Many homeowners who want to combine the warmth and visual appeal of wood with the durability of concrete often choose to install a wooden floor on a concrete base. This method gives your interior a more elegant appearance while also providing a strong and durable base.
When it comes to installing a wooden floor on concrete, there are various choices. Every approach has advantages of its own and can be selected according to particular requirements and tastes. There is a solution that suits your taste and budget, whether you like a contemporary floating floor system or a more conventional nail-down method.
This post will examine the various methods for laying a hardwood floor over concrete and offer helpful hints and recommendations for each one. Knowing the various options will help you make an informed choice that will guarantee your wooden floor is both gorgeous and long-lasting.
- Preparation
- We put the concrete base in order
- Choosing wood
- Paul methods
- Laying on glue
- Installation on logs
- Plywood base
- We lay plywood sheets on the joists
- Tips from experienced people
- Marking
- Concrete floor covering with fiberboard
- Laying the slab
- Video on the topic
- Thickness of the floorboard and the distance between the logs
- How to fix the log to the concrete floor! No creaking!
- Wooden floor on a concrete base
Preparation
Such floors are a very common design solution. Warm natural material creates comfort and coziness indoors. But such a move requires the preparation of both components for the future surface.
The concrete base needs to be treated regardless of the type of wood you choose to lay and the method you decide on.
We put the concrete base in order
When laying the base, the freshly laid concrete screed needs to be completely dry. It is essential to take action for the current repair of the screed if you are applying a wooden decorative coating on it.
The required concrete base is:
In order to lay communications, you should also now prepare all of the technological gaps in the concrete. Penofol or polyethylene film can be applied as a waterproofing material.
In the event that rolled waterproofing is chosen, the material needs to be laid in an overlapped pattern with the seams carefully glued. In this instance, the film ought to extend all the way to the future surface on the walls. Using damper tape to adhere the film’s edges wouldn’t be unnecessary.
Crucial! Verify the concrete’s humidity level before installing hardwood flooring; it shouldn’t be higher than 3%.
Skilled builders advise installing these types of floors in the spring, following the shutdown of the central heating system.
Choosing wood
Which type of floor is better, concrete or wooden? This question has a far from obvious answer. The wrong kind of wood flooring can cause a great deal of issues in day-to-day living.
For flooring, the following kinds of boards ought to be used:
Standard boards can also be planed and unplaned. Rough material is applied as a first coat before finishing. For finishing, dry planed with grooves is utilized.
Guidelines for purchasing wood:
- The material must be dry. Overdried or damp wood is deformed during further processing.
- The board should be flat and smooth.
- There should be no defects on the wood.
- It is better to purchase material from one batch to a single coating area, with similar color and texture.
Always purchase 10% more material than is required in the area when placing a volume order. The indoor downted board must be at least 2 meters long. The tree needs to be treated with an antiseptic and fireproof impregnation before any work is done.
It is preferable to let the tree settle in the space where work will be done so that it can become acclimated to its own microclimate, regardless of the material that was chosen before the floor was installed.
Paul methods
There are three ways that wooden coatings can be installed on concrete:
- The boards are glued to the screed;
- Laying boards on lags;
- Salting device made of moisture -resistant plywood.
Crucial! Such a floor on a concrete slab should have a technological gap with any installation method. There should be a minimum of 10 mm space between the wall and the plank flooring around the whole perimeter of the space.
Let us examine the technology utilized in each method of work in more detail.
Laying on glue
With the use of this technology, plank floors can be installed on concrete without the need for an interlayer. The screed must adhere to SNiP 3.04.01 – 87 in order to be laid.
Base cracks are unacceptable; the concrete’s structure needs to be dense. Should the base fail to satisfy the specifications, you ought to utilize a substrate material or apply a primer to reinforce the base.
Polyurethane glue that comes in one component is used to install wide boards. Boards that are narrow or engineered are installed over a two-component structure.
