Leveling a wooden floor with your own hands. How to level a wooden floor: leveling an old wooden floor with your own hands

A wooden floor, having served for many years, becomes deformed and sags. Defects appear on the surface - scratches, cracks. Sooner or later, you cannot do without leveling the structure.

How to level the old one wooden floor without removing the boards, depends on the nature of the damage to the current and the material of the new coating.

For the right choice method, one should distinguish between irregularities by size: small (up to 1 cm) and significant (2–10 cm). In the first case, wooden floors are processed as follows:

Puttying;

Cycling;

Pouring self-leveling mixture;

Styling sheet materials– Chipboard, OSB, plywood.

At significant differences old covering, the slabs are laid on logs or screeded with cement mortar. However, from wet method it is better to refrain from leveling if we are talking about preserving the floor from wooden planks. Dried cement is not plastic.

Mechanical impacts from using the floor and installing furniture will lead to the formation of cracks. Due to the heaviness of the mortar, the board base may be damaged, so for laying cement screed It is advisable to remove the boards.

Read also: Laminate - three common problems with it: creaking, diverging seams, swelling of the boards. Causes and solutions.

Wood floor scraping

You can use a sanding machine if the boards are strong, not rotten and of sufficient thickness. After all, you will have to remove a few millimeters from the surface. The process is accompanied by noise and dust formation, so for sanding you will need protective measures. You need to stock up on glasses, headphones and a mask in advance.

This method is quite expensive, since you need to pay for the rental of a sanding machine. But doing all the work manually is more difficult. It is enough that you will have to process corners and other areas inaccessible to the machine yourself, that is, with your hands.

After leveling, any covering is placed on the wooden floor. However, simply processed paint and varnish material, without any finishing, it will look quite presentable.

Remaking an old wooden floor is a simple and cheap process, but on one condition: the joists and boards are strong enough, without serious damage. Leveling the floor surface is possible in several ways. The method depends on the condition of the surface and any damage detected. The article will tell you about all kinds of alignment methods, as well as about the technology for doing it yourself.

Errors when laying boards - main reason its quick damage during intensive use. They are as follows:

• Incorrectly set logs. The decking process involves two stages. The first is the installation of the outer joists, between which the rope is stretched. The second is laying the rest of the material along this rope. If the logs are located in different planes, then the finished surface has strong differences.
• The dimensions of the lags do not correspond to real loads. The result is that areas bend, become deformed, and even break.
• The covering is created from wet or too dry boards. Wet material swells, rots, and cracks over time. Dry - it warps, and large gaps appear between the boards.
• Natural ventilation or waterproofing is arranged with gross violations technologies. The lumber rots and loses operational properties, bends. The problem can only be resolved by complete replacement. flooring.

These facts are a reason for urgent leveling of the base. To carry out the work correctly, you need to determine the exact cause of their appearance and the nature of the irregularities.

You can determine the size and nature of the unevenness of the base using one of the following methods: horizontally (laser, bubble or water level), deflections, curvature of the boards.

What can you use for repairs?

Dismantling and reassembling a plank surface is a complex, long, labor-intensive process. Therefore, not every apartment owner will decide to do this work. But the longer a faulty floor is in use, the more difficult and expensive it is to fix.

Among the ways to level the floor in an apartment with your own hands:

• looping;
• local alignment;
• dry screed;
• use of self-leveling compounds;
• leveling with lags or pads.

Differences need to be measured laser level length 2000 mm. If their indicator is higher than 2 mm per 1 sq. m, then alignment is required. If it’s less, then you can put up with it. But it’s still not worth delaying the repairs.

Alignment methods

Tsiklyovka

Used when there are minor deformations.

Processing takes place using a scraping machine. Equipment can be rented. If this is not possible, then use an electric plane.

