Among different options Leveling and finishing the floor is as cheap and simple as possible. One of them is laying fiberboard on the floor. It's practical and affordable option, which will eliminate minor unevenness from the surface. Fiberboard has its own characteristics and contraindications for use - all this, as well as how to properly lay the material, will be discussed in this article.

Fiberboard as a material is known to everyone. The sheets are used for upholstering the back wall of cabinet furniture and for various other purposes. Fiberboard is a sheet product made from waste from wood processing plants. This waste is steamed, ground, mixed with resins, water repellents and antiseptics, and pressed under high pressure. The result is flat and even, but at the same time quite soft sheets.

On a note! The abbreviation “Fibreboard” is simply deciphered - it is wood-fiber board.

The dimensions of the fiberboard sheet are standard - 3.2x1700x2745 mm, although the thickness can vary from 2.5 to 4 mm. On the front side the material is smooth, and on the back it is rough to the touch, having a mesh pattern, which appears due to the fact that during production the material is laid and dried on a special mesh with small cells. There is always a demand for fiberboard; you can purchase sheets at any construction or hardware store.

Fiberboard is also used for finishing and leveling floors. It can be found especially often in older apartments and houses, where the subfloor is usually made of wood rather than concrete. Here it acts as a leveling material before laying finishing floor coverings - carpet, linoleum, etc. Fibreboard can also act directly as finishing material, however, it requires the application of a final decorative layer - for example, paint.

Fiberboard board

Description and types of fiberboard for floors

There are several types of fiberboard. They mainly differ from each other in terms of density.

Table. Main types of fiberboard.

Types	Characteristics and description
	These types of fiberboard have a low density - it is no more than 350 kg/m3. They do not have good soundproofing properties. Typically, such sheets are used as rear walls cabinet furniture, used for making the bottom of furniture boxes, etc. Types of soft fiberboard: M1, M2, M3.
	The density of these types of wood sheets is already higher - at least 850 kg/m3. Likewise soft species, these fiberboards are used in the manufacture of furniture, but are more durable and less flexible. Marked with the abbreviation NT.
	The density of these sheets ranges from 850-1000 kg/m3. They are low-porous and can be used in the production of certain types of doors, as well as for the manufacture of furniture. Types: T, T-S, T-P, T-SP; T has a normal coating, y T-S external the side is covered with wood fibers, T-P sheets painted, T-SP also have a slight tint. There are also T-B sheets, which are highly resistant to moisture, and do not have tinting on the front side.
	Sheets with a maximum density of over 1000 kg/m3. Raw materials are necessarily treated with pectol, a substance that increases their strength by 20%. It is these sheets that are used in construction: they are used to create partitions, cover floors or sheathe walls, and are used for various finishing works. Also suitable for making furniture and door panels. The front side can be coated with paint, primer, or varnish. Marked as ST, having a standard front side, and ST-S, which have a finely dispersed front layer.

Fiberboard brands T, T-S, T-P, T-SP may be marked with a quality group (A or B), their front side may be of the 1st or 2nd grade. By the way, T is hardboard, which is produced using the wet method. Hardboard can be used for wall cladding, as a backing for laminate and other floor coverings, for sound insulation and thermal insulation of floors, and room finishing.

Advantages and disadvantages of fiberboard flooring

Fiberboard is often used to level a subfloor or base and is suitable for almost all surfaces. This material has a lot of advantages, which is why it is in great demand.

Advantages of laying fiberboard on a subfloor.

Disadvantages of fiberboard flooring.

1. The material is afraid of water. When moisture gets in, the fiberboard begins to deform - it bulges and swells. Thus, the leaf completely loses its appearance, paint on it and others finishing coatings are also deformed. Fiberboard cannot be used in the kitchen or bathroom.
2. Fragility. If there are cavities under the fiberboard sheets, then under strong mechanical stress the material is easily destroyed. It also breaks easily when the sheet is strongly bent.
3. High fire hazard. In the event of a fire, the fiberboard will quickly be engulfed in flames and burn.
4. The front side wears out quickly. If the fiberboard is not covered with finishing material, it quickly peels off and loses its appearance.
5. If fiberboard sheets are laid in an unheated and damp room, then they become deformed and begin to peel off.

How to choose the right fiberboard for the floor

In order for the final work to please the owner for a long time and serve without complaints, it is important to approach the choice of material responsibly and buy a high-quality option. There are several criteria that will allow you to choose fiberboard that is ideal in each specific case.

Attention! Defects include not only mechanical, but also chemical damage. These could be oil stains or paint marks. The permissible size of such a defect is no more than 2 cm in diameter.

1. In order to use fiberboard as a floor covering, you should choose a moisture-resistant brand of material, quite dense and thick. It is best to buy the densest fiberboard sheets.

Fiberboard on a wooden floor: installation features

Installation of fiberboard has its own characteristics. The material is characterized by certain contraindications for use, knowing which you will be able to avoid mistakes. For example, fiberboard cannot be installed in rooms with high levels of air humidity and rough foundation, since the material tends to absorb moisture and, because of this, lose its external and operational characteristics.

Also, the sheets are not used in rooms where the floors inside are subject to severe mechanical stress. These are garages, production workshops, warehouses, shops, etc. Installation of sheets must be carried out at a temperature of at least +10 degrees and in a dry room (humidity level - no more than 60%).

Advice! Before installation, the fiberboard must rest on the prepared base for at least 7 days. If the sheets are stacked on top of each other, then you can press them down with something heavy on top. Thus, the material will “get used” to the microclimate of the room and fit better. It is especially important to observe this measure if the fiberboard was delivered in cold weather.

It is very important to properly prepare the base of the subfloor before laying fiberboard sheets, because if there are irregularities, protrusions, or depressions on it, then the sheets will lie unevenly.

Attention! Fiberboard is usually not installed on concrete floors. In this case, it is best to level the floors using self-leveling mixtures.

Fiberboard sheets are used extremely rarely as a finishing material, as they require additional finishing. They are best used to level the base under other types of floor coverings.

