Laying plywood on concrete under laminate. Leveling different types of floors under laminate. Video: leveling the floor with cement screed

Updated: 03/21/2019

The base for the laminate must be perfectly flat, otherwise during operation the panels will begin to creak and sag, and the locks will become loose. There are several ways to level a floor under a laminate, the choice of which depends on the type of base, the degree of its wear, time and financial constraints.

It is advisable to level a wooden floor only if both the boards and joists are in good condition, there are no rotten areas, wide cracks or other similar defects. If serious repairs are required, it is much easier to dismantle the floors to the rough screed and level them with concrete.

To prepare a plank floor for laying laminate you will need:

grinding or scraping machine;
wood putty;
roller and brushes;
primer;
plywood sheets, cement-bonded particle boards, gypsum fiber board or chipboard;
jigsaw;
roulette;
screws and a screwdriver.

First, the floor surface is carefully sanded or treated with a sanding machine.

Remove chips and dust, everything minor defects sealed with putty. Next, prime the base twice, dry it, and lay it on plywood or other selected material. Self-tapping screws are used for fastening, and the material is cut with a jigsaw. Now all that remains is to lay the flooring correctly.

Leveling a concrete floor

The easiest and cheapest way to level a concrete floor is grinding. If the concrete base does not have cracks, and the differences in height are no more than 5 mm, the surface is simply processed using a grinding machine or an angle grinder with an attachment.

Then clean the floor with a vacuum cleaner and prime it. This option is not suitable for heavily damaged screeds, low quality concrete and damp floors. In such conditions, leveling is carried out using dry or cement-sand screed, as well as ready-made leveling mixtures.

Leveling the floor with a self-leveling mixture

Cement-sand screed

To work you will need:

water and building level;
solution container;
cement;
sand;
rule;
slats for lighthouses;
trowel.

A new screed can be poured onto the previous one or directly onto the floor slabs. It depends on how badly the base is damaged. If the old screed has irregularities of more than 2 cm, but is durable, there is no need to dismantle it. Having decided on the base, proceed directly to leveling the surface.

Find the highest point of the floor and place marks on the walls using a water level; the marks are connected into a horizontal line using a beat.
The floor is cleaned of dust and debris, a layer of waterproofing and reinforcing mesh is laid, and beacons made of metal slats are placed on cement mortar. The distance between the beacons is about 1.5-1.8 m.
Installation of beacons. In the photo the floor is waterproofed, but no reinforcement was performed
Floor reinforcement with mesh. Beacons can be fixed with gypsum or alabaster quick-drying solutions
Check the horizontality of the slats with a building level.
Cement is mixed with sand in a ratio of 1:3, diluted with water to a paste-like consistency.
Pour the mixture between the beacons, starting from the far wall, and stretch it, as a rule, along the stripes.

A day later, the beacons are carefully removed from the concrete, a little cement mortar is mixed, and the resulting grooves are filled with it. Level the surface with a spatula, smooth out small cracks if necessary, and then cover the floor with film. For 28 days, the screed should be protected from drafts, direct sun rays and moisturize regularly. As soon as the moisture content of the concrete drops to 5%, you can lay the underlay and lay the laminate.

Dry screed

For dry screed you will need:

level;
slats for lighthouses;
damper tape;
GVL or plywood;
glue, screws;
expanded clay;
waterproofing film.

The base is pre-cleaned of debris, the cracks are sealed with a solution, and the surface is primed. When the floor is dry, work on the screed begins.

The finished floor level is marked on the walls.
Cover the base with waterproofing material, laying adjacent strips overlapping.
Using a solution, fix the beacon strips on the floor and check their horizontalness.
A damper tape is glued along the perimeter along the marking line.
The space between the beacons is filled with expanded clay, which is leveled using the rule.
Gypsum fiber sheets are laid on top of the expanded clay and tightly joined at the seams.
Having laid the first layer, proceed to the second: the sheets are covered with reverse side glue and lay it so as to cover the joints of the bottom layer.
Finally, connect the top sheets with the bottom screws.

Prefabricated dry screed

Quite often, the floor under the laminate is leveled using the dry screed method - on joists. In this case, the presence bulk materials is optional; they are used only when insulation is necessary.

For alignment you will need:

level;
roulette;
hacksaw;
perforator;
dowels;
timber logs;
Chipboard, plywood or gypsum fiber board;
waterproofing material;
damper tape.

First you need to determine the level of the finished floor and make markings on the walls. If the base is completely dry, you can do without a waterproofing layer, but if high humidity screeds it is mandatory.

