How to lay floorboards correctly. Installing floor boards yourself. Video: Installation of a plank floor - nuances and possible mistakes

The use of natural and environmentally friendly materials in finishing is perhaps the most popular modern trend in this area. This also applies to floor coverings.

For example, wooden floorboards, thanks to a new level of processing quality, are now a material that is in active demand. Although laminate and linoleum also have their advantages, it is difficult for them to compare with a covering made of warm, pleasant-to-touch wood: such a floor can create a truly unique atmosphere of comfort in a room.

How to lay floor boards? What methods are there for installing it? By what criteria are they selected? Below you will find answers to these and other questions.

What can floor boards be laid on?

Depending on the characteristics of the room and your choice, laying floor boards can be done:

• on a concrete base;
• on wooden logs;
• on glue.

This kind of work can be done with your own hands - it is enough to have at least minimal skills in finishing.

Important point- regardless of how the floorboard will be laid, you must first unpack it in the room where it is planned to be installed and leave it there for 7-10 days. This is necessary to “acclimatize” the material. Another nuance - laying the floor boards should be carried out at a temperature of at least 17°C and not higher than 25°C. Failure to comply with this rule may lead to loss of aesthetic properties of the material and its deformation.

Laying floorboards on joists

As a rule, laying floorboards on joists is done in old houses, the distinctive feature of which is wooden floors between floors. If we are talking about a room on the ground floor, then preliminary installation of a waterproofing base will be required, which is most often used as roofing material. It is laid with an overlap on the walls. After installation, the joints are sealed.

Upon completion of waterproofing work, they are installed lags- wooden beams impregnated with an antiseptic composition. The thickness of the lag is usually 50-70 mm. With a standard tongue thickness of 35 mm, the logs are installed in increments of 60-75 cm. During the installation of the base, it is necessary to take care of sound insulation. For this, expanded clay, mineral wool or other sound-absorbing materials can be used.

How to properly lay floor boards on joists? Material is laid groove towards the master, tenon forward. The first board is fixed with self-tapping screws where the baseboard will go over it. If the length of the boards is short, then they are joined on logs.

Important point- if you want to lay a high-quality tongue-and-groove floor on joists, the distance between them should be the same. Also, when installing plank flooring, you need to take into account that after the work is completed, the floor height will increase by 15 cm. This can be critical for rooms with low ceilings.

Laying floorboards with glue

This method is most often used when installing floors in rooms with low ceilings. The technology for laying floor boards with glue is similar to installing parquet, with the difference that in addition to glue, self-tapping screws are used to fix the boards. For long boards, adhesives based on synthetic resins or epoxy-polyurethane glue are required. Can be used for installing short boards any glue of sufficient strength, including:

• dispersive;
• epoxy;
• polyurethane.

Important point- it is possible to lay a tongue-and-groove floor with glue only if the surface of the boards and the base is perfectly flat.

Laying on a concrete base

The first stage of work is the installation of waterproofing (primer mastic or a layer of polyurethane) on the concrete floor. In this case, the mastic is applied using a roller. The polyurethane film is laid on the floor with an overlap.

Important point- laying a floor with a floorboard on a concrete base is advisable only if you are confident in its strength and the absence of changes. If there is no such confidence, then you need to re-make the concrete screed.

Before laying the floor with a floorboard, it is necessary to install the joists. They are attached to the concrete floor with screws, after which boards are laid perpendicularly on them. If this fastening option is not possible due to electrical wires and other communications that are located inside the concrete base, then bitumen mastic is used to fix the logs. The mastic layer in this case also acts as a moisture-protective layer.

After installing the logs, insulation is placed in the space between them, which not only prevents heat loss, but also provides protection from noise. The last stage of work before laying the floorboard is installation of a waterproofing film over the joists.

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The range of the Angara Plus company includes such material as. If durability, aesthetics and strength of the floor covering are important to you, larch will be an excellent choice. The impeccable quality of the board's processing, beautiful wood grain and the absence of defects have made this item a real hit in our assortment.

Before laying plank floors as a finishing coating, you need to choose the right material, prepare the base and lay several insulating layers in the cake. Wooden floors can be laid on beams or hollow, solid monolithic slabs.

Hydro- and vapor barrier is mandatory, acoustic materials and insulation are used as needed. A water-heated floor under a tongue-and-groove board is not effective.

The quality of the material determines the comfort of living, the budget for repairs and operation, and the service life of the flooring.

When manufacturing sheet piles, manufacturers are required to comply with the requirements of GOST 8242:

Important! The thickness of the sheet pile affects its rigidity and strength, therefore, for the BP-27 beam and the DP-35 board, the beam pitch/jog is 0.6 m, and for the DP-21 sheet pile it is reduced to 30 cm.

Lumber quality

The tongue and groove is made from edged boards of Extra, A or B grade, the output parameters are controlled in accordance with GOST 8242:

• integrity - boards 6 - 14 cm wide are usually solid, wider products are glued using furniture board technology;
• cleanliness of processing - roughness 120 microns for varnishing, 200 microns for painting, back surfaces of lumber have 500 microns;
• humidity – 8% when packed in film or 12%;

A wide board is more convenient to work with and is usually made by gluing, so it is less susceptible to warping. Coniferous species pine/spruce are considered budget, larch and cedar are valuable species, by default impregnated with a natural antiseptic. A solid-length tongue and groove made of hardwood without splicing is always shorter than a coniferous one. This is due to the structure of the wood.

