The use of plywood is rightfully considered an economical and well-established method of leveling the floor surface in wooden buildings. Dry screed using sheet material does not require incredible labor costs and does not require significant financial investments. There are no noticeable technological interruptions in the process that delay the finishing process. But there are nuances that an independent performer needs to know about. Before you begin the planned repair, you should find out how to level a wooden floor using plywood sheets in order to avoid unwanted and very expensive alterations.

How to form flawlessly flat surface Using factory adjustable systems, the videos will be demonstrated in great detail. The video is aimed at owners of city apartments with concrete floors.

Fundamentally, the method of installing adjustable joists with plywood or plywood sheets with anchor posts on wooden base does not differ from the scheme of their installation over cement slabs.

If the owner of a country bathhouse has a surplus Money, he may well use ready-made adjustable kits. Leveling in the recreation room, billiard room or dressing room will be carried out quickly and without special effort. However, we certainly won’t classify adjustable plywood and joists as cheap methods. Let's better explore budget options.

Methods and techniques for leveling with plywood

Choice optimal technology Leveling a wooden floor with plywood determines the condition of the floors and the degree of deviation of the surface “relief” from the norm specified by the construction requirements:

• with a difference in height levels of 2 mm found on an area of ​​1 m2, even for laying linoleum, which is extremely sensitive to deviations, leveling is not required. A completely sufficient measure would be treatment acrylic sealant or puttying with a homemade mixture of moistened sawdust and PVA glue;
• with uniform deformation of correctly laid floorboards with a difference in height levels of 5 mm, leveling the floor with plywood can be done by attaching the sheets directly to the plank floor;
• height differences of more than 1 cm, but not more than 8 cm require the creation of point or strip supports. Essentially, the process consists of constructing a sheathing from timber or from slabs replacing solid logs, for the manufacture of which thick plywood or boards are used.

Correct laying means that the builders alternated boards with different directions of the pattern of annual rings of wood in accordance with technological requirements. This means that bulges-humps or concavities-boats on the floor appeared through one or two boards.

If it is not possible to level a wooden floor without problems with your own hands due to too large fluctuations in height, the structure must be disassembled and built from new lumber. Such serious deviations probably have no less serious reasons.

It is important to note that plywood can be used for dry leveling only if technical specifications no complaints about gender.

How to determine differences in height?

A laser device is a great thing, but the quality measuring tool in this case, a two-meter level gauge will be more effective. With its help it is more convenient to study the surface. It is necessary to mark the points in the corners of the room being repaired, find and mark the centers of the lines where the floor and walls meet, and the center of the room. Having divided the room into specific segments, it is necessary to examine each area. Evaluating the recorded results will paint a picture of the upcoming repair.

Regardless of the scope of the work to be done, inspection and repair of the foundation must be carried out. It is necessary to eliminate the creaking, update the fasteners, replace damaged elements, and check the functionality of the “underground” communications.

Method #1 - “the simplest” without installing lag

Before laying plywood, it is necessary to provide the opportunity to “get used to” the conditions of the upcoming service. Material intended for arranging a regularly heated room needs to stand on the edge for a couple of days where it will be laid. In a room not spoiled by constant, moistened warm water The sheets should stand for at least a day.

All wood floor elements and dry screed materials based on wood veneer or fibers are pre-treated with an antiseptic.

The easiest way to level a floor with plywood is the method without installing joists. Installation of a support beam is not required, since its function will be adequately performed by the evenly distributed tubercles of curved floorboards. In addition to plywood, suitable for such leveling are: CBPB slabs or GVL.

There is no point in leveling a wavy, deformed fiberboard floor. The material will sag during use and repeat all the grooves with tubercles of the rough base.

For a plank floor with floorboards up to 20 cm wide, each of which “swells” evenly, we will buy plywood 8-10 mm thick. If a board more than 20 cm wide was used for flooring, and also if not every floorboard rests with a convex “hump” on a plywood sheet, sheet material will be required with a thickness of 18-20 mm.

The sequence of actions for leveling the subfloor using plywood:

• We will place bosses along the perimeter of the repaired floor to form a mandatory two-centimeter distance from the walls.
• We lay plywood sheets with a gap of 3-8 mm between them to absorb movements caused by moisture fluctuations. When laying several rows, we imitate brickwork. That is, we place the slabs next row with an offset to the previous slabs. There should not be a cross-shaped intersection of four butt seams at one point. Minimum size offsets – a quarter of a sheet, maximum half.
• We attach them to the “ridges” of the boardwalk at the points with the maximum height established during the preliminary examination. We try to distribute the attachment points evenly, focusing on the distances between the convexes identified as a result of measurements.

It is recommended to drill holes for fasteners in advance in two steps. First you need to use a drill whose size is equal to the diameter of the screw. Then you need to make a hole with the diameter of the cap so that it can be completely recessed in the plywood sheet. The dowels along the perimeter of the plywood sheet should be at least 2 cm away from the edge.

