 1 m2. Sink the screw heads into the plywood at least 4 mm.
- An option is to secure the plywood with glue. Pay special attention to the compatibility of the adhesive and the heat-protective coating of the concrete base.
- Sand the surface of the plywood thoroughly. Use a special grinding machine. The grain size of the abrasive belt is 40-60.
- Clean the surface of the plywood covering from dust.
- Further work on laying the board is similar to installation on the old coating.
Installing floor boards on joists
This method is much simpler and more convenient than the parquet method.
The logs are wooden blocks. They are made from wood whose moisture content does not exceed 12%. The section size ranges from 55x70 to 55x100 mm.
Tip: the best direction of the lags is perpendicular sun rays from the windows. Then the installed floor will look perfect.
- Attach the joists to the base using screws. The heads of the screws should be sunk into the wood by at least 4 mm.
- Another fastening option is to glue the logs using adhesive or bitumen mastic. The advantage of such fasteners is that there is no danger of damaging communications inside the interfloor ceilings.
Advice: pay special attention to the compatibility of the glue and the moisture-proof mastic with which the base is treated.
- Level the joists. Be sure to use the level. Get rid of excess wood using a plane. Place wood chips in places where the joists are below the general level.
- Fasten the logs together using wooden beams and galvanized corners measuring 40x40x40 mm. This will strengthen and strengthen the structure.
- Fill the voids formed under the joists with insulation.
- Lay the boards on the joists. Achieve the tightest possible connection. Use wedges if necessary.
- The length of the first board should be no less than the width of the room. Lay it with the comb against the wall. The gap between the board and the ridge is at least 10 mm. The first board must be aligned strictly perpendicular to the room.
- Use self-tapping screws to secure the boards. Their length should be at least 2 times the thickness of the board.
- Attach the first board next to the ridge so that the heads of the screws are covered by the baseboards.
- In subsequent boards, place self-tapping screws above each joist at an angle of 45 degrees.
Advice: it is better to drill holes for self-tapping screws in advance, before laying the boards on the joists.
- Use metal staples to nail together the boards. They are driven into wedges and joists. There are two possible knocking options:
- knock together and attach each board to the joist. The method is very effective, but very labor-intensive. Used for thoroughly dried boards adapted to the room;
- nail and fasten every fourth board. More quick way. You can use short boards in the three intermediate rows. But the fourth board must be long.
- The last board in the row has custom size. Trim it with circular saw. In this case, there should be a gap of at least 10 mm between the floorboard and the wall.
Final processing
The floor installed using any of the above methods must be sanded. The main purpose of grinding is to eliminate installation defects. Before starting sanding, check whether the screws are recessed into the wood sufficiently. A self-tapping screw protruding from the board can damage not only the coating, but also the sanding machine.
Use special Draw machines or parquet sanding machines. After finishing sanding, thoroughly clean the floor surface from dust. Apply several coats of varnish to the prepared floor. The protective varnish is applied first, and after it dries, the decorative varnish is applied.
A very important stage in home improvement is the choice of suitable flooring and its correct installation. One of the most preferred options is wooden flooring. Wood is an environmentally friendly, “breathable” material with excellent performance and properties. If you have the proper knowledge, you can handle the installation of such a coating yourself.
Select suitable wood for flooring. At this stage, you need to take into account the climatic conditions of the region, the level of planned loads on the surface, the characteristics of the operation of the premises and, of course, your financial capabilities.
In small living spaces, it is best to install softwood flooring. This material is sold at a relatively affordable price, while being distinguished by fairly high strength and durability.
Among representatives of the middle and higher price ranges, give preference to oak. Aspen wood is also used for flooring. This material is especially suitable for installing floors in children's rooms and bedrooms.
For self-flooring in residential premises, you can use only dry wood. The problem with wet boards is that as they dry, they shrink in size, which is why unsightly and completely unnecessary cracks appear in the coating.
When purchasing material, make sure that it does not have any noticeable defects such as splits, third-party stains, cracks, etc. Don’t buy this kind of wood even at a good discount.
Perform a preliminary calculation to determine the required amount of material. To do this, you just need to know the area of the premises. Buy the material itself with a 10-15 percent reserve.
For flooring, it is recommended to use a board with a length of 200 cm. It is highly desirable that all boards offered to you be included in one batch. This way you will be sure that all purchased material was manufactured and processed under equal conditions. Therefore, texture, color, etc. external characteristics the boards will be approximately the same.
Flooring is best done using edged and tongue-and-groove boards. This material does not require additional grinding, which will allow you to significantly save time on installation work.
Wooden flooring can be done using several different materials, namely:
- solid wood boards;
- solid parquet boards;
- glued parquet boards. Has the same appearance and is practically not inferior in operational characteristics solid parquet boards, but cheaper;
- parquet
Preparing for flooring
The flooring is done in two layers. First the base is laid, then the wood itself.
There are two main ways to install flooring: laying it on the ground on joists and on floor beams. When choosing suitable method Consider the characteristics of a particular room and your personal preferences.
Before installation, thoroughly treat everything wooden elements antifungal and fireproof impregnations.
