The construction and overhaul of a house, apartment, any production and office premises, even in the open air, necessarily includes a very important and fundamental stage - filling the floor. Since the flooring is exposed to a large impact of various loads, it must be strong, smooth and durable. The aesthetic side is also important, because the floor is that part of the room that catches your eye immediately at the entrance. Therefore, it is necessary to make it beautiful, neat, emphasizing the interior of the room and the apartment as a whole.
Self-leveling screed: benefits
Such a screed before pouring just concrete has a number of significant advantages:
- usually does not need beacons to level the surface (they are used only in rare cases);
- makes the surface very flat and smooth;
- very rarely shrinks and cracks ;;
- it takes less time to dry.
An additional positive quality can be considered the ease of installation of a self-leveling floor. The design of self-leveling mixtures can be brought to zero without the use of reinforcement.
Based on all the advantages and the growing popularity of such a material as self-leveling screed, you should definitely consider this option of flooring. It will be a little more expensive, but will pay back the price with its durability and strength.
All these positive qualities, the advantages of choice and the guarantee of durability from the manufacturer are confirmed by numerous user reviews. But they will be available only if you do everything according to the instructions. Choose the right and most suitable mixture for the room or exterior, observe the ratios when preparing the solution, do everything quickly and listen to the recommendations and rules for filling the floor with self-leveling mixtures.
Classically by standards, an inexpensive mineral floor, which consists of gypsum and cement, was used for flooring. But now such a wide variety of manufacturers and varieties of floors, especially decorative finishes, is crowding out the usual filling of floors. Therefore, everyone can choose a suitable floor covering for the soul and afford.
disadvantages
Self-leveling screed for the floor has some disadvantages:
- It is necessary to prepare the base - it is good to repair all cracks, remove dust, remove debris, and dry the surface well.
- If the screed failed for some reason, removing it is quite difficult.
- The cost of this material is relatively high.
- Toxicity. The plasticizers in the air can emit chemical compounds that are quite harmful to human health. That is why during the drying of the screed the room must be well ventilated. When working, it is imperative to use personal protective equipment.
What to consider when choosing a gender
When choosing a gender, you should consider:
- The volume of flooring (taking into account the thickness, length, width of the floor and differences).
- Type of coating (of which the base of the floors is made).
- Humidity in the room.
Varieties of mixtures for the preparation of mortar for pouring
Self-leveling screed is of two types:
- For rough finishes - flooring is done only to level the surface before decorative finishes.
- Thin-layer for finishing.
Draft Composition
To fill the rough floor use:
- Cement or gypsum cement.
- Quartz sand or expanded clay gravel.
- Plasticizers, polymer additives.
The rough self-leveling screed is designed to fulfill the role of a floor base under a decorative coating - laminate, parquet, linoleum, tile, natural stone, which should be laid strictly on flat surfaces.
Roughing should provide the most even coverage to continue the finish, especially if you plan to finish the floor.
At the moment, a very large variety of species and types of self-leveling floors. Therefore, the classification is made according to several key characteristics for choosing a mixture.
By purpose of application
Self-leveling screed for the floor, depending on the purpose of use, is:
- Standard - rough alignment.
- Final - final preparation.
- The leveler is thin layer.
By area of use
Depending on the area of use, self-leveling screeds for the floor are:
- Internal (house, apartment, industrial premises, organizations, shopping centers, office premises).
- External (decoration of rooms outside, open rooms without walls or ceilings).
- Universal (suitable for any room and outdoor decoration).
By application methods
Self-leveling cement screed can be applied:
- Manually (with a spatula).
- Special mechanisms (professional tools).
- Combined (put with a spatula and leveled with specialized tools).
By application
Self-leveling dry screeds are:
- For residential premises.
- For street work.
- Professional.
By type of binder
The following types are distinguished:
- Epoxy - indoors and outdoors.
- Polyurethane - for pouring a 3D floor.
- Methyl methacrylate - for large industrial premises.
- Polymer-cement - can withstand temperature extremes and other climatic conditions, heavy loads.
By decorative qualities:
- Opaque.
- Transparent (usually finish floors with a 3d effect).
By thickness:
- Thin - the thickness of the self-leveling screed up to two centimeters.
- Filled with the addition of various stones, shells for strength and beauty.
The types of finishing self-leveling decorative bulk floors differ in the materials from which they were made:
- Gypsum. Used in dry living spaces such as a house or apartment. It has one feature - it dries very quickly. The base material must be concrete.
- Cement-gypsum. It is used not only in residential premises, but also on balconies, during the construction of baths. The surface of this type of floor will be rough. Base material - concrete and wood.
- Polyurethane - cement. It can be used to fill the floor on the street, in not completely closed buildings (porch, gazebo), in rooms for various purposes and with any humidity. The surface of this floor will also be a little rough. The base material should be either concrete or wood.
- Acrylic is cement. For any premises and streets. The surface is rough. Base material - concrete, wood.