Surface scraping includes four stages:

1. Preparation. Remove furniture and interior items from the room. Remove baseboards. Carefully sweep out the trash, wash the floor, and wait until it is completely dry. Hammer the protruding nails with a hammer. If they are damaged, it is better to remove and hammer in new ones. Reinforce loose areas with self-tapping screws.
2. Looping. Start processing from the corner, slowly moving along the wall. Having reached the next corner, turn the car around and continue driving. The main thing is to treat the surface in narrow strips, carefully.
3. Sealing cracks. After completing the second stage, you can clearly notice cracks and crevices in the floor. To close them, it is enough to purchase acrylic putty. The shade must match the surface. Use strictly according to the manufacturer's instructions. Level with a metal or rubber spatula. Wait until completely dry.
4. Final works. Go over the surface again with a scraping machine, then vacuum and prime. If the primer is quickly absorbed, then apply another layer: it will close all the pores in the lumber. Then paint or varnish the boards.

Don't forget about the funds personal protection. Masks, respirators, goggles, and special clothing will help prevent poisoning of the body and clogging of the respiratory tract.

We invite you to watch a video on how to sand a wooden floor:

Sheet material

This type of leveling will correct a wavy floor with strictly horizontal boards. The material used is:

• plywood;
• cement bonded particle board(CPS);

It is necessary to exclude fiberboard - the slabs take the shape of the base over time.

It is important to choose lumber wisely. The following characteristics are important when purchasing:

• Moisture resistant plywood. Durable, retains heat and noise, suitable for arranging any finishing coatings. Thickness - from 4 to 24 mm.
• DSP. Durability, environmental friendliness, fire safety. Thickness - from 10 to 32 mm.
• Chipboard. Top quality, excellent sound-proofing and heat-insulating properties, easy processing. Thickness - from 6 to 28 mm.
• GVL. Smoothness and evenness, heat-insulating properties, suitability for arranging any covering. Thickness - from 10 to 12.5 mm.
• OSB. Strength, durability, suitability for any floor covering. Thickness – 9 mm.

Attention

The thickness of the lumber affects the quality of the result. If a person wants to get a durable and hardy wooden covering, then it is better to choose a denser base.

Let's look at an example of how to level a floor using chipboard without tearing down the boards. The process consists of five stages:

1. Preparation. Take out the furniture, remove the baseboards, clean the base from old paint. Hammer the nails, fill the cracks and recesses with putty. Remove all debris and dust. Prime the surface.
2. Open it up. The size of the chipboard sheet is 250x185 cm. For convenience, cut it into squares with dimensions of 60x60 cm. This will increase the number of damper seams to eliminate the subsequent influence of sudden temperature changes. Cut the chipboard with a hacksaw, after gluing it to the edges of the board masking tape. Act clearly and carefully.
3. Fit. Place the finished squares on the floor. Adjust to the size of the base: cut out areas for existing protrusions, trim the edges to offset the seams, leave technological gaps around the perimeter of the room and damper seams between each square. In order not to get confused in the prepared sheets, it is better to number them.
4. Laying. Pre-coat the chipboard with drying oil or two layers of primer. Start laying from the corner. In this case, a distance of 1-1.5 cm should remain between the edge and the wall. Secure the sheet with self-tapping screws. Leave a gap of 10 mm between subsequent sheets. Lay the rows so that the offset of the seams is equal to half the sheet.
5. Finishing processing. Cover the joints with acrylic putty or sealant. Using a level, check that the base is horizontal and that there are no differences. Treat rough areas with sandpaper, remove dust, and prime. The base is ready for laying decorative flooring.

Chipboard can become finishing, if the sheets are coated with varnish or a coloring compound. It is necessary to take into account the manufacturer’s recommendations and perform each step with extreme care.

We invite you to watch a video on how to level a wooden floor using plywood:

Plywood on joists

This method allows you to eliminate differences from 4 to 10 cm, prepare solid foundation under any finishing coating. Beams, reliable boards, plywood up to 4 cm wide will act as building material.