The procedure for preparing the base

The rough foundation for fiberboard necessarily requires proper preparation. To do this, it is imperative to remove the baseboards along the walls so as not to interfere with the work. Wooden floors are carefully inspected for strength and integrity - it is important to pre-fix any loose boards. Significant unevenness in the floor is corrected - they are planed. This procedure is not easy, and it is better to use special equipment, which you can rent or call a specialist who has it.

Also, measures to prepare the base include careful removal of construction debris, sweeping of dust, and sealing cracks in the floor with putty.

Advice! In old buildings, wooden floors are additionally treated with antifungal mixtures.

Correct cutting of fiberboard

During the installation work Laying fiberboard may require cutting of sheets. You can do this right in the store, but for this it is important to know exact dimensions the rooms where the work will be done, as well as the dimensions of all corners, how much they deviate from the norm of 90 degrees.

It’s easier to trim the fiberboard yourself and on the spot. To do this, you can use a jigsaw, a machine tool, a circular saw with discs for woodworking, etc. If there are small uneven edges left, they can even be removed with metal scissors.

Also, fiberboard trimming will be carried out in the area of ​​niches, water supply and sewerage pipes, heating system etc. In this case, it is most convenient to use a jigsaw and a template, according to which the necessary markings will be applied to the fiberboard.

Attention! It is better to cut the fiberboard sheet a little larger than necessary - small gaps can be hidden under the baseboard. But it will be more difficult to get rid of the excess. Moreover, it is important to leave deformation gaps along the walls - under the influence of parameters environment, which will change periodically, the fiberboard may expand or contract. If there is no deformation gap, the sheet will be deformed.

Methods for attaching fiberboard decking

There are several ways to attach fiberboard to a base. This is gluing the material to glue/mastic or fixing it with nails. Fiberboard can also be laid on logs. By the way, if the fiberboard is mounted on a concrete floor, then the sheets can be attached using drying oil or tar.

Logs - fiberboard floor

When using the glue method, it is important to place a weight on all seams and joints so that they do not rise while the glue is drying. The easiest way is to simply nail or screw the fiberboard, and the main disadvantage of the method is only the occurrence of unevenness at the fastening points.

Advice! You can avoid the appearance of unevenness if you make small recesses in the places where the screws are attached to the surface of the fiberboard, where the fastener heads will fit. After laying the material, these places are sealed with putty.

Installation of fiberboard with glue

In this case, everything is simple - fiberboard sheets are completely covered with adhesive and dried for half an hour. During this time, the glue is applied to the surface of a carefully prepared and primed base. Next, sheets are placed on it and pressed tightly. During installation, sheets should be checked with a level for the presence of irregularities - the latter should be corrected before the glue sets. When laying fiberboard, the joints should move sideways by 50 cm relative to each other - thus, the coating will be stronger.

Installation of fiberboard on mastic

The method is often used when covering fiberboard sheets concrete screed. The base is pre-primed, then dried and a layer of mastic no more than 0.6 mm thick is applied to it. Before this, the mastic is applied to fiberboard sheets and slightly dried. The sheets are laid on the treated surface and pressed. The method is almost no different from the previous one.

Attention! If hot mastic is used, it is applied immediately before laying the sheets and is not exposed to air.

Technology for installing fiberboard on logs

Logs are wooden blocks laid on a rough base. Fiberboard sheets will already be attached to them on top. It is important to choose the right material for the logs - then the final work will be as reliable as possible. The advantage of this method of laying fiberboard is the ability to make the floors warmer. This will also allow you to get rid of some unevenness in the rough foundation.

Adjustable joists are one of the possible options

• The material only needs to be well-dried; it cannot be purchased in advance and stored in damp areas, for example, a basement or garage;
• the timber should be treated with an antiseptic or bought already treated;
• there should be no rot, mold, or mildew on the surface of the timber;
• the wood must be without cracks, knots, coniferous;
• the cross-section of the bars should be within 4-7 cm;
• the timber is chosen even. You can check this using a plumb line or a cord stretched along the edge of the product.

The logs are attached to rough foundation exactly the same as shown in the picture below.

The rough foundation should already be prepared. The logs can be connected to each other using locknuts with a nylon ring - this type of fastener will not allow the structure to become loose.

Fiberboard sheets are attached to the logs so that their edges and joints fall directly on the edges of the bars. They are nailed to them with small nails in increments of about 10-12 cm. There should be a small gap between the fiberboard sheets and the wall - about 5-10 mm.

Instructions: fastening fiberboard with nails

Step 1. Careful preliminary preparation of the base is carried out.

Step 2. The material is preliminary laid out on the floor, adjusted to the individual dimensions of the room, and cut.

Step 3. The fiberboard is laid from the far corner of the room towards the exit from the room. The sheet is fastened with nails with a diameter of 1.1-1.6 mm and a length of 20-25 mm, and nailed to the rough wooden floor. The sheets are fastened from the middle of the room. It is important that the fastener heads do not protrude above the surface of the sheets.

On a note! Fiberboard can be fastened using a construction stapler.

Step 4. In the same way, the second and subsequent sheets of fiberboard are adjusted, laid and fastened.

Step 5. The deformation gap along the walls is closed with a plinth.

Video - How to cut fiberboard?

Video - fiberboard on the floor

Fibreboard flooring finishing

Fiberboard may not always serve as a floor finishing option. Or rather, it can be left as final version, but this coating looks ugly. Typically, fiberboard sheets are covered with some type of finishing material.

Before work (especially if painting is planned), the material is carefully prepared:

• Remains of glue are removed, nail heads are masked;
• the remaining gaps between the sheets are puttied;
• all garbage is swept away;
• all stains are treated with a degreaser;
• only after this the front side of the fiberboard can be painted or varnished. Without this preparation, the floor may turn out unsightly and with defects.

Finishing will help extend the service life of the material. Paint or varnish is applied in two layers.

Why do they put fiberboard under linoleum?

Covering fiberboard floors before laying linoleum is far from a new technology for installing this coating. This is done to make the floor warmer. Fiberboard sheets act as a kind of insulation. The material will also allow you to level the surface of the rough base.

