Pouring concrete flooring is one of the most importantstages of house construction, because the floor must withstand long-term loads, and the better it copes with its main task, the higher its strength. In addition, high-quality pouring prepares the surface for finishing with finishing coatings.
Scheme of a concrete floor on the ground.A well-made foundation allows you to achieve the final result with less expense, and a high-quality concrete floor will not require repair for many years. How to pour a floor yourself so that it can be equally easily used for laying heated floors, ceramic tiles, laminate flooring, plywood or linoleum?
Preparing for concreting on the ground
In the construction of a concrete floor with your own handshas its own difficulties, but everyone can cope with them. The main difficulties are not related to the preparation of the solution, but to the need for careful, even painstaking preparation of the surface for concreting. The quality of the work performed at the preparatory stage largely determines what kind of floor you get as a result. You just need to follow the technology. Return to contents</a>The main stages of work During the construction of a newat home often directly on the ground. No unpleasant surprises will arise when using floors for those who did not try to simplify the process and strictly followed the recommendations:
Scheme of compaction, grouting and grinding of concrete floor.
- prepared the soil;
- provided waterproofing;
- laid the heat insulator;
- he ground the base;
- correctly created a horizontal plane for the screed.
Soil preparation consists of the following:
- removal of the upper loose layer;
- sealing of the surface;
- padding.
You yourself are able to determine to what depththe top layer of soil is removed (experts advise removing a layer the thickness of a shovel blade, but the soil condition in different regions has significant differences). As soon as you get to a denser layer, compact it additionally. After that, you can pour clay and compact it. This layer will create additional waterproofing. By the way, it is not recommended to put it on the soil in flooded areas. In addition, groundwater should be no closer than 4-5 meters from the building. There is another condition for creating a high-quality foundation and screed - horizontal soil movements under them are not allowed. However, when pouring concrete inside a strip foundation, you do not need to worry about this. Return to the table of contents</a>How to perform backfill?
Marking the floor with a laser level.After compacting the soil, a layer of gravel at least 10 cm thick is poured. The gravel is watered and compacted. A layer of sand of the same thickness is poured onto it. It is moistened and compacted (for this, you can use a thick log with handles nailed to it). The last layer of the bedding will be crushed stone. Its 10 cm layer is compacted, but at the same time it is necessary to ensure that the surface of the bedding becomes smoother (crushed stone can damage the membrane of the waterproofing). Sand is poured on the crushed stone again (in a small layer), and the final compaction of the bedding is carried out. It is advisable to control the horizontality of each layer of the bedding according to pegs installed with a level or a line drawn on the foundation wall. It is worth adding that with a high strip foundation (more than 35 cm from the ground level), only sand is poured into the perimeter after removing the top layer of soil and compacted. Return to the table of contents</a>
Stacking of insulation and fittings
Now it is laid on the backfillwaterproofing membrane. As a waterproofing agent, you can use rolled materials based on bitumen or dense polyethylene. The insulator overlap on the walls should exceed the thickness of the concrete floor (after pouring, the excess insulation is simply cut off). The waterproofing agent is fixed to the wall with tape. All sheets of material should be laid with an overlap of at least 15 cm. All joints are pasted over with tape. The edges of roofing felt and similar materials are treated with bitumen mastic. It is good if the floor is also equipped with reliable thermal insulation. Expanded clay can be used for this purpose, which must be evenly distributed over the surface and compacted, or tile materials (foam plastic and polystyrene foam).
Floor reinforcement scheme.It is better to lay the slabs in a staggered pattern so that the joints between the panels on adjacent rows do not coincide. High-quality thermal insulation will be provided if the panels are attached to each other more tightly. All joints must be pasted over with tape. Those who pour concrete floors with their own hands, especially indoors, often neglect the installation of reinforcement, but it significantly strengthens the structure, helping it to withstand high loads and distributing them more evenly over the surface. Reinforcement makes the floor much more monolithic and prevents cracks. For reinforcement, you can use gratings made of rods at least 5 mm thick. The aspect ratio in the mesh cells is 100x100 mm. Laying reinforcement of greater thickness can enhance the load-bearing characteristics of the ceiling. It should be remembered that the reinforcing grid should not be laid directly on the base under the concrete (in this case, reinforcement loses all meaning), but be located at some distance from the heat insulator. It is best if the reinforcement is recessed into the concrete by 1/4 or 2/3 of the thickness of the screed. The mesh can be raised above the base with special supports, by placing pieces of reinforcement, gypsum or concrete "cakes" underneath it. Return to contents</a>
Construction of a floor plane and installation of profiles
Installing beacons for floor screed. To ensure that the floor is perfectly horizontal, it is necessary to build a plane along which it will be poured. To create it, you will need:
- water level;
- Pull out cord;
- a piece of chalk;
- roulette;
- dowel-nails;
- synthetic threads;
- beacon profiles;
- gypsum, alabaster or cement mortar.
The process of creating a plane is as follows:
Concrete floor pouring scheme. The plane is ready.Now the profiles are installed. They should be directed from the opposite wall to the entrance to the room. The profiles are lubricated with oil or other lubricating compounds and placed on "cakes" of gypsum or concrete. The correct installation of the beacons is checked by the threads. If necessary, the profile is pressed into the gypsum lining, and if it does not reach the thread, more gypsum or concrete is placed under it. The distance between the slides of mortar is 25-30 cm. The first and last beacons are placed 15 cm from the wall. The distance between the rest should be 20 cm less than the length of the rule. Pouring concrete can only begin after the supports under the beacons have hardened. Return to the table of contents</a>
Pour concrete tie
Scheme of the screed execution.Before laying the screed, a damper tape is laid along the wall, the width of which corresponds to the thickness of the concrete layer. Pouring begins from the wall farthest from the entrance to the room. It is desirable that the entire area of the room is poured in one go. Concrete is laid between the beacons with a shovel. Ideally, the solution should be compacted with a vibrator, but at home, air bubbles are removed from the solution with the same shovel (it resembles chopping dough with a knife). Then the concrete is leveled with a rule, which is carried out along the profiles from the far wall to the door. As soon as the concrete has slightly hardened, it is necessary to remove the beacons (if they are not made of aluminum or galvanized steel), so that rusty spots do not appear on the floor surface later. The resulting cracks are sealed with mortar using a spatula and a float. During hardening, the screed is moistened with water for 3-4 days. The concrete will harden completely only after 4 weeks. In the first week after pouring, it should be covered with polyethylene film. Pouring the solution onto concrete floors is carried out without preliminary backfilling, but with mandatory cleaning and repair of the base. Laying hydro- and thermal insulation is a mandatory condition for high-quality work.</ ul>
