How to level the floor yourself: basic methods

During major repairs the following are performed:works, such as floor leveling. This will significantly increase soundproofing and heat-insulating properties. But few people know how to level the floor on their own. It is worth noting that this procedure should be carried out first of all. For this, there are the following methods: do-it-yourself floor leveling on beacons, building up or pouring. Each of the listed methods has its own pros and cons.Floor arrangement diagram.

How can I level the floor?

Before proceeding to work, the surfaceit is necessary to carefully prepare, that is, clean it from all kinds of dirt and dust. If the floor has chips or cracks, they need to be puttied, and then treated with a primer. After 24 hours, you can start directly leveling. Many experts recommend pasting the lower part of the wall with special tape so as not to contaminate the surface. But this is not essential. For the work, you will need some materials and tools:Scheme of floor leveling with moisture-resistant plywood.

• a special mixture or other material;
• water;
• Needle roller on a fairly long handle;
• a drill for mixing the solution;
• large capacities;
• Master OK;
• building rule;
• kraskostupy.

Nowadays, they produce quite a lotvarious mixtures designed specifically for leveling old floors. Some models have self-leveling properties. If you do not want to use ready-made solutions, then you have the option of using cement. To calculate how much mixture you need for one room, you need to know how many square meters it has and what height you plan to raise the floor. For example, for 1 m² for a 1 cm layer, you need about 13-15 kg of dry mixture. Therefore, 15 must be multiplied by the total square meters of the room. If you need a 2 cm layer, then you need to multiply 30 by the area of ​​​​the room. If you do not want to buy paint shoes, which are not cheap, you can make them yourself. To do this, you need to prepare 2 boards equal in size to your shoes, 24 screws and regular tape. Water must be prepared in advance, since dry leveling mixtures thicken quite quickly, so the liquid must be ready. Return to the table of contents</a>Basic methods of leveling the floor with your own handsStep-by-step leveling of the floor with a leveling mixture.First of all, we need to focus on the beacon method. It is deservedly popular with builders, as it is considered the highest quality and most durable. Before leveling the floor in this way, you need to stock up on iron slats, which are also called beacons. As a rule, this method is used for very uneven floor surfaces and large rooms. A huge minus is the long drying time, that is, it can take about a month to dry, but you will get a perfectly flat surface. The pouring method is the fastest and easiest. It consists in the fact that the floor is poured with a special liquid solution, which is based on cement. The main feature of this mixture is that it spreads over the entire surface completely evenly. Such a screed dries quite quickly, because it has a thinner layer than with the beacon leveling method, that is, the layer should be from 3 to 35 mm in height. A huge advantage of the pouring method is low cost and excellent quality. The only drawback is that it cannot be used on very uneven surfaces. And the third method is to build up the floor. For this, you will need wooden joists and plywood sheets, thanks to which the surface is leveled. During leveling by building up, you can use heat-insulating material and various communications, laying them between the layers. This is a rather painstaking method, so it is used less often. There is another method for leveling the floor, but it is used only when laying tiles. This method is based on the fact that when installing tile material, you need to pour more mortar in places of errors. To do this, you need to determine where the highest point of the floor is, and, accordingly, lay the tiles and pour the mortar. Return to the table of contents</a>How to measure the level at home?Scheme of floor leveling with plywood.Before leveling the floor yourself, you need to take certain measurements of the height. First of all, you need to dismantle the old floor covering and check the height of all areas of the room using a building level (long). Then mark the lowest and highest points. Uneven surfaces may be due to the floor slab itself being uneven or laid at an incorrect slope. Chips, peeling, etc. may also be the cause. If there is an uneven slope of 35 mm, experts advise leveling the floor using the pouring method or by building up. If the unevenness exceeds 35 mm, you need to use the leveling method using beacons. After the maximum height point has been marked, the level near the door and balcony must be checked. Sometimes the height in these places can be much higher, so you will not be able to open the door. It is possible that the heating radiator is too low. In such cases, you need to raise the structures. It also happens that the main plane is flat, but there are uneven areas at the joints of the floor