Wooden floors are commonly used in low-rise brick, wood or foam block construction. Such designs have many advantages. They do not have too impressive weight, allow you to do without professional expensive equipment, have an acceptable cost and have high strength. The material itself is easily processed, which means that the home master does not have to hire specialists or use any professional help in construction.
Such designs are also good for their accessibility. Wood today can be bought at an affordable cost, and the material itself is also distinguished by high thermal insulation qualities.
Main Features
Wooden floors are installed along the width of the span, which should not be more than 8 m. You can use a debarked log of the desired diameter. The step between the beams is calculated taking into account several factors and varies between 0.6-1 m. For the manufacture of beams, coniferous varieties are used, because the strength of thiswood bending is much higher than hardwood.
How to check the quality of the material yourself
Beam or logs should be dried under a canopy in the air. If you knock on the beam with the butt of an ax, you should hear a clear sound. The length of the beams must be selected so that the products are firmly supported in the nests of the log house or brickwork, this will ensure reliability.
Recommendations for choosing materials
Wooden floors, in addition to beams, are made using:
- cranial bars;
- subfloor boards;
- room floor planks on top;
- insulation;
- waterproofing film;
- decorative cover;
- antiseptics.
Skull bars should have a square section with a side of 50 mm. They are fixed to the bottom surface of the beams and the ceiling is hemmed. For subfloor boards, you can use any material, including unplaned. A planed tongue and groove board can go to the floor of the upper floor. As a thermal insulation in wooden floors, a mineral slab or roll material is usually used, because fibrous thermal insulation does not burn and has high noise-absorbing properties. This sets it apart from foam plastic.
To protect the insulation from moisture vapor, waterproofing should be used. In order to antiseptic wood, you can use scraps of roofing felt or bituminous mastic.
Device Features
Wood floors are built taking into account the load on them, as well as the material at the base of the walls and other features. One of the main advantages of the described design are low cost and long service life, which is approximately equal to 50 years.
Installation work does not involve the use of expensive equipment and special devices, you can use the usual tools that are in the builder's arsenal. The design of the floors can be very different. Sometimes the elements are located on metal or wooden beams, plywood or wooden trusses. The latter options are usually used for the stability of large premises, such as gyms and shopping centers.
When building a private house, preference should be given to ceilings arranged on wooden beams. The design of a wooden floor can be represented by one of three types, which differ in purpose and functions assigned to them. We are talking about interfloor, attic and basement ceilings. Their upper part is made of flooring, while the lower zone is drywall.
When building a brick building, wooden floors are often made from a material that is coated with compounds to increase the service life and protect against harmful substances. This also contributes to improving fire safety.
When installing wooden floors, try to exclude the effect of temperature fluctuations on the material. For this product, they are closed with non-combustible heat-insulatingmaterials. Those areas that will lie on brick walls should be treated with resin or covered with roofing material. Wooden floor beams form the basis of this design. The thickness of the products reaches 8 cm. Thick logs are used, which are sawn into 4 equal parts. For one beam, two logs are often used, each of which is 5 cm thick. The products are interconnected and fastened with nails.
Wooden floor beams are installed on brick walls, in which recesses are made. Their size is 18 cm. Fastening is provided by anchor bolts. It is necessary to fix to the brick. When choosing the thickness of the board, one should take into account the step between the beams and the possible deflection, which is determined by the regulatory documentation. When installing floors, it is necessary to select the section of the supporting beams.
Calculation features
Wooden floors of a private house are installed taking into account the section of the beams under a certain load. If a full-fledged residential floor is being built, then with a load of 400 kg/m2, a 75 x 100 mm beam should be used. The installation step will be 0.6 m. The span in this case is 2 m. If the last value is increased to 3 m, and the installation step remains the same, then the beam section will be 75 x 200 mm.
The calculation of the wooden floor can also be carried out taking into account other parameters. If the span is 6 m, and the installation step is 0.6 m, then the cross section of the beam will be 150 x 225 m. When the span is 2.5 m, and the stepinstallation is 1 m, the cross section of the beam will be 100 x 150 m.
Wooden floors can experience lower loads ranging from 150 to 350 kg/m2. In this case, we are talking about an attic or an attic room without loads. If the span is 3 m and the installation step is 150 cm, then the section of the beams will be 50 x 140 mm. With an increase in span to 6 m and a distance of 150 cm, the cross section of the beam will be 100 x 220 mm.
When calculating, it is important to pay attention to the length of the beams. It will depend on the width of the span and the method of fixing the products. If the fastening is carried out using metal supports, then the length will be the width of the span. When embedded in a wall groove, the length is calculated by summing the depth of insertion of the two ends of the beam and the span.
It is also necessary to calculate the number of beams. To do this, you must plan where the end products will be located. They are fixed with an indent from the wall of 50 mm. The remaining beams are evenly spaced in the span space. In this case, a distance of 0.6 to 1 m must be maintained between the beams. Taking into account these parameters, the calculation is carried out.
The wooden floors of the second floor should be arranged using a specific section. It can be:
- square;
- rectangular;
- I-beam;
- round.
The classic option is a rectangle. The most commonly used parameters are: height - from 140 to 240 mm, width - from 50 to 160 mm. The definition of the cross section will depend onplanned load, step between beams and span width. You must calculate the load of the beam by adding the load of the self-weight of the floor with the live load. For intermediate floors, the first value can vary from 190 to 220 kg/m2. The live load is also called operational and is 200 kg/m2. For operating floors, the average load is 400 kg/m2.
