What is self-leveling floor? How many types of self-leveling floors are there? Can ceramic tiles be laid on it? What is the technology for creating a self-leveling floor? How to prepare the mixture correctly? What should be the thickness of the self-leveling floor under the tiles? You will get answers to all these and other questions in this article. Moreover, step-by-step instructions for creating a self-leveling floor will be considered, and experts will reveal several very important secrets of the technological process.
Is it even possible to lay tiles on such a surface?
A self-leveling floor is a polymer coating that does not have seams, which is applied in bulk and used to level the floor. It is also sometimes called liquid linoleum. Many novice builders have a question about whether it is possible to use a self-leveling floor under a tile. If the base is prepared by pouring, it is ideal forlay ceramic tiles.
Advantages of bulk coating:
- Versatility. The mixture is poured onto almost all types of floors: be it concrete, old tiles or wooden boards.
- Drying time. It is already possible to start the process of laying tiles three days after pouring.
- The thickness of the layer. Only 3-4 millimeters of layer will be needed in order to level the base to ideal proportions.
Based on this, we can conclude that the self-leveling floor under the tiles in the bathroom is the ideal solution. On such a coating is not something that is possible, but you also need to lay tiles. Self-leveling floors are used not only in residential, but also in industrial premises.
Views
Self-leveling floors according to the characteristics of the basis of the mixture are actually divided into 2 types - a polymer mixture and a mineral one.
The first mixture is prepared from various polymers - epoxy resin, methyl methacrylate or polyurethane compounds. Such a self-leveling floor for tiles is not particularly suitable, because this option is in itself the final finish of the base. After pouring the floor, a ready-to-use surface with a very beautiful appearance is obtained. And the cost of polymer mixtures is much higher than mineral ones.
Mineral mixture is exactly the option that is suitable for further finishing with ceramic tiles. It consists of cement, to which various plasticizers are added, allowing the finished solution to evenly cover the base, while hiding allirregularities, bringing the horizontal to ideal levels.
Mineral mixes are available on the market in three varieties:
- Basic - a mixture for leveling large differences (up to 80 millimeters) in height.
- Medium - Levels floors up to 30mm difference.
- Final, or finishing. It is this self-leveling floor that is needed under the tile.
Creation technology
As a rule, the technology of filling the floor consists of two stages. The first stage is the preparation of the first layer of the base. To do this, use a bulk coating based on cement. Thanks to the addition of modifying components to it, the first layer is quite thin - up to 5 millimeters. Dry powder must be poured into a container, add water and mix. The mixture should be homogeneous. Then the solution is poured onto the floor (in the farthest corner) and stretched with a spatula around the entire perimeter.
For the second layer (it will be the basis for laying the tiles), a two-component finishing mixture is used. The components are mixed before pouring, and polyurethane or epoxy resins act as binders. It is they who allow you to create a durable self-leveling floor for tiles. Dry powders are poured into a container, water is added, and everything is mixed. The liquid mixture is poured in the extreme corner and distributed around the perimeter. To remove air bubbles, use a spiked roller with a long handle. After a day, the filling will completely harden, and the coating will look like a homogeneous semi-gloss film.
Preparation of self-leveling floor mix for laying tiles
How well the mixture for pouring is prepared depends on what kind of self-leveling floor under the tile will turn out. The solution is prepared as follows:
- Water is poured into a clean container.
- The dry mixture is poured into water and nothing else.
- Proportions: 5 kilograms of dry mix per 1 liter of water.
- For mixing, the mixer is set to low speed.
- In order to use the mixture, you must wait five minutes, this time is enough for the chemical reactions of the ingredients to begin.
- After that, stir the mixture a little more and pour for half an hour.
Step by step instructions
In order to avoid mistakes when preparing the self-leveling floor, it is necessary to perform work in the following order:
- Prepare the floor on which the mixture will be poured. Cracks are sealed with a cement-sand mortar. The floor is primed with a polyurethane or epoxy primer.
- Wait for the primer to dry completely.
- A damper tape is laid between the floor and walls, at the base of the door frames.
- Preparation of the solution. There must be a strict adherence to the instructions described above.
- Filling is done from the farthest corner of the room. In this case, portions of the solution should not exceed a volume of 2 square meters.
- The mixture is leveled with a rubber spatula, air bubbles are removed with a spiked roller.
- The period between filling portions of the solution should not exceed 8-10 minutes.
- The manufacturer indicates the drying time of the mixture on the packaging. On average, it takes three days to completely harden and dry.
Expert Tips
In order for the self-leveling floor under the tile to turn out to be of high quality, you need to heed the advice of experienced specialists in this field:
The most important task is to clean the base for pouring the mixture. The floor must be perfectly cleaned of dust and dirt, cracks and other pits and holes should be sealed with mortar
- It is necessary to fill the floors quickly enough, because the "life" of the mixture does not exceed 40 minutes. The floor in the room is poured in one step, so you need to immediately knead the required amount of the mixture.
Conclusion
The most economical self-leveling floor is the one whose main component is cement. This is a unique mortar, which is ideal for further laying ceramic tiles on it.