Prohibited breeds for flooring are:

• linden, poplar for the entire range;
• BP-27 and DP-27 made of aspen and alder are suitable exclusively for residential premises;
• DP-35 is not made from alder and aspen.

Important! On the back side, the tongue has several narrow or one wide cut, necessary for air circulation and compensation of internal stresses in the wood.

Preparing the base

The tongue and groove is laid either on joists/beams, or less often on the subfloor, depending on the specific tasks being solved and additional conditions that need to be taken into account:

• a continuous subfloor is more expensive than a subsystem made of bars or boards on edge as joists, laid at intervals of 30–60 cm;
• the attic and basement floors must be insulated and insulated from damp vapors;
• Acoustic materials with reflective and absorbing properties are often placed inside interfloor ceilings.

If the tongue-and-groove board is planned as a finishing coating on the floor slabs, the logs are mounted on the screed. Or across beams on floors of this type, only if the pitch of the beams does not correspond to the design size (more than 60 cm).

Waterproofing

Regardless of the floor, moisture can penetrate into the floors, therefore, when making a wooden floor with your own hands using beams or reinforced concrete slabs, it is necessary to take into account the nuances of the design:

• waterproofing is created from dense membranes, fused rolled materials or polyethylene films (2 layers of 150 microns minimum);
• applied in a continuous layer;
• extends onto the walls by 15 cm;
• joints are sealed.

If a wooden floor is made using joists on a slab floor, the waterproofing is laid on a leveling layer (screed or expanded clay sand). After installation, the floor slabs have significant unevenness; without a leveling layer, the film can be torn by the soles when walking.

Waterproofing wooden floors on floor slabs.

Floor beams do not provide a continuous rigid horizontal layer. Therefore, a binder is attached to them:

• edged board from below, which is the ceiling of the lower floor
• pieces of edged boards on top of the skull block, fixed along the beams in the lower level

Vapor barrier for wooden floors along beams.

Important! In this case, the vapor barrier is laid on top of the plank flooring and on top of the beams, that is, not in one level, but in steps.

Thermal insulation

Since the contours of a water-heated floor are not used under the wooden finishing floor coverings, the interfloor ceilings along the beams are not insulated. However, thermal insulation is necessary inside floors in contact with unheated levels - attic, underground. In an unused and unheated attic, tongue and groove boards are not used, since the room is non-residential. However, for walking here, edged boards or boards made of this material can be laid. In this case, you should take into account the nuances:

• the waterproofing layer is not able to completely prevent moisture from penetrating into the ceiling structure;
• wood (beams and joists) absorbs this moisture, but cannot evaporate back if vapor-proof polystyrene foam is laid around it;
• rotting begins, the proliferation of mold, mildew, and pathogens begins.

Therefore, it is necessary to lay mineral wool or Ecowool inside a wooden floor or between logs made of a bar on a reinforced concrete slab. These insulation materials are hygroscopic, they also absorb moisture and do not interfere with its evaporation from adjacent wooden structures.

Soundproofing

In conventional mineral wool insulation, basalt or fiberglass fibers are oriented horizontally. In special soundproofing mineral wool they have a vertical orientation. Therefore, one layer of thermal or sound insulation does not solve all problems.

Screeds on floor slabs use comprehensive sound insulation:

• layer of elastic material – partial absorption of airborne and structural noise;
• a layer of concrete with a minimum thickness of 5 - 6 cm - the screed has a large mass and reflects part of the wave that penetrated through the previous layer.

Soundproofing the floor.

When making a boardwalk yourself, a massive concrete screed is absent by default, the effectiveness of the soundproofing structure is sharply reduced, and it will not be possible to significantly increase the level of sound insulation.

Vapor barrier

After the wood and insulation have absorbed the moisture that has penetrated them, these materials begin to evaporate it. The task in this case comes down to freely removing moisture from the beams and insulation, but not letting excess moisture back out of the room. For this purpose, special membranes are used that allow steam to pass in only one direction.

• it freely passes moisture through itself;
• moisture condenses on the outer surface of the membrane;
• is removed by natural ventilation in a specially provided air layer inside the wooden floor.

Vapor barrier of boardwalk.

The cuts on its back surface are responsible for circulation under the tongue and groove board. In order for air to flow into the structure and flow freely out, ventilation hatches are made in the plank flooring and decorated with grilles. They are placed diagonally across the room near the baseboard in the least visible places.

Purpose of the log

In different floor designs, joists solve the same problems:

• floor slabs - under the finishing coating it is necessary to hide insulation, sound insulation and provide a ventilated space, so the tongue and groove is nailed or screwed to the joists with self-tapping screws;
• wooden flooring - logs are needed when there is a large distance between the beams to prevent deflection of the tongue-and-groove board;
• ensuring a horizontal level - gaskets, polymer wedges or leveling floor studs are used;
• providing a spatial box - inside which insulating materials can be placed.

The logs are made either from a 50 x 150 mm board or from a block of suitable cross-section. To ensure vertical stability, jibs and spacers can be mounted between them.

Wood floor technology

Before laying wooden floors in rooms, you should consider the following nuances:

• even after special treatment, wood is not recommended for use in rooms with high humidity;
• By analogy with a log house, the floor covering will inevitably shrink, so not all the boards are fastened in a row, but only in the first, every fourth and last row;
• after 6 - 12 months, the covering is sorted out, the gaps between the floorboards are eliminated by repeated tightening, bent and warped boards are replaced with new ones.