Sheets of plywood with one-sided roughness, intended for subsequent laying of the final coating, are recommended to be laid with the unsanded side up to improve the adhesion of the coating to the leveling layer. It is better to turn the sanded side if you plan to simply mask the screw heads with acrylic sealant and open the plywood with varnish on top.

Method #2 - with a tape support device

The technology consists of constructing a sheathing of longitudinal joists and crossbars arranged in one horizontal plane. The perimeter logs are placed at a distance of 3 cm from the walls. The laying step of the longitudinal components of the frame system being constructed determines the size of the plywood sheet. Usually its values ​​vary from 40 cm to half a meter.

Example - if the side is 152.5 cm, then the optimal distance between the axes of both the joist and the crossbars will be 48 - 50 cm. If the side is 122.0 cm, it is recommended to leave 37 - 40 cm between the axes of the support beam.

Step by step guide:

• Let's start with fitting. Lay out the plywood without fastening, holding standard scheme brickwork and ensuring clearances. Let's outline the outline of the slabs, these lines will become guides for future markup lag location Don't forget to number the sample sheets.
• Using the markings made on the floor, we first install the joists along the walls. Optimal material for the installation of strip sheathing under plywood, a square beam with a side of 40 to 60 cm is considered, variations are allowed. If it is undesirable and not necessary to raise the floor too much, joists can be made by cutting plywood into strips, or using second-grade boards.
• We install transverse jumpers with a step calculated according to the dimensions of the sheet. They are attached to the joists with self-tapping screws, preferably using metal corners.
• We align the logs and transverse elements vertically in a single plane according to the readings of the level gauge. Those wishing to find out how to properly level the surface of an old wooden floor should adhere to the requirements specified in SNiP number 3.04.01-87. According to this collection of standards, it is prohibited to drive wedges made from leftover lumber under the joists. Leveling is done by adding sand, in case of minor deviations by laying roofing material or roofing felt. Most often, they achieve a single plane of lags by placing them under wooden spacers type point supports.
• After leveling, the joist system is attached to the base with galvanized metal corners; dowels, the length of which is three times the thickness of the joist, can be used to fix the sheathing.
• We complete the leveling by laying and fastening the plywood.

The space between the joists can be filled with additional insulation or a homemade screed made from wet sawdust mixed in half with PVA glue.

Apply the mixture, the consistency of thick sour cream, in two or three layers and wait for it to completely harden for two days. In such cases, you can buy thinner plywood for leveling.

Method #3 - alignment with a mini-lag device

It is used to level floors with a slope and with significant differences in heights of up to 8 cm. It consists of installing slats and wooden pads in order to create a unified support system for plywood. Without accurate engineering calculations, it will be extremely difficult for the contractor to cope with a very difficult task.

First you need to try it on, and then, using the lines marked on the floor, carefully calculate the size of each support element. It is necessary to calculate the height and select dimensions very carefully, since all elements of the supporting structure will be different.

Method #4 - with point support sheathing

The point method consists of installing individual supports-slabs, cut from a board, OSB boards or the same plywood. The thickness of the block is selected in accordance with the difference between the created flat surface and the actual level. Ultimately support system should form a kind of mesh that replaces the strip sheathing.

Since in terms of reliability and stability it is inferior tape type, the shabby linings are installed in smaller increments. You should get some kind of cells with an imaginary square size of 30 cm for sheet material up to 14 mm thick, 45 cm for thick plywood.

And don’t forget about providing underground ventilation! After removing and installing the baseboard, you need to drill ventilation holes at pre-existing locations. Cover the holes with a ventilation grill.

Have you figured out the best way to level your wood floor with plywood? There's little to do, all that remains is to prepare morally and technically and begin implementing plans. Surely everything will work out great, because there will be no special difficulties repair procedure has no idea.

Wooden floors can look very attractive and beautiful, and they retain heat well. However, a significant drawback is the frequent and easy subsidence and formation of cracks on it. Only special treatment methods help to cope with these problems and prevent their occurrence in the future.

Peculiarities

The need to level a wooden floor is often driven not only by the desire to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but also to improve the comfort of life. It is very inconvenient and sometimes unsafe to walk through rooms where different parts of the floor have different heights. It should also not be forgotten that Improving the properties of the floor extends its service life and allows you to resort to repairs less often. major renovation , spend less money on replacing damaged boards and planks. All hard floors have a clear design scheme, and if it is broken, it will not perform its functions. Wear and tear are accelerating sharply, and in the near future you will need to again solve the problem of arranging a new flooring.

You can level the floor in various ways, but you should choose them not for simplicity or convenience, but for practicality in specific circumstances. Laying plywood is often practiced, but similar results can be achieved using putties based on PVA glue and self-leveling mixtures. Very strong distortions in the geometry of the floor in a house or apartment will have to be eliminated by creating logs.