Linoleum on fiberboard can be laid in different ways:

• without fastening, on small areas(up to 12 m2);
• on Double-sided tape, which is glued “grid” to the base;
• on glue or nails - this is applicable in spacious rooms.

Fiberboard is a very common material with a wide range of applications. He also found himself in the field of floor finishing.

Before laying laminate flooring on an uneven wooden floor, you should study the recommendations of professionals. Renovation work is often very scary for people. Of course, when you think that a lot needs to be done, even if the repair is purely finishing in nature, you immediately feel uneasy. In fact, everything is not so scary and not very difficult if you know exactly what you are going to do and how to prepare for repair work. First of all, you should think carefully about what problems you may encounter during the repair work.

Easy installation of laminate flooring on uneven floors

Many residents of apartments and houses prefer to have laminate floors in their homes that are pleasant for their household members. Often in houses and apartments with wooden floors Experts are faced with the fact that it is completely impossible to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor until the problem can be eliminated.

Before installing laminate flooring on an uneven floor, it is recommended to place a backing on it.

The most common possible problems uneven walls, floors or ceilings, as well as a number of other individual characteristics that may be present in your apartment or house:

• Moved walls;
• Non-standard window openings, etc.

Why is there no way to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor? There are reasons for this. Laying on uneven surfaces can cause the laminate to become lumpy, which subsequently leads to damage to the integrity of the coating. Laying on such a floor is not only impractical, but also difficult in itself. In this case, it is almost impossible to fit small laminate tiles. How can you determine whether the floor is level if no defects are visually noticeable, but laying the laminate is not possible? A good helper in this matter would be the usual building level, which accurately determines whether the surface is flat or not.

If it is discovered that there is any unevenness on the floor surface, you should stop all work that has already begun and begin to correct it.

Now the question arises, how to turn an uneven floor into evenness? Relevant specialists will always help answer this question. They know better than anyone else what the dangers of repairing a crooked floor are, and how you can fix it all yourself. The most common method for leveling a floor is to use a material such as a leveling underlay, which should be laid on the floor surface. And yet, there are also some nuances here. Let's take a closer look at this type of substrate.

Why do you need a leveling underlay for laminate flooring?

According to experts, most often similar problems are noted by repairmen to varying degrees of unevenness of walls, ceilings and floors. If the unevenness of the walls can somehow be circumvented, for example, by using special tiles or panels installed on the metal carcass, and uneven ceilings are harmoniously hidden under suspended ceilings, then an uneven wooden floor is a more serious problem.

Leveling underlay for laminate flooring is perfect solution for small uneven floors, be it a wooden floor or a rough concrete floor.

Thanks to the leveling underlay, you can make the floor level and extend its service life.

In this case, the underlay can be used when laying both laminate and parquet floors without screed. The substrate can vary in thickness, which varies from 1 to 4 mm, so that it is enough for leveling, as well as by manufacturer and type of material itself.

So, the leveling substrate can be:

1. Polyethylene foam backing. This is the most popular synthetic-based material. It is characterized by low prices and high thermal insulation, which makes it an excellent material for leveling and simultaneous insulation of the floor; in addition, such material is not subject to attacks by rodents and pathogenic microorganisms.
2. Cork type of substrate. It is a high-quality, environmentally friendly leveling material with a price that matches the quality. At the same time, it is more advisable to lay a cork underlay for a long period under a high-quality expensive floor. Some manufacturers cork substrates equip their material with an additional adhesive layer.
3. Bitumen substrates with the addition of cork chips. Regarding the pricing policy, it is as expensive as its cork counterpart, but due to the addition of bitumen, it has excellent hygroscopicity and sound insulation.
4. Expanded polystyrene type leveling material. Laying such a substrate allows you to maintain the maximum level of the floor and will help level minor irregularities and imperfections in the floor surface.
5. Combined substrates. Most often, for their production, companies use a combination of polystyrene foam and polyethylene foam.
6. Pine needle tiles. Ecologically pure material to level the floor surface. Laying such a substrate is not difficult, but it is worth remembering that coniferous tiles are laid diagonally.

Thus, it can be noted that before buying a leveling underlay, determine what type of floor it will be laid on, what the price line of underlays is and what properties and disadvantages the selected underlay model has.

Do I need to carefully level the floor under laminate?

It was considered where to start working on finishing the floor, how to choose a substrate, and what to pay attention to, but you need to decide whether maybe you don’t need to deal with leveling? Finishing work themselves imply the presence of an already flat surface on which finishing will take place, but with some materials this rule can be neglected, with the exception of laminate. Laminate tiles should always be laid on a perfectly flat floor surface. Otherwise, you will only get a headache.

If the room is residential, then for ease of use the floor should be leveled before laying the laminate

The following flaws are also possible:

1. A difference in floor surface level will cause deformation of the laminate panels.
2. A difference in the level of 2 adjacent sections of the floor will also cause poor adhesion between the panels, which will lead to the appearance of cracks.
3. The seams between laminate tiles will be subject to divergence, and therefore deformation of the laminate material itself. Broken seams will have to be puttied more than once.
4. On uneven surface On the floor, especially at the transition between rooms, the laminate creaks.
5. Due to the divergence of the panels, moisture will get under the coverings, which will cause irreversible sad consequences, and the floor will have to be completely replaced.
6. If the floor is uneven, you may notice that some of the laminate panels, and maybe several parts, are pressed through.

As you can understand from the above, you always need to level the floor surface as much as possible before laying the laminate, otherwise you risk prolonging renovation work Not even a single day or even a month will the material costs of repairs increase accordingly.

Is it possible to lay laminate directly on fiberboard?

Very often, people moving into apartments of the so-called old stock are faced with the fact that the floors are covered with fiberboard material, in other words, plywood or Chipboard boards. The question arises: is it necessary to remove everything down to the rough surface of the floor, or is it possible to install the laminate directly on top of the slabs?

If you are laying laminate flooring on fiberboard, then it must be thoroughly sanded and cleaned of debris and dust.

Experts say it is possible.

