Board flooring. Laying a wooden floor in the apartment

A high-quality, beautiful and comforting floor in an apartment is the key to a pleasant stay. It is a good coating that will save the owner from many problems, including health, if the choice is made in favor of environmentally friendly material. However, only wood can boast of absolute safety of all existing finishing materials. And the wooden floor in the apartment is the perfect combination of comfort, coziness, environmental friendliness and beauty. How to make it yourself? This will be discussed in the article.

Despite the abundance of offers on the construction market and the mass of all kinds of flooring options, many are still of the opinion that nothing can be better than a wooden floor. Especially in an apartment or a private house. A lot of positive feedback about this method of finishing can be heard from those who are seriously worried about their health. Indeed, we are surrounded by synthetics, artificially created materials, and we want to at least feel at home in some security, and it is doubly pleasant to relax in environmentally friendly rooms.

Also, a wooden floor is not only safety for a person in terms of health, but also practically a standard of quality. The wear rate of the base of the boards is very high - on average, wooden floors without repair and replacement of floorboards can last for decades, of course, subject to proper installation. They are distinguished by high strength and other physical indicators. For example, a wooden floor retains heat well, making it very pleasant to walk on it - there will be no feeling that the apartment is cold. He, even covered with paint, is pleasant to the touch, and looks great.

On a note! The wooden floor can be varnished, retaining the color and texture. This option is chosen by those who prefer to design an apartment in an eco-style.

However, not only in eco-style, a wooden floor fits perfectly. It can be laid in the implementation of almost any design ideas. Unless it may not fit the hi-tech style or another modern one. But even here there is a way out of the situation, if you really want to make wooden floors in the apartment - they can be painted in any color.

Also, the advantage of a wooden floor is the possibility of laying it with your own hands and, if necessary, repairing it. Of course, the recommendations of experienced professionals will not interfere in this matter, but still, anyone can figure out how to do the work with due desire.

The wooden floor may not be the finishing option for the coating - it may well become the basis for laying any other material, except perhaps when the wooden base is completely dismantled. In general, linoleum, laminate, tiles, etc. can be laid on a wooden floor. Also, due to the installation features, various communications can be laid under a wooden floor, it can be additionally insulated or waterproofed.

Types of floor boards

Having found out that wooden floors are a great option for flooring, you should understand that they can be made using different materials. Rather, it will be a board in any case, but the floors can be decorated with its different types, from the shape to the type of wood from which it is made.

Popular types of boards for creating a floor.

In general, when choosing a floorboard, you should focus on personal wishes and preferences, as well as on the general idea of ​​​​interior design. It is also worth remembering that wood is still not the cheapest material, so be sure to focus on the budget when choosing a material.

Prices for engineered floor board

engineering board

The choice of wood for coating

Among all interior elements, the floor is the most susceptible to various negative influences; it wears out faster than other parts of the finish. However, proper care and the right choice of material from which it will be made will allow keeping it beautiful for a long time.

Massive board - larch

Various types of wood can be used to create floorboards, ranging from ordinary birch or pine to oak. It can be both coniferous and deciduous trees. A dendrological reference will help you understand which boards from which wood to buy is best.

Table. Information about different tree species.

wood species	Characteristics in terms of construction	Physical indicators
	The most common in Russia. For the procurement and creation of building materials from it, the Daurian variety is most often used, which grows in Siberia, the Far East, as well as the Siberian and European varieties. The color of the wood is pleasant, brown-reddish, with clearly visible stripes of growth rings. Differs in a minimum number of knots, strong, dense, not prone to decay. The main disadvantage of such wood is the tendency to crack when dry and the complexity of processing.	Density - 665 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.14-0.17 mm, resistance to decay - 9.1, bending strength - 109 MPa.
	Most often, spruce or Siberian spruce trees are harvested. The wood is light yellow in a delicate color, up to white, with clearly visible rings. Strong, strong, resistant to rot, but its performance is slightly worse than that of pine. Difficult to process due to the large number of hard knots.	Density - 445 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.24 mm, resistance to decay - 3.6, flexural strength - 79 MPa.
	The second most common coniferous culture in Russia. Most often, an ordinary variety is used for harvesting. The wood has a pleasant reddish-yellow hue, rich color, the texture is very beautiful due to the pronounced growth rings. It has good strength properties, is not prone to decay, and is easy to process.	Density - 505 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.28-0.31 mm, resistance to decay - 4.6, bending strength - 85 MPa.
	It resembles spruce in its characteristics, but does not have resin passages. The most durable types of fir are European, Caucasian. Others are used extremely rarely.	Density - 375 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.26-0.3 mm, resistance to decay - 3.8, bending strength - 68 MPa.
	The wood is similar in appearance to oak, bends well, does not crack. Looks very nice and expensive.	Density - 680 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.14-0.17 mm, resistance to decay - 4.9, flexural strength - 118 MPa.
	The most famous type of noble wood. Color - brown, brown-yellow, with well-defined textures. Durable, not afraid of rot, with excellent flexibility type of wood. It is not afraid of moisture, as it absorbs it rather slowly and gives it back just as slowly.	Density - 690 kg / m3, resistance to decay - 5.2, flexural strength - 103 MPa.
	The color is reddish or yellowish white, with clear textures, interesting mottled pattern. Robust, reliable, flexible option.	Density - 680 kg / m3, wear resistance 0.14-0.17 mm, resistance to decay - 3.3, flexural strength - 104 MPa.