It happens that removing the previous coating is very difficult or even impossible without complete destruction designs. Then you need to leave them in place and level the floor with a plane or grinding machines. This situation most often arises in private homes, since even if wooden floors are made in apartments, they are much more advanced.

When sanding, a huge amount of dust is inevitably generated, so it is necessary to take special measures so that it does not get into neighboring rooms or damage furniture and other valuable property.

Laying sheet materials

A crooked floor can be corrected using plywood sheets, and with the most in a simple way no need for lags at all. The perimeter of the walls is framed with bosses (they will allow you to maintain a gap of 20 mm without constantly picking up a tape measure). Between sheets of plywood intervals of 0.3-0.8 cm should be left, so that at the first slight movement or increase in temperature the rough layer is not deformed. The sheets should be placed staggered; all subsequent sheets are shifted by half compared to their predecessors.

It is imperative to secure the sheets with self-tapping screws, and it is best to immediately make holes in the right places. In another method, the perimeter of the room is filled with logs, resulting in a strip base. The spacing and spacing are done according to the same principles, but be sure to first lay out the sheets without securing them, and just look at the result. This will make it clear whether there is enough material and whether its dimensions are correctly estimated. All those blocks that must be applied in the next step are numbered.

Cross bars you need to secure it with self-tapping screws, then check the evenness of the installation of the joists and supports, after which the frame is already attached to the base. Now you can lay and fasten plywood, and laminate or linoleum on top of it. Plywood can also be laid on top of point supports “coats”.

The size of each block is determined by how uneven the floor in a given room is. You need to place pads more often, since their reliability is less than that of joists. The basic scheme of actions is the same, the difference is expressed only in geometry. When a leveler (grinding machine) is used to correct individual defects Be sure to wear gloves and a respirator for maximum protection.

If parquet is to be laid on top and the joists are creaking, professionals often recommend filling them with a screed containing expanded clay. This solution is suitable no matter how insulated your home is. As an option, you can make a screed under sheet materials on top of an insulating or soundproofing layer. There is nothing as a lining under the main layer of the floor better than plywood, and chipboard, and even OSB inevitably lose to it. When using a slab, it is impossible to use it, like plywood, as a front covering in extreme cases.

Chipboards have a very important advantage - they are noticeably cheaper and, despite all the economical design, make it possible to make it as convenient and high-quality as possible. Work begins with fastening the products to the beams, the cross-section of which may not be significant, only 30 mm. Each beam is leveled horizontally and fixed to the old foundations. After 800 mm they are attached to the boards using self-tapping screws. If you make the interval longer, the coating may bend.

For chipboard, the mandatory compensation distance from the walls is 20 - 30 mm. The panels are laid staggered, shifting them by 0.4 m (not strictly), and mutually adjacent sheets can only be shifted in the middle of the beam, otherwise sagging will occur.

If you use a tongue-and-groove variety of slabs, you can avoid making any gaps and form a monolithic layer.

Screed

Leveling with screeds is very old trick, but still quite effective. Professionals believe that expanded clay is no less suitable for this than cement-sand mortar. Moreover, such a solution turns out to be easier and reduces the specific load on the floors. Even in private houses this is very important, but there is no question of apartments. To prepare the solution, take part M400 category Portland cement, three parts sand and eight parts expanded clay. The beacons are placed 0.5-0.6 m from each other, and enough mortar is poured over them to create a screed of 80-100 mm.

To make the base even, you will have to cover it first with polyethylene, wrapping the ends of the film onto the wall just above the expected thickness of the layer. The material is laid overlapping, and all its borders are covered with construction tape for maximum strength. A reinforcing masonry mesh (raised 30 - 40 mm above the base) must be used. There should be two layers, the solution must be compacted and its outer surface leveled. If you don’t want to prepare the screed yourself, use one of the standard expanded clay concrete mixtures, which are not too difficult to find on sale.

Sanding and putty are more advanced than pouring; they will help cope with minor deformations, but if you want to eliminate major defects, you will still have to use sheet materials.

Always first analyze the actual condition of the floor and its base, and only then choose a method for forming a tension structure.

Mixtures

Self-leveling mixtures are better than regular screeds in that they spread by themselves and form a layer of the same thickness. There is no need to make any effort, you just need to strictly follow the technology. The slightest irregularities and depressions will be covered. But a very uneven floor cannot be corrected in this way, because highest height pouring the mixture – 20 mm. If there are more defects, you will have to use logs.

Floor levelers are divided into two key groups: the first is intended for rough finishing, and the second is for finishing, allowing you to lay any kind of coating. The basic properties are imparted by gypsum or cement, to which mineral and polymer components are added to guarantee increased mechanical resistance. It is easy to recognize a coarse leveler; it is always a mixture with large grains, and the fraction determines how thick a layer of the mixture can be applied to a sagging floor without fear of cracking.