Guidelines for applying glue to lay boards:
- Boards are cut according to the measurements taken.
- Glue is applied to the concrete using a spatula. The layer thickness should not exceed 3 mm.
- 2-3 boards are laid, which are carefully joined and pressed.
- After the adhesive has set, the work continues.
- The width of the last board is adjusted to the desired size.
Installation on logs
The most widely used installation technique. To further insulate and conceal all potential communications, place a wooden base on top of logs and cover with concrete.
One major drawback is that this type of covering is quite tall—at least 10 cm—which makes it very difficult to use in rooms with low ceilings. The thickness of the board material should not be less than 2 cm when installing boards on logs to prevent the floor from sagging and creaking.
This article’s video will demonstrate how to lay boards on logs correctly.
Every board thickness has a standard step:
- up to 35 mm – step 60 cm;
- 35 – 40 mm – step 80 cm;
- if the board thickness is more than 40 mm – 1 m.
The following procedure is followed when mounting the logs perpendicular to the direction of daylight:
- The timber is fastened to the concrete with dowels and screws, the fastener caps are sunk into the wood by a couple of millimeters.
- When fixing the timber, it is necessary to control the level. The permissible deviation in height is 2 mm per 2 m of length.
- If necessary, soundproofing material is laid along the perimeter of the walls.
- Insulation and noise insulation material is laid in the niches between the joists.
- Boards are laid and fixed perpendicular to the joists.
It is recommended to use self-tapping screws to secure the boards to the timber, and to drill the screw holes beforehand at an angle towards the floor. First off, when fixing the board, this method won’t cause the joists to crack. Furthermore, unlike nails, the screws won’t creak.
Plywood base
A plywood flooring that is resistant to moisture can be used to arrange the floor. Sheet plywood, typically made of coniferous wood with a thickness of 12 to 18 mm, is used for this type of interlayer. Plywood is cut into 40 * 40 cm or 80 * 80 cm identical squares. Prior to laying, they are sanded.
The following is the sequence of future work:
- The squares are laid out with a gap of 3 – 4 mm.
- Each next row is laid with a seam shift of half a square.
- Laying plywood with glue.
- After laying the row, it is additionally fastened with screws.
- The screw caps are recessed into the sheet a couple of millimeters.
- Upon completion of work, the plywood flooring is cleaned of dust and debris.
- Floor boards are attached to the flooring using self-tapping screws.
The three primary methods for covering a concrete floor with a wood floor are as follows. Let’s look at specific instances where the primary component of a floor’s construction is sheet material made of wood.
We lay plywood sheets on the joists
Plywood is occasionally used as a finishing floor material rather than as a layer between concrete and floorboards. This is a pretty low-cost method of setting up a wooden floor yourself on a concrete surface.
Plywood flooring of this kind allows the floor to be leveled, insulated, and utility line hidden. Just like when laying boards on joists, the installation process is the same. The only distinction is that a perpendicular beam should be installed to raise the load-bearing coefficient for reliability.
We use sheet plywood to install hardwood floors.
- Sheets are attached to joists with a seam shift.
- The gap between the sheets should be at least 2 mm.
- The distance between the fastening screws should be no more than 25 cm.
- For fastening, use screws with flat heads, and when screwing in, they should be sunk into the material.
Note: If bulk thermal insulation material is used, plywood can be installed without the need for liquid nails to install a crossbar.
Tips from experienced people
Perform the following quick actions to ensure that the plywood sheets do not "helicopter" in shape or change size after being laid:
- Keep the sheets in the room where you plan to lay the floor for about 7 days.
- Store the sheets horizontally only.
- If you plan to use the material in an unheated room, it is worth soaking the sheets several times with a polyvinyl acetate primer.
Marking
Not every type of plywood is meant for flooring. The qualities of the resultant material differ depending on the quantity of layers and the glue and impregnation composition. Every grade of plywood shares the ability to evenly distribute the physical load across the board’s whole surface.