On a note! Interestingly, cedar also belongs to the genus Pine, but it is not used for the manufacture of flooring because of the rather soft wood.

Undoubtedly, the best option in terms of strength and beauty is oak, but it is very expensive and not everyone can afford to buy such a board. It may well be replaced by ash, but it is used undeservedly rarely. Beech is prone to deformation due to its tendency to absorb moisture - it reacts sharply to changes in its indicator in the room.

Only larch can boast of an optimal price-quality ratio, which can compete with oak in almost all respects, with the exception of strength.

On a note! The cycle track in Moscow's Krylatskoye, built before the 1980 Olympics, was completely covered with larch. At one time, this cycle track was considered the fastest in the world. Also, the buildings of Venice are on larch piles. And, as you know, there is enough water in it. Larch in water does not begin to rot - on the contrary, it "hardens", its strength characteristics increase.

Pine is also often used to create floors, due to its availability - this breed grows almost everywhere, and therefore is not at all expensive. It is also easy to use, as it is processed without much effort.

How to choose the right board size

A common and erroneous opinion of beginners is that the ideal option for creating a floor is to use the widest board. But this is far from being the case - on the contrary, using this type of material, you can encounter a lot of problems. It is wide boards that most quickly begin to deform, bend, reacting to any changes in the microclimate in the room. In the future, large gaps may appear between the floorboards. Also, the boards are quite difficult to work with due to the large weight. For the manufacture of wood flooring in the house, it is highly recommended to use medium-sized boards.

In the photo - pine boards

As for the length of the board, everything is limited only by the possibilities of transportation and the convenience of working with the material. For flooring, floorboards of any length are suitable. Moreover, if necessary, long boards can be easily shortened by simply sawing them.

"Warm" and wooden floor

Wooden floors in the apartment may well be combined with a heating system. It is most convenient to install the system itself on the logs, and lay the boards on top. Heating can be modular and rack. For example, in the first case, a special design is made of chipboard with grooves, where the heating pipes are laid.

Also, a wooden floor can serve as the basis for creating a heating system. To do this, pipes or heating modules are installed on its surface, and then any other type of finishing material is laid on top.

We make our own wooden floor in the apartment

Installation of a wooden floor can be done in different ways, depending on the desired final result, the type of subfloor and other factors. Let's get acquainted with three possible types of installation of a wooden coating.

Wooden floor on joists

This method is often used if there is at least some kind of rough foundation - for example, a concrete floor. In this case, the wooden coating will spread on the so-called logs - long bars fixed on the base and serving as a kind of support for the floor. Logs can be installed on small concrete columns or bricks.

This type of construction is able to withstand significant loads, but it is important to remember that the step between the individual bars should be small, otherwise the floor will sag. The main thing is that the lags themselves are quite strong and do not bend when walking on the floor. They are also installed strictly horizontally, and the board is laid perpendicular to them.

Wooden floor on beams

Sometimes a wooden floor can be mounted not on concrete ceilings and logs, but on wooden floor beams - this option also has a place to be, as it is simple and at the same time very reliable due to the wide cross-section of the beams. Also, the system can be supplemented with lags.

The beams themselves up to 4-12 m long are installed immediately on the foundation, fixed. Since they are very heavy, it is recommended to involve outsiders in the construction. Logs are already mounted on top of the beams, and then the floor boards are laid.

Wooden floor on concrete

This is the very “apartment” option, since it is he who is the simplest and most convenient for implementation in an apartment. The wooden floor in this case is simply laid on a concrete base - the main thing is that it be fairly even. Otherwise, it may need to be leveled with other materials. Lags can also be used here.

Basic recommendations for laying a wooden floor in an apartment

Installation of a wooden floor in an apartment must be carried out according to certain rules. Only this will ensure the high quality of work. Wood flooring tips:

• work is usually done closer to spring, when the winter cold begins to recede;
• the room should not have high humidity;
• the base must be well prepared when it comes to flooring on concrete;
• waterproofing is necessary, especially if the apartment is located on the ground floor;
• if insulation is laid, then it should lie without cracks;
• boards are laid along the long wall of the room, perpendicular to the wall with a window.

Wood flooring

Before proceeding with the installation of a wooden floor, you should prepare all the tools and materials that you may need. These include:

• board;
• insulation;
• timber 50x50 mm;
• waterproofing roll material;
• jigsaw or saw;
• perforator;
• screwdriver;
• self-tapping screws;
• building level.

The instructions for installing a wooden floor look something like this.

Step 1. A log is installed on the concrete floor prepared and cleared of debris. Logs are set at one level at a distance of about 40-50 cm from each other. Installation starts from the highest point of the floor.

Step 2 You can fix the logs on a concrete base using metal corners and dowels. To do this, holes are drilled in the floor and lags according to the marks made with a pencil through the holes in the corners.

Step 3 The logs and the entire base are completely covered with waterproofing material. For this, a dense polyethylene film can be used.

Step 4 A dense insulation is laid between the lags - for example, mineral wool.

Step 5 After that, the floor board can be laid. The whole process begins from the wall farthest from the exit from the room. The board is not laid close to the wall, but taking into account a small compensation gap, so that the floors do not deform in the future. The gap will later be closed with a plinth.

Step 6 The boards are screwed to the lags with self-tapping screws. In this case, the fastener is screwed in at an angle of 45 degrees. Approximately 2 self-tapping screws are spent per attachment point.