The final mixtures become more plastic upon contact with water and can be easily distinguished by their accelerated spreading. First, the surface is cleaned and sanded, then a primer is applied to the subfloor (preferably compounds that are not afraid of moisture and can penetrate deeply). Then waterproofing (polyethylene) is applied, covered with a reinforcing mesh (fixed as carefully as possible), and only then the final mixture is poured. To smooth out differences and remove air from the layer, use studded rollers. How long you need to wait for the result depends on the specific composition used.

Leveling with self-leveling mixtures allows you to abandon the use of beacons and save a lot of time.

But on the other hand, a problem may be a lack of experience or poor knowledge about a specific drug. After all, if you violate the basic rules of its use, the expensive product will be wasted pointlessly.

Mastic (rubber, bitumen or polymer) is most often used if there is no need for finishing coverings. In addition to leveling the wood, it allows you to focus on its color, relief, and shine. Improves protection against moisture penetration and solar lighting, from mechanical defects. An alternative is often to use putty, which is made homemade from PVA and sawdust. The resulting composition is very cheap and at the same time very durable, capable of filling absolutely all the cracks and unnecessary gaps of old floors.

Please note that when laying laminate, such a solution does not guarantee the required strength, so you will have to put sheet materials on top. Most often, the filling is done several times, but they wait until the previous layer dries.

Suitable over rough coating lay the front sheet layer, screwing it to the base using self-tapping screws. They will help strengthen areas that are not tightly adjacent to the joists.

Before you start pouring any mixture, prepare your tool. You will definitely need a cooking container required composition, as well as a hammer drill or drill with mixing attachments. Using a notched trowel up to 100 mm long, roll out the layer until it is even and thin. The size of the spatula teeth must correspond to the size of the layer being processed. Single large gaps will be filled correctly polyurethane foam, and not resort to other methods of leveling, and do not give up filling.

Looping

Putty helps cope with minor irregularities, the composition of the mixture is just sawdust and polyvinyl acetate glue. The labor costs will be relatively small, and the created base makes it possible to lay laminate, linoleum and even the best types of parquet on top. There is no need for logs and other auxiliary structures, which makes the work much easier.

They begin by removing the existing coating and thoroughly cleaning it from all contaminants. Next, the surface will need to be sanded, and all those boards that sag under load or creak will need to be reinforced with self-tapping screws. They do the same with lags; then they nail down slats that will act as beacons. Only after all these steps can you apply the putty and level it using the rule.

The applied composition will dry in approximately 48 hours; Once you are convinced of this, you can begin the next work.

Using a plane, it is easy to remove a slab, a depression that has appeared somewhere locally. If the board is concave, instead of tooling, elastic putties, sealants or pastes based on a combination of PVA and wood flour are used. Please note that processed mechanically substrates must be protected with varnishes or enamels from further destruction.

Sanding works well only if the floor has not dried out, is not swollen, or has not been invaded by wood-gnawing beetles. If any of these problems exist, the damaged areas will need to be either replaced or repaired. Not only surface grinders, but also drum parquet sanders help to quickly carry out processing. But in hard to reach places It is more correct to use hand cycles or angle grinders; their characteristics in such cases are invaluable.

The liquid separator, sometimes used instead of films, should not form an oily crust. Therefore, when choosing it in preparation for scraping or another method of leveling the floor, you need to make sure that the substance will be well absorbed.

Having completed all the work correctly, you can be sure that the wooden floor will become perfectly smooth, various irregularities will disappear and will not affect the quality of the new coating.

How to determine the condition of a wooden floor in a house

Before laying laminate, parquet or linoleum, you should assess the condition of the wooden floor and level it.

Before leveling the surface, the floor should be cleared of any residues. concrete covering, dust, etc. it is also necessary to eliminate all cracks and holes. Thanks to this, you can prevent material leakage and premature wear of the coating.

Alignment and adjustment can be done in any of these ways:

• Looping
• Self-leveling mixture
• Plywood
• Glue and sawdust

Only after analyzing the condition of the boards can you choose suitable option. First of all, the boards should be examined for susceptibility to rot and the presence of insects. The main enemies of wood are insects that lay eggs in it, destroying the organic structure of the material.

Moreover, insects, multiplying, can destroy a tree in a few years, turning it into crumbling dust. The boards should be treated with a special solution to get rid of bark beetles.

It is worth noting that a wooden floor does not necessarily have to be damaged; perhaps the boards are simply worn out. In such situations, the floor in the house remains strong, free from insects and rot, but with some unevenness. You can lay laminate flooring, but it won't last long.

How to level a wooden floor?

Scraping is the best option if the boards are “worried”. This option is only possible if the floor is horizontal. The advantage of sanding is that this procedure not only levels out, but also emphasizes the structure of the tree, refreshing the cut.