The easiest way to treat lumber in a wooden house is to treat it with a fire retardant and antiseptic before laying it, and then just saturate the cut areas when cutting it. For the convenience of developers, manufacturers produce colored fire-bioprotection so that the surface is evenly treated with a protective composition.

Laying scheme

Rows of tongue and groove boards are placed across the beams or joists. In wooden floor structures, there is no choice of orientation of the floorboards relative to window and door openings. On reinforced concrete slabs, logs can be oriented in any direction.

• in complex projects the rooms have an original configuration;
• During construction, mistakes are made, due to which opposite walls are not parallel to each other;
• If you can choose the orientation of the floorboards, it is better to place them with their ends facing non-parallel walls.

Advice! It is not recommended to use a diagonal layout of tongue and groove boards. Otherwise, when joining after 6 - 12 months, to eliminate cracks from shrinkage of lumber, the floorboards in each row will have to be cut near the walls.

Installation of tongue and groove boards

To lay a wooden floor from profiled tongue and groove, you need to perform the following sequence of actions:

Clamps, jacks or wedges are used for bonding. Gaps between floorboards are not allowed. Boards with a standard width of 6.4 - 14 cm are fastened on one side, with a wider board - on both sides along the width of the floorboard. Fastening is carried out through the head of the nail/screw or at 45 degrees into the groove. In the latter case, the maintainability of the floor covering sharply decreases.

Since the laid tongue and groove will inevitably have to be additionally bonded after six months to a year of drying out, during initial installation it is better to fasten it vertically, and during final installation after a specified period - in a lock at 45 degrees. In 85% of cases, the tongue and groove is painted, less often it is opened with two layers of varnish.

Read more about the nuances of flooring tongue and groove boards.

Thus, in a private house, it is possible to lay plank flooring from sheet piles, both on beams and on floor slabs. All work can be done independently; no professional equipment or tools are required.

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The floorboard usually has tongues on the side edges; its installation is somewhat more complicated than a regular non-tongue board, but a strong, reliable connection is ensured. The technique for laying floorboards and the amount of preparatory work depend on the base on which it is laid.

Methods for laying floorboards

The support for the floorboard can be:

• Concrete base
• Old wooden floor
• Logs installed on any base
• Load-bearing wooden structures (beams) of interfloor and attic floors
• Sheet plywood screed

Laying on logs is good because it does not require additional materials and time for laying plywood. In addition, insulation can be laid between the joists. But this method is not suitable for rooms with low ceilings. First, plywood or OSB is laid on top of the floor beams, and then a finishing floor board is laid.

To attach the board to the base, use:

• When laying on joists - screws or nails
• When laying on a plywood base - screws or glue and screws

Floorboards are usually laid in a straight line, parallel to the walls. In rooms, installation is carried out perpendicular to the wall with a window, in rooms with high traffic - parallel to the direction of movement. The floorboard can be laid either staggered or without displacing the elements. When laying boards offset, they must be cut into fragments of the required length so that the ends are strictly perpendicular to the other edges.

Important points

As a rule, installation of a finished floor from a floorboard is carried out after other types of repair work have been completed. When installing it, you must follow a number of rules:

• The humidity of the base (subfloor) should not exceed 12%, lag - 18%
• The boards should have a moisture content of 12-16%
• The optimal range of indoor air humidity is 40-60%, temperature – 17-25°
• Before laying, the boards must be unpacked and kept in the room for acclimatization for 2-3 days.

In the absence of a moisture meter, the moisture content of the board can be assessed by a number of indirect signs. If the packaging film fogs up from the inside, the board is too damp; excess moisture can be felt by touch with the palm of your hand. Dry boards, when tapped, emit a ringing sound and have a slight shine; wet boards respond with a dull sound and have a matte tint.

Laying on joists

Laying the floorboard on the joists is preceded by the installation of the joists themselves on the prepared base.

Preparation

If the base is compacted soil, not covered with a layer of screed, then the logs are mounted on brick columns at least 20 cm high, covered with pieces of roofing material. Columns can also be made from oak, larch, treated with antiseptic and bitumen. On the ground floor, waterproofing and insulation of the base are required; they are usually used.

The logs are also necessarily treated with an antiseptic; they are usually attached to the base using anchor bolts, less often they are fixed using mastic. The minimum distance between logs for laying solid boards is 50 cm, jointed boards are 40 cm; the thicker the board, the larger the pitch can be. The joists must be installed perpendicular to the direction of laying the floorboards.

If the base is uneven, the joists can be leveled using shims, but it is better to use adjustable ones. Insulation is placed between the joists; its thickness should be slightly less than the height of the joists, so that a gap is formed between it and the floor for ventilation. The insulation is covered with a layer of vapor barrier. It is recommended to lay a sound-absorbing underlay between the joists and boards.

Laying

After completing the preparatory work, you can proceed directly to laying the boards, observing a number of rules.