Leveling technology:

1. Preparation. Remove everything unnecessary from the room. Remove the baseboards, clean the old coating, and repair defects.
2. Marking. From the highest point of the base, mark a point on the wall with a level. Step back up a distance equal to the thickness of the lumber and place another mark. Using a water level, place marks throughout the entire area of ​​the room. Then connect in one line.
3. Installation of logs. Post waterproofing film on the boards to prevent rotting of the entire floor. Secure the logs along or across the boards. It is better to mount them in parallel, at a distance of up to 50 cm from each other. Level each element with linings different thicknesses. Then strengthen the materials with nails.
4. Laying plywood boards. Cut the sheets into squares. Lay out each element on logs. Secure with self-tapping screws.
5. Ventilation arrangement. Ventilation holes extend the life of a wood floor. In opposite corners of the room (under heating devices) make holes in the plywood so that the grill can easily fit into them. Install a lattice element on top and fill the gaps with glue or sealant.
6. Completion. Check the floor level, inspect the joints and fastening points. If everything is in order, then fill the seams and recesses from the screws with putty. Sand the surface and remove dust. Apply primer and wait until completely dry.

The distance between the logs can be determined by the thickness of the plywood. The thinner the lumber, the smaller the gap between the joists. It is better to strengthen areas with increased load with cross beams, but of a smaller cross-section.

Screed

The method is suitable if the base is made of concrete, the boards are thick and durable, and the unevenness is more than 1 cm. A special dry mixture is used as a screed.

Leveling steps:

1. Preparation. Clean the boards from old paint, grease, debris, and dust. Remove baseboards. Fill cracks and gaps with putty and prime the surface. Lay polyethylene on the base and secure with tape. Lay fiberglass mesh on top for reinforcement.
2. Filling. Pour the dry mixture into a container with clean water, observing the proportions (they are indicated on the packaging). Mix for 1 minute. Apply the resulting composition to the mesh and level it. All activities must be completed within 15 minutes, otherwise the mass will begin to harden.
3. Completion. Drying time for the mixture is 4–5 hours. Then sand the joints. The surface is ready for use.

You need to choose a dry mixture for screed according to your financial capabilities. The main thing is to pay attention to its properties, characteristics, and manufacturer’s recommendations for use.

Required tools and materials

The list is as follows:

• lumber;
• linings, reinforced and fiberglass mesh;
• screwdriver, self-tapping screws;
• hammer, nails;
• jigsaw or Grinder;
• level, pencil;
• metal or plastic spatula, rollers;
• container for mixing dry mixture, construction mixer.

The list of tools and materials can be supplemented: it depends on the alignment method. It is better to rent equipment to save money.

How to do the job yourself: step-by-step instructions

To minimize time and financial costs, you can use in an interesting way- applying a self-leveling mixture.

Leveling technology includes:

1. Preparation. Clean the surface from dirt and dust. Seal gaps and cracks.
2. Prime the base thoroughly and let dry.
3. Dilute the mixture according to the manufacturer's instructions.
4. Pour the mixture over the entire area and roll it out with a special roller.

Attention

Self-leveling mixtures harden very quickly. If you do not have time to level the surface, it will harden and deteriorate. Large areas It is better to fill in sections.

• The most important thing is to take into account the instructions of the manufacturers of dry mixtures. The result will depend on the correct use of them.
• Lumber must be chosen of high quality, dry.
• Use clean containers and treat surfaces thoroughly.
• If you have doubts about your skills, it is better to turn to professional craftsmen.

Leveling a wooden floor with your own hands is time-consuming and difficult. The work requires attentiveness, accuracy, and careful implementation of all recommendations. This is the only way to achieve a smooth, strong, durable, beautiful surface.

In contact with

Wooden floor, despite the appearance of many other modern options, remains at the top of popularity. It is widely used not only in old houses, but also in new buildings, as it is warm and durable. However, over time, under the influence of many factors, it may begin to sag on one or more sides. And as a result of this, serious level differences occur.

