How to make a floor screed with your own hands?Floor screed is a common way to level a floor. It is suitable for any type of finishing coating. It can be used to install a warm floor system. Despite the fact that pouring a floor is a labor-intensive process, you can do it yourself. How to make a floor screed yourself?
Floor screed device diagram.Concrete screed is a wet method of leveling the floor. Before starting work, it is necessary to prepare the base surface. In this case, the joints and other deformations of the floor slabs are sealed with mortar. Before pouring the cement screed, the base is sometimes waterproofed. The thickness of the cement screed is not less than 50 mm. This ensures good strength. To improve strength, it can be reinforced. For this, a metal mesh is used. It is placed closer to the surface, since the greatest loads will be applied there. To reduce the amount of mixture, a filler can be used when pouring. Expanded clay is most often used as a filler. It is added to the mixture and an underlying layer is created. Then the main layer of concrete without expanded clay is poured onto it. Thanks to this, you can save cement mortar and reduce the weight of the coating.
Laying floor screed with your own hands
Materials and tools:
Tools for floor screed.
- finished cement mixture;
- building level;
- beacons;
- waterproofing;
- rule;
- self-tapping screws;
- perforator with a nozzle mixer;
- concrete mixer;
- grater.
First of all, it is necessary to prepare the base forpouring cement mortar. To do this, clean the floor from dirt and prime it. Then you need to seal all the seams of the floor slabs and their connections to the walls with cement mortar. This is necessary to prevent leaks. For these purposes, you can also do waterproofing. Then measure the floor surface using a building or laser level, identify the highest point of the base. It is a guide for placing beacons and selecting the thickness of the screed. Then install beacons. They are needed to level the cement. Without their installation, it is impossible to create a flat surface. Beacons are guides along which the rule is moved when leveling concrete. They are installed arbitrarily. They should be located at a distance of 20 cm from the wall. The distance between them should be 30 cm less than the length of the rule with which the concrete will be leveled. The guides can be metal or made of mortar. Mortar guides are installed like this. Cement must be laid in the place where the beacon should be. Then, using a rule, a special area corresponding to the floor level must be formed on the mixture. Then, excess cement is removed.
Installation of beacons for floor screed.To simplify the installation of mortar beacons, perform the following steps. First, install 2 screws into the base along the line of the beacons. They are screwed in so that the top of the screw head is at the surface level. Then install the mortar beacons. In this case, the screws are used as limiters that do not allow the beacon to be installed lower than necessary. After the concrete has hardened, begin pouring. Return to contents</a>
How to install beacons
Metal beacons are moretechnological. When installed, the quality of the coating increases. They are 10 mm and 6 mm thick. To create a screed, 10 mm thick beacons are usually used. They are installed as follows. First, screw in the screws and throw the mixture in the same way as when creating mortar beacons. Then install a metal beacon on top of it. After that, using a rule, press the concrete until it touches the screws. Then remove excess mortar. The beacon is pressed into the cement in such a way that the mixture does not get on its surface. At the same time, when pressing the beacon, it can be bent, which will reduce the quality of cement laying. There is another way to install metal beacons. A fastener is used together with the beacon. With its help, the beacon is installed according to the level. Then, to increase the rigidity of the beacon, a cement mixture is applied under its base. Thus, the beacon is smeared into the cement. When the cement hardens, the beacon can be used. Return to the table of contents</a>
Pouring cement floor screed with your own hands
First you need to prepare the cement mortar.It can be mixed directly on the floor or using a mixer. Concrete should be poured into a large bucket. A hammer drill with a mixer attachment is used as a mixer. This attachment is placed in the hammer drill through a special adapter with a chuck. You can also use a concrete mixer to prepare the mixture. Preparing concrete. Usually, a ready-made solution is used. It contains special additives that increase strength, hardening speed and coating quality. When using a ready-made solution, cracking of the mixture or its shrinkage will not occur. When independently selecting all the components of the mixture, it is difficult to maintain the required proportions, so the quality of the screed will decrease. The price of a ready-made mixture and a homemade one is almost the same.
Scheme of installation of concrete floor screed.When making the solution yourself, you need to maintain the proportion of cement, sand and water in the ratio of 1:3:0.5. Sand should be used dry and without impurities. First, mix the cement with sand, then add water. When using ready-made concrete, add the required amount of water according to the instructions and mix the components. The finished solution should be evenly distributed over the base and leveled using a rule that is moved along the beacons. In those places where there is little mixture or holes have appeared, you need to add it and level the surface. The cement should evenly fill the entire surface. There should be no air pockets. An indicator of the quality of laying the cement mortar is the flow of cement milk onto the surface. This means that the cement has been laid well and the floor screed will be very strong. This method is used to fill the entire surface of the base. When the concrete hardens, after about 3 hours, it is sanded using a float. Then the surface will become smoother, without roughness. About 25 days must pass for the surface to finally harden and acquire the necessary strength. During the first 7 days, it should not be exposed to drafts. , made using this technology, will provide a high-quality, durable foundation that can withstand heavy loads.