The disadvantages of this method include the laboriousness of the process and the expensive rental of a scraping apparatus.

Cycling is necessary in a protective mask or respirator, overalls and headphones that will protect you from loud noise.

Such processing includes the following steps:

• driving nails a couple of millimeters below floor level
• protecting furniture from dust
• processing by device
• putty (using acrylic putty desired color large cracks should be hidden)
• final processing by scraping machine

It is best to start from the far corner of the room. After completing the last stage, dust should be collected with a vacuum cleaner and treated with a special solution. Now the floor is ready, it can be varnished or laminate floored.

Leveling a wooden floor in a house

When leveling, use plywood. Using it will allow you to correct minor defects and significant horizontal deviations.

The following stages of adjustment with plywood are provided:

• markings are made on the walls (a laser level is used)
• “beacons” are made with self-tapping screws
• The logs are attached using glue (plywood or timber will do)
• plywood sheets are placed (plywood is sawn into 4 parts)
• During final installation, the plywood is secured to the joists with countersunk self-tapping screws

After completing the work, you should carefully inspect the attached plywood. Any damage and delamination of the material will lead to problems during installation of laminate or any other covering.

The following nuances should be taken into account here:

• In order for the chipboard to “get used” to the humidity of the room in which it will be located, bring the sheets into the room for several days
• Under plywood sheets you can hide cables and communications
• Plywood can be used as finishing coat or as a basis for laying laminate, linoleum or carpet
• If you have installed logs, the level can be increased to 10 cm

How else can you level it?

To level the boards, you can install plywood directly to the floor. The support in this case will be the “waves” of the boards and the highest drop points.

Correct alignment with plywood:

• Ideally, the width of the boards is 10-12 cm. Then you will need a plywood board about 10 mm
• Otherwise, you need to purchase plywood with a thickness of more than 10 mm

If the room has high humidity, then ordinary plywood will not work. To level the boards, you should choose a moisture-resistant material.

Sheets of plywood are attached directly to the floor with self-tapping screws. Treat the joints with acrylic sealant.

Adjustment with glue and sawdust

The most commonly used leveling method before laying laminate flooring is the use of sawdust and glue (putty method). The initial components are inexpensive, and the putty itself, after hardening, becomes durable and resistant to external influences. The mixture is prepared from sawdust and glue.

Leveling steps:

• installation of slats by level
• filling the space between the slats with sawdust (each layer is poured only after the previous one has completely dried)
• checking the surface using a level
• laying laminate after complete drying

Most often, this mixture dries in two days. It is worth noting that for some coatings, putty made from sawdust and glue is not reliable enough, so it is better to lay plywood or other suitable material on top.

Self-leveling mixture - a universal means for floor correction

In situations where defects need to be corrected not in order to varnish it, but in order to lay another floor covering, a self-leveling mixture is one of the most convenient and practical ways. After treatment, the floor will acquire a perfectly smooth surface, and all flaws and cracks will be eliminated.

Despite its name, leveling flooring with a self-leveling mixture is quite difficult process. This method is also one of the most expensive.

Solutions of this class consist of polymer materials, which contributes to almost instantaneous leveling and smoothing of the new coating.

Before you begin the leveling process, you must carefully prepare the surface. Filling should be done carefully and quickly.

The main phases of adjusting the floor in this way:

• movable boards are secured, nail heads are driven in
• the surface is cleaned
• primed
• walls are prepared, the level is determined
• lined with a special reinforced mesh(used for fastening construction mesh) - this will allow you to extend the service life of the coating
• the solution is poured onto the reinforced floor and processed with a spiked rubber roller
• leveled with a smooth special brush
• the surface is dried

When using this method, it is worth remembering that the floor level will rise. This factor should be taken into account, especially if laminate flooring is subsequently laid on it.

Leveling a wooden floor with a cement screed

Experienced experts are of the opinion that if the wooden floor is strong enough or was originally laid for subsequent leveling, you can use cement screed floor.

This method will make a rough surface with large differences almost perfectly flat.

In order to level an old wooden floor with cement, you must:

• the surface of the wooden floor is covered with a waterproofing compound
• After the layer has dried, lay polyethylene film or roofing felt. It would be correct to do this with an overlap
• a new surface is measured with a level
• beacons are laid out
• Next, prepare the cement mixture

Alignment in this case will not be difficult: cement mortar placed on the beacons, then leveled towards the door with metal slats.

The subsequent layer of self-leveling mixture will be applied easily.

However, there is a risk of breaking the base boards with the heavy cement mixture. In this case, you will have to remove the coating and re-fill the floor. Next, use layers of foam or expanded clay.

Providing ventilation

Regardless of the leveling method, it is necessary to provide for ventilation of the floor boards in advance. This will allow you to prevent mold, mildew and various types of pests from appearing on the surface.

Previously, for these purposes, a hole was drilled on the surface into which a decorative lattice was fixed.