On such a surface, the furniture stands crookedly, and the doors in the cabinets do not close due to the resulting distortions. Creaking floorboards become inevitable. In addition, gaps form between the boards, which negatively affects the appearance floor, and on its insulating qualities. Therefore, sooner or later, all owners have a question about how to install a wooden floor, making it more stable, warmer, more comfortable for walking and more beautiful in appearance.

Basic ways to level a wooden floor

Dismantling and reassembling plank flooring is a complex, lengthy, labor-intensive and dirty process, which can be difficult to decide on. However, it is often impossible to do without it - if the floor boards are rotten, sagging, or there are signs of mold or mildew on them. In this case, there is nowhere to go - it is required complete replacement wooden flooring. If the boards are strong, well connected to each other, but there is a serious difference in the horizontal plane or in certain areas of the floor, then you can do without opening the boardwalk. Under favorable circumstances, superficial leveling measures are used.

Depending on the nature of the irregularities that appeared on wooden floor during the period of its operation, a method for their removal is selected.

There are several methods applicable to leveling board coverings:

• Looping.
• Local alignment of a specific area.
• Self-leveling compounds.
• Alignment with lags.
• Leveling with pads.

To determine which method would be better suited For specific case, you must first measure the differences in the floor surface using a laser or conventional building level length of at least 2000 mm. The permissible amount of unevenness that can be tolerated (unless, of course, creaks appear) should not exceed 2 mm per linear meter grounds.

What to do if the floor is smooth, but begins to creak?

There is definitely something wrong with him. It is necessary to conduct an audit to identify the cause of the appearance unpleasant sounds. Well, then - by applying certain techniques, which are described in detail in a special article on our portal.

How to do the leveling yourself?

Local leveling of the floor surface

It happens that irregularities are local in nature, that is, they are located only in certain areas of the floor. Alignment of boards protruding above the main plane can be done using a plane or hand grinder. Of course, in these areas you should inspect the heads of fasteners - nails or screws. They should not interfere with leveling, that is, if necessary, either deepen them into the thickness of the board, or even temporarily unscrew them.

If, on the contrary, concave small areas, then they are raised to the general surface level. This process can be done using oil or acrylic wood putty, or a self-made composition of small sawdust and PVA glue.

The repair compound is applied to the depression and spread over the surface using a spatula. With this alignment, the edges of the recess, located at the same level as the main plane of the floor, will serve as beacons for this alignment. After the putty mass has dried, it is cleaned with a grinding machine.

The methods discussed above are good only in cases where the board covering is being prepared for painting or under covering it with plywood sheets. If the floors are being prepared for varnishing while preserving the natural color and texture of the wood, then you will have to sand the entire surface.

Wood floor scraping

The scraping method is used in cases where it is necessary to free the floors from the old coating or the top darkened or damaged layer of wood. In addition, if the deformation of the surface and its differences in height are no more than 10 mm, then the floors can also be leveled using a scraping machine. This method is quite noisy, but fast, since short term allows you to renew the plank covering, preparing it for further finishing.

It’s not difficult to carry out this process yourself, but the equipment is expensive, and hardly anyone will purchase it for a one-time task. Therefore, if you decide to level and clean the floor yourself, it is best to rent the device for a certain period.

When choosing this processing method, you should take into account the thickness of the floorboard. And also that after leveling, the height from the surface to the connecting lock of the tongue-and-groove board should be at least 4÷5 mm. That is, you will have to act very carefully and carefully.

To carry out scraping, in addition to the scraping machine, it is necessary to prepare the following auxiliary materials and devices:

• A set of abrasive attachments with grains of different fractions - circles and tapes. Don't buy too much Supplies. The best option would be to consult with specialists when renting a car, explaining the characteristics of the board covering. In addition, you can purchase several nozzles with different numbers and test them in practice experimentally.

• Disposable sawdust bags.
• Personal protective equipment - gloves, respirator and construction glasses.

Before starting work, it is necessary to inspect the surface of the boardwalk. It must be dry and clean. The gap between the floorboards should be no more than 5 mm. In addition, they should not come to the surface metal elements- heads of nails or screws. They should be deepened into the wood 1.5÷2 mm below the thickness of the layer expected to be removed.