In addition, fiberboard and chipboard slabs can be used to level the floor level in an apartment, especially if there is not a strong permissible floor slope. A floor with a slope is the case when the height of one part of the floor is 0.1-0.2ᵒ or more higher than the other.

The advantages of this material work in defense of the use of fiberboard and chipboard boards:

• With such slabs you can level the floor surface without any problems;
• Having good rigidity, the slabs are an additional guarantee of the longevity of the laminate;
• Pleasant cost of leveling material compared to others;
• Does not require special conditions– Chipboard and fiberboard slabs are covered different types floors in different rooms.

Although such slabs are not full-fledged quality board, but they are able to cover and mask uneven floors, but also due to their great endurance, they can be used even in rooms with high traffic or the presence of massive heavy furniture. Such slabs allow you to correct uneven floors and level the floor surface. For these reasons alone, you can give the go-ahead for installing stoves in the room.

If initially there were no fiberboard or chipboard slabs on the floor, but you want to cover the floor with them, then first of all it is necessary to install the slabs with all responsibility. Next comes the installation of the laminate itself, which in turn follows certain classic installation points, regardless of the type.

When laying laminate flooring, it should be taken into account that a plinth will be installed around the perimeter of the room.

Let's consider what types of installation can be used:

1. Laying the laminate perpendicular to the light source. This method is good if you are worried that the seams between the tiles will be visible.
2. It is possible to lay the light diagonally and classically in a herringbone pattern. This can often be found in older apartments.

Each installation method allows you to achieve a special pattern on the floor surface, which makes the room more interesting and cozy.

Ways to lay laminate flooring on an uneven wooden floor (video)

So, there are enough options for getting the job done. It is important to understand for yourself what you want to get as a result. And then all that remains is to follow the chosen technology.

There are many options for leveling and finishing the floor; you can select materials for these purposes at different prices and complexity of the flooring. One of them is laying fiberboard on the floor. These are practical, inexpensive sheets that will make the base smooth and even. Like any other material, chipboard has a number of specific features that must be taken into account when installing. This article will talk about the types of fiberboard panels, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

Fiberboard is a shortened name (abbreviation) for wood-fiber board. Is it finishing or sheet construction option finishing. The price of fiberboard is not too exorbitant, so it is always in demand. The material differs in density. Before you buy it, you need to figure out which one is suitable for your floor.

There are soft, hard and super-hard fiberboard. In this case, the thickness of the sheet can fluctuate in different ranges. This point must be taken into account when purchasing. Some sheets are 2–3 mm thick, while others are 12–15 mm thick. The most voluminous are materials with a thickness of 40 mm. They are used least often in practice.

Fiberboard has high strength and density. But thin sheets have the plasticity necessary for covering curved surfaces. Slabs are used everywhere. In construction they are used for covering floors and walls, and make partitions in passenger-class railway cars. Fiberboard has good sound insulation properties and is suitable for partitioning rooms with excessive noise effects.

Pros and cons of using

Advantages of the material when leveling fiberboard floors:

• Cheap, always a wide range. Anyone can choose their taste and color while spending a minimum of money.
• Easy to use, easy installation of sheets on the floor. You will not need virtually any additional parts for installation (except for mounting ones).

  When installing slabs, you must make sure that the surface is even and that the work done is correct. preliminary work. No other incidents or difficulties were found in the work of laying the material.

• Light weight. You can work with the material alone, without involving assistants.
• Environmental friendliness. The boards are made from recycled wood waste. This natural material, which can even fit in a children's room.
• There are no foreign odors after installation. At first, the aroma of wood will be felt, but after several months it will disappear.
• Durability. This quality applies to the case when the installation of fiberboard was carried out in compliance with all necessary conditions (correct measurement, selection of slab width and step-by-step installation according to the instructions).
• Possibility of use as an insulating layer.

This material has significant disadvantages:

• Fiberboard is afraid of water. Minimal contact with moisture on the surface leads to its deformation (it begins to swell and increase in volume). The top layer of paint that is applied to finishing, also suffers. Therefore, you need to know that you cannot lay the material in the bathroom or kitchen.
• Fragility. When the surface on which the material is applied is deformed, the slab breaks, cracks, and loses its normal appearance.
• High fire hazard. In the event of a fire in the room, the fiberboard will burn first. This situation may then lead to the spread of the fire over an even larger area.
• Rapid wear on the front side. Without a finishing coating, it quickly wears out and cracks.

Fiberboard can easily peel off if it is not positioned correctly on the surface. Any vibrations, movements and touches in this case are very dangerous for the material.

Types of slabs

There are several types of fiberboard for flooring, depending on the density of the source material:

1. Soft. The density of the material is no more than 350 kg/m3. The sound insulation properties are not very good, so it is more often used as finishing for the back walls of cabinet furniture. The soft format is suitable for making the bottom of furniture drawers. There are soft grades - M1, M2 and M3.
2. Semi-solid. The density is much higher (about 850 kg/m3). Abbreviation marking - NT. Semi-solid materials are also best used in furniture production.
3. Solid. Density ranges from 850 to 1000 kg/m3. The low-porosity composition can be used to make doors and furniture. There are the following types: T, T-S, T-P and T-SP. Sheets are produced under marked T-B. They are more resistant to moisture and are not tinted with outside unlike other brands.
4. Super hard. The maximum density of such sheets is slightly more than 1000 kg/m3. Raw materials must be treated with pectol. This is a substance that increases the initial strength of the material by 20%. Such sheets are used in construction. They can be used to make partitions, cover floors and sheathe walls.

   The front side can be coated with varnish, paint or primer. They are marked as ST, which has a standard front side, and ST-S, which has a finely dispersed front layer.

Mounting methods

On glue

1. A special glue is first applied to the sheets.
2. Then you need to wait for half an hour to adhesive layer dried up.
3. While waiting, the same composition must be applied to the base of the floor, which must be well cleared of debris and primed.
4. After all these manipulations, the sheets are pressed tightly to the base of the floor.

   To avoid unevenness during installation, use a water or laser level. This must be done as quickly as possible before attaching the slabs so that the glue does not have time to dry.