Step 7 Thus, the entire floor is covered. If a tongue-and-groove board is used, then it is important to ensure that the tenon on the next board fits into the groove of the previous one. The boards are knocked together with a hammer if necessary. The main thing is not to damage the end of the board.

Video - Laying boards on the floor

How to protect a wood floor

Unfortunately, if the finished wooden floor is not treated with anything, it will quickly lose its attractive appearance. Therefore, it must be varnished or painted. Before applying these compounds, the floor is cleaned of dust and debris. Then you can apply varnish and dry it well, sand the finished surface and again apply a couple of layers of glossy varnish.

Attention! You can move on such a floor only a day after the work is done, and interior items are placed only after 7-10 days.

In order for the wooden floor to please the owner of the apartment, it is important to pay attention to all the work carried out and the choice of material. This is what will determine the success of the event. And properly laid and protected by coatings, the floor will last for many years and will not let you down.

Wooden flooring is a classic solution in construction and renovation. No modern composite materials can replace home warmth and ecological cleanliness of wood. Despite the fact that wood loses to concrete or composites in terms of strength and reliability, its natural attractiveness will be popular with builders for a long time to come. The device of the floor in a wooden house has been worked out for many generations, so it should not cause any problems even for not very experienced craftsmen.

It is possible to arrange the floor in a wooden structure using various technologies. Consider the procedure for performing work, the materials, tools and equipment used in this case.

The scheme of the floor in a house made of wood on pillars

Building a floor of this design is advisable if you do not intend to lay support or load-bearing beams in the walls of your house for building a floor. In this case, the floor will be constructed according to a free "floating" scheme and will not be connected in any way with the external walls of the building. Also, this floor design is used in the construction of floors in wooden buildings on soils with a high level of soil water.

Flooring in a wooden house of this design can be divided into two types.

• Single wooden plank flooring. This type of floor is the easiest to build and further use and repair. It is recommended to use this design in small cottages in summer cottages built for seasonal use.
• double floor. This type of floor is built in buildings designed for year-round use. When using this technology, two floorings are built: black and fine, in the interval between them insulation from heat loss and moisture penetration is placed.

The technology of building a floor in houses made of wooden materials on supports

Step 1. Excavate the ground in your subfloor space. The pit must be dug more than half a meter deep from the lower level of the planned floor. In a dug pit, place a pillow of crushed stone, gravel or river sand cleaned of organic matter. It is recommended that the top edge of the cushion rise above the ground level in the area near the foundation by about 20 centimeters.

Step 2 Support pillars for the floor can be formed from red burnt bricks. So, if you plan to lay the floor on supports 25 centimeters high, then its optimal width will be 1.5 bricks. With a support height of more than 25 centimeters, the pillar is placed in two bricks.

There are other technologies for installing supports. For example, you can place monolithic concrete pillars underground. In this case, the concrete mortar is poured into a pre-built wooden formwork, inside which a metal frame of reinforcement is mounted.

Concrete mortar can also be poured into vertically installed sections of asbestos-cement pipes deepened into a gravel cushion, inside which a frame of reinforcement is also placed.

In any case, when choosing a technology for erecting support pillars, it is necessary to pay attention to their uniform upper level. The best control device is a laser level or level. The distance between the pillars-supports horizontally and vertically is about a meter.

Step 3 A layer of waterproofing is laid on each pillar-support. The easiest way to do this is to use two combined layers of sheet insulation, such as roofing felt.

Step 4.A wooden plate 30 mm thick is placed on the waterproofing layer.

Step 5.Lag beams are laid on the support pillars. Usually they are built from a thick wooden beam, cut down from coniferous wood and treated with an antiseptic. The connection points of the lag should fall on the pillars. During construction, control the horizontal position of the upper surface of the log. You can adjust the position of the lag with the help of counter wedges. Depending on the width of the wooden boards used in the construction of the floor, the distance between adjacent logs can vary in the range of 60-80 cm.

Step 6.A wooden flooring is laid on the laid logs. To create an aesthetic appearance, it is better to lay the wooden floor boards parallel to the directions of the light falling from the windows of the room. The first board is laid with a gap of up to 15 mm from the wall. Then this space will be closed with a plinth, but the gap will ensure the movement of air into the underground space.

Step 7.Solid wood boards are fastened to joists with nails. The minimum length of the connecting nail should be twice the thickness of the board. Nails are hammered under a slope so that the axis of rotation of the nail does not coincide with the plane of the interface between the board and the supporting log. The optimal angle of inclination is 30-45 degrees to the vertical. Nail heads are completely sunk into the board by blows from the sharp side of the hammer. Then, after the puttying and painting process, the nail heads will disappear from view.

We nail the boards with nails at an acute angle

Step 8.A plinth rail is nailed over the boards along the perimeter of the walls. Near the two opposite walls of the room, a temporary plinth is mounted, which is fixed a couple of centimeters from the walls. The slots will provide ventilation until the final drying of the array of boards, and then they will be closed with a permanent baseboard.

Please note that in the event that a room with a floor on concrete or brick pillars is not heated in winter, the supports may “lead” and the geometry of the wooden floor structure will be broken. A layer of slag can give additional thermal insulation to the underground space, but there must be a space of at least 5 centimeters between its upper edge and the wooden floor to ensure ventilation.

