How to dismantle the screed

Carrying out capital repairs of the apartment involves the removal of the entire finish and some structural elements of the building. These include the dismantling of the screed. You need to know that carrying out such work is not always relevant. Sometimes it is enough to restore the rough coating. Given the complexity of the process, you should decide whether to change screed completely, or get by with restoration work.

Why do you need a floor screed

When performing repair work, floor reinforcement is often required. In fact, this is a layer of cement-sand mortar, which is laid between the floor slab and the finish of the floor. The main function of the screed is to level and strengthen the base coat. In some cases, when leveling the floor, a reinforcing mesh can be used, which provides greater reliability of the structure.

As you can already understand, the design is pretty solid. Accordingly, dismantling the floor screed can be difficult. Most people hire specialists to carry out such work, but you can dismantle the screed yourself. The main thing is to take into account all the nuances and requirements.

The need for dismantling

Before proceeding to dismantle, it is necessary to determine the feasibility of carrying out these works. Sometimes it’s enough just to patch up the cement base. It will take less time and cost much less.

Dismantling a cement screed is carried out in cases:

1. With severe cracking of the coating.
2. To reduce the floor level in the apartment.
3. Sometimes engineering communications pass under the screed. If they require replacement or repair, the concrete coating will have to be removed.
4. Strong deformation of the screed, excluding the installation of the finish coating.

In all other cases, the cover can simply be patched up and the repair can continue as planned.

Stages of work

The process of removing old cement mortar is quite complicated. This material tends to gain strength over time. Accordingly, after lying for several years in a non-aggressive environment, the cement screed in its structure and strength is similar to stone. Your task is to break the old coating into small pieces (to make it easier to take out the garbage), without damaging the floor slab. If you carry out the work carefully, you will not deliver any inconvenience to the neighbors below. The maximum is the noise from the work of tools.

Dismantling the screed must be carried out as follows:

• Preparatory stage. First you need to provide unhindered access to the cement layer. For this it is necessary to dismantle flooring and baseboards. If you plan to reuse these materials, work must be done carefully so as not to damage the finish.

• Dismantling the screed. Any methods are suitable here. If the house is new, and the floors between floors are solid, you can use a jackhammer or a perforator. This is the fastest way to get rid of concrete or cement mortar. It should be noted that during operation tools make a lot of noise, therefore, it makes sense to warn the neighbors from below. Another way is to use a hammer and chisel. Using this method, the screed is usually dismantled in old buildings so as not to damage the floor slabs. The best option for removing the solution layer is diamond drilling. In this case, the coating is cut out in pieces, which avoids dust and excessive noise.

• The final stage. After dismantling, the garbage is packed in bags and taken to a landfill. Then the premises are cleaned and preparations are made for pouring a new coating.

The above list of works is quite feasible on our own. In this case, do not forget to use personal protective equipment. Cement is very harmful to the respiratory system, so it is recommended to use a respirator. In addition, in order to protect the eyes, all work must be carried out with special glasses.