Laying the floorboard with your own hands. Secrets and features of laying a floorboard How to lay a floorboard on logs

Wooden floors allow you to keep warm in the house with the use of minimal technical and material means. It is thanks to this feature that such floors throughout their centuries-old history have remained and remain the most widespread and do not yield their leadership even to the most modern high-tech flooring and coverings.

The floors made of high-quality wood, with proper care, retain their performance characteristics for centuries, are relatively inexpensive, versatile (they can be installed on any type of base), are harmless to the human body and look very impressive. If necessary, they themselves can serve as the basis for the installation of floors of a different type. In addition, wooden floors are quite easy to install and can be installed in a private house or apartment by just one person.

General principles for the construction of wooden floors

Directly genital boards are always laid on logs, but the logs themselves can be laid both on a concrete or even earthen base, and on supports - usually these are brick, wooden or metal pillars. Rarely, but the technology is still used, in which the ends of the logs are embedded in opposite walls or laid on specially provided ledges near the walls and are operated without intermediate supports. However, in this case, it is very difficult to block wide spans - logs of a very large section and weight are required, and it is almost impossible to install them correctly alone ...

Installation of wooden floors on a concrete base practically no different from the installation of floors in an apartment with floors made of reinforced concrete slabs. The situation is much more complicated with installation of the floor on the first floor of a private house, since in this case it is highly desirable to arrange a ventilated and DRY underground. Its presence to a large extent determines the strength and durability of the finished floor, especially in cases of a high location of groundwater.

A few words about the tool

The chosen method of floor installation depends on which tool you need for the job. But in any case, you cannot do without:

laser level; in extreme cases, you can use the hydro level, but an assistant will be required to work with it;
a regular or cross-type construction bubble level at least 1 meter long; the cross level is preferable, since it allows you to check the plane simultaneously in two directions;
hammer weighing no more than 500 g;
chain or circular saw, or a good hacksaw.
jointer and (or) grinders.

An ordinary carpenter's tool will not be superfluous - a square, a small ax, a plane, a chisel, a nail puller.

Floor device on support pillars

Traditionally, a wooden floor is assembled from the following "layers" (bottom to top):

the basis of all flooring is logs;
rough ("bottom") floor;
waterproofing layer;
thermal insulation layer;
directly a wooden floor (final flooring);
finishing floor covering.

This whole multi-layered "sandwich" is usually supported by support posts - concrete, brick, wood or metal.

Installation of brick pillars

The optimal choice today is brick pillars, which have acceptable strength characteristics, are quite affordable from a financial point of view and do not require special labor costs during construction. The only limitation is the height of such support pillars should not exceed 1.5 m; if it is greater, in order to maintain the strength of the supports, their cross-section will have to be increased, which will lead to a sharp increase in the required amount of bricks and, accordingly, an increase in material costs for construction. With a height of pillars up to 50-60 cm, a section of 1x1 brick is sufficient, with a height of 0.6-1.2 m, a section is made at least 1.5x1.5 bricks, columns up to 1.5 m high are laid out at least 2x2 bricks.

Anyway concrete "pyataks" must be poured under the brick supports the area of which exceeds the cross-sectional area of the posts by at least 10 cm in each direction. The distance between the centers of the platforms is selected within 0.7-1 m ALONG the log and 0.8-1.2 m BETWEEN the logs with a section of 100 ... 150x150 mm. After marking in the places where the pillars were erected, pits with a depth of about half a meter are pulled out; the main thing is that the bottom should be below the fertile layer of the earth. At the bottom of these mini-pits, a sand and gravel "pad" is made, onto which the concrete mixture is poured. It is desirable that the surface of the resulting "penny" is a few centimeters above ground level.

It is at the stage of laying out the support pillars the horizontality of the future floor is laid, and it is at this stage that it is best to use a laser level. With its help, the level of the LOWER EDGE of the LAG plus 1 cm is marked on the walls, a construction cord is stretched between the opposite walls along this level, and the height of the pillars is adjusted according to its level. It is not necessary to display it strictly to a millimeter - a gap of a couple of centimeters is quite acceptable. When calculating the total thickness of the floor, it should be borne in mind that at least its upper plane must be higher than the level of the building's basement - otherwise it will be extremely difficult to avoid "cold bridges".

Some features of support pillars

It is worth providing for them availability of fasteners for beams-lag... Typically, such fasteners are vertical threaded "studs" or anchor bolts embedded by 10-20 cm - then through holes are drilled in the logs in the appropriate places, with which the beams are "put on" the resulting pins, and are attracted by nuts and washers. The protruding excess "thread" is cut off with a "grinder".

The lateral surfaces of the posts and, especially, their upper plane, on which the lag will fit, preferably cover with a layer of strong plaster- it will additionally strengthen the structure and play the role of additional waterproofing. On the surface of the finished posts is laid 2-3 layers of small pieces of roofing material.