The film is laid overlapping, placed slightly on the walls, and the edges of the material at the joints are taped for reliability.
The logs, pre-treated with a primer, are laid on the floor and leveled horizontally using wedges or pieces of wood. The logs are screwed to the screed with anchor bolts or using dowels, drilling holes with a hammer drill.
Sheathing sheets - chipboard, plywood, gypsum fiber board - are screwed onto the top of the logs with self-tapping screws in one or two layers.
The seams between the sheets are sealed with putty and sanded after drying.

Alignment

This leveling method cannot be called cheap, but it is the one that has the greatest advantages. Pouring the mixture is done quickly and does not require much physical effort; the surface also dries much faster than a wet screed. Such mixtures are used on rough foundations with height differences of up to 5 mm.

The base is cleaned and the most high point. Using a level gauge, make marks on the walls with a marker to which the floor should be filled. Next, the surface is primed and dried. If the concrete is not of the best quality, the primer is applied in two layers. After drying, a film is laid on the floor with an overlap on the walls. Now comes the most crucial moment - preparing the mixture. The dry mixture must be diluted with water in exactly the specified proportions, and only mechanically. An incorrect ratio of water and dry components or manual mixing will lead to delamination of the leveling mixture, the appearance of bubbles, and a decrease in the strength of the coating.

If the area is large, the filling solution is prepared in portions so that it can be used before it hardens. Fill the floor in sections, starting from the far corner. For leveling, use a special spatula - a squeegee, and then roll out the mixture with a roller with needles. Adjacent areas should be filled at intervals of no more than 10 minutes. After pouring, the floor is covered with film and left for at least 3 days. During drying of the polymer, it is necessary to exclude temperature changes, drafts, mechanical loads and vibrations.

Table. Self-leveling mixtures

Name	Drying time	Layer thickness	Consumption kg/m2	Price RUR/kg
Eunice Horizon universal	3-7 days	2-100 mm	3-4	236/20
BOLARS	4 hours	2-100 mm	3-4	239/20
Vetonit 3000	4 hours	1-5 mm	1,5	622/25
Perfecta Multilayer	2-3 hours	2-200 mm	7-14	312/20
Axton	3-4 hours	6-100 mm	14-16	150/25
Palafloor-303	4-6 hours	2-100 mm	1,4-1,6	308/20
GLIMS-S-Level	24 hours	2-5 mm	3	478/20

All of these methods allow you to create the most even base for laminate flooring. If the technology is followed during leveling, such a floor will not require overhaul 10-15 years.

Video - Leveling the floor under laminate

Video - Leveling the floor under the laminate with a prefabricated screed

Laminate is a rather demanding coating that requires a smooth and durable base. Changes in height, holes, tubercles, cracks that appear on rough floor, significantly reduce its service life. They cause unplanned additional loads on the locking connections of the planks. Even one hole on the base will create a “failure”, upon which you will bend the slats, testing the strength of the locking joints. Sooner or later this will lead to the appearance of visible cracks, loosening, and possibly breakage of the locks. Thus the service life flooring will be reduced, and the appearance from the very first day will leave much to be desired.

So what to do? There are two options: either apply traditional ways leveling the base, or use alternative methods, which level out Negative consequences from unevenness. Let's consider all these methods.

Using a Leveling Underlay

Let’s make a reservation right away: a suitable base for a laminate is considered to be a surface whose height differences do not exceed 2 mm/l.m. This acceptable standards curvatures at which the internal stresses of the coating are insignificant and do not lead to breakage of the locks. Exceeding these figures requires adjustment.

The easiest way to eliminate base unevenness is to use:

polyethylene foam;
foamed polystyrene;
extruded polystyrene foam;
polyurethane;
natural cork (option - from a mixture of cork and bitumen or rubber);
wood fiber boards.

Any substrates existing on the market can compensate for some unevenness of the base. The quality of the result depends on their density and thickness. For example, a regular polyethylene foam backing with a thickness of 2 mm levels the surface of the base to 1 mm/m.p. Wood fiber substrates "ISOPLAAT" or "Quiet running" are more effective. “ISOPLAAT” slabs with a thickness of 4 mm are able to compensate for differences of up to 3 mm/l.m., and with a thickness of 12 mm – as much as 5 mm/l.m.! Wood-fiber substrates “Quiet Run” have approximately the same abilities.

Leveling the base

If the differences exceed the capabilities of the substrates, then it is necessary to use more effective methods. The most common bases for laminate flooring are concrete slabs or wood floors. Each of these options requires its own approach.