5. When laying sheets, the joints should not move relative to each other by more than 50 cm. This condition is mandatory, since in this case the coating will be very durable and will not deform when exposed to external factors.

For mastic

The method is suitable for covering concrete screeds with fiberboard sheets.

1. The base is well cleaned, swept or vacuumed. When the contamination is very strong, wash with a wet cloth.
2. When the surface dries, a layer of primer is applied to it. Prime the base as many times as necessary to achieve a slow absorption effect. The faster the primer absorbs, the more you need to apply.
3. The completely dried base is covered with a small layer of mastic (layer more than 0.6 mm).
4. Before this process, the mastic is applied to the sheets and dried well.
5. The sheets are laid in even layers on the treated floor surface and pressed tightly.

If hot mastic is used, it is applied immediately before laying the sheets, without waiting for drying. In this case, its contact with air should be minimal.

Stages of work

Preparing the base

1. Before installing the slabs, rough finish grounds.
2. The floor is thoroughly washed to remove dirt and dust and dried.
3. Primer is required.
4. All skirting boards must be removed to make room for easy installation.
5. The integrity of the wooden floor must be checked.
6. All poorly reinforced elements must be carefully secured. By tapping, they look for voids, which must also be eliminated.
7. Deep cracks should be covered with an even layer of putty.
8. If the structure is old enough, additionally treat the surface with an antifungal mixture.

Installation of sheets

Before placing the sheets on the subfloor, you need to make sure they are the correct size. If necessary, you need to cut off the protruding parts. Cutting tools: jigsaw, machine, Circular Saw and metal scissors.

Sheets can be attached to the base in two ways:

1. For glue or mastic.
2. With nails.

Attention

Fiberboard can be laid on logs, and if the floor is wooden, then it will be enough to use drying oil or tar.

Most easy way fastening slabs to a wooden floor - nails:

1. First, the base is cleaned from dirt and dust. To do this, walk over the surface with a wet cloth or vacuum cleaner.
2. Then the material is laid out on the floor, its dimensions are adjusted to the size of the room, and the sheets are cut.
3. The first is laid from the far corner of the room towards the exit from the room. The sheet is fastened with nails with a diameter of 1.1-1.6 mm and a length of 20-25 mm, and nailed to the rough wooden floor. Fastening begins from the middle of the room. The caps of fasteners should not rise above the surface.
4. The subsequent sheets are laid in the same way. The resulting deformation gap along the walls is covered with a plinth.

Laying options

Under laminate

You can level the surface under the laminate using a dry screed. GVL sheets, moisture-resistant plywood, asbestos sheets and plasterboard are used.

1. The surface is tapped well for the presence of voids and gaps.
2. Only after this is it sanded and washed to remove dirt.
3. When the surface is perfectly clean, apply a small layer of primer.
4. Once the primer has dried, apply it to upper layer base prepared mixture. All this should dry within a few days, then you can start laying the laminate.

Under linoleum

It is advisable to place fiberboard under the linoleum, having made preliminary calculations. This is the installation option when a lack of sheets can lead to an error in the location of the entire structure. It is important to observe the following conditions during installation in order to achieve good results:

1. It is important to pre-treat the surface with drying oil to minimize contact with moisture and protect the entire surface from water.
2. After processing, the sheets are left to dry and then stacked to achieve maximum evenness and a smooth surface.
3. You can put weights on top. This is done to speed up the leveling. Under the influence of gravity, the sheets are better pressed and aligned more perfectly.
4. Special glue is applied to the surface, then the sheets are placed and pressed tightly to the base.
5. It is necessary to maintain the distance between the sheets. The gap should be no more than 7 mm, but there is no need for a distance that is too small. You should not make a gap less than 5 mm.
6. The work is carried out from the far wall, farthest from the door of the room.
7. After the composition has dried, the joints are treated. The surface is smoothed by sanding, removing all unevenness and dust, and the seams are sealed with putty.
8. Before laying linoleum, the surface is thoroughly cleaned and dried.

Experts advise adhering to the following recommendations when installing:

1. Very often people use adhesives or mixtures as fastening. This option for attaching sheets is simple, but time-consuming: you have to wait for the glue to dry, and then make sure that the slab adheres tightly to the base. The easiest way is to use simple nails. It is better to fasten the slabs to a wooden floor with small nails (15 mm).
2. It is important to put high-quality waterproofing under the base. Those who believe additional protection floor from moisture unnecessary hassle, you need to be careful. Even a slight ingress of moisture on the sheet leads to its severe deformation. In a few years, such an overlap will be left with dust. You will have to change the entire base by carrying out extra work and spending a lot of money on materials.
3. If the old floors are relatively smooth, but the surface needs to be updated, it is enough to sand them and then cover them with sheets of high-quality fiberboard - hardboard. With this installation method, the old base is thoroughly cleaned after sanding for primer.

To level the floor, you must first draw a diagram of the planned work. You need to have everything at hand necessary materials, tools. The laying of sheets begins with thorough cleaning of the surface, only after which installation begins. If this condition is not met, the sheets quickly become unusable. In a few years, repairs will be needed again.

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When leveling the bottom surface of a room, the most practical and in an accessible way All that remains is to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor. This method is advisable when laying on old lumpy floors, a plane with unevenness, defects or with some slope. Fiberboard sheets are most often laid on joists, but another method is also possible. It is possible to lay them under linoleum or carpet with insulation. This material is not always advisable, for example, under heavy loads, and all the features of the coating are worth considering in more detail.

Basic conditions for laying fiberboard on a wooden floor

Each flooring has its own advantages and disadvantages, and installing fiberboard over a wooden floor remains the simplest and most practical. It doesn’t always make sense to tear old boards off the floor, especially in old houses and country buildings. They provide surface integrity and provide additional warmth. However, the boards become deformed over time and require partial or complete replacement.

Experts recommend leveling the surface using sheets of plywood, fiberboard or chipboard (not to be confused) using joists made from high-quality timber. However, thin layers of these materials cannot always withstand significant loads, for example:

• for working machines that produce high vibration;
• under thin metal legs furniture;
• under heavy and bulky furniture, especially if the supports are not on the logs under the sheets of covering, but on the gaps.