slabs, the seams are not carefully sealed. Then you should use a hammer drill to knock down these uneven areas, and then slightly level them with cement. This can be a cement solution with the addition of sand or dry floor mixes. Return to contents</a>Leveling the floor using beaconsLighthouse placement diagram.As mentioned above, in this case you need perforated metal corners, which need to be placed along the room. The first rail is laid at a distance of about 30 cm from the edge of the wall, the rest need to be placed at a distance of 1 m from each other. The beacons must be carefully fixed. For this, you can use solutions of cement or gypsum. To do this, you need to apply the solution in a row using the slap method at a distance of 22-25 cm. Metal slats are laid on top and adjusted to the level. When the beacons grab a little, it is necessary to fill the resulting voids with the solution. After everything dries, the floor is leveled by pouring the solution, the thickness of which should be similar to the consistency of sour cream. If the mixture is rare, then it will be problematic to level it, if too thick - the surface will not be smoothed out. Therefore, it is best to stick to the golden mean. First, the farthest corner of the room is filled, after which the direction continues to the exit. The first two rows are poured simultaneously. This is due to the fact that the first and last rows are only 30 cm from the wall. Next, one row is poured. The poured mixture must be distributed over the entire sector using a trowel, squeezing out the voids that form inside. Next, using a building rule, you need to level the solution over the sector. To do this, holding the rule with its edge, make movements from side to side (towards you). After the floor surface becomes level, you need to run it along the beacon. The temperature for quick drying should be warm enough, so in winter it is advisable to turn on the heater. Return to the table of contents</a>Other ways to level the floor with your own handsDry floor screed with your own hands.The self-leveling mixture is diluted in water in the amount specified in the instructions. This material is designed for self-distribution of the solution on the floor, but all builders still recommend using a needle roller. After you fill the surface, you need to roll the solution with this roller. This is necessary in order to avoid air bubbles in the solution. It should be noted that the length of the needles should be longer than the applied layer of the mixture. If you have chosen the floor extension method, then you can use heat-insulating material. A vapor barrier film is applied to the cleaned surface. If it is shorter in width than the room, then glue the joints with ordinary tape. Wooden logs can be mounted both on certain metal plates and on anchors. To prevent the logs from sagging and to ensure that they are well fixed, planks (wedges) are placed under them and secured with self-tapping screws. The logs are laid at a distance of 50 mm from the edge of the wall and at a step of 50 cm from each other. After fixing the logs, insulating materials are laid in each sector. It is desirable that it be glass wool. Then wooden slabs (plywood, boards, etc.) are mounted and fixed with screws. Then floor coverings are laid on any type of finished floor. Completely different materials are used for this. Now you know how to level the floor yourself, while saving on the work of specialists. Return to the table of contents</a>Step-by-step instructions for laying logsScheme of installation of logs.In addition to the above tools, when leveling the floor with your own hands using logs, you will also need screws designed for wood, a screwdriver and a jigsaw. Initially, you need to check the air humidity level, because the wood and the base must be dry. Otherwise, mold may form later. The maximum level should not exceed 60%. At home, this is done as follows: a film is laid on the floor for a couple of days, after which the polyethylene is removed. If moisture is noticeable on the inside, then condensation is increased. To eliminate this problem, you need to dry and ventilate the room. The logs should be no more than 2 m long, and the cross-section is 100x50 or 100x100 cm. After calculating the floor level, you need to treat the concrete surface with a primer and place the logs around the perimeter of the room, but across the direction of the rays of light from the window. Experts advise putting pieces of linoleum or roofing felt under the logs so that the fixation is reliable. It is in these places that the fastening to the substrate occurs with anchors, screws or self-tapping screws. Next, you should fill the empty space with soundproofing and heat-insulating material so that there are no gaps. Where the doorway is located, widened joists are installed that protrude beyond the partition by 5 cm. This is necessary so that the flooring in the adjacent rooms rests on the joists. After this, plywood sheets are laid so that each edge is in the middle of the joist.

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