Concrete surface

In most city apartments, the “subfloor” is formed by concrete slabs. To level such a base, follow the step-by-step instructions:

Prepare the base. Remove old coating, clean concrete slab from debris and dust. If there are deep cracks, holes, or chips, first seal them with cement mortar.
Prime the surface. Priming improves the adhesion of the finishing screed and concrete base. In some cases, it is advisable to use a waterproofing primer rather than a regular primer. This is relevant when renovating kitchens or ground floors located above damp basements.
Perform alignment. If the base is problematic, with large differences in height, then it is more practical to use a regular one. Prepare it yourself (the ratio of sand to cement is approximately 3:1) or buy a ready-made dry mixture. There should be enough water so that the consistency of the screed resembles very thick sour cream.
Install (preferably special metal profiles, which do not need to be removed after completion of work) in increments of 0.5-1 m. This increment may be larger if available long rule, and performs the screed physically strong man. Place the cement mortar between the guide rails, leveling the screed with the rule.
After the solution has hardened a little (2-3 hours is enough), the cement screed is further leveled with a foam or wooden trowel. Cement screed takes a long time to dry and gain strength. It is recommended to lay laminate on its surface no earlier than after 2 weeks.

If you don’t want to bother with a cement screed, there is a much more modern, albeit more expensive solution - to use.

Leveling mixtures are the easiest way to level a concrete floor

Dilute the dry mixture in water according to the instructions, and then simply pour it onto the base, leveling the solution with a spatula. To remove air from the mixture, roll the surface with a rubber spiked roller. This will make the surface smoother, without holes from small air bubbles on the surface. Mixtures harden much faster than cement screed, so proceed finishing The floor covering can be applied in just a few hours.

Wooden floors

Carry out the work according to the following plan:

Clean up existing wood flooring. Inspect the wood floorboards for cracks, crevices and other defects. All this needs to be eliminated with putty. , then inspect the logs and replace them if necessary. Re-fix the boards on the joists, preferably with self-tapping screws rather than nails - this is more reliable. During this operation, some parts may have to be replaced with new ones.
If there are significant bumps and irregularities on the wooden floor, the situation can be corrected (sanding). You can easily rent a sanding machine; you don’t have to buy new equipment for one-time work.
Level the wood floor.
After puttying and sanding, it is quite possible that your wooden floors are completely ready for use. Check the base with a level, if everything is in order, then the leveling is complete. If the unevenness is significant and it was not possible to correct them, it is necessary to lay sheets of plywood or OSB boards. Use material 15-20 mm thick.

OSB or plywood sheets are screwed to wooden floor using self-tapping screws, making sure that the edges of adjacent slabs are at the same level

There is another option - pour a self-leveling mixture on top. This must be done in the same way as when leveling concrete bases. In this case, you will get an even and smooth screed, ideal for installing the coating.

Replacing chipboard or fiberboard laminate with vinyl

If you do not want to carry out complex work, you can use the existing alternative to capricious material. This - the new kind floor covering, called "". It, unlike the usual dies made of chipboard or fiberboard, can be laid on an existing, not sufficiently level base.

The flexible version is available in the form of strips, each of which consists of two layers: the upper part is made of a mixture of polyurethane and aluminum oxide, the lower part is made of vinyl. The lower part is offset relative to the upper by a couple of centimeters, forming a free thin layer of vinyl around the perimeter. Adhesive smart tape is applied to it, thanks to which the planks are glued to each other at the ends. A “floating” floor structure is formed, without direct attachment to the base. Therefore, pits, bumps and cracks will not be “imprinted” on such a coating, unlike adhesive-based vinyl tiles.

Video: leveling the floor under laminate

A connection using a smart tape is called an adhesive lock, by analogy with Click and Lock mechanical locks. However, the adhesive joint is more elastic, so it will not break on uneven floors. For example, Allure Floor vinyl laminate can withstand base differences of up to 5 mm. In this case, the resulting coverage appearance no different from standard flooring or wooden parquet. And according to operational characteristics- even wins. Vinyl, unlike its wooden counterparts, is absolutely moisture resistant and much stronger, which is confirmed by a strength class of 42-43.

In this article we will look at how to properly lay laminate flooring on a concrete floor. Although the process itself is simple, some important nuances regarding the preparation of the base and the principles of installation of the coating itself, still has. Understanding them will give you the opportunity to do everything yourself necessary work and get high-quality results.

General provisions

Before you start working with the material, you should familiarize yourself with its structure and technical parameters. And if concrete is familiar to us, its strength and reliability are widely known, then it’s worth looking at laminate in a little more detail.