As an option, install ventilation to the wall and install a decorative grille there.

If you notice something similar during leveling, do not rush to cover it up or cover it.

Leveling the floor without tearing off the boards: how to choose the most profitable method

Before you start leveling the floor, you need to decide which of the proposed options will be relevant and beneficial for you. This is determined based on the following criteria:

• Leveling capability
• The need to level the wood flooring
• Relatively low cost of good quality material
• Labor intensity of repair work

Leveling the wooden floor will make the log house reliable, durable and of high quality. After processing wood using any of these methods, the floor will not sag, and the surface will be smooth and without cracks.

It is useful to watch a video before performing all the manipulations that describes all the stages and nuances of alignment wooden floors without tearing the board.

You can, of course, do all the work yourself. If you have weighed all the pros and cons, you can come to the conclusion that a specialist will do it faster and with better quality. In this case, the YouDo service will come to your aid, offering the services of professionals with extensive experience.

Ordering services from specialists

The leveling of wooden floors is assessed based on several criteria:

• Is it necessary to dismantle the boards?
• Application of floor insulation
• The presence of another waterproofing layer
• Cost of leveling material

Over time, the boardwalk sags, creaks, and cracks, sags, and slabs form. In order not to dismantle the coating, we use various techniques surface leveling, which we will discuss in the article.

Dismantling is labor-intensive, expensive and dirty. If the solid is good, strong, without traces of rot or mold, and the size of the differences and cracks does not exceed a few centimeters, then the floor can be leveled using the following methods:

1. Local alignment.
2. Looping.
3. Dry prefabricated screed.
4. Self-leveling liquid formulations or screed mixtures.

How to determine what is best to level the floor? The simplest thing is to measure differences with a level or a control measuring rod 2 m long. According to SNiP 3.04.01-87 (SP 29.13330.2001), the amount of unevenness should not exceed 2 mm per meter of base.

If the differences are local, that is, on small areas slabs and depressions have formed, then the protruding boards can simply be cut off with a plane or any other suitable tool, and concave ones - level with elastic putty, sealant or homemade paste made from PVA and wood flour. After treatment, the surface must be protected with varnish or enamel.

In cases where differences do not exceed 1 cm on average across the entire floor, you can use a parquet sander to remove excess millimeters of wood. This method, although dusty, is quite fast. It is better to rent a professional device and then purchase it Consumables and in 1-2 days renew the old wooden floor for further varnishing or painting. There is only one limitation - after processing, the height of the wood layer from the surface to the tongue must be at least 2-3 mm.

For more significant differences, sheet or cement-sand screed is used. In the first case, the means of smoothing are sheets of chipboard, plywood, OSB, GVL, DSP and others. In the second - traditional wet leveling with the obligatory use of a separating waterproofing layer.

How to level a wooden floor using sanding

You will need the following tools and materials:

Wooden floorboards must be dry, durable and clean. The permissible gap between them is no more than 5 mm. All metal elements must be removed or recessed into the floor to the intended grinding depth.

Work begins with filling with abrasive coarse-grained nozzles, and a special screw regulates the clamping force of the device. Experts recommend that the first treatment be carried out along the fibers. You need to move smoothly, without haste, jerking or excessive downtime. After several passes, the belt is replaced with a finer sanding material.

The next strip should begin with an offset of 2/3 relative to the previous one. As wear occurs, the sanding attachment is replaced with a new one.

It is recommended to complete grinding on a belt with a grain size modulus of at least 240 units. Only in this case the leveled floor will be smooth, almost perfect. Subsequently, the surface can be treated with a primer or stain, putty and coated with any protective composition– oil, varnish, wax or enamel.

More detailed information by loop.

Leveling the floor with a dry screed

For minor differences in height up to 1 cm, the wooden flooring can be leveled with any rigid sheet material - chipboard, OSB, plywood and others. Soft analogues like hardboard or substrate are not suitable, as they take the shape of the base.

For leveling, slabs with a thickness of at least 8 mm are used. Optimal - 16-18 mm. In especially difficult cases, professionals recommend a two-layer flooring with seams offset by ½ or 1/3 of the sheet width. Such an overlap will ensure the reliability and durability of the structure.

If the boards creak, then it is advisable to tighten them to the joists or base before work. Plywood, chipboard, OSB are screwed to the base along the perimeter and crosswise, the interval between fasteners should not exceed 30-40 cm. It is not necessary to monitor the symmetry of the fixation points, since this is a subfloor. There is no need to lay anything between the plank flooring and the leveling slab. The only recommendation is to treat the materials with an antiseptic primer to eliminate any possibility of mold and mildew.

Advice! It is not advisable to use nails to fix plywood or chipboard. Materials may crack or splinter. The best decision– self-tapping screws.