After the masonry mortar has completely dried and hardened (this takes about a week), logs can already be laid on the finished support pillars.

Laying logs on brick posts

The length of the lag is chosen depending on the construction of the floor. When laying on support pillars, there are only two options for such structures - "floating" and rigid.

Floating or hard floors?

In the first case, the entire "sandwich" of the floor lies and rests exclusively on the posts, not being rigidly tied to the walls or. In the second, the ends of the lag are rigidly attached to the walls in one way or another; such a design practically excludes the "walking" of the flooring, but when the building subsides, it may well lead to deformation of the finished floors.

With a "floating" version of the floor, the length of the lag is 3-5 cm less than the distance from wall to wall. In the second case, the gap should be no more than 2 cm - otherwise the logs will be difficult to rigidly attach to the walls. If necessary, lags can be made from two or more pieces, connecting them in "half paws" - but the joint must necessarily fall on the support post and be nailed or (with a lag section of up to 10x100 mm) screwed on with self-tapping screws.

If the final length of the lags is less than three meters, then they can be laid directly on the supports (not forgetting about waterproofing gaskets made of roofing material!); however, it is much better between the roofing felt and the lower plane of the beam-lag to lay flat a piece of board 25-50 mm thick. In the case of harsh lags, this is a must!

Lag alignment

After laying the lags on the prepared support pillars, they must be "set" according to the level. This is done as follows: using wooden spacers of small thickness the two outer beams are laid strictly horizontally, according to the previously calculated and marked height level. So far, gaskets are used only on the extreme support pillars, for the time being, you can ignore the intermediate ones. The ends of the exposed logs are nailed to the walls; in the case of floating floors, this anchorage will be temporary.

On both sides, at a distance of 0.3-0.5 m from the walls, along the upper planes of the laid logs tightly the construction cord is stretched. All other intermediate beams are displayed along it; then, if necessary, gaskets are installed between the rest of the posts and lags. ALL spacers should be FIRMLY tied (nailed) to the lags, and, if possible, to the support posts. The beams should lie tightly on the posts, in extreme cases, gaps of no more than 2 mm are allowed - but not on adjacent posts.

Rough floor

After laying the log, a rough floor is made. To do this, a narrow bar ("cranial" bar) is nailed along the entire length of the lower cut of the log on each side of it. Raw boards are laid on it between the logs with a length equal to the distance between the logs. After laying, these boards are covered with a "solid" vapor barrier film, on which the insulation is applied or poured. From above, everything is completely covered with a windproof canvas.

Underfloor ventilation

When installing a floor on brick pillars in an underground space ventilation must be provided- forced (with a large cubic capacity of the underground) or natural. An obligatory element of such ventilation is the so-called "Air": through holes in or walls below floor level. Such openings should be available along the entire perimeter of the building and under internal partitions, the distance between them should not exceed 3 m.

The dimensions of the vents are usually chosen 10x10 cm, the center of the hole should be at a height of 0.3-0.4 m from the ground level (above the thickness of the winter snow cover). It is imperative to provide for the possibility of shutting off the air vents in the winter. In addition, in order to protect against rodents, the air vents are closed with a mesh with a fine mesh.

When if the underground is not too deep(no more than 0.5 m) and the device of air vents is difficult, ventilation holes are made in the floor itself - usually in the corners... These openings are covered with decorative grilles and must always be open.

How to properly lay the floors

Before laying the floorboards, cover the insulation with a windproof cloth. The choice of the board depends on what kind of surface the finished floor will be. If it is conceived natural, you will need a tongue-and-groove floorboard (with a lock); if linoleum or laminate flooring is going to be laid, it is quite possible to do with an ordinary edged board. BUT IN ANY CASE THE WOOD SHOULD BE WELL DRY!

We attach the grooved board to the logs

The first board is placed with a gap of 1-1.5 cm from the wall, and not close to it, with a spike against the wall. The next boards are pressed against the previous ones using some kind of stop (clamps, for example) and a pair of wooden wedges. Boards, especially if they are thicker than 25 mm, are nailed - self-tapping screws in this case are not suitable, they do not attract the board to the upper surface of the log badly. The specified gap of 1-1.5 cm must be maintained around the entire perimeter of the room. The existing joints of the ends of the floorboards must be staggered.

Final finishing of the laid floor

After the flooring has been laid, the floor is ready for finishing, which consists in its sanding (scraping) and coating with paint or varnish... It is almost impossible to do this manually - you should use an electric jointer or grinder. After this very dusty procedure, it is recommended that all "opened" to treat cracks and gaps between the boards with wood putty made on the basis of drying oil. The last operation before painting is fixing the plinth around the perimeter of the room.