Laminate structure

Laminate is a “layer cake” made from several materials. Their names and purposes can be found in the table below:

Layer No.	Material name	Purpose and technical features
1	Melamine film	· Transparency. · Wear resistance. · Moisture-proof. Serves to protect the decorative design located underneath.
2	Paper with image	Can have almost any shade or pattern. It copes well with imitation of natural materials such as wood, stone, metal and even leather.
3	Chipboard	· Durability. · Durability. · Low thermal conductivity. It is the basis and is responsible for the shape of the product. It also has a special locking system at the ends, which makes it easy to install the laminate yourself.
4	Paper backing	Impregnated with a moisture-resistant composition and serves to stabilize the section.

Advantages

The above structure guarantees the following advantages:

A wide range of decorative ornaments on the front side, which makes it easy to select original design for your own home.

Strength sufficient to withstand the entire load, exerted on the floor covering.
Affordable price. Much lower than natural analogues, which it can successfully imitate.
Simple installation instructions due to the special locking systems mentioned in the table.
Possibility of wet cleaning.
Long service life.

Flaws

The need for a completely level base. The ideal base for laminate: concrete or plywood. But wood-laminated board is more expensive and requires additional installation work. Therefore, we are considering a more economical option for using cement screed.
Poor sound insulation. Eliminated using a special polymer substrate.

Installation work

Laying laminate flooring on a concrete floor begins with preparatory work that will help neutralize its few shortcomings.

Surface preparation

Let's figure out how to level a concrete floor under a laminate:

We examine the base for the presence of protrusions and hollows. To remove sagging and bumps, reinforced concrete is cut with diamond wheels, and the holes are filled with liquid cement mortar.
If, using a spirit level, we detect a slope of the surface by more than two millimeters, then it is carried out.

Advice: what is the best way to level a concrete floor under laminate?
It is recommended to use a self-leveling floor for this.
Its thin liquid layer will perfectly fill all the imperfections and create a coating that is ideal for any, even the most capricious, topcoat.

Now let's look at what to put under the decorative layer we have chosen:

First of all, we create a waterproofing coating. To do this, we spread rolls of plastic film so that each strip overlaps the adjacent one by ten centimeters. Then we glue all the joints with mounting tape.

Advice: It is not recommended to save on plastic film and purchase a product no thinner than two hundred microns.
Otherwise, there is a risk of damage to the waterproofing coating during the remaining installation work, which will significantly deteriorate its quality.

Now it is necessary to arrange sound insulation, as well as protect the laminate plates from walking on them. For this purpose, a softening polymer substrate is used. It is laid end-to-end without overlap and is also taped with construction tape.

This completes the preparation of the concrete floor for the laminate, and you can proceed directly to the installation of the products themselves.

Laying technology

We install the laminate on the concrete screed as follows:

Place the first section in the left corner of the room farthest from the door. At the same time, we insert special plastic wedges between it and the walls to maintain a technical gap.

Further actions depend on the locking system used in your chosen laminate and are described in the table below:

Name	Description	Image
"Click"	We bring the panel to the already positioned product at an angle of 60 degrees, insert it into the groove and press down until it clicks.
"Lock"	We place the panel horizontally against the already positioned product and forcefully push it onto the protruding “ridge”. If a section is tight, tap it with a rubber hammer until it is completely seated.

After we finish a row, we assemble the next one next to it and connect it to the already installed one. In this case, a checkerboard order should be observed between the planks for greater reliability of the structure.

So we methodically fill the entire room.

As you can see, the entire installation process is done without self-tapping screws and dowels, and diamond drilling of holes in concrete is not required.

Conclusion

Laminate has remarkable qualities and helps you create an attractive and practical floor covering on your own. Concrete is the best foundation for it, and properly carried out preparatory work guarantee durability. The video in this article will provide you with more information.

The video in this article will provide you with more information.

We looked at how to lay laminate flooring on a concrete floor, and now it won’t be difficult for you to do it yourself.

If you are planning to lay laminate flooring in your home, but the concrete base is far from ideal, then do not be upset, because regular plywood for the floor it can eliminate even gross imperfections in concrete; in this case, leveling the base can be done with your own hands. Note that in most apartments the difference in floor level can reach up to 100 mm, which is why it immediately becomes clear that ordinary flooring “on the forehead” will not bring the desired result.

If you plan to lay in your apartment parquet board or laminate, then the uneven surface will definitely have to be leveled.

Laminate is currently one of the most popular materials for creating high-quality flooring in residential premises. It's all explained affordable price, good thermal insulation qualities, ease of operation and long service life. And besides, a huge variety of options allows you to choose the material for almost any interior and apartment design.