The choice of materials for installation and how professionally the installation work was carried out is very important. Whether or not there will be floors in the future directly depends on this:

• smooth;
• solid;
• durable;
• sustainable.

The horizontal surface is a fundamental criterion for the quality of floor laying work. Therefore, prepare in advance necessary tools, including a universal construction level, without which it is difficult to verify the accuracy of the floor geometry.

It is equally important to properly prepare the old base:

• thoroughly clean and remove all construction debris;
• remove the plinth, which prevents the installation of the base under the fiberboard;
• seal all cracks in the floor for tightness;
• clean off everything that is peeling and crumbling on the floor;
• mark the level of the lower horizontal lines near the walls along which the surface will be leveled;
• if in the floor of the dacha, country house or the building is supposed to have an entrance to the cellar, it is better to start with its arrangement and then lay the floors.

Attention: If the logs are perfectly aligned, then poor-quality work on laying fiberboard sheets can ruin the whole impression!

Fiberboard should not be laid too tightly without a gap, otherwise, when the level fluctuates, their edges will rise, splitting. The sheets should also retreat from the walls by about 4-7 mm - this edge will still go under the baseboard.

Experts recommend starting laying out fiberboard sheets from the opposite wall to front door. If there is no experience in how to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor, experts recommend immediately checking the first layer with a level for leveling if any inaccuracies are identified. Each subsequent row is checked horizontally using the same method - haste in case of inaccuracies is inappropriate. When gluing slabs, it is advisable to place a weight on top of the seams, but if they are nailed, then there is no need. If the floors are laid under linoleum or carpet, then no further processing is expected.

Advantages of fiberboard floors

Wood fiber boards are a fairly common construction and finishing material, applicable for repairs and cladding. various surfaces. Fiberboard is used not only for rough editing various designs, but also for the floor. It is noteworthy that even those who do not know how to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor prefer this material due to its reasonable cost and practicality. Fiberboard sheets are irreplaceable:

• when leveling the old floor;
• under rough laying linoleum or parquet;
• for covering surfaces (floors, walls, arches).

Main advantages:

• easy installation, but you need to know how to place joists on a wooden floor;
• high strength of a fragile-looking material resembling wood cardboard;
• tolerates temperature changes well with moderate air humidity;
• durability (in the absence of excess moisture);
• environmental friendliness, thanks to which fiberboard is natural material used by allergy sufferers with intolerance to chemical components in living quarters;
• convenient packaging;
• affordable price.

At the same time, fiberboard floors have their “disadvantages”:

• required when leveling the floor additional expenses on timber under the logs as a base;
• insufficient protection from water, although this is quite suitable material for a nursery or bedroom;
• with great pressure or impact with a sharp, heavy object, a small gap may form between the joists;
• poor fire resistance in case of fire;
• the appearance is too simple for cladding;
• without protective treatment the surface wears out quickly, especially with heavy loads and furniture movements;
• in the raw unheated room may delaminate.

Attention: Regarding environmental friendliness, this is a controversial issue, since the old form of release involved a different technology for gluing materials, so it is not advisable to use the remains of fiberboard sheets lying around workshops and garages in a residential area!

If you have any doubts, see expert advice: how to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor, video at the end of the article.

How to choose materials

Buying fiberboard sheets is a responsible business, and a large list of building materials from different manufacturers not only gives more choice, but also, to some extent, creates confusion. Today there remains a risk of purchasing a low-quality or unsuitable product.

1. If leveling the floors is done before painting, then it is better to purchase decorative plywood, which can be laid out in patterns, like parquet or laminate - flooring High Quality will cost much less.

2. If appearance is not so important, since fiberboard flooring on a wooden floor is planned under laminate or carpet, then visual parameters are not as important as specifications. Fiberboard sheets are different sizes, soft and hard, and are classified according to their standardization scale:

• grade T with a regular front surface;
• T-S has a front layer with a finely dispersed mass of wood fibers;
• T-P has a color on the front surface;
• T-SP finely dispersed front layer is tinted;
• T-B has increased water resistance without tinting;
• NT - semi-hard sheets;
• ST - super-hard sheets with a regular front surface;
• ST-S - super-hard sheets with a finely dispersed front layer.

Quality groups A and B are found in hard slabs of brands T, T-P, T-S, T-SP, and their front surface assumes grades 1 and 2. Density soft sheets varies: M-1, M-2 and M-3. Separately, hardboard is distinguished - fiberboard brand T, which is produced wet method. It is used for various purposes:

• insulation and finishing;
• soundproofing and thermal insulation of the floor;
• construction of internal partitions;
• wall cladding;
• underlay for parquet, laminate, linoleum;
• For decorative cladding various panel structures.

Tip: When purchasing, pay attention to the appearance of the hardboard. They must be free of defects, have the same thickness around the entire perimeter, with the same shade of the surface of the sheets in one pack (batch).

Key quality indicators:

• identical sheet sizes;
• uniform thickness of fiberboard sheets;
• uniform, homogeneous front surface.

Choosing timber for logs

When choosing timber for logs for installation, it is important to adhere to some recommendations:

• wood laid under fiberboard on a wooden floor must be dry ( light timber- dry);
• You should not purchase it in advance and display it in a damp room - it will warp and become unusable;
• use wood treated with special antiseptics of the 2nd or 3rd grade from healthy wood without knots from coniferous trees;
• it is recommended that the beam cross-section is at least 40mm and up to 70mm;
• knots will “lead” the logs later due to the heterogeneity of the wood, but trimmings without these defects can be used;
• a small number of cracks is acceptable, since this is a natural state for timber beams;
• * absence of fungi and germination on damaged areas of wood (quality indicator);
• It is better to immediately discard warped or “winged” bars or use the trimmings on short sections of the joist sheathing.

Attention: You can check the “winging” (screwing of a warped beam) with a plumb line or a thin elastic cord stretched along any wood edge.