The polished surface is painted or varnished, for example - yacht; modern paints and varnishes allow you to imitate almost any type of wood or material surface. Usually, at least two layers of coating are applied, a paint roller and a good respirator are used for work. If you want to get a non-glossy, but matte floor surface, you can use wax or oil.

To lay a floor made of natural wood means to choose an absolutely environmentally friendly and safe material, which, moreover, will provide convenience and comfort in use. It is for the quality, as well as due to the possibility of self-installation, that many consumers prefer to see the plank floor in their home.

How to properly lay wooden floors, as well as the principles of material selection, will be discussed later in the article.

Varieties of wood floors

You can equip a wooden floor in your home from the following materials:

Solid wood solid board.
Parquet consisting of small planks with grooves and grooves.
One-piece parquet board with solid wood locks, the standard dimensions of which are 0.5-2 m in length and 1.8-2.5 cm in thickness.
Glued parquet board - in appearance and characteristics it is very similar to a solid board, however, it consists of several layers of wood, only one of which is made of valuable wood species (its thickness is about 5 mm). The inner and back layers are made of cheaper types of wood, so this material is cheaper than a solid parquet board from solid wood. A glued board contains at least 3 different veneer layers. Before laying this flooring, it is important to carefully understand how to lay a parquet board, what are the nuances of installation.

Selection of wood species

The choice of the type of wood is primarily influenced by the type of room where it will lie, the features of the microclimate in the room, the expected load on the coating and other conditions. For residential premises, pine, larch, spruce are optimal - they are quite durable, withstand heavy loads, and are also much cheaper than hardwood.

At the same time, one cannot fail to mention such trees as aspen and oak - such wood is capable of retaining its operational qualities for several decades.

Often, for the arrangement of wooden coatings, a grooved or edged board is chosen, which do not need additional grinding (in more detail: "").

What to look for when buying material

Before installing plank floors, make sure that they are ideal for laying on the floor. First of all, they need to be inspected for spots, chips or cracks. If there are any, the material is not suitable for use on the floor.

The selection criteria for the material are as follows:

The optimal length of the canvas is 2 m, in no case less, and sometimes longer boards are appropriate.
The wood for laying on the floor must be thoroughly dried. If the board is overdried, it will deform over time, and the raw wood laid on the floor will lose its original shape due to drying out.
The stock of material for laying the floor must be greater than required according to the calculations for
15 %.
All the required amount of wood should be purchased from one batch, then there will be a guarantee that all raw materials are subjected to the same processing, have a similar pattern and shade.

Note that you should remove the factory packaging from the board immediately before laying it on the floor in order to avoid deformation.

Floor laying technique

Whichever method is chosen, you will need a certain set of tools to work:

building level - drop or laser;
screwdriver;
edged saw;
crowbar;
grinding machine;
construction stapler;
hammer;
hacksaw;
dowels;
self-tapping screws;
nails.

Of course, this kit is not universal, and you may need any other tools and materials - it all depends on the situation.

Preliminary work

Before laying a wooden floor with your own hands, it is important to pre-process the material. Special impregnations for wood are used to prevent the growth of mold and rot, and a fire retardant can be used to protect against fires and increase fire resistance.

Moisture protection

It is imperative to lay a layer of waterproofing before laying the wooden floor correctly. Such an interlayer will prevent moisture from affecting the tree and will become an anti-noise barrier. Penofol is optimal for these purposes, but you can also lay a plastic wrap.

Floor device on logs

Before laying the logs on the floor, they need to be kept indoors for several days so that they get used to the microclimate (read also: "). Then you can start laying them, observing small uniform spacing between the beams in order to avoid sagging the boardwalk on them.

It is worth noting that it is preferable to lay the frame from the logs only in those rooms where the ceilings are high enough, since such a frame raises the floor level by about 7-15 cm.

Lag laying method

The first two beams are laid at opposite walls and aligned horizontally. Further, threads are pulled between them with a step of 1.5 meters, which will serve as beacons. On these beacons, the remaining logs are evenly laid, and insulating fillers are placed in the cells between them.

The step between the lags is determined by the thickness of the material. So, a board with a thickness of 30 mm requires laying the logs no wider than 60 cm from each other; 30-40 mm wood is laid on logs with a step of 80 cm; a 40 mm thick board can be placed on logs 1 m apart.

To adjust the level of the lag, plywood wedges are used. They must be attached to the base with nails or self-tapping screws, and if the subfloor is concrete, then with anchors. Directly on top of the installed and fixed logs, it is necessary to lay a layer of plywood.

Laying boards

The technology of how to properly lay a wooden floor involves placing the boards on the joists in such a way that the seams between the canvases go clearly perpendicular to the laid beams. When laying the first row along a thread stretched to control the level, an indent of 1.5 cm should be left against the wall.