How to Build a Single Plank Floor in a Wooden House

If, when building walls in a wooden house, you provided for the laying of support beams, then the most affordable way to build a floor would be to lay a single plank floor. Usually the gap between the support beams is at least a meter.

1. Logs for laying the floor are mounted on top of the support bars. For their construction, wooden bars with a side of 50-60 millimeters are used. The distance between the joists depends on the width of the tongue-and-groove board used for laying the floor:
   - if you use a board with a thickness of 30 mm, then the distance between the lags should be no more than half a meter;
   - if you use a grooved board with a thickness of 400 mm or more, then the optimal distance between the lags will be 50-60 centimeters.
2. When laying the lathing from the log, be sure to check the horizontalness of the upper level of the bars. It is advisable to use a laser or conventional building level for this, adjusting the height of the log with the help of counter wedges knocked under it.
3. Logs are fixed to the supporting beams by means of long nails or carpentry staples.

1. The plank floor of a single structure is laid directly on the logs. For laying the final floor in one layer, a tongue-and-groove board is used. Its fastening is traditional: the next board is inserted into the lock of the previous one, adjusted by tapping with a mallet, and then nailed to the log with a long nail that enters the body of the board at a slight slope. The heads of the nails are recessed into the body of the board. If you plan to place a finishing floor covering on the floor in one layer, then it is possible to use unedged boards.

1. Finished tongue and groove flooring is sanded and then varnished or painted. A finishing decorative coating, such as linoleum, is laid on the draft floor layer.

This is a very fast and affordable way to build a floor in a wooden building. However, the thermal insulation of this design leaves much to be desired and in a house designed for year-round use, it is better to build a double floor structure.

We build a floor in two layers in a wooden structure

Unlike a single floor, a double floor consists of two layers: finishing and rough.

Step 1

Logs are mounted on the support bearing beams, to which cranial additional bars are nailed.

Step 2

On the cranial additional bars in the transverse direction, the boards of the rough layer of the flooring are nailed. You can use unedged softwood boards of various thicknesses (15-45 mm). Before laying the boards are treated with an antiseptic. The boards to be laid are tightly fitted to each other so that minimal gaps remain.

Step 3

A layer of vapor barrier made of durable polyethylene is laid on the rough flooring. Its stripes overlap.

Step 5

Logs are laid on the draft floor. Their height is selected depending on the required level of insulation (usually 50 mm).

Step 6

Between the lags is an insulating layer. The choice of material for insulation depends solely on your budget and preferences:

• rolled mineral wool roll;
• foamed polymer boards (for example, polystyrene foam);
• a layer of backfill material, such as expanded clay or a mixture of clay and sawdust;
• underfloor heating piping system.

Step 7

Another layer of waterproofing is laid on top of the thermal insulation layer. If you are building a warm water floor in the thickness of a wooden one, the top layer of waterproofing is not used. When constructing a floor with passive thermal insulation, a gap of 1-1.5 centimeters is left between the upper edge of the thermal insulation layer.

Step 8

Groove boards are laid on top of this entire “sandwich”. The technology for their installation has already been described above.

Step 9

During installation, ventilation holes with a cross section of about 5 centimeters are left in the corners of the room, which are closed with decorative grilles. The surface of the gratings rises above the floor by a couple of centimeters. This elevation protects the grate from moisture.

The underground is also ventilated through the windows in the basement walls. In winter, all types of ventilation windows are blocked.

Features of the construction of the floor on the first floor of wooden buildings

When constructing a floor on the lower first or basement floor of a wooden house above unheated basements, there are certain features.

Cold floor located directly on the ground (no underground)

A cold floor located directly on the ground (without underground) is built if there is dry soil under the house and if the floor of the first floor of the building is high. The underground of such a floor consists of 4 layers:

• compacted sand cushion;
• dry, clean, calcined sand;
• log (bars from coniferous trees with a thickness of more than 15 centimeters), buried in a poured soil base and based on recesses in the outer walls of the room;
• single plank flooring with a thickness of 30-40 mm.

Insulated floor with unheated underground space

The procedure for the construction of an insulated floor with an unheated underground space

1. Placement in the underground of a pillow made of compacted sand cleaned of organic matter (thickness 10-15 cm).
2. Installation of support posts with a height of at least half a meter. A very simple and economical way to install the supports is to pour concrete mortar into segments of vertically standing pipes with a metal frame inside.
3. Laying a double layer of waterproofing on the surface of the supports.
4. Placement of wooden dies with a thickness of 30 mm.
5. Laying load-bearing beams.
6. In order to carry out thermal insulation of the floor using this technology, slats (about 15 mm in cross section) are nailed to the side ends of the log, on which a draft floor layer of cut unedged boards is laid.
7. A vapor barrier film and a layer of insulation are laid on the draft layer of the flooring (the level of the flooring is just below the finishing floor). On top of the beams, a plank floor or a covering of wood-based panels is laid.

Cold floor with heated underfloor space

A cold floor with a heated underground space is used in construction on soils with a low level of soil water. The technology of its installation coincides with the previous one, up to the stage of installation of the subfloor. After installing the lag, a finishing floor is mounted on top of them without creating a heat-insulating layer.

Watch the instructional video to learn more about the construction steps.

Video - Floor device in a wooden house

Floors made of wooden boards are among the most comfortable and environmentally friendly coatings. They are preferred not only for their noble appearance, but also for the opportunity to carry out styling with their own hands.