The scraping machine must be prepared for work by first installing attachments with large grains on it and adjusting the clamping force of the device using a special screw.

The first stage of cleaning is carried out along the fibers. You need to move slowly, without sudden jerks, but also without long downtime at one place. The car should run smoothly.

Having cleaned one strip of coating, the next one should be started by moving the device by ⅔, that is, by ⅓ capturing the previous one, just processed. As the abrasive layer of the nozzle wears out, it must be replaced with a new one.

Having treated the entire surface of the floor with a coarse-grain nozzle, you can proceed to sanding the boardwalk, installing an abrasive belt with a fraction of at least P240. This attachment will help make your floors perfectly smooth.

Next, the wood is treated with an antiseptic primer or tinting stain. After which the surface is puttied, cleaned and covered with varnish, wax, oil or painted in the chosen color.

If the differences in the surface are more significant, then to level it you will have to resort to more labor-intensive methods.

Leveling planks with dry screed

Necessary materials

This method of leveling the surface is suitable for both plank flooring and. When choosing this method of tidying up the floor, it is necessary to take into account the height of the ceiling of the room and the magnitude of the differences in the surface.

To arrange a dry screed you will need the following materials:

• Dry expanded clay, perlite or silicate-slag mixture of fine fraction, specially designed for dry screed. Great option This material will be the composition of the Knauf company. Good reviews The material of the Belarusian production “Kompevit” also deserves.

Standard backfill packaging is bags with a capacity of 40 liters. Calculation required quantity is based on the floor area and the thickness of the proposed leveling backfill. The thickness cannot be less than 20 (or better - 30) mm. It is undesirable to make it more than 60, maximum 80 mm. If on base floor there is a significant level imbalance from the horizontal, then this is also taken into account.

• Covering sheet material is ready-made floor elements (EF) made from gypsum fiber boards. Such EPs are equipped with specially designed locking lamellas, which speed up installation and make the coating neat. In addition to this material, waterproof plywood or particle boards can be used to cover the backfill. However, the best option Still, there will be gypsum fiber EP, which have optimal characteristics for flooring:

— Thickness 20 mm. (Two layers of 10 mm each. The layers are placed and connected with an offset, which is what forms the interlocking connection 50 mm wide).

— Standard linear dimensions EP - 600×1200.

Other floor elements are also on sale, in particular with dimensions of 500×1500×20 mm, that is, with an aspect ratio of 1:3.

Floor elements are purchased depending on the area of ​​the room. A 15% reserve is made, since, firstly, there will be waste during cutting. And secondly, on those elements that will be laid away from the walls, the locking lamella must be cut off from the side adjacent to the wall.

• Damper tape for installation along the wall around the perimeter of the entire room. Purchased according to the length of the perimeter of the room with a small margin.
• Waterproofing material for laying on the surface of the base for backfilling. For wooden floors glassine, thick paper with bitumen impregnation or roofing felt are best suited. You can also use plastic film thickness of at least 200 microns. Purchased based on floor area with a 15% margin.
• Metal profile for placing temporary beacons.
• Glue for mutual fixation of plates along lines lock connections. High-quality PVA glue is quite suitable.
• Self-tapping screws. The optimal one is special self-tapping screws for GVL (GVVL), which are distinguished by a double-start thread and have a self-drilling head.

It is unlikely that leveling of the wooden floor will be required in the new wooden house, for example, such as in the catalog http://lps-dom.ru/. But repairing an old wooden floor is a pressing task, and even more so if you decide to repair a wooden floor without dismantling it. To lay a new floor covering (parquet, linoleum, laminate), you need to level the wooden floor. Used for alignment sheet plywood, chipboard sheets or MDF boards. The laid sheet material will not only level the old wooden covering, but will also serve technological basis new floor covering.