You need to fix the boards on each beam. Holes should be drilled for self-tapping screws. Some people prefer to pre-fix the floorboards with staples and reinforce them with nails. The gaps remaining at the walls are masked with baseboards. This wooden plank floor is also popular in the garage. Quite often they make the floor in the garage from boards with their own hands, if there are enough skills for this.

Laying boards on plywood

Due to its strength and low tendency to deformation, plywood is often used as a base for finishing flooring. In addition, such a base can be easily removed and replaced in case of unforeseen circumstances. Another plus of plywood is that it does not need any additional processing, and the board is laid right on top of it.

The method of how to properly lay the floors in a wooden house on a plywood base, if this is done for the first time, involves preliminary laying a log to level the floor, or pouring a self-leveling mixture.

The only obstacle to laying plywood is high humidity in the room or the risk of flooding, as well as intense temperature fluctuations.

To understand how to arrange the logs, it is best to lay the plywood sheets on the floor and make preliminary markings, according to which further work should be done. To level the base, beacons are installed in the room, dividing the space into sections with a side of 20-30 cm, at the corners of which self-tapping screws are screwed.

Installation of a log under plywood

To avoid deflection of the log, wedges or pieces of plywood are driven into the gaps under them. The beams are attached to the subfloor with anchors, self-tapping screws, corners or pads with an adhesive solution. At the same time, do not forget to deepen the anchor heads into the wood by 2 mm.

A layer of glassine laid on the logs under the plywood can serve as protection against condensation. The plywood is fixed with self-tapping screws, laying with small gaps between the canvases, as well as with an indent from the walls. To ensure that the surface is perfectly flat and smooth, the joints should be sanded. After that, you can start laying the boarding, not forgetting about the gap at the walls.

Installation of flooring on a concrete screed

Before laying plank floors on a concrete screed, it is necessary to ensure that the base is perfectly flat. A self-leveling mixture poured over beacons is optimal. Since flooring from a board with your own hands directly on concrete is unacceptable, a layer of expanded polyethylene is laid under the wood, the sheets of which are overlapped to provide protection from moisture.

Finishing wood floor

After laying the wood flooring, it should be sanded, leached, primed and finished with paint or varnished. It is worth noting that it is better to apply the paint along the fibers so that brush strokes are not visible.

There are a number of tricks to make boarding easier:

The boards should be positioned so that the rings point in different directions.
For convenience, boards should be numbered prior to installation.
Nails should be driven into the wood at an angle.
To ensure a snug fit of the floorboards, a bracket is driven into the log at a distance of 6 cm from the edge board. The distance between the board and the bracket is filled with a rail, after which a wedge is driven between the bracket and the rail. Then the boards are pressed more tightly, and they can be fixed with nails.
Then the bracket and the rail are removed and proceed to the further laying of the boards according to a similar procedure.
The last remaining board should be leveled with a plane and planted with glue and nails.
The gaps at the walls are masked with baseboards.

Recently, the market for artificial building materials began to develop more and more actively. However, natural wood is still in huge demand among people. This is not strange, because such a material has natural beauty and strength, which is a prerequisite for construction and finishing work.

Wood floors have always been and will be in demand due to the fact that this material is natural, safe and attractive.

Next, we will consider the method of laying the floorboard, which is most often used. All the main nuances of the work will be described here. Thanks to this technology, floor boards will always be flat and durable. This is required for this type of work. The technology of laying the floorboard will be considered in more detail a little further, but first you need to select all the most necessary tools and materials.

Tools and materials

To lay the floorboards, you need: a screwdriver, a hammer, nails, screws, a jigsaw, a tape measure, etc.

To carry out work related to laying floorboards on the base, you need to acquire the following tools and materials:

grooved board;
glassine;
mineral wool;
bars;
mount;
saw;
hammer;
screwdriver;
self-tapping screws;
Sander.

These materials will be quite enough for the technology for laying floorboards to become feasible. When everything is assembled, you can proceed directly to the installation work, which begins with the installation of the lag.

Installation lag: features

The technology for laying floorboards involves the use of a lag. Most often, wooden blocks are used for their installation. You need to mount the timber on the edge. In this case, a certain gap must be observed between each lag. Most often, it is made no more than 1 m. In this case, the floor will be more rigid, and this is necessary according to the technology of laying the floorboard. One very simple rule can be established here: the thicker the board will be used, the larger the step can be left between each structural element.

After the lags are laid in their rightful places, it is worth checking their horizontalness again. This is done using a level. In this case, you can use the most primitive fluid tool. Now the lags must be fixed. For these purposes, self-tapping screws and dowels are used. In some situations, anchor bolts can be used. It will be appropriate to do this when the timber is too thick.

Thermal insulation and its nuances

Insulation must be laid between the logs.