Types of wooden floors

Wooden decking can be created from different types of building materials:

• Solid wood boards.
• Parquet (small strips with grooves and tongues).
• Parquet board from solid wood with grooves. Standard length: 0.5-2m; acceptable thickness: 1.8-2.5 cm.
• Glued parquet board. It looks almost like a solid parquet board, has the same dimensions and similar performance properties. It costs a little less, since only the top layer is created from a valuable type of wood (thickness 5 mm), while the rest are made from inexpensive species.

Important! Glued board has at least 3 layers.

Choice of wood

Wooden coating is selected based on the ability to match: the type of room, temperature and humidity, the degree of expected loads and other operating conditions. Most often, in residential buildings, flooring is made of pine, spruce or larch. These species are durable, wear-resistant and much cheaper than hardwood species. However, aspen or oak will last much longer - not years, but several decades.

Important! Most often, edged board or tongue-and-groove wood is used for wood flooring. They do not need to be further polished.

Material selection criteria

How to choose a floor board?

• The material is carefully inspected for cracks, splits and stains. Wood with such defects is categorically not suitable for laying the floor.

What are the material requirements?

• The optimal length for boards is 2 meters. You can do more, but not less.
• The material must be dry. If you lay damp boards, after some time the coating will lose its shape, and an overdried tree may deform.
• It is recommended to buy 15% more than the required number of boards.
• The wood must be from the same batch, then the material will not differ in color or pattern, and there will be no doubt that the wood was processed using a single technology.

Important! Unpacking of boards is made just before laying. Otherwise, they may be deformed.

The following video will help you choose the material:

floor laying

Laying the floor in the house can be done in two ways. One of them involves laying boards directly on the base, the second - laying a wooden floor using a log.

For laying boards use the following tools:

• self-tapping screws;
• dowels;
• Pilu;
• Screwdriver / screwdriver;
• Hammer;
• Nails;
• stapler;
• Edged saw;
• Construction level;
• grinding machine;
• Mount.

Variations are possible.

Wood processing

Before installing the logs and laying the floor, it is necessary to carry out a complete processing of the wooden material: bioimpregnation - to protect against rot and fungi; flame retardant - to increase fire resistance.

How to properly process the boards can be found in the following video:

Waterproofing

Under the future floor, it is imperative to lay waterproofing. Penofol or polyethylene is perfect for this. It is better, of course, to put penofol. It will protect against moisture and noise, will become an obstacle to electromagnetic radiation.

Installing the base on the logs

In private houses, it is customary to lay the floor on logs. Proper installation of such a structure will hide the differences in the level of wooden flooring. By the way, various pipes and other communications can be placed under it. A wooden bar 5x10 cm usually acts as a log.

Important! You can lay the floor on the logs with your own hands only in a house with high ceilings, since when laying such a base, 7-15 centimeters of height are hidden.

Logs are brought into the room a few days before the start of work. It is necessary to lay the bars at a small distance from each other in order to exclude the possibility of deflection of the boards.

Log laying

First, two logs are laid at opposite walls at the same level. Threads are pulled between them every 1.5 meters. The rest of the lags are set, focusing on the threads. Between the beams you need to lay a heater or several layers of fiberboard.

Important! For laying boards with a thickness of up to 30 cm, the log is laid at a distance of up to 60 cm. To lay material with a thickness of 30-40 cm, you need to place the bars within 80 cm from each other. For wood thicker than 40 cm, it is allowed to install a log with a distance of 1 m.

The height of the lag is adjusted with plywood wedges. They, together with the bars, are attached to the wooden base with nails or self-tapping screws. They are fixed on concrete with dowels or anchors. Plywood should be laid on top of the fixed logs.

Plank flooring

The dimensions of the boards are selected with the expectation that each joint should be at right angles to the edge of the board, in the center of the log. The first row of wood should be laid on the bars along a stretched thread with a 1.5 cm indent from the wall. The boards are fixed on all logs. Holes for self-tapping screws are pre-drilled. Sometimes the floorboards are fastened with staples, and then with nails. The gaps between the wall and the coating are well masked by skirting boards. How to make a wooden floor on the logs can be seen in the video:

Flooring over plywood

Quite often draft floors in houses are made of plywood. The material is valued for its strength and reliability. It practically does not deform during operation. Laying a finishing floor from above is advisable only if the existing coating has dried out or loosened. If desired, it is easy to dismantle it with your own hands. The plywood base does not require pre-treatment. A new coating can be laid directly on its surface. If you plan to lay the floor in the house for the first time, you need to level the base with a log or fill it with a self-leveling mixture.

Before leveling, plywood is placed on the floor and a diagram of the future arrangement of the sheets is drawn. On its basis, lags are laid out. Alignment of the base begins with the placement of beacons around the room. The area is divided into squares (side 20-30 cm). Self-tapping screws are screwed into the corners.

Important! Plywood is not used in rooms with high humidity (or in places where the floor can flood) or frequent temperature changes.

Installing guides

Lighthouses are set using a level and fixed with a screwdriver. Then the lags are installed. The greater the thickness of the plywood, the further apart the bars are laid out from each other (an average of 40 cm).

Lag installation

To prevent the lags from sagging, pieces of plywood are placed under them. The bars can be attached to the base in different ways - using corners, anchors, linings (they need to be filled with adhesive) or self-tapping screws. So that the floor does not crack, the structure should be treated with glue.