• The first board is laid with a distance of 1-2 cm from the wall. A similar gap should be left around the entire perimeter to compensate for temperature expansion. Possible installation with both tongue and groove to the wall
• After attaching the first board to the joists, the second one is moved towards it, the tenon is inserted into the groove, the second board is hammered through the block with a mallet until there is a gap of no more than 1 mm between the floorboards; wedges can be used for maximum compaction
• If the length of the boards is not enough to cover the entire room, or they are laid staggered, the joints must be in the middle of the logs, this must be taken into account when cutting
• The last board is sawn to width in such a way that after its installation the necessary compensation gap is formed. A clamp is used to tamp it

If the tongue has an imperfect shape, burrs are preventing the connection, they need to be sanded. The connection may deteriorate due to slight curvature of the boards; in this case, the tenons and grooves are coated with glue and the boards are pressed using a clamp; the ends are also glued. If insufficiently dry boards are laid, only every 4th or 5th floorboard is attached to the joists. After about six months, this fastener is removed, and the boards are installed according to all the rules.

Laying a tongue-and-groove floorboard has much in common with a Lock type, only laminate cannot be laid directly on the joists; a solid base is needed under it. Another important difference is that the boards are additionally secured with hardware. Self-tapping screws are used as fastening elements, the length of which is twice the thickness of the board, or nails three times longer than its thickness.

Self-tapping screws are preferable; they are resistant to corrosion and recessed reliably, and the heads of the nails can protrude above the surface over time. The optimal diameter of self-tapping screws is 4-4.5 mm. Holes are pre-drilled in the floorboards for standard self-tapping screws so that the wood does not split when screwing in the hardware.

Special screws for floorboards with a small cutter at the end can be screwed in immediately. The number of fasteners at each connection between the board and the joist depends on the width of the board. For narrow ones (90 mm), one hardware, driven or screwed in the middle, is enough; with a width of 90-135 mm, fastening is carried out at 2 points, 150 mm and more - at 3.

In the first row, the fastening is carried out near the wall and the fasteners will be covered with baseboards, so it can be screwed in vertically. In subsequent rows, one of 2 methods is used:

• The fasteners are screwed (hammered) at an angle of 45° into the tongue; this method is better suited for fairly thick boards. Hidden fastening gives floors a more aesthetic appearance, but is less reliable
• Countersink the holes with a countersink, recess the caps deeper and cover the top with sealant

Laying on plywood flooring

Plywood flooring can be installed over a concrete base, an old wooden floor, and sometimes over joists. The process of laying a floorboard on it is the same in all cases, only the preparatory work differs.

A concrete base with a moisture content of no more than 3% is waterproofed and, if necessary, unevenness is eliminated. Sheets of plywood are cut into strips 40-60 cm wide, laid staggered, with a distance of 10 mm from the walls, a gap of 3 mm between the sheets. For fastening to the base, screws and dowels are used in the amount of 15 pieces per m².

Laying on an old floor is acceptable if it is strong enough. Its audit is carried out in advance, rotted, destroyed floorboards are replaced, loose ones are fixed, if necessary, protrusions are cut off with a plane, the base is sanded and dust-free. It is advisable to lay a foam polyethylene backing on top of the subfloor for thermal and waterproofing.

For a sheet screed on a wooden base, 12 mm thick plywood is sufficient; it is secured with self-tapping screws. When arranging a plywood base under a floorboard, it is important to carefully recess the fastener heads. After installing the flooring, its surface is sanded and cleaned of dust.

If the plank subfloor can withstand a significant load, and the direction of laying the finishing coating will be perpendicular to the direction of the subfloor floorboards, the board can be laid directly on them. Fastening is carried out by analogy with logs.

Boards can be attached to a plywood base with self-tapping screws, as well as to joists, but parquet glue is usually used, and self-tapping screws provide additional fixation. Plywood must be treated with a primer before applying glue. The primer composition must be combined with glue; dispersed glue can only be applied to a dispersed primer, and soluble with synthetic resins - to a soluble one. One-component polyurethane adhesives have the widest compatibility.

Also, when choosing glue, you need to take into account the size of the boards and the type of wood:

• Short boards up to 50 cm can be glued with almost any composition (epoxy, polyurethane, dispersed, soluble)
• For large-sized boards, plastic and durable compositions are suitable - based on MS polymers and polyurethane
• For exotic and moisture-sensitive wood species (teak, lapacho, beech), water-based dispersed compositions are not suitable

Installation with glue is carried out in accordance with the instructions for the specific adhesive composition.

Regardless of the base on which the floorboard was laid, at the final stage it is necessary to repair small defects with putty (if any) and treat the coating with a sander. Sanding by hand is also acceptable, but this is a more labor-intensive process. After sanding and cleaning the surface, skirting boards are installed around the perimeter. Depending on the type of board, the floor is painted or covered with oil or varnish.

Video

Arrangement of a solid wood floor using joists from installation of joists to finishing of the covering

Bottom line

The floorboard can be laid on joists or a solid base. A plywood backing must be placed on top of the concrete screed; the board can be laid on a strong and even rough wooden floor without a backing, but the direction of the rough and finishing floorboards must be mutually perpendicular. Any base under the floorboard must be level, without differences in height.

It is important to lay a well-dried board on a dry base with waterproofing, observe the temperature and humidity conditions during the installation process, and do not forget about compensation gaps around the perimeter. The boards are connected to each other using tongues, and fastened to the base using self-tapping screws (less often nails). Adhesive installation on a solid plywood base is possible, which does not exclude the use of self-tapping screws.