Manufacturers of self-leveling mortar mixes
In today's market there is a large abundance of manufacturers of self-leveling mixtures. This happens because this type of floor repair is very common.
It is worth highlighting the five most popular and reliable companies for the production of mixtures for the preparation of pouring mortar for self-leveling floors:
- Knauf. This manufacturer stood at the origins of creating self-leveling floors and is a leader in sales of building materials. It is based on mixtures of fine gypsum, so the floors will be very durable. An additional component was quartz sand, which provides resistance to floor abrasion. Prices start at 200 rubles per pack of 20 kilograms. Knauf monolithic floors can become the basis for bonded, insulating, dividing, warm floors. Also, using this mixture, you can make a false floor, which allows you to level the floor without weighting and create a niche for laying various cables and structures in the house.
- "Vetonit". A high-tech mixture of cement and limestone is produced for the final finishing of floors. Optimum price / quality ratio. At a cost of 350 rubles per 25 kilograms, perfect evenness, excellent moisture resistance are ensured. The mixture is produced for both rough and finish. Easy to mount any decorative coating.
- Ceresit. These mixtures perfectly cope with large changes, are resistant to moisture and temperature extremes. Can be used for underfloor heating. Pricing starts at 200 rubles per pack of 20 kilograms.
- Bolars The products of this manufacturer are characterized by high heat and sound insulation. Price from 300 rubles, sold in packages of 25 kilograms.
- "Level Express". Finishing coatings for any room: fill cracks, eliminate even large differences in height. Sold in bags of 20 kilograms, prices vary depending on the region.
Work procedure and recommendations for preparing the floor
Consider how a self-leveling screed is done with your own hands.
When working on the creation of self-leveling floors, it is worth strictly following the recommendations and instructions, otherwise the design will turn out to be fragile, uneven, unreliable.
The self-leveling floor mortar dries out very quickly, so laying, creating and preparing the base must be completed before building the flooring mix. Depending on the room, it is possible to lay insulation and contours of the underfloor heating structure for pouring. For floors with a wooden base, buy and spread paper sheets for filling.
It is necessary in advance to decide what you need to buy for the arrangement of the bulk floor (self-leveling screed), and prepare all the tools necessary for work. At one time, it is necessary to fill one room, from this calculation, induce the mixture and calculate the time.
Self-leveling screed dries out depending on the type. The instructions should indicate the minimum time that floors should not be disturbed. Approximately it takes 8-10 hours. The next day, you can either lay / fill the decorative part of the flooring, or continue the repair.
The process of calculating the quantity of material to purchase is very important. You should start by searching and collecting the necessary information:
- Room area, floor area in each room (if residential).
- Layer thickness required to level the surface;
- Drops in the floor, cracks.
- The volume of the floor, given the required thickness.
- The density of the selected mixture (usually indicated on the package).
- The composition of the mixture (the minimum thickness depends on this, the possibility of closing cracks).
- Consumption (indicated on the package, calculated from the manufacturer, not always correct, but must be taken into account when making calculations).
For ideal conditions, we can assume that the flow rate is 1 liter of water per 1 square meter. The calculation is adjusted based on the information collected, the density of the self-leveling screed in bulk is especially important.
Preparatory work
Before pouring, preparatory work is required:
- Wash the floor / base from dirt, mortar residues, oil stains and the like.
- Dry, but not dry.
- If possible, repair cracks and primer.
- To beat off the horizontal level of finding the top point.
- Stick around the perimeter of the damper tape, which is a braid of all-foamed polymer, roughly speaking - polyethylene. Using it, expansion of concrete is compensated to prevent damage to the walls.
- In the doorways, attach the strips of the metal profile so that the solution does not leak outside the room, and relative horizontal alignment is ensured.
It is very simple to prepare a solution from the purchased mixture, a beginner can easily cope with this. But it is worth considering that you need to adequately follow the instructions, you can change the parameters of the ratio of the mixture to the liquid for dilution, if it is clear that the solution is too liquid or thick. Because such an imbalance will affect the quality indicators of the created flooring.
An approximate step-by-step process for preparing the mixture:
- Carefully read the mixing instructions on the packaging.
- It is necessary to breed mix in a large container.
- Stir with a construction mixer at least two times: when diluted with liquid, then wait 10 minutes and mix again.
- Remove air bubbles with a needle roller after pouring, otherwise the service life, reliability and resistance to stress of the floor covering will decrease.
Surface Guidelines
- It is necessary to start the procedure for filling the leveling floor from the farthest corner and move towards the door.
- Additionally, you can even out the layer thickness with a spatula.
- Do everything as quickly as possible, since the solution dries quickly.
- But at the same time do not sacrifice accuracy and beauty.
- You can walk on the liquid floor only in special shoes - short walks - in the process of pasturing the air after filling the floor with a special roller.
- Then leave the floor alone while it dries. About 8-10 hours. For more expensive products from branded manufacturers, this time can be reduced, which will be written on the back of the package.
The device of self-leveling screeds is a simple job. Subject to the above recommendations, it can be done independently.