Important! Anchor heads should be pressed into the wood by 2 mm.

To protect against condensation, the logs are covered with glassine, and only then with plywood. A gap of a couple of millimeters is left between the sheets in case of material deformation. They fix it with self-tapping screws (as a rule, 8-9 pieces go to a sheet). Plywood is sanded at the joints to avoid unevenness. Boards are laid on top of plywood, secured with nails or self-tapping screws. Be sure to leave a small gap against the wall.

Laying boards on a concrete base

To level the concrete base, you need to install beacons and pour a self-leveling mixture. Laying wood can only be done on a perfectly flat floor, but the cement should not come into contact with the wood. To do this, the screed is covered with foamed polyethylene. It is laid with an overlap, creating excellent waterproofing. You can use mask.

Finishing the floor

Upon completion of laying, the floor:

• Sanded;
• leach;
• primed;
• Paint or varnish.

Important! Impregnation, varnishes / paints are applied parallel to the wood fibers. Then the marks from the roller or brush are not so noticeable.

Despite the advent of modern flooring, wooden floors remain leaders in popularity. This is due to the fact that wood is durable, beautiful appearance, rich texture and good thermal insulation performance. That is why, wooden flooring as a means of home improvement has not lost its relevance for many years. The extraordinary energy of natural material brings a special atmosphere of warmth and comfort to the interior.

Laying a wooden floor with your own hands is not so easy, but with the desire and relevant knowledge, nothing is impossible.

Varieties of wooden floors

Wooden floors according to the type of raw materials from which they are made can be divided into the following types:

• Solid wood board (length - up to 6 m, thickness - 20-60 mm, tongue and groove on both sides);
• Parquet board (length - 0.5-2 m, thickness - 18-25 mm, tongues and grooves are located on four sides);
• Glued parquet board, consisting of three layers (upper, made of precious wood 5 mm thick, middle and lower layers - pine);
• Small parquet planks with grooves and grooves on four sides.

Rules for choosing wood

The choice of wood is a moment on which a lot depends. Experts advise purchasing coniferous boards: cedar, spruce, larch, pine, fir. Such floors are impeccable in terms of strength and wear resistance.

You need to know!
Universal material for flooring, which is relevant everywhere and always - oak.

1. Boards must be purchased with a small margin.
2. High-quality flooring is possible only when using dry wood (overdried or damp board is deformed).
3. The material must be grooved and cut, not needing to be sanded.
4. Carefully inspect the boards for defects - splits, cracks, resin stains. If flaws are found, such boards are removed.
5. If further varnishing is expected, pay attention to light shades of wood with a beautiful cut pattern.

It is important!
Boards should be treated with flame retardants that reduce flammability and anti-rotten substances. From the wrong side, it is necessary to impregnate with antiseptics - ammonium fluorosilicate or sodium fluoride.

How to lay wooden floors?

Flooring technology is diverse. This can be do-it-yourself flooring on logs, on floor beams, on the ground using logs, on a solid base. The method is chosen based on the features of the structure.

Laying a wooden floor on logs

The most common type of flooring is on logs, because. allows the possibility of laying both on the ground and on a concrete base. The main advantage of the technology is the ability to hide level and communication differences. Of the minuses, it can only be noted that laying on logs is not suitable for rooms with a low ceiling.

Regardless of what kind of base we have, the flooring on the logs implies the presence of a waterproofing film under them - rolled polyethylene, overlapped by 20 cm or penofol (foil polyethylene that provides heat and noise insulation).
Since logs are nothing more than hardwood and softwood beams, water-repellent treatment is a must.

Technology nuances

The location step between the lags will be as follows:

• for boards 35-40 cm thick - 80 cm;
• for boards less than 35-40 cm thick - 60 cm:
• for boards with a thickness of more than 35-40 cm - up to 1 m.

In the role of a lag, bars with a size of 50x80 mm or 50x100 mm most often act. They are located perpendicular to the sun's rays falling from the windows, and laid out horizontally using a laser or water level, rule or nylon thread. The height is adjusted using wooden wedges placed in one place on both sides.

Wedges and logs are attached to a brick or concrete base with glue and dowels, and to a wooden base - with long nails or self-tapping screws. First, two logs are laid along the horizontal level near opposite walls, between them, after 1 meter, a nylon thread is pulled, focusing on which the rest of the bars are laid out. Logs, located perpendicular to the boards, are attached to the floor with dowels, the gaps between them are filled with insulation or two layers of fiberboard.

It is important!
For greater reliability of fastening, you can use, in addition to nails, staples, i.e. boards are first joined with staples, and then nailed.

Wooden flooring on plywood or chipboard

There is another installation method, which involves laying a leveling layer of plywood or chipboard. Alignment begins with the installation of self-tapping beacons screwed to the required height in the corners of 20x30 cm squares. The thicker the plywood is, the less often you can lay logs (at least 30 mm wide) attached to the floor with glue or self-tapping screws.

In places where the beams sag, place pieces of plywood smeared with glue. After the glue dries, the log mesh is covered with sheets of plywood or chipboard (leveling material), the joints of which are on the logs. Do not forget to place the joints of the boards on different logs from row to row, avoiding repetition. Plywood, chipboard, fiberboard boards are laid on a waterproofing film.
The leveling coating is mounted using self-tapping screws (at least 9 pieces per sheet), the caps of which are recessed by 4 mm or drilled so that they do not stick out. Thus, a beautiful and even floor is obtained, raised by 3 cm.