How to cut fiberboard correctly?

When laying sheets such facing materials like hardboard or plywood, you have to deal with the need for cutting, especially in the outer rows. Construction supermarkets offer such services, but they need exact dimensions of the room with its deviations from the norm, for example, not all angles are 90°.

Attention: Remember that it is better to make the sheets shorter - they will go under the baseboard, but it is very difficult to cut off the excess.

When cutting with a machine, the cutting of sheets is carried out most evenly and with a high-quality edge. If this is not possible, you will have to do it yourself:

• jigsaw;
• circular saw with a laser guide and disks for working on hardboard;
• universal construction tool for cutting building materials;
• grinder according to precise markings.

Tip: It is better to use a special homemade machine holding the grinder. Metal scissors will help you remove the edges a little. If you have no cutting experience, it is better to practice on an unnecessary piece, first studying the video at the end of the article.

Often it is necessary to trim sheets to make holes for pipes for radiators and plumbing, niches or wall projections. Special holes are made with a jigsaw, universal tool or a reliable, sharp knife. Take care of this tool in advance, for example, rent it. Prepare a template from cardboard and check everything on site; if everything is accurate, transfer the markings to the fiberboard.

Technology for laying logs and fiberboard on the floor

It is unacceptable to store fiberboard slabs and timber in a damp room; it is best to place the timber horizontally on the floor, and the sheets vertically along the wall in conditions close to room temperature.

The logs are laid on previously prepared surfaces - screed, self-leveling mixture or old wooden floors. As a rule, the method of laying fiberboard on a wooden floor is applicable both for leveling the surface and for updating the surface. If there are slight curvatures, differences in floor level from east to north or from west to east, a noticeable slope or obvious unevenness, then it is worth trying to either eliminate them or close them.

If you have no experience in how to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor, then you can ask for advice in the video. In many cases, you can turn to specialists to install the logs, and lay the fiberboard sheets yourself. However, there is nothing difficult about this if you have a tool, patience and experience working with wood. It is necessary to carefully inspect the entire surface of the old floor, and if fungus or mold is found there, it should not be left under the fiberboard sheets, otherwise over time they will “eat up” all the new floors. The remaining areas are treated with a special fungicidal primer or construction antiseptic for wood and other surfaces.

Tip: It’s also worth removing those boards that creak - don’t think that anything will change under the weight of the new floors. Sometimes, due to defects, a significant portion of the old wood flooring has to be cleared away. Don't worry - it will all be hidden under the joists and new cladding!

1. If the old floors are relatively smooth, but the surface needs to be updated, it is enough to sand them and then cover them with sheets of high-quality fiberboard - hardboard. With this method of installation, the old base must be thoroughly cleaned after sanding for primer. It must dry for at least 8-12 hours, depending on the composition and air temperature. Just after this, apply glue and lay down sheets of hardboard, pressing down with weights on the corners and edges.

2. In the design of the joists, special galvanized locknuts with a nylon ring are usually used, which prevents the nuts from moving along the thread.

The devices do not allow them to unwind and weaken the structure. When tightening the top locknuts, which secure the joists in the position required on a given area of ​​​​the floor, they are slightly buried in the wood structure. Because of this, the surface level may be slightly lower than expected. By tightening the upper locknuts, trace the boundary laser level, taking into account this error. Experts also sometimes create 2 levels, an additional one under the locknut.

3. All logs are laid in a similar way - see the diagram:

Preliminary calculations for the interval between them and the floor level correlate:

• with a beam section;
• floor slope;
• sizes of hardboard sheets.

The bars are mounted directly to the old wooden base, and where there are no boards at the base, instead of them, pieces of timber or other pieces of wood are installed under the logs. It is not recommended to make partial sheathing of joists or leave gaps in the floor underneath them before laying fiberboard. Before laying them on the floor, it is worth recalling that for subfloors, as a substrate for linoleum, parquet or carpet, less expensive slabs with a small thickness, and for finishing - high-quality hardboard.

Attention: Purchased fiberboard sheets stand for 2-3 days in a living room - for acclimatization 2-3 days. Before sticking, you can lightly spray the back side with a spray bottle or treat it with a primer for better adhesion. When installing with nails, this is not necessary.

Features of fastening fiberboard to logs:

• the sheets are laid on the logs so that the seams meet on the bars;
• hardboard (fibreboard sheets) are nailed with screws, self-tapping screws or nails at intervals of about 100mm along the edge and at intervals of 120-150mm in the center;
• the next row does not fit tightly, with a small gap - about 2-3 mm;
• All parallel sheets are laid in the same way.

Features of fastening fiberboard with glue:

• assembly adhesive is applied to the entire surface of the sheet and is well distributed without smudges,
• the sheet should be soaked for 25-30 minutes;
• glue is also applied on top of the primer on the floor;
• the sheet is pressed down and checked horizontally.

Peculiarities finishing gender:

• it is important to remove all remnants of glue that has protruded into the cracks;
• large gaps between the sheets are sealed with putty or glued with reinforcing tape - under the subfloor;
• The fiberboard surface can be varnished or painted.

Renovation work is often very scary for people. Of course, when you think that a lot needs to be done, even if the repair is purely finishing in nature, you immediately feel uneasy. In fact, everything is not so scary and not very difficult if you know exactly what you are going to do and how to prepare for repair work. First of all, you should think carefully about what problems you may encounter during the repair work.

Many residents of apartments and houses prefer to have laminate floors in their homes that are pleasant for their household members. Often in houses and apartments with wooden floors, specialists are faced with the fact that it is completely impossible to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor until the problem can be eliminated.

The most common possible problems are uneven walls, floors or ceilings, as well as a number of other individual features that may be present in your apartment or house:

• Moved walls;
• Additional partitions;
• Non-standard window openings, etc.

Why is there no way to lay laminate flooring directly on the floor? There are reasons for this. Laying on uneven surfaces can cause the laminate to become lumpy, which subsequently leads to damage to the integrity of the coating. Laying on such a floor is not only impractical, but also difficult in itself. In this case, it is almost impossible to fit small laminate tiles. How can you determine whether the floor is level if no defects are visually noticeable, but laying the laminate is not possible? A good assistant in this matter will be the usual building level, which accurately determines whether the surface is flat or not.