Material for leveling wooden floors

To level a wooden floor, 10 mm thick plywood is used. If the “waviness” of the old coating is too frequent, then use plywood 20 mm thick. For kitchens, bathrooms and hallways, it is better to purchase moisture-resistant plywood.

Chipboard and MDF sheets are less effective. Firstly, they are more expensive than plywood. Secondly, they are difficult to work with (they are difficult to saw and are difficult to cut through with screws).

How to lay sheet material to level a wooden floor

Before leveling, the plywood sheets are cut into squares of 1000x1000 mm (meter by meter). Plywood is laid on the floor from the corner of the room. The seams of sheet joints in adjacent rows must be offset. Best result is achieved by shifting the sheet halfway. All sheets are attached to the old one wooden covering screws (self-tapping screws). The screws are screwed in rows with a step between rows of 30-40 cm. The step between the screws is 15-20 cm. The screw heads are recessed into the plywood by 1-2 mm.

After fixing all the sheets, the recessed screws and seams between the sheets are puttied with acrylic-based putty.

But a simple plywood deck is suitable for leveling a “wavy” floor and will not work on a floor with a slope or difference in floor level.

Leveling a multi-level wooden floor

A multi-level wooden floor is leveled with plywood in two ways.

Leveling plywood with joists

To equalize height differences from 3 to 10 cm, it is used pre-laying timber 25×50 or boards 25×100. The logs are laid every 40 cm. The logs are aligned to a single horizontal level. For leveling, plywood spacers are used.

The joists must be laid so that the joint of the plywood sheets falls in the middle of the joists. So calculation is the main thing here.

Leveling plywood with slabs

Shabs are point supports for sheet material. I should immediately note that this method is more labor-intensive and is used for level differences of up to 4 cm.

Point supports are made as often as possible. You need to create a kind of grid of supports with 30 cm cells for 14 mm plywood and 40 cm cells for 20 mm plywood.

This leveling method is reminiscent of installing adjustable floors. Only in adjustable floors special ones are used adjustable legs, not pieces of plywood. Since we are leveling a wooden floor, make supports from cement mortar This is not possible, so we use pieces of plywood for supports.

After the floor is leveled and the screws and seams are puttied, you can lay the final floor covering: laminate, parquet, linoleum, carpet.

Important! Be sure to do vent in place of old ventilation in old wooden floor.

That's all. Now you know how to level a wooden floor with sheet materials.

Renovating apartments and private houses often involves installing new flooring. One of the problems associated with this is the need to additional work by alignment wooden base having various defects and unevenness. This article will discuss how to level a wooden floor.

IN modern construction There are several basic methods for leveling a wooden floor to install new flooring on top of it. Some of them involve working directly with wood, others involve applying various leveling compounds and sheet materials without dismantling boards and joists.

The first group includes:

1. Manual leveling.

The photo shows two fundamental approaches to leveling a wooden base. The first is by using sheet materials. The second is mechanical treatment of the floor surface using a grinder.

The second group includes:

1. Leveling with sheet wood materials (plywood, chipboard and fiberboard).
2. Leveling with cement screed.
3. Leveling with self-leveling floors.

Let us consider each of these methods in more detail, their nuances and features, and the main mistakes made by non-professionals when performing them.

Leveling a wooden floor by hand

If you find an abundance of protruding places on the floor boards, which are usually located near the knots in the boards, you must try to eliminate them. First check the strength of the joists that serve as the basis for the existing and new coating.

Rotten, collapsed bars will not be able to withstand the weight of the new and old floor in the house. They will have to be replaced or a new base in the form of a concrete screed installed.

If the lag is sufficiently strong, you can safely level the wooden floor. To work you will need the following tools:

• Axe;
• Electric planer;
• Any type of grinder (belt, vibration, etc.).

Examine the surface of the boards and mark with a pencil or chalk problem areas. With a sharply sharpened ax in the direction of the wood grain, you can roughly chop down protruding places of great height. It is convenient to smooth out irregularities a few millimeters high with a plane.

