When it comes to replacing or re-flooring your home, there are so many options to choose from that it can make your head spin. What does the market offer? And laminate, and traditional wood, and the use of various types of linoleum, and even a liquid floor. With your own hands or with the help of a team of craftsmen, you can easily transform any room.
Why choose self-leveling floors
Such a serious process as the restoration of flooring is much less common than other types of repairs. Therefore, the approach to choosing a material is usually more serious and thorough than, for example, to replacing wallpaper.
What factors should I pay attention to? Of course, the height of the ceiling is important. If it is insufficient, it will be problematic to use laying the floor on the logs, because this will reduce the volume of the room. For such rooms, a good linoleum or self-leveling liquid polyurethane floors can be an ideal solution.
Will the nursery be refurbished? What could be better than a multi-colored coating with a 3D effect? Glitter and pictures from your favorite cartoons, streaks or geometric patterns in optimistic colors - any ideas can be brought to life by filling the liquid floor with your own hands. The main thing is to follow certain rules.
In the living room and in the bedroom, in the children's rooms and in the bathroom, with a three-dimensional effect and simply one-color pouring of liquid floors can be a highlight of any interior.
Is it possible to "pour" the floors?
Among self-leveling compounds, the following types are distinguished:
- dry ready-mixed cement compositions;
- epoxy resin products;
- polyurethane;
- cement-acrylic;
- methyl methacrylate;
- synthetic.
If you add liquid glass for the floor to any of them during breeding, the composition will turn out to be stronger and more resistant to moisture. Usually this technique is used when installing floors on an industrial scale or when building swimming pools. All these mixtures differ not only in composition, but also in price: synthetic ones are more expensive, and cement ones are cheaper.
After dilution with water in the proportion specified in the instructions and preliminary preparation of the main floor, the mixture is poured in small portions onto the desired surface, observing the technology. Filling methods are similar to each other and have minor differences. A couple of days after hardening, a liquid warm floor is obtained.
Preparatory work
Before starting to work with the final liquid coating, the base surface should be carefully prepared. Usually make a preliminary concrete screed. With a large area of \u200b\u200bthe room, level beacons are set. In a standard room, metal strings are pulled along whichthe horizontal coverage is displayed. After the main coating is ready, you can start sticking the shock-absorbing tape.
If it is planned to fill the floor with the remnants of ceramic tiles, you must first remove all the fragments that are weakly holding. The resulting voids are sealed with a cement mixture. After hardening, the entire old surface is degreased and coated with a special primer. This is necessary for better adhesion and to prevent the formation of bubbles on the finish surface.
How to fill a wooden floor with a composition
When preparing wooden surfaces for a new liquid coating, the following activities are carried out:
- completely remove varnish and paint mechanically;
- coarse sandpaper or sanding make the boards rough for the presence of grooves and scratches, which will improve the coupling with the bulk composition;
- meticulous removal of dust and dirt particles;
- old floor drying;
- it is recommended to use an additional reinforcing nylon mesh;
- pouring the liquid floor on the wooden floor should be as thick as possible, as this will reduce the risk of cracking during operation.
The rest of the process of working with this building material is no different from applying a liquid floor to a concrete screed.
Technological features of this method
How to make a liquid floor with your own hands to get a warm and seamless coating?Having carefully prepared the base, removing all rubbish, dust and grease stains, you can proceed to the level and fragmentary marking of the working platform.
All work on pouring liquid floors should be carried out at positive temperatures. The room should warm up to at least +10 degrees. Otherwise, the composition will spread at a slower speed, which will affect the quality of the coating.
When installing the floor in sanitary facilities, liquid glass can be added to the filling mixture. This applies to the pouring of the cement mixture. Thus, accidentally spilled water will not seep through the coating down to the neighbors, but will remain on the surface.
It is very important at the stage of preparatory work to glue a special tape around the entire perimeter of the room. It should go around all corners, pipes, openings and reliefs of door jambs.
Why do we need a shock-absorbing layer
Liquid floor how to fill? The damper polyethylene tape has a self-adhesive layer on the reverse side and a protective edge on the front. By means of an adhesive base, the strip is attached at the junctions of the walls and the base of the floor. The lip prevents the finishing compound from flowing into the buffer zone between the wall and the mix.
To save money, pouring a liquid floor in the bathroom, sometimes use a heat-insulating or propylene film with a thickness of at least 10 mm. This must be done to create a shrink layer. It softens the inevitable deformation during temperature changes or shrinkage of the supporting structures of the house. The presence of such depreciation is a guarantee of the durability of the tankcoverage.
Useful qualities of liquid glass
You can list the advantages of a substance for a long time, which, in fact, is an aqueous solution of sodium silicate. It is obtained after firing, crushing and subsequent dissolution of a mixture of soda and quartz sand in water.
Liquid glass for the floor is no different from that used in the chemical, soap, textile and engineering industries, agriculture and medicine. In construction, this substance is used for waterproofing foundations, walls, pools. It is recommended to add this versatile material to the cement-concrete mixture when installing the initial screed, before pouring the liquid floor with your own hands.
If the ceilings and walls of the room are treated with such a composition, fungi and mold will never form in it. In addition, the specified substance will provide excellent fire protection for any material, whether it be wood, fabric or cardboard.
How to make a great cover?
So, how to pour liquid floor? A carefully prepared base is dry enough and cleaned to a shine. The entire surface is primed, a damper tape is thoroughly laid. Level beacons were placed and the final marking of the territory was made. Devices for leveling the composition are prepared - wide notched and narrow spatulas. There are special rollers to pierce the liquid mixture and release random air bubbles, as well as shoes with special soles so as not to damage the wet coating with your feet.
Now you can dilute the working mixture. This is done in strict accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer. To begin with, the container is filled with water, only then dry polyurethane substance is poured in small and uniform portions. You can stir it with a drill and a special nozzle.
If you do the opposite, and pour water into the composition, lumps may form. This will negatively affect the quality of the coating. The mixture is being prepared as it is used, especially if the work is carried out in a room with a large area.
Is that all?
Usually pouring liquid floors is done in two stages:
- first, the first thicker layer is applied to the screed;
- after it is completely dry, pour the second, finishing layer.
If you need to get a three-dimensional picture on the floor, between these two stages do the following: the selected pattern is printed on a special film, which is fixed on the "shirt" of the first layer. Then fill the picture with the final transparent composition. Air bubbles that have accidentally arisen must be released. At this stage, rollers with small needles are used. Roll over the newly poured and leveled area with this device.
It is important to consider all the points described. Otherwise, the result may not be as beautiful as expected, because technology is almost a law!