Consider the markings on the sheets when making a purchase:
Marking | Designation | Characteristic |
Grade | E, I, II, III, IV | Indicates the structure of the sheet gluing, the quality of the front and back layers |
Moisture resistance | FSF | Has an increased level of water resistance, strength and wear resistance. Not used in residential areas, toxic. |
FC | Does not have high resistance to moisture, but will remain intact when exposed to water for 24 hours. | |
FKM | Material with increased water resistance | |
FBA | The most environmentally friendly material. Will not withstand prolonged high humidity. | |
Surface quality | NSh, Sh1, Sh2 | not sanded; |
The plywood has additional markings indicating that it is not GOST compliant.
Concrete floor covering with fiberboard
An excellent substitute for concrete flooring is fiberboard. Installing a floor of this kind is simple, quick, and doesn’t require significant financial outlays.
Floors are made of hard fiberboard. Just like in every other situation, the concrete surface will need to be leveled and small cracks will need to be sealed.
Here are a few easy pointers:
- Before laying the slabs, markings are made.
- Try to cut the floor so as to arrange a minimum number of joints.
- Do not place seams in areas with high traffic.
- It is better to hide seams from manual cutting of the slab under the baseboard.
- In order not to mix them up, number the sheets and cutting angles.
- Do not align the sheets to the wall, the density of the joint seam is important.
- Start laying with large sheets.
- After gluing, the slabs are pressed to the floor with a load.
- The seams can be filled with casein-cement mastic.
Laying the slab
How is fiberboard adhered to a concrete floor using glue? On top of bitumen mastic or glue, sheet material is placed.
- When using glue, the back side of the sheet is completely covered with the composition and dried for 30 minutes.
- While the glue dries on the sheets, the surface of the base is lubricated. The sheet is checked for evenness during laying.
- When using mastic, do the same. In both cases, both surfaces to be joined are coated.
- The mastic on the surface of the slab is allowed to dry a little, and then pressed tightly to the base, previously treated with the composition.
Avoid arranging your sheets so that the seams meet at one place. During operation, this place will lose strength very quickly. To extend the life of the coating, move the joints.
Option | Possibilities |
Floating Floor | This option involves laying the wooden floor without fixing it to the concrete. It allows for natural movement and expansion. |
Glue-Down Floor | The wooden planks are glued directly to the concrete base. This method offers a solid and stable floor. |
Raised Floor | A framework is built over the concrete, creating a space between the concrete and the wooden floor. This can be useful for running wires and pipes underneath. |
Underlayment Floor | A layer of underlayment is placed between the concrete and the wooden floor. This helps with sound insulation and provides a smoother surface for the wood. |
There are many advantages to installing a wooden floor on a concrete foundation, such as increased insulation, durability, and visual appeal. There are various options available to homeowners, including adhesive installation, subflooring, and floating floors, so they can select the one that best suits their requirements and budget.
Every method has special benefits of its own. Installing floating floors is simple, and they work well in places where moisture problems might arise. While installing a subfloor can improve insulation and comfort, adhesive installation offers a stable, long-lasting solution.
A successful installation requires careful planning. Making sure the concrete base is dry, clean, and level will help prevent issues later on. In order to safeguard the wooden floor from potential harm, proper moisture barriers and underlayments are also essential.
In the end, the method selected will rely on the particular needs of the project as well as individual preferences. Whichever installation technique is used, a wooden floor over a concrete base can completely change an area by bringing character, warmth, and lasting value.
For both residential and commercial spaces, installing a wooden floor on a concrete base offers a long-lasting and attractive option that combines solid support with natural warmth. Numerous techniques, including nailed or glued systems, floating floors, and sleeper installations, provide for design and application flexibility, guaranteeing that you can achieve the desired aesthetic without sacrificing structural integrity. To assist you in selecting the best strategy for your project, this article examines these options and highlights the advantages and factors to take into account.