Recently, the market for artificial building materials has begun to develop more and more actively. However, natural wood is still in great demand among people. This is not strange, because such a material has natural beauty and strength, which is a necessary condition for construction and finishing work.

Wood floors have always been and will be in demand due to the fact that this material is natural, safe and attractive.

Next, we will consider the method of laying floorboards, which is used most often. All the main nuances of the work will be described here. Thanks to this technology, floor boards will always be smooth and durable. This is what is required for this type of work. The technology for laying floorboards will be discussed in more detail a little further, but first you need to select all the most necessary tools and materials.

Tools and materials

To lay floorboards you need: a screwdriver, a hammer, nails, screws, a jigsaw, a tape measure, etc.

To carry out work related to laying floorboards on the base, you need to acquire the following tools and materials:

• tongue and groove board;
• glassine;
• mineral wool;
• bars;
• mount;
• saw;
• hammer;
• screwdriver;
• self-tapping screws;
• Sander.

These materials will be sufficient to make the technology of laying floorboards feasible. When everything is assembled, you can proceed directly to the installation work, which begins with installing the logs.

Installation of logs: features

The technology for laying floorboards involves the use of logs. Most often, wooden blocks are used for their installation. The beam must be mounted on an edge. In this case, a certain gap must be maintained between each lag. Most often, it is made no more than 1 m. In this case, the floor will be more rigid, and this is necessary for the technology of laying floorboards. Here you can establish one very simple rule: the thicker the board is used, the larger the step can be left between each structural element.

After the logs are laid in their rightful places, it is worth checking their horizontalness again. This is done using a level. In this case, you can use the most primitive liquid tool. Now the logs must be secured. Self-tapping screws and dowels are used for these purposes. In some situations, anchor bolts can be used. This will be appropriate to do when the timber is too thick.

Thermal insulation and its nuances

Insulation must be laid between the joists.

The thermal insulation layer is an integral part of any floor. It will keep the house warm even in the most severe frosts. A variety of materials can be used to construct the thermal insulation layer. If we are talking about laying floorboards on the 2nd floor, then there is no need to organize thermal insulation here - this stage of work is skipped.

It is mandatory to install it on the 1st floor. Mineral wool is used for work. It can be in the form of slabs or simply in its normal form. It doesn't matter. The most important thing is to lay it out correctly. This is done quite easily. It should be located between the bars that were installed earlier. In this case, it is laid in a layer 10 cm thick.

A waterproofing material must be placed on top of the mineral wool. You can use glassine or roofing felt. Option 2 is preferable, since the material is cheaper and more reliable. It should be secured with a stapler. At this point, the stage of work related to floor insulation can be considered complete. Now you can proceed directly to laying the floorboard.

Floorboards must be thoroughly dried before installation.

This is the most important and responsible stage of all work. The future integrity of the structure directly depends on how well the floorboard is laid. The boards must be prepared before laying. They need to be dried thoroughly. To do this, the material should be placed in a warm and dry place for about a week. Only in this case will the board be properly prepared for work.

In fact, drying takes much longer, but this will be quite enough to prevent warping of the material. Warping is quite a dangerous phenomenon. Raw products cannot be used to lay boards on the floor. There is a very high probability of cracks appearing on them, which can appear both during the work and during the operation of the floor.

The first board must be laid at some distance from the wall. 2 cm is sufficient. This measure will help prevent deformation of the structure if the material changes its dimensions during operation. In order to fix the board before attaching it, be sure to install wedges in the distance between the wall and it. In this case, the gap will not change during the process of fastening the material.

The direction of laying the boards is chosen perpendicular to the previously installed logs. A tongue and groove board is used here. This means that the fastening is carried out using a lock. It's very primitive here. The groove of one board fits onto the veneer of another. At the same time, do not forget about additional fastening. Self-tapping screws will be used for these purposes. They are screwed in using a screwdriver. Their length is selected in accordance with the thickness of the floorboards.

It is best to install self-tapping screws in the groove of the board. Then you will be able to avoid the appearance of caps protruding above the surface. They will be hidden very elegantly. When the work is completed, the screws will not be visible. That is why tongue and groove boards are the best option for flooring. All subsequent structural elements are mounted using the same method as discussed above.

Thus, the result is a very nice floor that can already be used for its intended purpose. However, it is better to sand it down to make it smoother and more attractive.

Floor sanding: some important points

After the wooden floor is made, all that remains is to carefully sand it. For these purposes, a special grinding machine is used. This tool can be purchased today in almost any specialized store. If you don’t want to purchase it, you can ask your neighbors or friends to rent it. Using a sanding machine, you can easily and simply get rid of all surface irregularities, as well as eliminate joints between boards. An excellent tool that is often needed on the farm. Instead of a grinder, you can use a regular grinder. With its help you can perfectly treat the surface. The grinding process itself does not take that much time.

The result should be an absolutely flat base without any defects. Joints and other irregularities must be completely eliminated. After the grinding process is completed, you can begin the final stage of work, which consists of treating the surface with a special protective compound.

This measure is necessary when working with wood.

You can cover floorboards with an antiseptic.

To preserve the original appearance of the floorboards, they must be treated with an antiseptic.

You can use a transparent or translucent version of this substance. This will preserve the original appearance of the wood. Often it is she who decorates the house. Antiseptics will protect the surface from the formation of fungus and mold. Microorganisms that can harm human health will not develop on it.

