Plywood on the wooden floors in the house allows you to level the base without dismantling the old wooden coating. The backing in this case prevents creaking and other problems that may arise. The technology allows you to do it yourself without serious difficulties.
The choice of material for the work
Laying plywood on a wooden floor is an excellent solution. Such a rough coating with your own hands has the following advantages:
- low cost;
- convenience of transportation;
- reduction in the time of preparatory work;
- good alignment of small floor defects and increased flooring service life;
- strength and wear resistance of the material;
- flexibility that allows not to break and not to crack during operation and installation;
- minimum number of joints between sheets;
- installation is carried out without serious labor costs.
Before putting the material with your own hands, you need to choose it correctly. There are several classifications on various grounds:
- by grade and type of raw materials used (wood);
- impregnation (its presence and method);
- variety;
- surface treatment method;
- number of layers;
- moisture resistance.
Laying plywood on a wooden floor in the house (rough coating) suggests the following recommendations for selection when doing DIY work:
- the flooring is made of sheets of the second or third grade, the application of the first is not justified from an economic point of view;
- in the house it is best to use moisture-resistant material, this is especially important when installation is carried out in humid rooms (bathroom, bathroom, kitchen);
- flooring involves the use of sheets of a minimum thickness of 10 mm, but this is only suitable for small rooms with low traffic;
- the technology of laying in more critical rooms suggests that the substrate under the final floor will be made of material with a thickness of 14-22 mm, such sheets have sufficient strength;
- It is recommended to choose materials polished on both sides (if possible).
Preparatory work
Before laying plywood on a wooden floor in the house, the flooring and surface must be prepared. Do-it-yourself activities are as follows:
- the base for the installation of plywood should be cleaned of debris, dirt and treated with antiseptic compounds, when laying without lag, it will be necessary to perform priming;
- checking the condition of the floor, removing and replacing damaged items;
- if there is time, it is recommended to arrange the sheets vertically and dry them for 2-3 weeks, while the temperature should be room temperature or slightly higher;
- after drying, the sheets are treated with antiseptic compounds;
- then it is necessary to ventilate the material;
- if there is a need to increase strength, it is worth treating plywood with acrylic varnish, the coating is made in several layers;
- when laying with your own hands, you need to bring sheets into the room in two days and lay them horizontally, this is done so that the material adapts to the temperature and humidity conditions of the room.
Work Methods
Installation in the house can be performed in two ways:
- laying on an old wooden coating (suitable for a small difference in height);
- installation on lags (with differences of 1 cm or more).
Old floor leveling
In this case, plywood can be fixed in three ways:
- glue;
- liquid Nails;
- self-tapping screws.
It is worth noting that the latter option provides the most reliable fastening of sheets than laying on glue. Adhesive compositions can be water-based, two component, also use mounting glue or bustilate.
Installation on glue is carried out in the following order. After completing the preparatory work, the floors are checked with a level. If the vertical drop is less than 1 cm, then you can use the method described below. To compensate for irregularities with your own hands, a plywood substrate is used, the joints of which are glued with adhesive tape.
Further, a layout of sheets is required, which will allow the most rational sawing of the source material. Plywood is preliminarily laid out taking into account the joints for expansion of the material under load and with temperature fluctuations (damper joints are 3-4 mm). Between the wall and the subfloor leave 8-10 mm.
Having laid out the sheets, the elements are sawn with an electric jigsaw to the desired size. If you want to perform installation for a large room, apply squares with a side of 50-60 cm. All parts of the coating must be numbered in the order in which they should be laid later.
When fastened to self-tapping screws, holes are drilled in the sheets, which are then countersunk using a larger drill. When laying on glue, it will also be wise to make additional fastening. The holes are located at a distance of 2 cm from the edge of the part. The step between the fasteners is taken equal to 15-20 cm.
Work begins with elements such as niches, ledges, raised podiums.
When attaching to glue and in other ways, it is necessary to arrange elements of the subfloor with dressing. This is similar to brickwork, that is, each subsequent row is mounted with an offset relative to the previous one. The easiest way to shift to half the sheet. The minimum offset is 10 cm.
The glue is applied in an even layer with a thickness of 2-3 mm on the base. After laying the sheets, they are pressed with a roller. In order to ensure greater reliability and prevent displacement when mounting on glue, self-tapping screws are used.
After fixing, the sheets are ground with a special machine with a rough emery tip. The evenness of the rough coating is checked by the rule (rail at least 2 meters long). It is applied to the surface and the fit is checked. The gaps between the tool and the surface when laying on glue should be no more than 2 mm.
Lagging
This method is more time-consuming, but allows you to eliminate significant base defects. When cleaning and checking old coatings, special attention is paid to the joints between the floorboards. If necessary, they are shed with adhesive to prevent problems (creaking).
Cutting sheets for the floor on the lags is performed in the same way as in the previous case. First of all, you need to fix the logs - wooden boards with a section of 40 by 15 mm. Elements are laid on the old coating in one direction. The step is selected based on the size of the plywood sheets. It is necessary to make sure that the seam between the elements falls on a wooden rail.
When installing the floor on the logs, the boards are fixed on the wooden floor with screws. The sheets are fastened to the guides in the same way. Soundproofing material is laid along the lags (between them). Most often, a heater is used for this. If you need to lay communications, then they are placed in a layer of thermal insulation.
It is most reliable to attach the sheets to the guides on the screws, but you can also use liquid nails. The holes for the fasteners are pre-drilled the same way as when laying without logs (observing the same requirements). Next, surface treatment is performed as described above (grinding).
With proper installation, you don’t have to worry about the durability of the finish coating and the creaking of the floors. It doesn’t really matter which method is chosen: with or without lags. It is important to perform work in accordance with technology.