The base of the constructed floor must be waterproofed. For moisture insulation, it is convenient to use penofol or polyethylene. Penofol simultaneously provides high-quality hydro- and noise-insulating properties, therefore it is more preferable.
Base installation
The functions of the base for self-flooring can be performed by logs, plywood and concrete. Familiarize yourself with the features of the methods and choose the most suitable one for your case.
Foundation on joists
Fastening the flooring to joists is the most popular option for arranging the floor. This design allows you to easily and effectively hide uneven floors and lay various communications under the base without any problems.
The base is assembled from 10x5 cm timber. In low rooms it is better to abandon this method - the finished structure will take about 8-10 cm in height.
Before you start installing the base, you should bring the logs into the room and let them sit for a couple of days to wood material adapted to the conditions around him.
Select the lag fastening step in accordance with the dimensions of the boards used. It is important that the boards do not sag in the future.
First step. Place one joist at the same level on opposite walls.
Second step. Stretch tight parallel threads between the laid joists. The distance between the threads depends on the thickness of the flooring boards. If your boards are more than 3 cm thick, stretch the threads at a distance of about 80 cm, but if the flooring elements are thinner than 3 cm, then the threads should be tensioned at a distance of no more than 60 cm. In the case of using boards thicker than 4 cm, you can increase the distance between the threads up to 100 cm.
Third step. Install the logs, focusing on the stretched threads. Adjust their mounting height using wooden wedges. It is important that all logs are installed strictly at the same level.
The logs must be fastened to the base. If the base in your house is made of wood, fix it with screws or nails; if it is made of concrete, use dowels or anchors.
Fourth step. Fill the space between adjacent joists with thermal insulation material. You can lay polystyrene foam, mineral wool, expanded clay, etc.
During the flooring process, boards will need to be attached to each installed joist. First, you need to prepare holes in the material for self-tapping screws. An electric drill with a drill of the appropriate diameter will help you with this.
An excellent base for future high-quality flooring can be made from plywood. High-quality plywood is almost not subject to deformation during floor use. The material is characterized by high strength and reliability.
If necessary, the floor on the plywood sheets in question can be quickly and easily removed. When laying the base, you do not have to carry out any additional work - the flooring is mounted directly on the plywood sheets.
First step. Place sheets of plywood on the base and, using ordinary chalk, draw a diagram of the future arrangement of the elements. Based on this marking, you will install the logs, and then lay sheets of plywood on them.
Second step. Install logs. The optimal pitch is 400 mm. Level the joists using pads made from the same plywood. All elements must be installed strictly at the same level. Attach the aligned logs to the base. Select fasteners in accordance with the base material.
Third step. Glue the finished structure with glue to prevent the floor from cracking in the future.
Fourth step. Cover the system with rolled glassine or other material with similar properties.
Fifth step. Lay down the plywood. The edges of each sheet should lie on the joists. Place the plywood sheets themselves with a small gap, no more than 1-2 mm. To fasten sheets, use self-tapping screws - about 8-9 fasteners per sheet. Sand the joints thoroughly.
If desired, you can level the concrete base using a screed and lay the flooring directly on the floor, without installing an additional base.
In such a situation, it is important that the boards cannot come into direct contact with the concrete. Ground mastic or ordinary foamed polyethylene will perfectly cope with the functions of the intermediate layer. When using polyethylene, place insulation sheets with an overlap of 10-15 cm.
First step. Start attaching boards from any wall. Leave a 15mm gap between the wall of the room and the starting row boards. Once the decking is complete, you will cover it with baseboard. Drive self-tapping screws or nails at a slight angle, trying to deepen the heads of the fasteners into the wood by about 2 mm.
1 - lag; 2 - bracket; 3 - wedges; 4 - doboynik
Second step. After installing the first flooring board, step back about 50 mm from the edge and drive staples into the bars with an insignificant gap, and then insert a thin strip into the gap that appears after this.
Third step. Drive a wooden wedge slightly larger than the gap left between the installed rail and the fixed brackets. Thanks to the wedge, the edges of the laid boards will be pressed as tightly as possible, which will prevent the appearance of cracks. The staples can be removed after fixing the boards with screws or nails.
a - construction bracket; b - wedge compression with a movable bracket; c - rack compression
1 - bracket; 2 - wedges; 3 - lags; 4 - spur; 5 — emphasis; 6 — movable bracket; 7 - clamping screw; 8 — stops; 9 - gear wheel with ratchet - pawl; 10 — handle; 11 - screw with stop
That is, you need to work according to this scheme: lay a couple of boards, press them with a batten and a wedge, and secure them with self-tapping screws. Lay the entire flooring according to this pattern. Before attaching each subsequent board, it must be further compacted using a mallet.
Fourth step. Sand the joints of the boards.
Fifth step. Hide gaps between walls and boards using floor skirting boards.
Sixth step. Apply the finishing coat, e.g. parquet board or any other material at your discretion. You can do without finishing flooring, and simply paint the boards, coat them with varnish or other composition.
Wood is a high-quality and durable material with excellent performance and properties. However, in order for the flooring to fully demonstrate its properties, you, as the performer, are required to strictly follow the instructions and follow the recommendations received at each stage of the work. Follow this simple guide and everything will work out.
Good luck!
Video - DIY wooden flooring