Alternatively, paint or varnish can be used. These coatings cope well with the aggressive effects of external factors.

Thus, the process of laying the floorboard can be considered complete. As is clear, there is nothing complicated about this. All work is done quite quickly. The most important thing is to strictly follow the instructions given above at each stage. This will make the floor truly strong, reliable and durable. The use of natural materials always brings its own zest to even the most ordinary-looking structure.

Absolutely any floor made from natural wood will serve its owner faithfully for many years. The above was specially created for those who in the near future are planning to start arranging a wooden floor in their home or country house.

Despite the variety of flooring materials, plank flooring will probably never lose its fans. Both the selection and installation of floorboards require certain knowledge, which must be obtained by deciding to carry out the installation work yourself. Therefore, in the sections of this article, different options for arranging the floor will be considered, as well as what you need to pay attention to when choosing a material.

General information, advantages and disadvantages

Solid wood is a durable, strong, environmentally friendly material. The tree has unique properties of releasing phytoncides into the environment that can suppress the development of various bacteria. Unlike floor coverings that imitate plank, wood does not become electrified and does not attract dust. The wooden covering is resistant to mechanical and chemical influences, and is also easy to care for. This floor has low thermal conductivity and absorbs noise well.

Tongue and groove floorboards are most often made from species such as larch, oak and pine, less often from more expensive and exotic wood. Boards made from beech, oak and ash are considered elite - these materials have rich shades, a beautiful textured pattern, as well as excellent performance characteristics.

Having chosen one of the expensive types of wood, you should remember that due to their high density, such boards are difficult to process. However, if you install such material correctly, the floor covering will last a long time without repair.

Floorboards are most often manufactured in the following dimensional parameters:

• product width - from 70 to 135 mm;
• board thickness - 40, 35, 32, 30, 28 and 25 mm;
• length - 2500, 3000, 4500 and 6000 mm.

Summing up the characteristics of the floorboard, it is necessary to highlight the operational features of this material, both its positive and negative sides.

1. Environmental friendliness of the material.
2. The ability to improve the indoor microclimate.
3. Ability to withstand high loads.
4. Duration of operation largely depends on the type of wood.
5. The ability to insulate the floor and provide a barrier against the spread of noise.
6. The natural beauty of textured patterns and wood shades makes any interior more comfortable and elegant.

1. The appearance of gaps between boards due to sudden and frequent changes in temperature or humidity level in the room.
2. Biological decomposition of the material, especially if insufficiently processed. Not typical for all breeds.
3. Flammability of the material.
4. The need to periodically update the decorative coating - a layer of paint or varnish.

If a high-quality material is chosen, and its installation is carried out according to the requirements of the technology, then it will last a very long time.

Choosing a board for flooring

It is very important to choose the right board, since both the speed of installation and the durability of the floor depend on its quality. Therefore, you should immediately determine the requirements that must be placed on the purchased material.

The thickness of the board is selected depending on the distance at which the logs will be installed if this floor design is to be chosen. For example, if the logs are installed in mm increments, then you should choose a board at least 28÷30 mm thick. For flooring directly on a rigid base, any reasonable board thickness can be selected.

In addition, when choosing the width of the board, you need to take into account the planned decoration of the room. The fact is that a board that is too narrow or, conversely, wide can disrupt the interior design plan. In addition, other equally important parameters are taken into account.

Application area of ​​the board

An important role when choosing a material is played by which room it will be laid in:

• Any type of wood can be used for installation in living rooms. Here you should focus on your financial capabilities.
• For flooring in bathhouses, it is recommended to use linden, aspen or other deciduous wood, since coniferous wood can release resin when heated.

• For boardwalks that will not be protected by walls from moisture, ultraviolet radiation and temperature changes, for example, open gazebos, terraces, etc., the best option would be durable and dense larch.

Floor type

By type, floors can be divided into rough and finishing (finish flooring) coatings:

• For the subfloor, low-quality boards that have defects are often used, since it still serves only for installing insulation and will be covered by the main flooring.
• For the front, finishing board covering, boards with the minimum possible number of flaws are selected. It is recommended to carry out rejection immediately upon purchasing the material.

Board humidity

One of the most important indicators when choosing wood, in particular floorboards, is its moisture content. This is where you should start when choosing a material when purchasing it.

A responsible seller must have a special device - a moisture meter. Its display shows how high the residual moisture in the wood is. Only properly dried boards will last a long time, without deformation or cracking.

The maximum humidity that is allowed specifically for a floorboard is considered to be 12%, and the optimal level is 8÷10%. Exceeding the maximum norm will significantly complicate the installation work and then the operation of the floor. Usually it is not possible to avoid deformations, creaking, and the appearance of cracks.

Board grade

Floorboards are divided into several grades according to their quality and appearance. By the way, this classification is not affected by processing technology or wood type.

So, the main types of floorboards are “A”, “B” and “C”. However, besides them, there is also the “Extra” variety. You should also be aware that some manufacturers may label their products as “Economy”, “Classic” and “Elite”.

• “C” is the lowest grade of material, which may contain knots (not fallen out) and cracks in varying quantities. Cracks can reach 3 mm in width and 300 mm in length. These boards may have resin pockets, insect damage, or blue stains. However, the hardness of the wood should not be reduced. Suitable for subfloors only.
• “B” - this material is also not of high quality. The boards are allowed to have cracks, two or three knots per linear meter of the product, as well as other flaws, but they should amount to no more than 10% of the total surface. However, grade B boards should not be damaged by insects or rot. Suitable for flooring in utility rooms or attics.