The thermal insulation layer is an integral part of any floor. It will keep the house warm even in the most severe frosts. A variety of materials can be used to equip the thermal insulation layer. If we are talking about laying the floorboard on the 2nd floor, then here the thermal insulation does not need to be organized - this stage of work is skipped.

It must be laid on the 1st floor. Mineral wool is used for work. It can be in the form of slabs or just in its normal form. It does not matter. The most important thing is to arrange it correctly. This is done quite easily. It should be located between the bars that were installed earlier. In this case, it fits in a layer 10 cm thick.

On top of the mineral wool, it is imperative to put a waterproofing material. You can use glassine or roofing felt. The second option is preferable, since the material is cheaper and more reliable. It should be secured with a stapler. At this stage, the work related to floor insulation can be considered completed. Now you can go directly to laying the floorboard.

Floorboards must be well dried before installation.

This is the most important and crucial stage of all work. The future integrity of the structure directly depends on how well the floorboard will be laid. Boards must be prepared before laying. They need to be thoroughly dried. For this, the material should be placed in a warm and dry place for about a week. Only in this case the board will be qualitatively prepared for the work.

In fact, it takes much longer to shrink, but this will be enough to prevent warping of the material. Warping is quite dangerous. Raw products must not be used for laying the boards on the floor. The likelihood of cracks on them is very high, which can appear both during the work and during the operation of the floor.

The first board must be laid at some distance from the wall. It is quite enough 2 cm. This measure will help prevent deformation of the structure if the material changes its dimensions during operation. In order to fix the board before it is fastened, it is imperative that wedges be installed in the distance between the wall. In this case, the gap will not change during the fastening of the material.

The direction of laying the boards is chosen perpendicular to the previously installed logs. A grooved board is used here. This means that the fastening is carried out with a lock. He is very primitive here. The groove of one board is put on the veneer of the other. At the same time, do not forget about the additional mount. Self-tapping screws will be used for these purposes. They are screwed in with a screwdriver. Their length is chosen according to the thickness of the floorboards.

It is best to mount the screws in the groove of the board. Then it will be possible to avoid the appearance of hats sticking out above the surface. They will be hidden elegantly. When the work is completed, the screws will not be visible. That is why the tongue-and-groove board is the best option for the floor. All subsequent structural elements are mounted in the same way as discussed above.

Thus, the result is a very attractive floor that can already be used for its intended purpose. However, it is best to sand it down to make it smoother and more attractive.

Sanding the floor: some important points

After the wooden floor is made, it remains only to carefully polish it. For these purposes, a special grinder is used. This tool can be purchased today in almost any specialized store. If you do not want to buy it, you can ask neighbors or friends for rent. With the help of a sander, you can easily and easily get rid of all surface irregularities, as well as eliminate the joints between the boards. An excellent tool that is often needed on the farm. Instead of a sander, you can use a regular grinder. With its help, you can perfectly treat the surface. The grinding process itself does not take so much time.

The result should be an absolutely flat base without all kinds of defects. Joints and other irregularities must be completely eliminated. After the grinding process is completed, you can proceed to the final stage of work, which consists in treating the surface with a special protective compound.

This measure is necessary when working with wood.

You can cover the floorboards with an antiseptic.

To preserve the original appearance of the floorboards, they must be treated with an antiseptic.

You can use a transparent or translucent version of this substance. This will preserve the original appearance of the wood. Often it is she who is the decoration of the house. Antiseptics will help protect the surface from the formation of fungus and mold. It will not develop microorganisms that can harm human health.

Alternatively, paint or varnish can be used. These coatings cope well with aggressive external factors.

Thus, the process of laying the floorboard can be considered complete. As you can see, there is nothing difficult in this. All work is done quickly enough. Most importantly, at each stage, strictly follow the instructions given above. This will make the floor really strong, reliable and durable. The use of natural materials always brings its own flavor even to the most ordinary-looking building.

Absolutely any floor made of natural wood will serve its owner for many years with faith and truth. The above is specially created for those who in the near future are planning to start arranging a wooden floor in their home or in the country.

A floorboard usually has tongue-and-groove on the side edges, its installation is somewhat more difficult than a conventional non-tongue-and-groove board, but a strong, reliable connection is provided. The technique of laying the floorboard and the amount of preparatory work depend on the base on which it is laid.

Floorboard laying methods

The support for the floorboard can be:

Concrete base
Old wood floor
Lags installed on any base
Bearing wooden structures (beams) of interfloor, attic floors
Sheet plywood screed

Laying on logs is good because it does not require additional costs of materials and time for plywood flooring. In addition, insulation can be laid between the logs. But this method is not suitable for rooms with low ceilings. On top of the floor beams, either plywood, OSB is first laid, and then a finishing floor board is laid.

