Independent flooring in a private house

Floors are one of the main structural elements of a building. Much depends on their competent installation, including the hygiene and reliability of the house, the comfort of living in it and the durability of the flooring. The device of the floor in a private house is a rather laborious procedure, making up a fifth of the total labor costs for the construction of the building as a whole. And in material terms, the installation of floors takes almost a third of the cost of building a house. This alignment applies not only to the capital residential building, but also to the cottage.

The floor is the most wearable structure, as it is constantly exposed to mechanical and abrasive loads, so its installation must be approached responsibly. It should not be forgotten that a poorly executed floor construction will lead to rapid wear and tear and further repair or replacement of even the most expensive floor covering.

Ground floor floors

The floor is a multi-layer construction, and not just a coating, as some imagine it to be. It is laid on the ceiling or directly on the ground, which depends on the purpose of the room and proximity to groundwater. The floor of the first floor differs in its design in that its "pie" without fail includes heat and waterproofing, and a layer of soundproofing material is laid between the floors. The floors in the garage or basement also have their own characteristics. It is important that the foundation withstand the calculated loads and prevent the penetration of moisture from the soil.

The components of the floor, arranged in a private household or country house, are conventionally divided:

On finishing floors - a floor covering.
Black, or draft floors - a solid, even base of one or more layers, designed for laying a clean floor.

The floor also includes:

waterproofing;
thermal insulation;
leveling screed;
sound or noise isolation.

The floor structure of the first floor can be:

Svyaznoy - a screed with a concrete base is a single whole.
On the separating layer - the screed and the surface of the base are not interconnected.
Floating - all layers are separated not only from the base, but also from the walls.

Floors must meet certain requirements:

strength;
thermal insulation;
noiselessness;
anti-skid;
hygiene;
fire safety.

There are several options with which you can make a high-quality and beautiful floor in the house. This may be a single plank structure, most suitable for installation in the country. In a residential building, a double wooden or concrete floor with good insulation is more often arranged.

Single board construction

The simplest and most affordable way to arrange a wooden floor is widely used in the country, which is not expected to be visited during the cold season. Also, a single wooden floor of a residential building is appropriate in the warm regions of the country.

Boards are laid in two ways:

on logs located on top of beams embedded in walls;
on beams mounted on supporting pillars.

The step of the lag or beams directly depends on the thickness of the boards. The thinner the board, the shorter the distance. Logs and support beams are leveled, correcting their horizontal position with wooden wedges. After that, boards are nailed to the supporting elements with nails.

Double plank construction

Warming and arrangement of the finished floor

The installation of a floor in a country house or in a private house in this case is more labor-intensive and time-consuming, but the design itself provides for a significant reduction in heat loss. Its feature is the device of the black floor. Experts recommend using inexpensive coniferous tree species for this, and using tongue-and-groove boards to create a wooden finish.

Between two levels of floors, a heat-insulating layer of foam, slag, dry sand, expanded clay concrete or expanded polystyrene is laid. In the country, it is more expedient to use a mixture of clay, straw and sawdust. An indispensable condition in wooden housing construction is the arrangement of a small gap above the thermal insulation and a clean floor for an air gap.

Concrete floor

The device of the concrete floor of the lower floor of the house is reduced to several stages:

Marking with a laser.
Backfilling, leveling and tamping of crushed stone or expanded clay layer. As well as the device and leveling of the sand layer with periodic watering and rolling.
Waterproofing flooring made of polyethylene film with entry to the walls above the level of the future concrete floor.
Installation of guides along the beacons in accordance with the previously made markings.
Pouring concrete solution to the required level and leveling it with a rule.

After the concrete mortar has set, the guides are removed, and the voids are filled with a mixture of concrete, after which they are overwritten. Then it remains only to cover the surface with polyethylene and moisten it with water from time to time. The period of complete hardening of the concrete solution is 20–30 days, depending on the temperature and humidity level of the surrounding air.

Subfloor device

Flooring in wooden houses

The main purpose of the subfloor is to distribute loads and level the base for flooring. The classic option for a private house is considered to be laying a log on the base base through a certain distance between them. When working on large areas, for better rigidity, a crate is mounted, consisting of double frames. In this case, transverse crossbars are laid between the lags.

In the lower part of the lag on both sides, 50 × 50 mm bars are substituted and fixed, on which a black floor is mounted from chipboard, OSB, unedged boards, slabs or plywood, followed by fixing them on a wooden bar with self-tapping screws. This design is good because it allows you to lay a heater and a waterproofing layer between the lags.

The device of the subfloor in the house begins with the equipment of the ventilation space under it. To do this, in opposite corners of the foundation, holes of no more than 10 × 10 cm are provided in advance, which are then covered with gratings. Their number and location depends on the area of the house.

The wood of all components of the subfloor is also treated with antiseptic solutions. Such events allow you to extend the life of the subfloor and lag. The ends of the logs are tarred without affecting the ends, or they are wrapped with roofing material. To maximally extinguish various knocks and ringing, noise-absorbing pads are used.

As support beams (lag), concrete or metal structures embedded in walls or mounted on poles can be used.

Ground floor

The cheapest option is to install the floors of the first floor on the ground. But they are not recommended to be done in a house that is not used in winter. After all, without internal heating, the soil during this period can freeze, and subsequently sag. It is also unacceptable to make such structures if the groundwater level rises too high during an unfavorable season.

There are two options for installing floors directly on the ground, which can be used both in the country house and in a private house:

Monolithic, suitable for warm climate zones, as well as for basements or outbuildings.
With an underground that meets the requirements provided for in private housing construction.

Monolithic floor

Proper concrete flooring

The simplest of all known technologies for installing a floor slab in a private house includes several steps:

removal of a layer of parent soil with a minimum thickness of 300 mm;
arrangement of a sand cushion with a layer-by-layer rammer;
laying waterproofing in the form of a small layer of greasy clay or two layers of rolled roofing material with bituminous impregnation;
backfilling of crushed stone impregnated with bitumen;
arrangement of an intermediate layer of concrete and cement screed;
installation of floor tiles, linoleum or boardwalk, laid on logs installed on a layer of roofing material.

If necessary, protection from surface atmospheric water is also carried out by installing a drainage system.

According to the technology, the bottom layer of the floor inside the perimeter of the building, in order to be able to construct the first floor, should be above the mark of the external layout of the soil at a distance of at least 10–15 cm. As a heater, it is allowed to use 8–12 cm high-density polystyrene foam boards, fastened together with adhesive tape.

Underground wooden flooring

According to the intended area, the ground level is lowered to the required depth, a sand cushion is made, and crushed stone is poured on top along with gravel, ramming them into the base. Then a layer of oily clay is laid as a waterproofing and the entire area is covered with slaked lime, and then with slag or crushed stone.

At the next stage of work for the log, support posts made of burnt bricks are installed in increments of up to 1 meter in two rows or more. 1-2 layers of roofing material, antiseptic-impregnated trimmings of boards and logs are placed on the pillars, along which tongue-and-groove boards are laid.

In the case of a double wooden insulated floor, a rough flooring is also mounted, on which hydro, heat and vapor barriers are successively laid. Only after that the floorboards are mounted.

Conclusion

There are many options for installing an insulated floor for the first floor, but the basic principles remain unchanged. The device of the floor in a private house can be floating or with adjustable lags, superior comfort and integral with the base. Each house is unique in its own way, so the floor in it is made according to individual calculations and drawings, depending on the soil conditions, types of materials, building sizes and other important factors.

Ruslan Vasiliev

Independent flooring in a private house