Today, concrete floors are very popular. This is a strong, durable base. It must be equipped in the bathroom, kitchen. At the same time, finishing the floor in a private house can also be done by pouring the screed. This coating is functional. Pipes or wires of the underfloor heating system can be walled up in concrete. Also, finishing is carried out using almost any material.
You can make a concrete base with your own hands. It is required to consider in detail the technology in theory. There are a number of recommendations on how to properly pour a concrete floor. The advice of professional builders will be discussed next.
Technology of work
To make a concrete floor with your own hands, you need to consider all the subtleties of the process. Such a foundation would be appropriate both in residential and utility premises, and at industrial facilities. The surface on which the cement mortar is poured may be different. The screed is poured onto the prepared soil, on the concrete floor. In some cases, it is allowed to arrange a screed on a wooden floor. However, in this case, to the state of the basemake high demands.
It should be noted that concrete is a relatively inexpensive material. It is used almost everywhere. In order for the floor to turn out to be of high quality and durable, you need to follow the established sequence when carrying out such work. It is necessary to take into account on which coating the screed is poured, in what conditions it should be used.
In the process of creating a concrete base, additional materials are used. First of all, you need to purchase a sufficient amount of waterproofing. It's a polyethylene film. Which will not allow the layers to get wet. Also used when pouring reinforcement. Fiberglass or reinforcing mesh can be added to cement.
The base of the floor also requires high-quality insulation. For these purposes, polystyrene foam is most often used. When all layers are laid in the prescribed sequence, beacons are installed on the surface. The screed will be poured along these guides. This allows you to maintain the desired level, create an even coating over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe base.
After that, a rough screed is poured. It is leveled and allowed to dry. After that, the surface is polished. The top layer is created from a self-leveling compound. As a result, the concrete floor in the garage, house, outbuilding is strong and durable. It can be finished with appropriate materials or left as it is. These are the main stages of work. When creating certain types of bases, their list may increase.
Expansion joints
The right concrete floor must be durable. It is unacceptable for the material to crack. To do this, you need to provide appropriate conditions for drying the screed. You also need to cut special seams, which are called deformation. They can be of three types.
Insulating deformation seams can be created on the screed. They should be cut in places where the concrete floor is in contact with other surfaces in the room. These can be columns, walls, partitions or ledges. This must be done so that the vibration of the floor is not transmitted to these objects. If this is not done, distortions may occur. The foundation may be partially destroyed.
Construction seams are also created. They are cut in places where the cement mortar hardens unevenly. This happens when the filling was carried out in several passes. Breaks between each filling in this case are more than 4 hours.
Shrinkage joints also belong to the category of deformation notches of the surface of the screed. They are needed to relieve material stress during uneven shrinkage.
You need to create such seams before cracks and defects appear on the surface during shrinkage or vibration. However, the screed should dry well and gain strength. The depth of such joints is about 1/3 of the total thickness of the concrete base. Subsequently, the incisions are filled with a special sealant.
Features of pouring the screed on the ground
Concrete floors in a private house are often poured onto the ground. In this case, you will need to create a system of several layers. At the same time, special requirements are put forward for the soil
The soil on which the screed will be settled must be motionless. Otherwise, the concrete floor may collapse. This will also destroy the foundation. Also, the groundwater level should not be close to the surface. Underground sources should not come closer to the surface than 5 m. Otherwise, the floor may be flooded and destroyed.
To equip such a concrete floor in the house, you need to provide the right conditions for its operation. The building must be residential. At the same time, it must be operated in the winter. The room must be heated. In winter, the soil freezes, and the concrete base will also freeze with it. So that the floor does not exert additional pressure on the foundation, it must be heated.
To equip this type of floor is not worth it in the lowlands. It is best to build on a hill. Here the ground is much drier.
Markup
Concrete floors are installed only after the walls and roof of the building are built. In this case, the weather conditions will not be terrible for the created screed. Rain is not terrible for a newly poured floor, if you cover it with a layer of polyethylene. But hot, dry weather can prevent cement from gaining strength.
First you need to create a level mark to which the final floor covering should reach. Most often they are guided by the bottom of the doorway. Create a base that is level andbe on the same level in all areas of the room.
From the lowest point of the door opening, you need to measure the distance upwards of 1 m. A mark is made at this level. It needs to be transferred to all walls. The level mark must be level. This is checked using the building level.
After that, a distance of 1 m down is measured from the drawn line along the entire perimeter. You also need to draw a line. This will avoid drops and slopes of the floor level. It will be clearly horizontal.
Preparing the base
Laying concrete floors requires foundation preparation. It is necessary to remove construction and other debris from the premises. Next, you need to remove a layer of soil about 35 cm. This earth is taken out of the room. It can be used for landscaping.
The surface of the soil must be compacted. In this case, you need to focus on the lower mark that was created earlier. A vibrating plate is used for ramming. If not, you can get by with an improvised tool. Tampering is carried out using a homemade device. You need to take a log. Handles are attached to it on one side, and a board on the other. Together with an assistant, the surface of the soil must be rammed until no traces are visible on it.