To fasten the board to the base, use:

When laying on logs - screws or nails
When laying on a plywood base - self-tapping screws or glue and self-tapping screws

The floorboard is usually laid in a straight line, parallel to the walls. In rooms, laying is carried out perpendicular to the wall with a window, in rooms with high traffic - parallel to the direction of movement. The floorboard can be stacked either sideways or without displacement of elements. When laying boards with an offset, they must be cut into fragments of the required length so that the ends are strictly perpendicular to the other edges.

Important points

As a rule, the installation of a finished floor from a floorboard is carried out after performing other types of repair work. When laying it, you must follow a number of rules:

The moisture content of the base (subfloor) should not exceed 12%, lag - 18%
Boards should have a moisture content of 12-16%
The optimum range of indoor air humidity 40-60%, temperature - 17-25 °
Before laying the boards, you need to unpack and keep for 2-3 days in a room for acclimatization.

In the absence of a moisture meter, the moisture content of the board can be estimated by a number of indirect signs. If the inside of the wrapping film is fogged up - the board is too damp, excess moisture is felt also to the touch with the palm of your hand. Dry boards, when tapped, emit a sonorous sound and have a slight sheen, wet ones respond with a dull sound and have a matte shade.

Laying on logs

Laying the floorboard on the logs is preceded by the installation of the logs themselves on the prepared base.

Preparation

If the base is tamped soil, not covered with a layer of screed, then the logs are mounted on brick posts with a height of at least 20 cm, covered with pieces of roofing material. The posts can also be made of oak, larch treated with antiseptic and bitumen. On the ground floor, waterproofing and insulation of the base are required, they are usually used.

Lags are also necessarily treated with an antiseptic, they are usually attached to the base with anchor bolts, less often they are fixed with mastic. The minimum distance between the logs for laying a massive board is 50 cm, spliced - 40 cm, the thicker the board, the larger the step can be. The joists must be installed perpendicular to the direction of laying the floorboards.

If the base is uneven, the joists can be leveled using shims, but adjustable ones are better. Insulation is laid between the lags, its thickness should be slightly less than the height of the lags, so that a gap for ventilation is formed between it and the floor. The insulation is covered with a layer of vapor barrier. It is recommended to install a sound-absorbing underlay between the joists and the boards.

Styling

After completing the preparatory work, you can proceed directly to laying the board, observing a number of rules.

The first board is laid with an indentation of 1-2 cm from the wall. A similar gap must be left around the entire perimeter to compensate for temperature expansion. Can be laid with a tongue or groove to the wall
After attaching the first board to the logs, the second is moved to it, the spike is inserted into the groove, the second board is hammered with a mallet through the block, until there is no more than 1 mm gap between the floorboards, you can use wedges for maximum compaction
If the length of the boards is not enough to cover the whole room, or they fit apart, the joints must necessarily fall in the middle of the logs, this must be taken into account when sawing
The last board is sawn in width so that after it is laid, the necessary expansion gap is formed. A clamp is used to pad it.

If the tongue is not in perfect shape, burrs prevent the connection, they need to be sanded. The connection may deteriorate due to the slight curvature of the boards, in this case the spikes and grooves are coated with glue and the boards are pressed with a clamp, the ends are also glued. If not enough dry boards are stacked, only every 4 or 5 floorboards are attached to the logs. After about six months, this fastener is removed, and the boards are mounted according to all the rules.

Laying a grooved floorboard has a lot in common with a Lock type lock, only the laminate cannot be laid directly on the logs, you need a solid base under it. Another important difference is that the boards are additionally fastened with hardware. Self-tapping screws are used as fasteners, the length of which is twice the thickness of the board, or nails are three times longer than its thickness.

Self-tapping screws are preferable, they are resistant to corrosion and reliably recessed, and the heads of the nails can protrude above the surface over time. The optimum diameter of self-tapping screws is 4-4.5 mm. For standard screws in the floorboards, holes are pre-drilled so that the wood does not split when the hardware is screwed in.

Special self-tapping screws for a floorboard with a small cutter at the end can be screwed in immediately. The number of fasteners in the place of each connection of the board with the log depends on the width of the board. For narrow ones (90 mm), one piece of hardware is enough, driven in or screwed in the middle, with a width of 90-135 mm, fastening is carried out in 2 points, 150 mm and more - in 3.

In the first row, the fastening is carried out near the wall and the fasteners will be covered with baseboards, so it can be screwed in vertically. In the following rows, one of 2 methods is applied:

The fasteners are screwed (hammered) at an angle of 45 ° into the tongue, this method is better suited for thick enough boards. Concealed fastening gives floors a more aesthetic appearance, but less reliable
The holes are countersunk with a countersink, the caps are sunk deeper and covered with sealant on top

Laying on plywood flooring

Plywood flooring can be done over a concrete base, an old wooden floor, and sometimes over joists. The process of laying the floorboard on it is the same in all cases, only the preparatory work is different.

