This material will talk about how to make a high-quality concrete floor screed with your own hands in an apartment and a house. Moreover, resorting to the help of specialists is not required. The most affordable and common is the concrete base. It is ideal for any topcoat. In principle, sometimes it can be operated independently without flooring. If you correctly observe the pouring technology, then the concrete screed will be distinguished by high strength, it is resistant to destruction, will last a long time. These factors are the key when choosing this technology.
For what purpose is a concrete screed used
The design of concrete screed floors can be different. Screeds are made using various technologies that are designed for specific purposes. In particular, they are used when leveling the floor before the installation of the finish coating. A powerful screed can serve as a fairly reliable foundation in rooms where there will be very high mechanical stresses.
Also, the couplers perform the function of a heat stabilizer. For example, they can accumulate in themselves the heat coming from the pipes of the underfloor heating system. Quite often, all communication systems are closed with a screed. In some rooms with their help the necessary bias is formed.
Layered Designs
You can group screeds by the number of layers:
- Single-layer, which is poured at a time at full height. As a rule, it is used for household, industrial, utility non-residential premises. In this case, there are no increased requirements for evenness.
- A multi-layer concrete screed must be made in several passes. As a rule, the first layer is a rough base, and the uppermost create a flat surface to make a high-quality flooring. This approach can be implemented in the case when the thickness of the screed is quite large, it is advisable to perform it in several passes.
Associated Coatings
It is also possible to divide concrete screeds according to the degree of adhesion to the base. And the first are related types of coatings, they are in direct contact with the base. Of course, when manufacturing the floor using this technology, the fill should be as uniform as possible. The adhesion level must be fairly high. Such coatings have high strength, withstand large mechanical loads. But it should be noted that the state of the upper layer largely depends on the moisture level of the base. These screeds are mounted, as a rule, on dry floor slabs between floors of buildings.
Waterproofing qualities
If the base does not have sufficient waterproofing, it is necessary to use a screed with a separation layer. In this case, a layer of polymer film, roofing material or bitumen lubricant is used. This layer is an insurmountable barrier to moisture. She cannot penetrate from below. In fact, the concrete screed has no contact with the base.
The mortar to be poured must have a thickness of less than 3 centimeters. Be sure to make reinforcement. This technology is very often used in the construction of premises that are installed on the ground. For example, these are basements, sheds, garages, the first floors of private houses without a basement. It is much better to use a semi-dry floor screed during installation. With your own hands, any, even not very experienced master can apply it.
The use of insulation
In the event that it is necessary to provide a high degree of thermal insulation, as well as sound insulation, it is allowed to use various insulation materials. In this case, a solution of concrete must be poured over the insulation material. The screed is an independent construction. This is a plate that does not bind to the walls of the room, nor to the base. The casting thickness must be at least 5 cm. Reinforcement is mandatory.
Concrete Screed Fillers
It is allowed to use screeds both in its original form and with fillers. If cement and sand, as well as polystyrene foam chips are added to the solution, this will significantly increase the thermal insulation properties. But note that such mixtures can not be used everywhere, so make sure that they are compatible.
When making floor screed in a house with your own hands, you need to decide what characteristics you need to achieve.
Expanded clay and concrete
If it is necessary to perform a screed of very large thickness or to increase its thermal insulation properties, the addition of expanded clay is allowed. Concrete with the addition of this material becomes much stronger, but before applying certain coatings, it is necessary to fill the front layer of simple cement. If you plan to lay ceramic tiles, then this can be done directly on such a base.
Fiber reinforcement
Quite high performance can be observed in concrete screeds with micro-reinforcement using fiber. This technology can significantly increase the strength of the coating, improves susceptibility to tensile, bending, and mechanical stresses. These screeds are not covered by cracks, they are less prone to shrinkage during solidification. They also have much less dust formation. They are ideal for screeding the underfloor heating with your own hands in the apartment.
Classic solution
Before you start pouring concrete screed, you need to determine what type of mortar will be used. The classic concrete mortar, which is used for pouring ordinary screeds, is a mixture in the ratio of one to three of cement and sand. This recipe has been tested for years, fully justifies itself. But you should take into account some nuances, so as not to spoil the screed. For example, when preparing concrete, it is forbidden to use plain river sand, which has not undergone special processing.
When hardening, the surface will not be able to differ in strength, over time it will crumble, crack and crumble. The problem is that grains of sand have a rounded shape, they cannot provide the proper level of adhesion. It is much better to use a career type of sand. Its grains of sand are faceted and irregular in shape. But it is necessary, when choosing, to pay attention to whether there are clay inclusions. If they are present, then the strength of the screed will be significantly reduced.
Also, if there is even a small amount of gravel in a small fraction, the quality of the screed will not be affected. But in that case, if you need to make a perfectly flat surface, you need to sift all the sand.