If you ignore the leveling of the floor during installation, then after laying it, cracks will quickly form between the slats, into which debris and water will get in, which will ultimately lead to deformations.

Laminate is unpretentious to surfaces: it can be laid on a wooden floor, concrete base, linoleum or even old parquet. It is in those cases where the surface cannot be called ideal, and the process of leveling it takes quite a lot of time, then plywood sheets are laid as a base. Laying laminate on plywood improves the consumer qualities of the floor covering (for example, a layer of plywood, although slightly, increases heat and noise insulation).

What kind of plywood should be laid under laminate

When purchasing you should pay attention Special attention looks like plywood. At a minimum, you need a safe product that does not contain harmful components; can buy inexpensive option, but the main thing is that it is perfectly even.

There are three types of plywood:

FC is an acceptable option for use in residential premises;
FOF - due to its technical features used exclusively in industrial purposes;
FSF - has increased level moisture protection, but it contains components that are dangerous to humans, so this type can only be used when finishing kitchens, baths, bathrooms, and restrooms.

Plywood is made from wood coniferous species wood and birch. Coniferous option is more attractive to others positive properties, because it is almost not subject to rotting, but the glue used for its production contains components that are dangerous to humans. In our case, it is necessary to use birch plywood of the FK brand, which is divided into four classes: the smoothest and highest quality is class 1, and class 4 plywood will naturally be the lowest quality.

For laying plywood under laminate, the most the best option there will be grade 1-2 plywood; It’s better to look at each class in more detail:

almost complete absence of external flaws;
sometimes you can see inserts of veneer and knots on the surface;
the product contains a considerable number of cracks, knots and other defects;
the lowest quality class with a large number of defects, but, in any case, the gluing of sheets is done efficiently.

It’s easy to guess that plywood from group 4 is almost never purchased due to its low quality, and plywood from group 1 is not purchased when performing work on rough floors. The best option in terms of price and quality is class 2 plywood.

Laying plywood on a concrete base under laminate

The base for plywood is usually a concrete screed, which can harden in about a week. (this period must be waited for the layer to completely harden). A waterproofing layer is applied on top of the concrete screed, and only after that can plywood be laid. Note that it should have a thickness in the range of 1.2-1.6 cm.

The plywood must be cut into squares according to the intended areas, after which its sheets should be laid out over the entire floor area - this will allow the sheets to be adjusted to fit the entire area of the room. It is worth taking into account all the gaps between the plywood sheets: the size of the damper seams should be 8-10 mm, and the distance between the outer sheets and the walls should be 15-20 mm. Laying plywood on a concrete floor under laminate is carried out according to the principle brickwork, i.e. There should be a slight offset to avoid crossing at all four seams. After this, it is worth numbering all the sheets and drawing up a layout diagram.

The standard size of a plywood sheet is 125x125 cm, but it will be problematic for us to work with this size. If you bought plywood sheets of this size, then it would be correct to divide it into four parts - at the end you will get squares measuring 60x60 cm. This cutting of sheets will allow you to create the required number of damper seams, which are very important for compensating for deformations that occur during moisture and thermal expansion. And besides, small squares are not as susceptible to deformation as standard sheets measuring 125x125 cm.

Now, with the help of the drawn diagram and numbered sheets, you can begin the alignment process. Plywood glue is applied to the base of the floor, after which it is secured with screws along the perimeter and diagonally (the pitch between the screws should be 15-20 cm). After fixing the sheets, they are sanded using grinder or coarse sandpaper, which will remove all snags and burrs.

Now producing visual inspection sheets: they should not touch the walls, there should be gaps between the sheets, the surface should be checked by a level or rule (a difference of 2 mm is considered normal).

To complete the work, it is worth tapping the sheets with a hammer or wooden block: if an inhomogeneous sound is heard, then it is necessary to tear off the plywood and replace it, because such a sound indicates delamination from the base.

To summarize, we note that if the sheets are laid under a laminate, then it would not be amiss to install a heat-insulating layer - it will serve as a shock absorber and help hide minor unevenness in the coating.

People prefer to cover their floors with laminate more and more often. This material is easy to use and does not require much effort during installation. In addition, it is aesthetically pleasing and suitable for both residential apartments and private houses, as well as office premises. The covering is purchased for a lot of money, but it will be a pity to spend it if the floor creaks under your feet, or even worse, cracks. The cause of these troubles is uneven laying. Leveling the floor under the laminate can be done with your own hands.

Why do this?

Laminate is made on the basis of wood fiber boards and consists of layered plates that are assembled into a common floor surface using locking fixed connections. The plates are very rigid, so the base or load-bearing layer under the laminate must be level, otherwise the material is subject to stress and, accordingly, cracking.