• “A” is a grade that is suitable for finishing a finished floor. For this type of material, the presence of two or three small knots per linear meter, minor cracks and other small defects that do not affect the strength and integrity of the board are acceptable. The products are suitable for laying finished floors in residential and non-residential premises.

• “Extra” is the highest quality and most expensive material; it must have a perfectly flat and smooth surface. Such boards are not allowed to have knots, cracks, rot or damage by insects. Small cracks are possible at the ends of the board, but their size should not exceed 30 mm in length and 0.5 mm in width.

For flooring, in order to save money without much loss in the quality of the coating, “transitional” grade boards are most often used AB, in boards of which one face can meet the requirements for IN, the second – for A. Such material is usually found at timber trading centers at A And IN is not sorted, but is sold at a significant discount (relative to the variety A). The offers can be very profitable!

tongue and groove board 30 mm grade AB

Methods for installing floorboards

There are several ways to lay plank flooring.

To begin with, let's list the floorboard laying technology:

• on glue;
• with mounting on logs;
• without fastening - “floating” coating.

Now - about the bases on which the board covering can be laid:

• on the screed;
• on old plank flooring;
• on logs installed on a screed or an old wooden floor;
• on plywood.

Illustration	Brief description of the technology
	Installation of floorboards on old plank flooring. Before laying new boards, old floors must be repaired, otherwise they will continue to creak and sag, and along with them, the new covering. Repairs involve strengthening the old deck, eliminating squeaks, and replacing damaged boards or even joists. If new boards are attached directly to old ones, they will have to be scraped off so that the surface is perfectly flat. The new plank floor is laid perpendicular to the direction of the old planks. The repaired old covering can also be used as a subfloor, on top of which logs are fixed perpendicular to the boards, and a new board is mounted on them. This option is possible if the room has a high ceiling, since the floors will rise by 60÷80 mm.
	Installation of floorboards on plywood, which can be used to level an old wooden floor or screed. The new coating can be fixed to plywood using self-tapping screws or even the so-called “floating” method, when the boards are fastened only to each other, without being fixed to the base. The plywood must be well secured to the floor using glue or self-tapping screws, the heads of which must be recessed into the wood.
	Laying with glue. This process is similar to installing parquet or parquet boards. Naturally, the base for this masonry method, as well as the board itself, must be perfectly flat. For fixation to the base, special parquet glue is used. The base can be a plywood flooring or a concrete floor leveled with a self-leveling self-leveling compound.
	If the base is perfectly leveled with a screed, then a “floating” plank covering can be mounted on it, when the tongue-and-groove boards are fastened only to each other, similar to a laminate. Under such a coating, a waterproofing material must be applied or laid on the base. The boards can be fastened together using self-tapping screws or nails driven in at their joints at an angle of 45%. The caps of the fasteners are deepened into the wood and then covered with putty.
	Fastening the board onto logs, between which you can place any insulating material. The logs can simultaneously serve as a kind of beacons when leveling, for example, a filled-in “dry screed” filler or other bulk insulation. The boards are attached to the joists with self-tapping screws or nails driven in at an angle of 45%. Fasteners are screwed or driven into the outer boards at right angles. This option can be called the most popular. It is this technology that we will consider in detail in the table below.

Installation of plank floors along joists

This is the most common method of installing a plank covering, as it is quite simple to implement, and at the same time makes it possible to insulate the base. Moreover, almost any thermal insulation materials can be used as insulation.

For example, if floors are installed on the ground (on the ground floor), and there are no particularly strict restrictions on the thickness of thermal insulation, then it is best to insulate them with fine or medium-fraction expanded clay. This material is not only durable, but it is also avoided by various rodents who happily live in both mineral wool and expanded polystyrene. But this is in the context of today’s article – in particular.

So, work on arranging a wooden floor using joists installed on a concrete base is carried out in this order.