A concrete base with a moisture content of no more than 3% is waterproofed, if necessary, irregularities are eliminated. Plywood sheets are cut into strips 40-60 cm wide, laid apart, with a distance of 10 mm from the walls, with a gap of 3 mm between the sheets. For fastening to the base, screws and dowels are used in the amount of 15 pieces per m².

Laying on an old floor is acceptable if it is strong enough. Its preliminary audit is carried out, rotten, destroyed floorboards are replaced, loosened ones are fixed, ledges are cut off with a plane if necessary, the base is sanded and dust-free. It is advisable to lay a polyethylene foam underlay on top of the subfloor for thermal and waterproofing.

For a sheet screed on a wooden base, 12 mm plywood is enough; it is fastened with self-tapping screws. When arranging a plywood base under a floorboard, it is important to carefully sink the fastener caps. After installing the flooring, its surface is sanded, cleaned of dust.

If the subfloor is capable of withstanding a significant load and the direction of installation of the topcoat is perpendicular to the direction of the subfloor boards, the board can be installed directly on top of them. Mounting is carried out by analogy with lags.

Boards can be attached to the plywood base with self-tapping screws, as well as to logs, but parquet glue is usually used, and self-tapping screws provide additional fixation. Plywood must be primed before glue is applied. The primer composition must be combined with glue, dispersed glue can only be applied on a dispersed primer, soluble with synthetic resins - on a soluble one. The widest compatibility is possessed by one-component polyurethane adhesives.

Also, when choosing an adhesive, you need to take into account the size of the boards and the type of wood:

Short boards up to 50 cm can be glued with almost any composition (epoxy, polyurethane, dispersed, soluble)
For large-sized boards, plastic and durable compounds are suitable - based on MS-polymers and polyurethane
For exotic and moisture-sensitive wood species (teak, lapacho, beech), water-based dispersed compositions are not suitable

Laying on glue is carried out in accordance with the instructions for a specific adhesive composition.

Regardless of the base on which the floorboard was laid, at the final stage it is necessary to close up minor defects (if any) with a putty, treat the coating with a grinder. Sanding by hand is also acceptable, but this is a more laborious process. After sanding and cleaning the surface, skirting boards are installed around the perimeter. Depending on the type of board, the floor is painted or coated with oil or varnish.

Video

Arrangement of a floor from a solid board along the logs from the installation of the logs to the finishing of the coating

Outcome

The floorboard can be laid on logs or on a solid base. On top of the concrete screed, a plywood backing is mandatory; on a solid and even rough wooden floor, the board can be laid without a backing, but the direction of the rough and finish floorboards must be mutually perpendicular. Any base for a floorboard should be flat, without height differences.

It is important to lay a well-dried board on a dry base with waterproofing, observe the temperature and humidity conditions during installation, and do not forget about expansion gaps around the perimeter. The connection of the boards to each other is carried out using tongue-and-groove piles, and fastening to the base - using self-tapping screws (rarely nails). On a solid plywood base, glue installation is possible, which does not exclude the use of self-tapping screws.

Wooden plank floors are among the most comfortable and environmentally friendly flooring. They are preferred not only for their noble appearance, but also for the opportunity to carry out styling with their own hands.

Types of wooden floors

Wood flooring can be created from different types of building materials:

Solid wood boards.
Parquet (small planks with grooves and dowels).
Solid parquet boards with grooves. Standard length: 0.5-2 m; acceptable thickness: 1.8-2.5 cm.
Glued parquet boards. It looks almost like a solid parquet board, has the same dimensions and similar performance properties. It costs a little cheaper, since only the top layer is created from a valuable type of wood (5 mm thick), while the rest are made from inexpensive species.

Important! Glued board contains at least 3 layers.

Choice of wood

The wooden covering is selected based on the ability to match: the type of room, temperature and humidity, the degree of expected loads and other operating conditions. Most often, in residential buildings, flooring is created from pine, spruce or larch. These species are strong, wear-resistant and much cheaper than deciduous species. However, aspen or oak will last much longer - not years, but several decades.

Important! Most often, edged boards or grooved wood are used for wooden flooring. They do not need additional sanding.

Material selection criteria

How do you choose a floorboard?

The material is carefully inspected for cracks, splits and stains. Wood with such defects is categorically unsuitable for flooring.

What are the material requirements?

The optimal length for boards is 2 meters. More is possible, but not less.
The material must be dry. If you lay damp boards, after some time the coating will lose its shape, and overdried wood may deform.
It is recommended to buy 15% more than the required number of boards.
The wood must be from the same batch, then the material will not differ in color or pattern, and there will be no doubt that the wood was processed using the same technology.

Important! Boards are unpacked just before laying. Otherwise, they may deform.

The following video will help you choose the material:

Floor laying

There are two ways to lay the floor in the house. One of them involves laying the boards directly on the base, the second is wooden flooring using logs.