In this case, the locks connecting the laminate slabs will also wear out quickly, and the seams may come apart. Therefore, the floor on which the covering will be installed must be prepared and leveled. According to the norm The curvature of the load-bearing layer should be 2 mm per 1 linear meter in all areas of the room.

The laminate slabs are leveled using the floating method, that is, they are not fixed to the base and substrate, so when the coating is folded into a single layer, there remains expansion joint. This explains horizontality - one of the important requirements when laying this coating. On uneven surface or with a slope, the floor will slowly move towards a lower part of the room, the plates will no longer be thermally deformed, since they will rest against one edge of the room at a slope, and will begin to collapse.

A very important circumstance is dryness of the base surface. Laminate does not like moisture, it delaminates and becomes unusable if water gets in. Therefore, when choosing methods for arranging the base for subsequent laying of the floor finishing coating these requirements should be taken into account.

Now there are high-quality slabs already coated with various compounds that protect against moisture, and even the locks between the laminate slabs have a thin layer of sealed glue, but under the laid coating it is still necessary to create conditions that exclude any moisture in the structure. The floor will delight you for many years.

Types and characteristics of the base

Leveling under the laminate is carried out on one of the following bases:

Concrete floors or cement-sand screeds;
Floor slabs in private houses or apartments;
Wooden floors on joists.

Methods for preparing screeds and slab floors are usually similar and have the same conditions. All require preparatory work. Concrete bases must be cleaned of dirt, the old screed and the old finishing coating, if any, must be dismantled. Damaged plank floors, damaged tiles, and screed are removed. If the floor is made of boards with mold, this subfloor should also be completely dismantled. Plywood sheets or chipboards installed on wooden joists should be checked for wet areas and delaminated edges.

Required tools:

A grinding or sanding machine, a respirator and headphones for working with scraping machine;
Roller or brush. These tools are used to apply primer to concrete and antiseptic to wood;
Roulette;
Building level;
A drill with a special attachment for mixing solutions or a construction mixer;
Screwdriver, self-tapping screws, PVA glue, construction gloves;
Beacons are construction slats that help level floors.

What is the best way to level?

To level concrete bases, screeds made of cement-sand mortars with various components are used. They are suitable for the first coat as they cover the main large cracks and uneven areas. But for the floor on which the laminate will be laid directly, another layer of mortar is needed, thinner for evenness and smoothness. Next, you should lay a substrate that provides thermal insulation. These floors are quite heavy and create a certain load on the floors. This should be taken into account in advance, assessing the possibility and feasibility of installing a given floor in each specific house or apartment.

To level concrete floors, self-leveling mixtures or, in other words, self-leveling floors are often used. When pouring the mixture, the coating becomes perfectly smooth, all small cracks are eliminated and the errors of the previous layer are leveled out. Suitable only for very smooth substrates.

Expanded clay is also used - a frequently used and lightweight material. The weight load on the floors from it is minimal. It has many positive properties: it maintains sound insulation, does not burn, is environmentally friendly, and does not enter into chemical reactions with the materials used in flooring. Expanded clay coating retains heat for a long time, is very durable, is not afraid of dampness and is relatively inexpensive. Preparation for laying the finished floor is carried out very quickly in time, since the material is dry.

There are also methods for dry leveling bases. For example, installation of wooden beams with measured spacing and laying on top of plywood, chipboard or OSB boards, as well as screed using Knauf technology with dry mortars. In the second case, a backfill of fine-grained expanded clay is made between the installed metal guides and then leveled with laid gypsum fiber boards (GVL). The surface is reinforced, insulated, and soundproofed. The only negative is that GVL slabs moisture-resistant, and it is necessary to cover them with a waterproof primer or use special waterproof ones.

For unevenness of no more than 4 mm, when minimal leveling is necessary and the laminate cannot simply be laid on the base, but more complex installations It is inconvenient and expensive to carry out structures; substrates are used. They come in several types: polyethylene, cork, cork-bitumen, wood-shaving coatings, polyurethane foam, polypropylene foam, isolon, foil.

The underlay is often used on already smoothed floors for better preservation the back side of the laminate slabs. The most inexpensive option is, of course, foamed polyethylene.

Preparing wooden floors for laminate flooring is a more difficult task and more expensive. According to installed new wooden joists Level the floor with plywood sheets, OSB or chipboard. The thickness of plywood sheets recommended for laminate is 12 mm. But if the old plank floor is still durable, not damp and suitable for subsequent installation, then partial restoration can be carried out and save a lot of money.