It is important!
The laying of a leveling surface made of plywood, boards, boards can be started after their preliminary grinding.

Floor beam decking

In this case, beams act as load-bearing elements - the basis of interfloor ceilings. The main advantage is that the floor is an additional component of the overall frame of the structure, improving its stiffness parameters.
The disadvantage is increased noise, tk. sound vibrations are transferred to the supports, and through them - to the walls. To avoid this trouble, logs must be laid between the supports.

Ground flooring

Logs are installed on separate pillars that are not connected to the walls. Such floors are not very noisy. Particular attention during installation should be given to vapor and waterproofing - groundwater affects the material negatively. Supports can be installed on concrete preparation, compacted gravel, crushed stone, soil.
The pillars are spaced at intervals equal to the step between the lags, which depends on the thickness of the boards. On average, it is 40 cm / meter. Waterproofing is laid under the logs - roofing material in two layers or gaskets made of boards 3 cm thick.

Conventional and parquet flooring methods

Often, plank floors are laid from planed boards 3-4 cm thick. First, two lighthouses are mounted across the room at a distance of 2 cm from the wall. The correctness of their installation is checked by a bubble level. A cord is pulled between the beacons and the rest of the logs are mounted. Between the lags and the walls there should be an interval of 1 cm - the temperature seam necessary for the wood to "breathe".

There are 2 types of flooring:
1. Normal, when nails are driven into the front of the boards.
2. Parquet, when nails are hammered with an inclination into the corners of the ridges. There is another variation of this type of flooring, which is called deck flooring, in which the boards must be laid apart.

The first of the boards is laid at a distance of 2 cm from the outer and 1 cm from the inner wall, nailed or screwed with self-tapping screws to each beam. This interval will then be closed with a plinth. Boards can be connected in a quarter, end-to-end or in a tongue and groove. The latter method guarantees a perfect fit of the floorboards, which increases the strength of the flooring and thermal insulation.

When installing in the usual way, the first floorboard is laid with a groove against the wall, with parquet - with a comb. In tongue-and-groove boards, the front part of the tongue, the tongue has a straight tenon and grooves, fastening occurs by inserting the rail into the tongue. This design is more difficult to work with, because the material is capricious, does not tolerate irregularities. Each subsequent board is laid next to the nailed one, put on the comb and fixed with fasteners.

It is important!
If it is not possible to completely drive the comb into the groove, then you need to use wedges or a bracket.

The final part of the work

After laying a wooden floor, you need to sand it. For this, both floor and hand grinders are used. You will also need a skin of different grain sizes, from fine to large, abrasive discs.

The machine must be moved along the floorboards carefully so that chips do not break off. Do not press hard on the device, otherwise a large layer of wood will be ground off. Start with a large skin, and end with a small one.

Between these stages, the joints of the sheets should be puttied. Putty can be used, both water-based and polymer-based. The second one is better, because does not shrink and has high elasticity.
The next stage of the final work is the priming of the surface, which is necessary for better adhesion to paint or varnish.

Due to numerous shortcomings (harmful to the body, a long drying period), durable and resistant nitro-lacquers give way to water-based polymer one-component compositions. They are easy to apply, harmless, odorless, dry quickly.

It is important!
Before final finishing work, you need to thoroughly vacuum the floor.

Stir the varnish, if necessary, add a little water. The composition is applied along the bars, the first layer should be thin. The second layer can be applied after 3 hours.

The final stage increases the durability, strength, moisture resistance, resistance of floors to temperature fluctuations, and also improves their decorative qualities. Undoubtedly, such a floor, made by hand, will delight you with its beautiful appearance and excellent performance for a long time.

The vast majority of floors in both private and multi-apartment buildings are made of wood. The support for a multilayer, pie-like, wood structure is most often logs. Logs are long bars made of wood (less often of metal and reinforced concrete), laid out transversely to the finishing flooring, serving as its solid foundation. This design is installed both on a monolithic concrete floor, and on supporting posts and beams. The device of floors on wooden logs is very profitable due to the relatively low price of materials and ease of installation.

Advantages of flooring on logs

Logs installed as a support on a wooden floor are very functional. In addition to their direct duties, they also:

• create a uniform load on the ground in a private house and overlap (if the floor is laid in an apartment building);
• level the surface under the coating (adjustable floors with your own hands can be raised or lowered to create a perfectly flat surface, regardless of the initial parameters of the room);
• create a free, ventilated space between the ceiling and the floor, in which communications that are undesirable for public viewing can be hidden;
• increase the sound insulation of the room;
• facilitate the process of floor insulation.

In addition, individual lag bars, if necessary, can be easily replaced without spending money on large-scale repairs in the house.

Structural features of the floor on the logs

The device of the finished wooden floor on the logs is somewhat reminiscent of a multilayer cake, in which it is necessary to lay boards, logs, a waterproofing layer, insulation, and a floor finish on top of the overlap with layers.

The device of the floor on the logs involves the laying of waterproofing and insulation

At the same time, regardless of the type of overlap, the insulated floor pie includes additional elements:

• a layer of waterproofing between the ceiling and the lags;
• log bars;
• subfloor (preference is given to plywood boards);
• waterproofing insulation coating;
• the insulation and vapor barrier itself;
• boards - finishing coating.