With significant differences - more than 1 cm - the most optimal solution consists in forming an analogue of adjustable or raised floors. The bottom line is that suitable hardware is installed in the floorboards in increments of 10-20 cm, forming a new support above the floor. Height is determined by level. See the video below for more details.

If there is a need to do additional insulation, then the technology of flooring using joists is used:

1. Logs are attached to the boards. If necessary, pieces of plywood or wood are placed under the bars.
2. A diffusion membrane or complex vapor-waterproofing is laid on top of the finished frame.
3. Suitable insulation is placed in the gaps ( expanded clay backfill, mineral or ecowool, coniferous boards and others).
4. The structure closes at the top vapor barrier material with an overlap of 15-20 cm. The joints must be taped with adhesive tape.
5. Laying GVL slabs, tongue-and-groove chipboard and others. The sheets are attached with self-tapping screws or studs to the joists in increments of 30-40 cm.

Remember that with wood you should only use those materials whose vapor permeability coefficient is greater than zero. Insulation materials such as extruded polystyrene foam and polyethylene foam will not allow the wood to “breathe”, which will lead to the appearance of mold and areas of rotting.

Since plywood, chipboard, OSB are derivatives of wood, these materials are characterized by seasonal fluctuations linear dimensions. Therefore, it is advisable to leave a compensation gap at the wall of at least 5 mm.

You can often hear the advice “don’t bother with fasteners, glue the sheets to the wood.” Such “specialists” forget that carpentry or structural adhesive is not a filling agent, so there will be emptiness in places where there are gaps. Any adhesive composition (with the exception of adhesive sealants) is an adhesive compound that binds two components into a single whole. Therefore, the recommendation is relevant only for floors with minimal and very rare differences.

Leveling boardwalks using self-leveling compounds

Cement or gypsum-based slurries are not often used to create a level floor on a wooden base. The reason is simple - long term drying and many problems that arise (cracks, peeling, etc.). In addition, mineral mixtures, including thin-layer ones, weigh a lot and create large loads on the load-bearing frame of the house.

Not all compounds are suitable for wood flooring. Only those whose labels indicate plywood, chipboard, or boards as bases. But it’s better to play it safe and lay between layers waterproofing material, capable of protecting wood from water, preventing its rotting and swelling.

The thickness of the cement-sand screed is not regulated, but a layer of 5-6 cm is considered optimal. Self-leveling self-leveling mixtures are used either complex (cement-gypsum) or cement layers of 3-7 cm. Thin-layer compositions are not suitable for such work.

• remove dirt, loose and rotten elements;
• replace damaged or fallen strips with new ones;
• fill with putty or sealant the gaps between the lamellas, holes, chips.

Can be used as a separating layer polyethylene film thickness of at least 150 microns, etc. The material is spread over the entire surface, extending onto the walls. The joints are fastened with tape, and damper tape is glued around the perimeter.

Instead of films, the use of waterproofing compounds is allowed. These can be primers, water repellents, special impregnators and much more. The chosen product must be liquid and absorbent so that an oil or bitumen film does not form on the surface.

Next you can fill. The mixture is mixed with water in accordance with the instructions and distributed evenly over the floor. Self-leveling compositions must be additionally rolled with a needle roller to remove air bubbles (deaeration). Final stage– cover the surface with film to ensure proper drying and strength gain. After 7-28 days the floor is ready for use.

So, we told you how to level a wooden floor without tearing down the boards. Select a technology based on the features of your design, and try to take into account all factors - from weight to operational comfort.

Advice! If you need repairmen, there is a very convenient service for selecting them. Just submit in the form below detailed description work that needs to be done and you will receive offers by email with prices from construction crews and companies. You can see reviews about each of them and photographs with examples of work. It's FREE and there's no obligation.

From the author: We welcome our readers who are interested in the question of how to level a wooden floor in a room, and what is needed for this. Those who live in old houses are probably faced with situations in which it is impossible to properly lay a new floor covering. It is not always necessary to completely dismantle the boards, since otherwise they perform their functions well. Today we will tell you more about how to do all the work with your own hands.

Advantages of wood floors

Wood, without a doubt, is the most environmentally friendly material that has long been used in construction. Floors made from it are reliable, warm, and attractive in appearance. Of course, all this is true only if they correct installation and careful operation. For example, in some old houses and bathhouses, wooden floors were initially laid out of level, and accordingly, there was no talk of their perfectly flat surface. Knowing this, you can eliminate such a defect and prepare the basis for the future floor covering.

Irregularities that appear on the surface of the boards may have different type and origin - wormholes, chips, abrasions, subsidence. Depending on this, as well as on the material of the selected finishing coating, it is determined what to level with.

Alignment methods

There are several alignment methods. To consider them and correctly choose the appropriate option, we divide all the irregularities into 2 groups:

1. Small - from 5 to 10 millimeters. Such defects are eliminated using the following methods:
   • scraping;
   • laying sheets of plywood, OSB or chipboard;
   • putty.
2. Significant - from 20 to 100 millimeters. In these cases, the floor can be equalized concrete screed or lay the covering sheets on the joists. The methods listed above will not be as effective.