Before you make a hardwood floor, you must determine what it will be. If it is a non-operating structure, then the load may be less, up to 200 kg/m2. Special calculations will be required if concentrated significant loads are expected. A massive bath, boiler or pool can be installed indoors.
Strengthening wooden floors is carried out with a span of more than 6 m. The purpose of these manipulations is to prevent sagging of the product, which causes deformation of the structure. To support the beam over a wide span, a support or column should be installed. Otherwise, the squirrel is laid along a short span, however, its maximum width should be 6 m. The cross section of the beam will depend on the width of the span. With an increase in the last value, you should take a more powerful beam, which will turn out to be quite strong.
To cover with beams, the span must have a width of up to 4 m. If this value is greater, then non-standard blocks with an increased cross section should be used. For such products, the height must be correctly selected, which is 1/20 ofspan size. So with a span of 5 m, it is necessary to use a product whose height is 200 mm, while the thickness can start from 80 mm.
Mounting Features
Beams are laid in the walls during the construction of the house, and the rest of the work on the construction of the floor is carried out after construction and before the start of finishing work. Beams are inserted into a brick or block wall during masonry; for this, nests must be made in the wall. The depth of one of them should be at least half the thickness of the wall. It can be made through with subsequent sealing with thermal insulation. To do this, you must select a vapor-permeable material.
In wooden buildings, beams are cut into the upper crown of the log house. The material is treated with an antiseptic and dried. When installing rectangular products, make sure that the wide side is vertical. In this case, the rigidity can be increased. The ends of the beams should be cut at an angle of 60˚, treated with bituminous mastic and wrapped with roofing material.
Extreme beams are laid first. They are leveled with a long board, which is placed on the edge. Additionally, you need to use a level. Intermediate beams should be aligned with the board laid on the extreme beams. As soon as the walls and roof are completed, you can begin to build ceilings. To do this, cranial bars are suspended from the bottom of the beams on both sides. The main function of these elements is the support for the subfloor.
Pine timber is used for cranial bars, which is treated with an antiseptic. To the beams of its floorfixed with wood screws. Floor boards are laid on the cranial bars. To do this, you can use an unplaned board. The elements are located perpendicular to the beams and rest on the cranial bars. Fastening is carried out with self-tapping screws.
When laying the floors over the hardwood floor, the next step is to install the waterproofing. It can become "Izospan". The film sheets are overlapped, the joints should be glued with adhesive tape. On top of the film is a mineral insulation. This will allow the soundproofing of wooden floors. The thickness of the thermal insulation must be such that the material does not protrude above the surface of the beams. You can use other options, for example:
- expanded clay;
- expanded polystyrene.
It is important to pay attention to fire resistance. Having completed the soundproofing of the wooden floor, you can start laying the log of the floor of the upper floor. These elements should be located across the beams. The distance between them will be a limit of 0.6 to 1 m.
The log can be based on bars or boards. The thickness should be 40 mm. Fastening is carried out to the floor beams with the help of metal corners fixed on self-tapping screws. A layer of mineral insulation is laid between the lags. In this case, the joints of the lower heat-insulating layer must be blocked.
Mineral insulation will also soundproof the ceiling and floor. A waterproofing layer is laid on top of the second layer in case a liquid spill occurs. The floor of the upper floor is sewn up with a finishing floorboard, plywood or drywall, from aboveyou can lay the finish coat, namely:
- laminate;
- tile;
- cork;
- linoleum.
Plywood or floorboard is fixed on self-tapping screws.
Vapor barrier required
The opinions of some experts on the need to use a vapor barrier differ. This material is laid in the floor structure and goes in front of the thermal insulation. The material can act as a sound insulator. Use this layer if there is a risk of steam or condensation. This happens if the ceiling is located between floors, the first of which is heated, and the second is not. In this case, we are talking about an unheated attic or attic above the residential ground floor.
The floor heat insulator can get steam from the damp rooms on the ground floor. Such conditions are most often created in swimming pools, bathrooms and kitchens. The vapor barrier is located on top of the beams. The canvases should be overlapped, the edges of the previous canvas should be brought over the next ones by 10 cm. The joints should be glued with construction tape.
Additional information about thermal insulation device
From above, between the beams, a rolled or slab heat or sound insulator should be laid. Voids and gaps should be avoided, so the materials should fit as tightly as possible to the beams. It is undesirable to use trimmings that have to be joined together.
In order to reduceimpact noise in the ceiling, it is necessary to lay a sound insulator on the upper surface of the beams. Its thickness should be 5.5 mm or more. In this case, we are talking about the conditions when the upper floor is residential.
On the need for waterproofing
Atop the sound and heat insulating layer is a waterproofing film. It will exclude the penetration of moisture from the upper floor into the insulating material. If the upper floor is non-residential, then no one will wash the floors there, so the penetration of moisture, including atmospheric, is excluded. Therefore, a waterproofing film may not be used under such conditions. Otherwise, canvases are used that are laid with an overlap of 10 cm. The joints must be glued with adhesive tape to prevent moisture from penetrating inside the structure.
In conclusion
Under the finish coat, you can equip underfloor heating, but the foil film, traditional for such cases, will act as a vapor barrier. A wooden floor compares favorably with concrete slabs in that it does not create an unnecessary load on the foundation. Due to this, you can reduce the cost of building a powerful foundation. If the overlap is done correctly, then it will turn out to be durable and strong enough. The design will have excellent sound and heat insulation properties. Among other things, natural materials allow the floor to breathe.