This design of floors on logs is relevant for the first floors in private houses. All subsequent floors do not need such serious insulation; in this case, the installation of a waterproofing layer of the cake is only necessary in direct contact with concrete and brick.

It is necessary to insulate the floors of the first floors and concrete or brick bases

Self-manufacturing technology of logs and selection of wood

Lags can be purchased at the store, or you can make your own. The second option is relatively cheaper. Wood with a moisture content of no more than 15-17% of the 2nd or third grade is best suited for these purposes. Logs can be made from pine, fir, spruce, aspen and larch.

If you make logs with your own hands, keep in mind that the cross section of the beam should be rectangular in shape. The height is approximately twice the width. The required size is determined based on the parameters of the room, to be more precise: based on the exact distance between the strapping links from the timber.

The size of the bars depends on the distance between the strapping links

In addition, it is imperative to take into account the thickness of the insulation layer and the size of the spans.. In the illustration you can see approximate calculations with laying the log at a distance of 70 cm from each other.

If your room has an intermediate size between the indicated values, it is worth taking a larger value as a basis. So you will have some stock of material, which will allow you to lay it without gaps and make the structure more durable.

To make a wooden floor with your own hands, you can use both edged and tongue-and-groove boards. The second option is much more preferable, because its device involves a groove and a spike, therefore, the installation of a fine finish coating is no longer so relevant.

It is preferable to use tongue-and-groove boards thanks to the tenon-groove system

Cedar, larch, spruce, aspen and pine floorboards can be used. The most expensive and durable materials are oak and pine wood: provided that the installation is carried out correctly, they will last for several decades. In turn, larch is great for rooms with high humidity, because it is not subject to decay, and healthy aspen and alder boards are great for sleeping rooms.

Oak and pine boards will last a long time

If you purchase first-class floorboards, you can not spend money on the final flooring, but at the final stage, just sand the boards and open with varnish.

The main thing is that before laying, be sure to treat the boards with antiseptic antifungal drugs and soak them with a water-repellent compound.

If you install a wooden floor with your own hands, be careful about the choice of wood: the boards should be dry, but not overdried. Wet wood after drying and under the pressure of furniture can be deformed. Always buy boards with a margin of 15-20% in case of need for trimming, mistakes and scrap.

How to independently calculate the required distance between the lags?

When you install the floor on the logs, follow the rule: the thicker the floor board, the wider the installation and the farther apart the logs are.

For example, for a board whose size is 5 cm, you can take a step (the distance between the lags) of one and a half meters.

If you are using thin boards, you can take a small step so that there is no deflection of the board. The most frequent step length between lags is 50-70 cm.

The distance between the lags is most often 50-70 cm

Also keep in mind that you will need additional distance to make it convenient to lay the insulation inside. If the base size does not match the values ​​in the table, then it is calculated upwards.

Basic rules for installing a lag

When installing the log yourself, you should strictly follow the following rules:

Installation of wooden logs for the floor

Wood is a floor covering that has been tested by time and centuries of experience. Laid correctly, it can serve for decades and not lose its visual appeal. In addition, it is the most environmentally friendly, "breathing" floor, which guarantees a high degree of heat and sound insulation of the premises of both a private and an apartment building.

Wooden floor construction along the lags

To make the laying of the wooden floor on the logs quick and comfortable, you will need the following tools: a level, a puncher, a saw and an ax, a hammer, a nail puller, a drill, a screwdriver and keys. As well as the following materials: floorboards (sometimes the role of the subfloor is assigned to plywood boards), logs, insulation material, fasteners (anchor bolts, self-tapping screws and nails).

If all the necessary materials for installation are available, you can start laying the log on top of the soundproofing material. As already mentioned, the surface must be leveled by checking its horizontalness with a building level. Boards are attached to the logs with dowels.

Now it is worth considering in more detail the entire technology of flooring on logs in a private house.

The first step is marking the working area and preparing the base. First, you should compact the soil and fix the formwork with ten-centimeter sides. A reinforced mesh is laid on the bottom and then the concrete mixture is poured. For the concrete to dry, you need to wait a couple of days. After that, a waterproofing polyethylene film is laid on top of the concrete floor, and then the supporting structures are built.

If the floor is cold, the space that remains under it after its construction must be covered with sand or expanded clay (do not fill up to the top, you need to leave about 5 cm of free space).

You can insulate the floor with expanded clay

The second step will be to work to ensure normal ventilation of the space under the floors.. For these purposes, small holes are made along the perimeter of the plinth (for every 15 sq.m), which, in order to prevent mice from entering the house, are closed with a non-ferrous metal mesh.

The next step is floor insulation.. For these purposes, expanded polystyrene, isospan or heat-insulating roll material is perfect. This material is laid on the waterproofing layer of isolon, which is attached to the logs in advance with the help of an industrial stapler.

After laying the insulation, you can proceed to laying the boardwalk over the log. Installation must begin from the corner of the room. The boards are screwed directly to the joists using self-tapping screws.

Scheme of the device of a wooden floor

If the boards are processed and well sanded, they can play the role of a finishing, fine flooring. If a finishing layer is expected (laminate, parquet, linoleum, etc.), you can start laying it immediately after finishing work with fastening the boards to the logs.

Thus, the installation of a floor on logs made of wood has many advantages over laying the floor directly on top of a concrete or ground floor. In addition to the fact that it smooths out all the unevenness of the floors and distributes the load evenly, it also perfectly insulates the home and contributes to noise absorption.