If it is discovered that there is any unevenness on the floor surface, you should stop all work that has already begun and begin to correct it.

Now the question arises, how to turn an uneven floor into evenness? Relevant specialists will always help answer this question. They know better than anyone else what the dangers of repairing a crooked floor are, and how you can fix it all yourself. The most common method for leveling a floor is to use a material such as a leveling underlay, which should be laid on the floor surface. And yet, there are also some nuances here. Let's take a closer look at this type of substrate.

Why do you need a leveling underlay for laminate flooring?

According to experts, most often similar problems are noted by repairmen to varying degrees of unevenness of walls, ceilings and floors. If the unevenness of the walls can still be somehow circumvented, for example, by using special tiles or panels for finishing, installed on a metal frame, and the unevenness of the ceiling is harmoniously hidden under stretch ceilings, then an uneven wooden floor is a more serious problem.

A leveling underlay for laminate flooring is an excellent solution for minor uneven floors, be it a wooden floor or a rough concrete floor.

In this case, the underlay can be used when laying both laminate and parquet floors without screed. The substrate can vary in thickness, which varies from 1 to 4 mm, so that it is enough for leveling, as well as by manufacturer and type of material itself.

So, the leveling substrate can be:

1. Polyethylene foam backing. This is the most popular synthetic-based material. It is characterized by low prices and high thermal insulation, which makes it an excellent material for leveling and simultaneous insulation of the floor; in addition, such material is not subject to attacks by rodents and pathogenic microorganisms.
2. Cork type of substrate. It is a high-quality, environmentally friendly leveling material with a price that matches the quality. At the same time, it is more advisable to lay a cork underlay for a long period under a high-quality expensive floor. Some manufacturers of cork substrates equip their material with an additional adhesive layer.
3. Bitumen substrates with the addition of cork chips. Regarding the pricing policy, it is as expensive as its cork counterpart, but due to the addition of bitumen, it has excellent hygroscopicity and sound insulation.
4. Expanded polystyrene type leveling material. Laying such a substrate allows you to maintain the maximum level of the floor and will help level out minor unevenness and imperfections in the floor surface.
5. Combined substrates. Most often, for their production, companies use a combination of polystyrene foam and polyethylene foam.
6. Pine needle tiles. Environmentally friendly material for leveling the floor surface. Laying such a substrate is not difficult, but it is worth remembering that coniferous tiles are laid diagonally.

Thus, it can be noted that before buying a leveling underlay, determine what type of floor it will be laid on, what the price line of underlays is and what properties and disadvantages the selected underlay model has.

Do I need to carefully level the floor under laminate?

It was considered where to start working on finishing the floor, how to choose a substrate, and what to pay attention to, but you need to decide whether maybe you don’t need to deal with leveling? Finishing work in itself implies the presence of a flat surface on which finishing will take place, but with some materials this rule can be neglected, with the exception of laminate. Laminate tiles should always be laid on a perfectly flat floor surface. Otherwise, you will only get a headache.

The following flaws are also possible:

1. A difference in floor surface level will cause deformation of the laminate panels.
2. A difference in the level of 2 adjacent sections of the floor will also cause poor adhesion between the panels, which will lead to the appearance of cracks.
3. The seams between laminate tiles will be subject to divergence, and therefore deformation of the laminate material itself. Broken seams will have to be puttied more than once.
4. On an uneven floor surface, especially at the transition between rooms, laminate flooring creaks.
5. Due to the divergence of the panels, moisture will get under the coverings, which will cause irreversible sad consequences, and the floor will have to be completely replaced.
6. If the floor is uneven, you may notice that some of the laminate panels, and maybe several parts, are pressed through.

As you can understand from the above, you always need to level the floor surface as much as possible before laying the laminate, otherwise you risk prolonging the repair work by a single day or even a month, and accordingly, the material costs of repairs will increase.

Is it possible to lay laminate directly on fiberboard?

Very often, people moving into apartments of the so-called old building find that the floors are covered with fiberboard material, in other words, plywood or chipboards. The question arises: is it necessary to remove everything down to the rough surface of the floor, or is it possible to install the laminate directly on top of the slabs?

Experts say it is possible.

In addition, fiberboard and chipboard slabs can be used to level the floor level in an apartment, especially if there is not a strong permissible floor slope. A floor with a slope is the case when the height of one part of the floor is 0.1-0.2ᵒ or more higher than the other.

The advantages of this material work in defense of the use of fiberboard and chipboard boards:

• With such slabs you can level the floor surface without any problems;
• Having good rigidity, the slabs are an additional guarantee of the longevity of the laminate;
• Pleasant cost of leveling material compared to others;
• Does not require special conditions - chipboard and fiberboard boards cover different types of floors in different rooms.

Although such slabs are not full-fledged high-quality boards, they are capable of covering and masking uneven floors, but also due to their great endurance, they can be used even in rooms with high traffic or the presence of massive heavy furniture. Such slabs allow you to correct uneven floors and level the floor surface. For these reasons alone, you can give the go-ahead for installing stoves in the room.

Recommendations: how to properly lay laminate flooring on an uneven floor

If initially there were no fiberboard or chipboard slabs on the floor, but you want to cover the floor with them, then first of all it is necessary to install the slabs with all responsibility. Next comes the installation of the laminate itself, which in turn follows certain classic installation points, regardless of the type.

Let's consider what types of installation can be used:

1. Laying the laminate perpendicular to the light source. This method is good if you are worried that the seams between the tiles will be visible.
2. Laying parallel to the light source, diagonally and classic herringbone laying is possible. This can often be found in older apartments.

Each installation method allows you to achieve a special pattern on the floor surface, which makes the room more interesting and cozy.

Ways to lay laminate flooring on an uneven wooden floor (video)

So, there are enough options for getting the job done. It is important to understand for yourself what you want to get as a result. And then all that remains is to follow the chosen technology.