What conditions must be observed when making the solution?
An extremely important condition for observing the strength of the screed is the selection of the optimal amount of water. It is no secret that sometimes during construction, in order to significantly facilitate their work, they add a large amount of water. The result is a semi-fluid, very easily spreading cement mortar. We can say that this is a “time bomb”, since the screed will not meet all the requirements.
Be aware that too thin a solution will shrink harder during hardening. In this case, a flat surface will not be able to form. It should also be noted that in case of imbalance in the balance of cement and water, the strength properties of concrete will decrease. And the surface will be unbound, loose, a lot of dust will form. But let's find out how to make a floor screed with your own hands. After all, there is another component - water. And the requirements for it are quite serious.
Water requirements
During construction, it is necessary that a dense concrete mortar is obtained, but it must have plasticity. When filling and leveling, there should be no voids from the air. Focus on this ratio: one liter of water must be added to 5 kg of a mixture of cement and sand. It should also be noted that it is quite difficult to mix the mixture very high quality manually. It is much better to use a concrete mixer or a construction mixer.
And first you need to mix the dry components, and then add water. It should also be noted that there should be no impurities in the water. It is forbidden to use water, in which there is a lot of fat, oil, oil products.
Ready mixes for making screed
Now let's talk about how to do floor screed with your own hands in an apartment or house without involving specialists. You can use ready-made dry mixes that are commercially available. These are materials that can simplify the pouring process. It should be noted several advantages of these compounds:
- When compared with a solution of sand and cement, then the strength and other performance indicators for screeds from ready-made mixtures are much better.
- When preparing the solution, there is no need to use powerful equipment or excessive manual labor. Only a mixer or a simple electric drill is required.
- There are no problems with the dosage of the components. The main thing in the manufacture of the solution is to mix water and dry mix correctly. All instructions are indicated directly on the packaging.
- Most of the solutions that are prepared from this type of mixture have a small mass. Therefore, the overlap is affected by less load. And transporting all materials to the upper floors is much easier.
- There are several types of solutions. You can find on sale mixes for rough leveling, as well as for topcoat. There are compositions specially designed for use in systems with underfloor heating, for rooms with a high level of humidity.
- To work with such mixtures is very simple, you do not need to have any skills. Try to follow the instructions on the packaging.
But all these qualities will be true only when you get a quality mixture. On the market you can find a fake, so trust only trusted sellers.
Surface preparation
In the event that it will be laid on the ground, it is quite simple to install the floor screed with your own hands. Step-by-step instructions for surface preparation:
- The soil is sampled by approximately 50 cm. Then it is necessary to pour a pillow of sand. Its thickness should be about 10 cm. Be sure to carefully tamp it.
- From above it is necessary to pour a layer of gravel on the same principle.
- Then concrete is poured with expanded clay. Layer thickness no more than 20 cm.
- Then a layer of waterproofing is laid. If necessary, the insulation is laid and the finish reinforced screed is poured.
In the event that the filling is carried out in the apartment, the old screed is first removed. This is done for the following reasons:
- The old screed can not guarantee integrity, it peels off, cracking, the same damage is transferred to the new layer.
- Be sure to consider the maximum permissible loads on the floor slabs. If you leave the old layer, the load may increase by 2 or more times.
- This is not to say that the ceilings in all apartments are high. Therefore, if you pour another layer of screed, the height will become even less.
Work before pouring
Carefully study the sequence of steps in the manufacture of a composition for screeding with your own hands. Instructions are provided on all solution bags.
Then you need to carefully inspect the base and carry out such work:
- In the manufacture of a coupled screed, you must carefully clean all the recesses that are on the surface. All cracks are cut to form cracks with a thickness of at least 5 mm. Only in this case concrete mortar will penetrate into them.
- In the manufacture of a floating screed , all flaws must be repaired without exception. It is not allowed to leave voids under the waterproofing layer. Condensation will accumulate there, so such areas will become problematic.
- It is absolutely necessary to handle the overlap with penetrating primers. With this measure, you will get rid of dust and also improve adhesion. Overlapping will not absorb moisture from the cement slurry. This is very important when filling. If there is little water in the solution, then the maturation of the cement will be incomplete. After some time, the screed begins to break and peel off even with not very significant loads.
- Along the entire perimeter of the walls, it is necessary to glue an elastic damping tape. With its help, it turns out to compensate for the expansion of the concrete screed. It can also prevent cracking and deformation of the coating. Please note that the screed must not be in contact with vertical structures.
- In the event that it is planned to install the screed on dividing piles, the first thing to do is close the entire surface of the ceiling. For this, a dense plastic film is used, the thickness of which is more than 0.2 mm. Stripes need to be overlapped, glued joints with waterproof construction tape.