I share a useful video:

Let’s look at each method in more detail in order to give the most comprehensive answers to possible questions. Not big differences in some cases, the height of the floors is allowed when laying soft coverings (linoleum, carpet) on them. Hard materials such as parquet and laminate can only be mounted on a completely smooth surface.

If this requirement is not met, their design scheme will be violated, they will not be able to withstand the applied load and will quickly become unusable. Therefore, it is better to level the floor in advance than to re-pay for the installation of an expensive finishing coating. To do this we use:

1. Looping. This is the most cheap way eliminating irregularities, however, is quite labor-intensive if done manually using a cycle. Using a sanding machine, the process can be accelerated; the work will consist of the following steps:
   • hammer all protruding nail heads into the boards to prevent damage to the sanding paper;
   • before sanding the floor in an apartment, you need to remove all the furniture from the room, and if this is not possible, cover it with a cloth and wrap it tightly to protect it from dust;
   • You need to start work from the corner of the room, moving along the wall. You should move evenly and smoothly so that the machine cuts off a layer of equal thickness in all places;
   • Having removed the first layer from all the boards, you need to sweep away the resulting chip dust, mix it with PVA glue and fill the detected cracks and potholes with the resulting slurry. When it dries, you need to install a sanding paper with fine grain into the sanding machine and walk around the room again;
   • cleaning - the boards are vacuumed and then treated with white spirit.
2. Self-leveling compounds. This method allows you to get a smooth surface even on a very worn subfloor. Modern manufacturers There is a wide choice of building materials, therefore, the choice of flooring mixture depends only on your preferences. The sequence of actions is as follows:
   • clean the floor surface from any remaining varnish or paint;
   • “drown” all the screws and nails into the boards;
   • fasten loose floorboards with screws;
   • sand the boards and seal all the gaps in them;
   • apply a layer of primer with high water-repellent properties;
   • fasten the reinforcing frame to the floor with a stapler;
   • Prepare the self-leveling mixture according to the instructions on the package, apply to the surface and distribute evenly using a mop.
   • Leveling with a self-leveling screed means ideally preparing it for the subsequent installation of a hard topcoat.
3. Puttying. It is easy and quick to do and does not require large financial investments. You can make putty yourself using sawdust and PVA glue. After hardening, such a mixture approaches the strength of a chipboard board.

   Important! Any finish can be laid on a floor leveled with putty, with the exception of ceramic tiles.
   

   Work order:

   • the sawdust is soaked in water in advance and wrung out well by hand before mixing it with PVA glue;
   • the boards are cleaned of remnants of the previous coating, dust, and dirt;
   • the top layer of wood is sanded;
   • before leveling the old floor with putty, you need to pre-attach the loose floorboards to the joists with self-tapping screws;
   • thin slats are nailed to the floor, which will act as beacons;
   • The prepared mixture of sawdust and glue is applied and leveled with a spatula. You can apply putty in several layers, waiting until the previous one is completely dry. The last layer is aligned only using a rule.
4. Leveling with plywood- a proven way to create a solid foundation with your own hands for subsequent laying of the finishing floor covering. This method eliminates large differences in elevation. The sheet materials used bend well, do not form cracks, and have uniform strength in all directions.

Before use, it is advisable to spray the sheets with water on all sides and leave them in the room where the repair will take place for 48 hours. After this, they can be laid directly on the subfloor and secured with countersunk self-tapping screws. The cracks at the joints are sealed with putty.

To eliminate significant unevenness in a wooden floor using sheet material, it is laid on logs. You must perform the steps in the following order:

• install beacons using self-tapping screws. You need to use them to form squares of 30x30 centimeters. They are not fully screwed into the floorboards; the caps must be left at the level of the measured height difference;
• Plywood strips up to 5 cm thick are attached to the old wooden surface using glue or self-tapping screws, which will be used as new logs. The gaps between the floorboards and new joists are sealed with pieces of plywood treated with glue.
• Before laying plywood under laminate, parquet, linoleum, it must be cut in advance into pieces convenient for installation (usually 60x60 centimeters). Laying begins only after the glue on the joists has completely dried;
• all openings and protrusions are carefully cut out;
• The flooring sheets are fastened using hardware with a countersunk head.

Important! Professionals give this advice. If the finishing coating is linoleum, it is recommended to sand the wooden base. Sheets of plywood must be treated with several layers of varnish if carpet will be laid on them. If the final coating is a laminate, you need to use a special underlay underneath.

Alignment using wet screed concrete is used least often, since its solution has significant weight and can damage the boards.

We hope today's information will help you perform floor repairs at a decent level. We are waiting for your feedback and comments, we will be glad if you share the link with your friends! See you soon!