When working with mechanical tools Special attention Pay attention to the presence of protruding heads of nails and screws in the boards, which can irreparably damage the knives.

Before leveling an old wood floor with a power planer, go over the entire surface and deepen the fasteners or remove them completely.

For the first type of work, it is convenient to make a simple finisher by cutting off a part of the rod with a head 50-70 mm long from a nail No. 120 or 150. Having installed the device on top of the nail, with several blows of the hammer, deepen it into the board and joist by 3-4 mm. To remove, use pliers or a nail puller, hitting it with a hammer.

Perform the final leveling of the boards with a sander, connecting a vacuum cleaner hose to it to reduce dust in the room in the house. Alternating sandpaper With different sizes abrasive grain, you can get a perfectly flat, smooth surface.

If the quality of processing is high, you can do without updating the floor covering by covering the sanded floor with several layers.

Leveling the floor by scraping

Manual sanding has been used in carpentry for a long time, but it allows you to remove only micron layers of wood. Leveling a wooden floor is best done with a mechanical scraper, which can be rented from relevant construction organizations.

The principle of its operation is similar to the principle of operation of an electric planer, but it is more suitable for leveling and imparting flatness to a horizontal surface. Similar to the process described above, it is necessary to carefully eliminate possible metal defects on the surface. This is especially true in an old house or apartment, where the floorboards were not fastened in a “secret” position, but from above.

If the need to lay a new floor covering is urgent, then after mechanical sanding the floor surface does not need to be sanded.

Leveling the floor with sheet materials

The most common way to get flat base consists of laying sheets on top of it wood materials. This method has a number of advantages over those described above:

1. There is no need for extensive leveling before leveling a wood floor with plywood.
2. The process is accessible to any craftsman who has a jigsaw and a screwdriver in his arsenal.
3. Minimum waste when performing work.

If it is necessary to raise the level of the base, the sheets can be attached not to boards, but to small logs made of bars with a section of 20x50 or 30x50, attached to the floor with self-tapping screws. It is necessary to position the sheathing so that the joints of individual sheets are located on its elements. The frequency of installation of new logs should not exceed a distance of 40-50 cm.

Leveling with concrete screed

One more is enough universal method leveling the floor, which can be done without tearing down old boards. It places higher demands on the strength of the joists, since the load on them increases due to the high mass of the concrete layer.

The advantage of this option is minimal preliminary preparation. Before leveling the wooden floor in the house concrete mixture, you just need to carefully examine the condition of the floor joists and the tightness of the boards to each other. The last aspect is related to the liquid component of the mixture. If there are large gaps, it is recommended to pre-fill them polyurethane foam, cutting it flush with the floor after hardening.

To level with concrete you will need:

• a sufficient amount of mixture components - sand, cement and water;
• mechanical concrete mixer;
• device for leveling concrete on the floor;
• beacons made of sheet steel or self-tapping screws fixed to the floor at the required level.

Place portions of the liquid mixture on the prepared base, distribute it using a trowel or spatula and level it metal strip meter length is the rule. After the concrete layer has hardened after a few days, installation of the floor covering begins.

Self-leveling floor on wooden boards

Self-leveling floors have become a relatively new type - mixtures based on various polymer compositions, which, after hardening, form a smooth, perfectly even horizontal layer on the surface of the base. It is possible to use this type of mixture for leveling wooden floors.

It should be noted that this type is one of the most expensive of all described in today's review. In addition, the use of such a composition also requires high strength wooden logs. This is due to a significant increase in the load on them. The video clearly shows the creation process self-leveling surface on the plank floor.

There is no need to control the filling level; you just need to correctly distribute it with a special toothed device called a squeegee. Navigate through unfrozen self-leveling floor it is necessary on special wooden platforms resting on steel spikes - wet shoes.

Thus, in the framework of this review, we examined the main methods of leveling a wooden floor, provided that the joists and boards for laying one or another type of flooring are preserved. Each of them has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages; the choice of the final option depends on specific conditions.