There are two ways to do this:

Sanding or machine grinding manually. Looping can be done when there are no serious irregularities on the boards. The second method is leveling by laying slabs of the same plywood, chipboard or OSB.
Applying putty. Suitable for wooden floors. The unevenness should be shallow; the putty should be applied in several layers. Each layer requires drying, so such repairs require a lot of time.

Basic methods

When preparing a concrete floor, work is carried out in two stages. First, using a tie ( cement-sand mortar) deep unevenness is eliminated, and then a self-leveling mixture is applied, giving a more even finishing surface. The work algorithm will be as follows:

In an apartment or in a private house, the first thing to do is remove all remnants of the previous coating, debris and paint stains from the concrete base.
Deep cracks are filled with a cement-based mixture.
The entire floor area in the room is treated with a primer mixture.
Using a building level, rack beacons are installed and reinforced with mortar.
A screed solution is prepared based on 75% sand, 25% cement M400.

The thoroughly mixed mixture is poured onto the floor, spreading to the beacon marks. The thickness of the concrete layer at its thinnest point should be more than 7 mm.
After the first layer has hardened, it is advisable to carry out additional priming.
Let the floor dry. When the solution has set, the beacon slats must be removed, and the voids under them filled with the solution and the surface allowed to dry again.
Cover everything with plastic wrap, which will retain moisture in the layer. The rough application can be considered complete. You must wait until the layer has completely hardened before moving on to the next step.

When preparing a self-leveling mixture, you should strictly follow the instructions and mix it with a special attachment for a drill or a construction mixer. You should pay attention to the shelf life of the product, as it is limited.
The concrete floor is poured with the mixture.
In three days the floor will be ready for laminate installation. To better preserve the panels, you can lay a backing.

Expanded clay is often preferred for its many positive properties. Sequence of preparation:

The floor surface is covered with a film extending onto the walls by 10-15 mm. The film is a waterproofing layer.
Then an edge tape is applied around the perimeter of the room; it indicates the height of the backfilled layer.
Sheets of gypsum fiber board or plywood are laid on the smoothed expanded clay, secured to each other with self-tapping screws and special glue. The sheets are laid out in a checkerboard pattern.
After laying the slabs, any substrate is laid down, and laminate panels are assembled on it.

Leveling a wooden floor under a laminate:

The degree of humidity in the room where the floor is laid should correspond to the humidity of the plywood sheets. It is necessary to wet them before laying them and leave them to dry in the given room. Sheets must be used no more than 50 mm thick.
Logs with a thickness of at least 3 mm are installed and secured with glue or self-tapping screws.
The plywood needs to be cut into squares with smooth edges and laid on the joists, joining the edges. The sheets should be laid in a checkerboard pattern and avoid joining four sheets at once. It is necessary to leave gaps of a few millimeters between the squares to maintain the temperature balance of the floor.

Cut the required holes.
Secure with self-tapping screws with invisible heads.
It is necessary to provide a double layer of material near the walls, so layers of gypsum fiber board or plywood near the walls are laid with a cut rebate.

Putty is an inexpensive way to level floors under laminate. By mixing sawdust and a mixture of putty based on PVA glue, you can cover a space with a large footage, spending very little time. This is done as follows:

Carry out preparatory work by cleaning the floor from dirt and dust. To prepare the mixture, dry sawdust must be kept moist so that it does not dry out quickly, as it will take moisture from the putty.
Next, you need to fill the floor with beacons from wooden slats or gypsum fiber sheets.

The space between them is filled with a solution of PVA, putty and sawdust. Multiple coats may be applied if required to fill and level gouges and cracks. Each layer must be given a drying time. The thickness of each layer should be 20 mm maximum. Pouring a new layer must begin only after the previous one has completely dried.
During the work process, you should constantly check the horizontalness of the poured surface with a building level.

Looping is a simple way to level plank flooring. The entire process is carried out using a scraper, and some difficult-to-reach areas will need to be treated with a manual scraper. If the condition of the floor is sufficiently satisfactory, when the boards are not seriously damaged, resort to this leveling option. The scraping machine will not be able to eliminate too obvious floor relief, but it will smooth out minor unevenness:

The room where the work will be carried out must be empty.
The floor is checked for defects. Cracks and chips are puttied, as well as various voids between the boards. You can fill them with sawdust. Damaged boards need to be replaced if necessary. Check that there are no protruding nails or staples. You can remove aged, peeling varnish with a wire brush. Next, the floor is passed through a sanding machine and thoroughly washed with water or pure alcohol. Give the wood time to dry.

