It is not difficult to make the filling of the floor screed with your own hands, it is necessary to do this so that the floor surface in your apartment is flat, and the outer covering looked presentable.
Floor pouring is the most effective floor leveling method, becauseit gives a long-term effect, and after this work it will not be necessary to think about a new overhaul for a very long time.
In the article we will tell about all stages of filling and how to do it correctly, and also about what care is needed so that the concrete screed does not deform after installation.
An auxiliary video will also be given, which will help you to do the work without attracting expensive specialists.
Preparation phase
Preparing the substrate for pouring is the most important stage in the work, becauseit is he who ultimately determines how smooth the surface you will get.
If you have already installed a screed on your floor, first of all, it needs to be dismantled using a puncher.
In an apartment with concrete slabs it is necessary to seal up the slots and holes that they have in it before starting the construction of the screed.
No special materials are required - the usual adhesive for slabs, it has good adhesion and will ensure a good adhesion of the material to concrete, and will also serve as an obstacle to moisture penetration in the slabs.
First you need to determine the type of screed, which differ depending on the bottom of the floor - they are of three types.
The first to identify bound ties, they are most firmly attached to the floor base. After pouring the material turns out to be rather dense - in the thinnest place the screed size is at least three centimeters.
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If, in addition to leveling the floor, you are concerned about the waterproofing of the material, it is better to choose a screed on the separation layer, becauseit best retains moisture.
If you arrange the heated floors with your own hands, you need to choose a floating screed, additionally reinforced with a grid. The minimum size of such a screed is not less than 5 cm.
The most popular way of pouring screeds is semi-dry, it will provide not only a flat surface, but also the effect of a warm floor.
The preparation of the substrate depends on the type of screed you choose, so you need to take this issue seriously.
After the type of coupler is selected, the floor preparation is followed. The first thing to do is to dismantle the old coating and clean the exposed concrete slabs from dirt, dust and debris.
It is best to clean the surface with a vacuum cleaner, becausepoor-quality manual cleaning can cause the coupler to crack in several places and not be able to perform its function. After cleaning, the surface can be covered with a primer, so it will be even more reliable.
The next stage of preparing the floor for pouring with a semi-dry screed is marking. It is important to correctly correlate the size of the cement screed( it should be no less than 3 cm) and the height of the final coating.
For example, for tiles, this height is 15 mm, for linoleum - 5 mm, and for parquet and laminate - about 10 mm.
After the size has been calculated, it is necessary to note this value on the wall in order to visually see to what height the floor will be poured.
In addition to a simple mark, you also need to make a markup on the lighthouses. Begin it from any corner of the room, and set the beacons so that the distance between them is not less than 20 cm.
If before you did not do this kind of work with your own hands, then place beacons at a greater distance - from 50 cm and more.
When everything is ready, make rough-floor marks on the walls where you placed the beacons. You can do this using the level.
Lighthouses are installed in prepared holes( drilled with a perforator) using dowels.
The floor can not be filled without mortar. You can buy ready, or cook it yourself.
The proportion of the mixture is 3: 1( sand: water).
Sand is mixed with concrete in any chosen container with the help of a special mixer, if it is not there, then you can do with a simple shovel, but the concrete mixer is the best, of course.
Water is added as the solution is stirred, that is, you first need to mix the dry mixture, gradually pouring in water.
The final mixture should be dense: to check its quality, take the mixture into a fist and squeeze - if it took shape, does not flow through your fingers and leaves no traces of water, then everything is done correctly.
In addition to the homemade solution, you can purchase a professional mixture specifically for the creation of screed.
This mixture, of course, is better, but also much more expensive, so you can get by with a solution - if it is done correctly, then the screed will be just as good.
However, for the device of a warm floor in a solution it is necessary to add fibrefiber in a small proportion - it will improve the properties of the screed, protect it from cracking and improve its resistance to temperature changes.
It is better to use fiber fibers not only for screeds of warm floors, but also for other types.
Stages of pouring
If you have chosen the installation of a bonded screed, then before continuing the work, you must conduct a mandatory surface priming.
A suitable mixture for this can be bought at any construction shop( the best means is "Concrete contact").
Semi-dry method of pouring resembles a layered cake, where the first layer is the film for insulation, the insulator is placed on top, and then the solution itself.
You can use the usual dry method of pouring, it is not worse than a semi-dry one, except that it does not create a warm floor effect.
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The ready-made mortar in the right proportion for dry or semi-dry pouring should be brought to the place on the wheelbarrow or any other device: from it the finished mixture spills out between the beacons.
Start work from the corners, gradually moving towards the door.
The mixture is filled in rows: after the first line of lighthouses is covered, you can move on to the next, and so on until the end of the work.
The spilled mixture is spread by a trowel or shovel, while keeping the solution level above the level of the beacon, that is, it must be completely closed.
After the mixture has fallen asleep, you need to pull the beacons on yourself with forward movements to stretch the solution throughout the flooded area. Usually it takes 2-3 fillings per area.
Thus, the whole floor is treated until the half-dry screed is fully completed. Look at the video how to properly make a mixture.
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The process itself is not too complicated and it's quite possible to manage oneself in one day, even if you have little experience in such work.
After pouring the screed, it will need to be leveled. This is done 2-3 days after pouring, although the mixture must be allowed to dry for at least 3 weeks.
The leveling of a dry or semi-dry screed is carried out using a plaster trowel, which allows the surface to be leveled and minor errors in work can be removed.
After leveling the surface with a screed, in the apartment it is not superfluous to use the technology of the self-leveling floor - then your floor will be perfectly even.
To do this, clean the surface of dirt and dust and cover it with a primer.
Mixtures for leveling can be bought at any construction shop, when buying, proceed from the size of the room in the apartment: by 1.5 square meters.m. of the room will take about 1.5 kg, and about 20 liters of water leave the cover bag.
The treatment with a self-leveling mortar begins at the corners of the room. After pouring the mixture will spread itself, but it is better to help it with a trowel or roller to make the surface smoother.
After pouring the crystallization of the mixture comes in half an hour, so you need to do everything quickly. If you are not sure that you will manage yourself, ask someone to help you.
The screed of the warm floor with your hands is almost the same: the first step is to cover the surface with a damper tape that will increase the compensation gaps, and also improve the sound insulation.
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Its size should be about 5 mm. Wet pouring of warm floors should be carried out in one step in accordance with the proportion, and the entire process should be spent no more than an hour and a half, otherwise the properties of the mixture for pouring noticeably deteriorate and the screed will turn out to be of poor quality.
To ensure that the screed is not deformed during drying, care is needed: it must be periodically moistened with water( at least 2 times a day): the screed must be wet, otherwise it will dry too quickly and the flooring will crack.
A few days after the completion of the work, it is necessary to remove the beacons and treat the surface with ground, which is suitable for the mineral surface, and also wipe the place with a fresh mixture.
After that you need to moisten the screed again - the wet surface is covered with polyethylene until it dries completely( usually it takes about 28 days).
