Floor leveling with plywood is the easiest way to prepare a perfectly flat base for linoleum, laminate or parquet. This method allows you to save considerable time and effort, because it does not require such labor, as, for example, the device of a screed. The advantage of this method is that it provides good conditions for floor ventilation, which is especially important when laying a laminate or parquet.
Alignment with plywood can be done after screeding or laying plywood sheets on the logs. For this reason, there are two technologies for leveling the floor using plywood - with lags and without them.
Floor leveling without logs
In this method, there are two options: "on glue" and "adjustable plywood".Consider them in turn.
On
glue This option is suitable for those cases when there is practically no difference in heights, and the screed is completely ready.
Before laying, the plywood is cut and laid on the floor in the way it is to be laid. Thanks to this arrangement, it is possible to produce dimensions and sawing out special shapes that take into account the outlines of corners, arches, poles, doorways, etc. Typically, the standard sheets of plywood, intended for styling, are cut into four equal parts. After cutting the sheets and making the necessary notches, you should make sure that there are no stratifications or cracks on the ends.
Too tightly plywood should not be stacked. Between the prepared sheets leave a gap of 5-10 mm to allow for possible deformation and avoid probable squeak. The clearance along the wall should be 10-20 mm. The remaining gaps provide good air circulation, which creates an optimal mode for both plywood and parquet or laminate laid on it.
The laying order of the sheets is fixed with the marks on the sheets and on the floor screed and then all the plywood is removed.
Next, thoroughly clean the base, primer with a mixture of plywood glue with solvent or with bitumen mastic diluted with gasoline, and wait until it dries completely.
Only after this preparation you can start laying plywood in accordance with the already existing scheme. Under the plywood for the purpose of fixing it is applied a layer with a thickness of about two millimeters of glue or bitumen mastic.
In addition, sheets after laying on the adhesive are fixed with fasteners( self-tapping screws, anchor bolts, dowels), whose length should be three times the thickness of the plywood. Installation fasteners is made with a perforator, and the distance between the mounting locations of fasteners should be more than 20 cm. The hatches of self-tapping screws should be recessed. After the piling has been completed, the plywood must be sanded using a machine or sandpaper.
Adjustable plywood
In the construction markets, plywood has appeared, allowing you to dispense with glue when leveling the floor. Using such a plywood, first of all, it is necessary to drill it according to the scheme put on it. Attaching drilled sheets to the floor, it is also drilled holes drill.
In the drilled holes there are anchors with nuts and washers. The height of the nuts is set at the laser level, and then plywood is placed on them, which is also fixed from above with the help of nuts and washers. Superfluous rods cut off.
This option allows you to align the far-perfect floor without the use of logs. The first layer of plywood is covered with the second such that the lower joints are in the region of the center of the plates laid in the second layer.
Leveling using
logs This method is time-tested, but requires strict adherence to the execution technique.
On the floor cleared of dirt and debris, lay a waterproofing film and a thick layer of soundproofing. They are laid lags, which are bars length of about 2 m and section 80 × 40 mm. The logs are laid at an interval of 40-50 mm perpendicular to the direction of light entering the room.
Before starting the lag laying, the entire source floor is checked with a level to determine its zero mark. Using self-tapping screws, beacons are placed every 20 cm.
Logs are stacked, guided by self-tapping beacons. In the presence of depressions, lugs are installed under the lags. In the presence of protrusions of the original floor, the lag is pressed more tightly to the soundproofing layer by means of self-tapping screws.
After installing the logs, they are measured in all directions by means of a level to make sure that the resulting surface is perfectly even. After completing the measurements, the whole structure of the logs is strengthened on the base with the help of glue and anchors. At the end of this operation, between the lags in the transverse direction are laid bolts, which allows you to perform a full crate floor. The cells obtained are filled with a layer of heat-insulating material, and the lags themselves are covered with parchment or bituminous paper.
The plywood is fastened to the received base, the order of operations being similar to the one described in the description of alignment with glue( pre-laying, fitting and final laying with fastening).During the installation, care is taken to ensure that all joints fall on the lag, and the rows of sheets fit with a certain offset. To give the floor more strength, a second layer of plywood is attached to the first layer with glue, which is polished.
The obtained plywood base has good ventilation, insulation and sound insulation and is an ideal surface for laying linoleum, laminate or parquet.