The following tools are used to lay the boards:

Self-tapping screws;
Dowels;
Saw;
Screwdriver / screwdriver;
Hammer;
Nails;
Stapler;
Edged saw;
Construction level;
Grinding machine;
A crowbar.

Variations are possible.

Wood processing

Before installing the logs and laying the floor, you need to complete the processing of the wooden material: with biopregnant - to protect against rot and fungus; fire retardant - to increase fire resistance.

How to properly process boards can be found in the following video:

Waterproofing

It is imperative to lay waterproofing under the future floor. Penofol or polyethylene is perfect for this. Better, of course, to put penofol. It protects against moisture and noise, becomes an obstacle in the path of electromagnetic radiation.

Installation of the base on the logs

In private houses, it is customary to lay the floor on logs. Correct laying of such a structure will allow you to hide the differences in the level of the wooden flooring. By the way, you can put various pipes and other communications under it. A 5x10 cm wooden beam usually acts as a lag.

Important! It is possible to lay the floor on the logs with your own hands only in a house with high ceilings, since when laying such a base, 7-15 centimeters of height are hidden.

Lags are brought into the room a few days before the start of work. You need to lay the bars at a short distance from each other in order to exclude the possibility of bending of the boards.

Laying lag

First, two logs are laid at the opposite walls at the same level. Threads are pulled between them every 1.5 meters. The rest of the logs are exposed, focusing on the threads. Between the beams, you need to lay insulation or several layers of fiberboard.

Important! For laying boards up to 30 cm thick, the lag is laid at a distance of up to 60 cm. To lay the material 30-40 cm thick, you need to place the beams within 80 cm from each other. For wood thicker than 40 cm, it is allowed to install a lag with a distance of 1 m.

The height of the log is adjusted using plywood wedges. They, together with the bars, are attached to a wooden base with nails or self-tapping screws. On concrete, they are fixed with dowels or anchors. Plywood should be laid on top of the fixed logs.

Plank flooring

The dimensions of the boards are selected with the expectation that each joint should be at right angles to the edge of the board, in the center of the log. The first row of wood should be laid on the beams along a stretched thread with an indent of 1.5 cm from the wall. The boards are fixed on all logs. Pre-drilled holes for self-tapping screws. Sometimes the floorboards are fastened with staples, and then with nails. The gaps between the wall and the coating are well masked by skirting boards. How to make a wooden floor on logs can be seen in the video:

Decking over plywood

Often, subfloors in homes are made of plywood. The material is appreciated for its strength and reliability. It practically does not deform during operation. It is advisable to lay a finishing floor on top only if the existing coating is dry or loosened. If desired, it is easy to dismantle it with your own hands. The plywood base does not require pretreatment. The new coating can be laid directly on its surface. If the floor in the house is planned to be laid for the first time, you need to level the base using a lag or fill it with a self-leveling mixture.

Before leveling, plywood is placed on the floor and a diagram of the future arrangement of the sheets is drawn. On its basis, lags are laid out. The alignment of the base begins with the placement of lighthouses around the room. The area is divided into squares (side 20-30 cm). Self-tapping screws are screwed in the corners.

Important! Plywood is not used in rooms with high humidity (or in places where the floor can be flooded) or frequent temperature changes.

Installing the guides

Lighthouses are set using a level and fixed with a screwdriver. Then lags are installed. The thicker the plywood, the farther the beams are laid out from each other (on average 40 cm).

Installation of lag

To prevent the lags from sagging, pieces of plywood are placed under them. The bars can be attached to the base in different ways - using corners, anchors, pads (they need to be filled with adhesive) or self-tapping screws. To prevent the floor from cracking, the structure should be treated with glue.

Important! The anchor heads should be pressed into the wood by 2 mm.

To protect against condensation, the logs are covered with glassine, and only then - with plywood. A gap of a couple of millimeters is left between the sheets in case of material deformation. They fix it with self-tapping screws (as a rule, 8-9 pieces are needed per sheet). Plywood is sanded at the joints to avoid unevenness. Boards are laid on top of plywood, fastened with nails or self-tapping screws. Be sure to leave a small gap against the wall.

Laying boards on a concrete base

To level the concrete base, you need to install beacons and pour a self-leveling mixture. Wood can only be laid on a perfectly flat floor, but the cement should not come into contact with the wood. For this, the screed is covered with foamed polyethylene. It is laid with an overlap, creating excellent waterproofing. You can use mastic.

Final treatment of the floor

Upon completion of installation, floor:

Grind;
Leached;
Primed;
They paint or varnish.

Important! Impregnation, varnishes / paints are applied parallel to the wood fibers. Then the marks from the roller or brush are not so noticeable.

In order to properly lay the floor in the house, you need to adhere to the following recommendations.