Illustration	Brief description of the operations performed
	Before carrying out installation work, the cleaned surface of the base is checked for evenness. At the same time, differences and the need to level the floor plane using logs are determined.
	Next comes the stage of waterproofing the base. In this case, dense polyethylene is used as a moisture-proof coating. The canvases are laid with an overlap of no less than 150 mm. The overlap lines are taped with moisture-resistant tape. The film is lifted onto the walls by approximately 150 mm, so that it rises above the joists and boarding by 50 mm.
	The next step is to mark the placement of joists on the walls. The optimal distance between the logs is 500 mm; if a thick board of 25÷30 mm is chosen for the flooring, then this distance can be increased to a maximum of 700 mm. At the same time, it should be taken into account that they should be placed approximately 100 mm away from the walls along which the logs will be installed.
	Next, the first log is laid on the base - this is a beam with a section of 65x40 mm. It should be on the highest part of the floor. On the wall, the final height of the floor is measured and marked by level, taking into account its leveling and the thickness of the board. In this case, the height of the floor from the concrete floor should be 120 mm.
	The master made three marks on the wall - the gap between the beam and the wall (an arrow-shaped icon resting on a vertical line, somewhat reminiscent of the letter “K”), the height to which the log beam will be raised and the final height of the boardwalk from the concrete covering.
	To level and raise the logs to the desired height, adjusting wedges are placed under the beam. In this case, plastic wedges were chosen, which, when brought together in pairs, make it possible to very accurately set the height of the lining. The wedges are laid along the entire length of the beam, in increments of about 200÷300 mm.. When raising the beam to the required height, you need to ensure that the waterproofing film remains raised on the wall to the height of the future coating
	After placing the timber on the wedges, be sure to check the horizontal installation using a building level. After the beam is installed, it is necessary to determine the exact height of its installation and transfer this parameter to the opposite side of the wall. This process can be carried out using a water level or a laser level.
	After markings have been made on the opposite wall, a second joist is placed along this wall and raised using wedge pads to the required height.
	The next step is to use self-tapping screws to fix the relative position of the lags and the placed wedges.
	A level is installed on the logs laid along opposite walls. If there is not enough length, then the level is set on the rule, or even cords are pulled in 2-3 places, which will set the plane.
	The remaining logs are installed between the already installed ones. Also, with the help of wedge linings, the upper edge of the beam is raised to the laid level or a tensioned cord.
	When the logs are perfectly level, they are also attached to the floor surface through wedges. The sheathing for the flooring is ready.
	The next step is to lay the selected insulation. In this example, mineral wool is used. Not shown here, but still, between the insulation and the boardwalk, a layer of waterproofing would be useful. Firstly, water may be accidentally spilled on the floor. And secondly, you should protect yourself from the penetration of the finest dust from fragments of mineral wool fibers into the premises.
	The first board of the plank covering is laid with a distance of 10 mm from the wall. It is very important to level the starting board very well, since the quality of the entire flooring will depend on this
	It is necessary to retreat 10 mm from both walls to the edge of the board. This gap is to compensate for the “movements” of the coating when temperature or humidity changes, so that deformation does not occur.
	When the board is leveled, it should be fixed, first to the middle joist. The self-tapping screw is screwed into the wall edge of the board.
	Then, the position of the board is controlled again After which it is fixed to the adjacent middle lag, and then to the others.
	Along the outer edge, the fixed board is secured to the joists with self-tapping screws, which are screwed at an angle of 45 degrees through the groove. The heads of the screws should be deepened into the wood so that they do not interfere with the installation of the locking tenon of the next board.
	Next, a second board is installed in the groove of the first board, which should be pressed tightly against the first board, that is, there should be no gap left between them. In order to achieve this, the second board should be tapped to the first, and in order not to damage the groove of the second board with a hammer, the tamping should be done through a wooden beam or other piece of board.
	The second board is tapped along its entire length. When the gap is closed, the second board is also fixed from the outside with self-tapping screws to each of the joists.
	In this way, the entire plank covering is installed up to the opposite wall. As the insulation board is covered, the next row of insulation blocks is laid between the joists.
	If at the end of the covering the whole board does not fit, then it should be made narrower. The cut from it is made from the side that will be turned towards the wall. To accurately determine the desired width, you will need two boards. One of them is laid on the last board of the covering, aligned with it, and another board is installed on top of it, which should rest against the wall. Then a line is drawn along it, on the bottom board, and the cut will be made along this marking.
	The edge cut should be made at a slight angle, as shown in the illustration. Therefore, you should immediately outline the direction of the cut. This creates a ventilation gap necessary for long-term operation of the coating.
	Cutting the board can be done using a jigsaw, or, if possible, a circular saw. Both of these tools allow cutting at the desired angle.
	The finished board should fit freely into the gap between the wall and the penultimate board.
	To pull the last board to the rest of the covering, a special tool is used - a hammer. It is installed in the gap between the last board and the wall with one of its sides, made in the form of a corner, and the other side of the tool is struck with a hammer. The tamping is carried out carefully, starting from the beginning of the board, then in increments of approximately 500 mm.
	After the board is lined, it should be fixed along the edge to the joists using vertical screws.
	Next, you can try on the baseboard - it should completely cover the gap between the wall and the covering. The plinth is attached only after the floors are brought to perfect condition.
	If the plank covering still has gaps at the joints, or cracks directly in the boards themselves, then the floors should be puttied. You can make your own putty from very fine sawdust and wood varnish. The consistency of the mass should resemble medium thick porridge. The putty is applied using a wide rubber spatula, with which it is literally rubbed into the gaps.
	If a high-quality board was used for the flooring, then it will be enough to sand it well using a hand sander. However, in some cases it is necessary to involve a scraping machine, which will not only scrape the board covering, but also grind it.
	After sanding, the floors need to be vacuumed thoroughly so that even fine dust does not remain on them. Next comes the application of varnish or paint. The decorative coating is applied in three or even four layers, each of which must dry well before applying the next. The better the varnish or paint is applied, the higher the abrasion resistance of the coating will be.
	The final stage is framing the covering with plinths. It can only be attached to the wall, that is, it should not limit the thermal expansion of the coating. First, a hole is drilled in the baseboard so that the head of the screw is recessed into the wood by 2÷2.5 mm. The remaining space above the cap is filled with putty, which is sanded after drying. Well, then the baseboard is coated with varnish (paint) using a soft brush.

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We hope that our article will be useful both in terms of choosing a material for a plank floor, and as instructions for self-installation of the covering.

And one more thing - a video is offered in which the masters not only share the secrets of the technology, but also warn about possible common mistakes.

Video: Installation of a plank floor - nuances and possible mistakes