Please note that in some cases a depth of 35 cm will not be enough. This is possible if the owners create a high strip foundation. In this case, you need to make a pit up to 50 cm.
Bedding layer
When studying the technique of how to make a concrete floor, you should considerpadding stage. It consists of several components. The gravel needs to be laid first. The layer should be up to 10 cm. It is moistened and rammed. To control the thickness of the backfill, you need to drive pegs into the ground. They must be of the appropriate length. Set the pegs with a level. After compacting the gravel, they must be removed from the bedding.
Next you need to pour a layer of sand. It should be 10 cm. You need to control the level using the same pegs. The sand is moistened and compacted using the same device that was used in the processing of the soil.
Pour another layer of crushed stone (10 cm) on the sand. It is also compacted. There should be no sharp edges of rubble on the surface. They should be turned up with a smooth surface. It is necessary to use crushed stone with a size of 40-50 mm.
It is extremely important when carrying out such work to control the horizontality of each level. You can create a backfill of two layers. It also matches the technology. The first layer of crushed stone is not applied in this case. You can put the level on the walls. This will allow you to easily control the level of bedding.
Hydro-, thermal insulation and reinforcement
Laying concrete floors involves the creation of several more mandatory layers. First, the waterproofing is spread. It can be roofing felt (several layers) or polyethylene film (density 200 microns). The edges should reach the top mark on the wall. It is fixed with tape.
For waterproofinglay out thermal insulation. It can be expanded clay, polystyrene foam, stone wool. They differ in cost and technical characteristics. Most often, expanded polystyrene is used (thickness at least 3 cm). Plates must be pressed tightly against each other. A damper tape can be mounted around the perimeter. This is especially important if a floor heating system will be installed.
Reinforcement is laid over thermal insulation. This is a metal mesh with 10x10 mm cells. This will evenly distribute the load over the surface. If the room is large, metal bars can be used instead of a mesh. At the same time, the concrete floor is not poured until the reinforcing mesh is raised to a distance of 2-3 cm. For this, special stands are used.
After that, you need to install the "beacons". They will allow you to maintain the required level of screed when pouring. Such guides can be made of different materials. It can be metal, wood. They are placed at a distance of 1.5 m. The guides are installed on concrete "buns". Their level is constantly checked, if necessary, controlling the height of the guides.
Filling the screed
After the preparatory work, you can start pouring the screed. This work is performed from the far corner of the room. The thickness of the concrete floor can be different. Most often, a rough screed is made 10 cm thick. It is necessary to prepare so much mortar that it is enough to fill the entire room with it. First, pour the solution on an area of about 1 m² or more (depending on the area of \u200b\u200bthe room) and level it with a shovel.
Air may accumulate in the solution. To remove it, you need to pierce the concrete with a shovel. After that, the concrete is leveled by the rule. It is pulled along the surface of the guides. When leveling stops, the guides are removed. Voids are filled with mortar.
The procedure is carried out until the entire area is filled with a screed. After that, you need to constantly moisten the surface with water. Otherwise, the bottom layer will not have time to dry, and the surface will crack. In such conditions, concrete gains strength within 4 weeks (or more).
Finishing screed pouring
A concrete floor will not be perfectly level unless a fine screed is poured. If ceramic tiles are to be installed on the surface, it is not necessary to fill the surface with a self-leveling compound. In this case, the tile must be chosen of medium size. For finishing from a laminate or linoleum, you will need to create a finishing screed. It will be thinner than the first layer. Its thickness is 1.5-2 cm.
The surface becomes perfectly flat. The solution is prepared in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. It must be poured onto a rough screed and leveled with a special brush. On the surface you need to walk with a roller with needles. This will remove air bubbles from the solution. This layer dries for about a week. After that, the surface is ready for use. You can leave it as it is. However, it is worth remembering that concrete is a cold coating. If underfloor heating is not installed under it, it should be covered with carpet, laminate or other warm flooring.
Pour concrete on floors
The concrete floor in the apartment is poured onto the ceiling. In this case, the procedure is somewhat simpler. There is no need to create a layer from the bedding. First you need to assess the condition of the overlap. It should not have cracks or cracks. If defects are found, they must be treated with a repair compound.
Waterproofing must be laid on the surface of the floor. For this, a polyethylene film is suitable, the strength of which should be 200-300 microns. Thermal insulation is installed on the waterproofing. It should also be Styrofoam.
Next, beacons are installed on the surface. A 10 cm screed layer is poured and leveled along these guides. The rest of the operations will be the same as when arranging the screed on the ground.
In an apartment, an electric wire is often laid in a screed layer. In this case, it is necessary to decompose waterproofing and reinforcing mesh on a layer of rough screed. The wire is laid out on top and another 3 cm of cement mortar is poured. It is better to use special formulations with a plasticizer. It is unacceptable for an air pocket to form above the wire. At this point, the wire may overheat. Finishing is best done with ceramic tiles.
Having considered how to create a concrete floor, you can fill it yourself. The base will be strong and durable.