Belts with sandpaper are threaded into the scraping machine (the grain of the paper is reduced with each new layer).
Start the process from corner to corner of the room with a snake. The next new strip should overlap with the previous one. When finishing the work, you should go through the scraping machine, moving parallel to the plank floor.

It is important not to forget to change sandpaper and clean it when using a scraping machine.
At the end of the work, the floor must be swept or thoroughly vacuumed, and then wiped with white spirit.
To preserve the back side of the laminate, you can lay any underlay.

How to fill it correctly?

Let's take a closer look at leveling screeds with self-leveling mixtures. These compositions are often called self-leveling self-leveling floors, seamless polymer floors. It must be remembered that dry self-leveling masses are poured into water, but not vice versa. Use a special attachment on a drill or construction mixer for mixing. The consistency is kneaded until all lumps disappear. Next, proceed to installation.

If the area of the room or even the entire apartment is very large, it is necessary to divide it into sections. At the same time, they are poured in one period of time - once you start work in the morning, do not postpone it to another day. Start pouring with high level grounds. For faster spreading, spatulas are used and help distribute the solution over the surface of the base.

The solidity of the filling of each section must be ensured high speed work, areas should not be allowed to dry out. When pouring a new part, joints must be made with a spatula and smoothly connected to the previous fill. To ensure that there are no air bubbles left in the solution, you should go over it with a toothed roller or brush.

There is a fill option tile adhesive under laminate It is advisable if, for example, after the last layer of the subfloor has dried, cracking appears or the areas between the beacons have dried unevenly. This happens if the preparation of the composition was carried out incorrectly, the beacons were installed incorrectly, or the screed was poorly aligned. Also, a layer of tile adhesive can raise the level of the floor. Cement-sand screed or self-leveling mixture have a minimum thickness of 4-5 cm, and if you fill them with a small layer, they can crack and peel off. That's why Leveling with glue in this situation is the best option.

To prevent the tile adhesive from peeling off, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the filling surface from the smallest particles of dust and dirt. Next, you need to prime the base for better adhesion and let it dry for as long as indicated in the packaging instructions. Then you need to mix the glue solution, following the manufacturer's instructions. To level with tile adhesive, you must use a wedge up to 3 meters long. The solution must be poured out in parts or completely, distributing it horizontally among the beacons with a wedge.

The primer helps the materials “grip” to each other, that is, it has high adhesion, which allows us to make the structure durable. The absorbency of concrete mortar is reduced due to primer compositions, thereby preventing its cracking.

Insulation

It has already been said above about some types of insulation, but let’s try to classify them and understand the principle correct installation in floor construction under laminate. When installing wooden floors using installed joists, you can select insulation of the appropriate thickness and lay it between them. For example, polystyrene foam, expanded clay or min. cotton wool Insulation in the form of slabs must be secured. Next, you should lay on top of the insulation plastic film which will create a vapor barrier. For a more even surface, chipboard, OSB or plywood sheets are installed, followed by laminate panels.

Concrete floors under laminate can also be installed with insulation along the joists. If leveling is necessary, you should think about how high the insulation layer should be. When pouring a new screed, a fraction of expanded clay is added to it or min. slabs are placed under the screed. cotton wool, polystyrene foam. Self-leveling mixtures should be used in cases where when there is absolutely no room for insulation and it can be no more than 1 cm. On concrete covering with a flat surface you can put sheets of gypsum fiber board, polyurethane foam, polyurethane foam, and isolon. The thickness should be no more than 2 cm. You can also lay a membrane with thermal insulation.

When installing a water floor metal-plastic pipes laid directly into the screed in a snake pattern over the entire area of the room. The height between the pipe and the laminate panels should be no more than 3 cm so that the heating can be felt.

There are three types of electric floor: cable (fits into sand-cement screed), infrared film, rod mats. It requires less space than a water one and is more accurately regulated in temperature.

Successful examples and options

Several examples of leveling surfaces for laying a floor with a finishing coating. An example of machine scraping of a wooden floor. Leveling sheets of plywood over wooden joists, insulating floors. Correct scheme laying plywood on joists in a checkerboard pattern with gaps between the sheets.

Leveling the base with the first layer of screed along the beacons. Step-by-step pouring of self-leveling mixture. Step-by-step technology dry expanded clay screed devices for leveling the floor for laying laminate flooring. Laying a polyethylene backing under the laminate.

From all of the above, we can conclude that it is imperative to carry out work on leveling the floors before laying the laminate. The service life of the floor will depend on high-quality work done with your own hands and correctly selected materials.

To learn how to level a laminate floor, see the following video.