How To Make A Floor Screed Dry Mix With Your Own Means

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 22:24

• Advantages and disadvantages
• Tools and material
• Preparatory activities
• Dry backfill
• Floor installation
• The cost of work
• Conclusion

The screed is required without fail. It is she who serves as the basis for the floor covering. This layer should be performed as evenly as possible, using various options. If previously used everywhere pouring, now the popularity is gaining dry screed. This is due to a large number of positive features, and the cost of the materials themselves is practically the same. The most important thing here is to work out all the nuances if you are doing a dry screed with your own hands.

Advantages and disadvantages

When performing work on your own, it is important to clarify those points that will be attractive when using a dry screed:

• No need to use water in technology, which brings less dirt.
• When using porous expanded clay, it serves as a kind of additional layer of thermal insulation. The room gets much warmer.
• Dry floor screed in the apartment allows you to reduce the pressure on the floor slabs. This also suggests that this method is suitable even for old buildings with wooden floors.
• Excellent sound insulation properties. Noise that can enter the apartment is almost completely absorbed.
• Maintenance of plumbing or heating system equipment is much easier to maintain if a dry screed is used. You can also install a water floor here without any problems.
• Expanded clay or sand is poured onto any surface, which speaks of the versatility of this technology.

Here it is worth adding also the moment that after all the work on creating the sub-floor, you can start laying the floor covering. It is not necessary to wait for drying, and, consequently, the repair time in the apartment is reduced.

A dry screed in an apartment also has its drawbacks, which appear as a result of the use of the material itself, as well as in violation of the installation work. These include:

• Shrinkage of the mixture over time. This causes the floor to bend. For this reason, it is better to exclude dry floor screed in rooms with high traffic, as well as where large furniture will be used.
• Cost. Dry screed technology will be more costly in terms of purchasing materials.
• Low level of moisture resistance. From the lower part of the floor, the floor covering and the sheets used are protected from moisture ingress. But outwardly it is almost impossible to protect. An accidental water leak can lead to the production of replacement of these sheets, and, consequently, to additional costs. For this reason, a waterproofing layer is made the best in the bathroom, and sometimes several layers are arranged for reliability.

Disadvantages can occur when using a dry screed, if the laying technology is violated. Over time, the mixture itself creaks. Most often this happens with a large backfill layer. You can avoid using uncalibrated expanded clay.

Tools and material

When we begin to carry out all types of flooring work, it is important to have the necessary materials and equipment on hand. In addition, a partner will not be superfluous here, who will provide assistance at all stages of installation. You can independently use sheets of gypsum fiber board with a size of 120 * 60 cm. Laying will be done with less effort. As materials, you will need expanded clay sand, having a diameter of about 5 mm, a polyethylene film, self-tapping screws, if necessary, fixing sheets, PVA glue, edge tape.

Particular attention should be paid to the tools used. For measuring and cutting - a pencil and tape measure, fastening sheets - with a screwdriver, for cutting sheets - a jigsaw or a special knife. Also, a spatula is useful in the work, as a rule, a metal profile.

You should not use whole expanded clay for the reason that the floor will not only sag noticeably over time, but a creak will appear for sure. The maximum granule thickness is 5 mm. Otherwise, you will have to redo everything.

When choosing a material for backfill, then you should first determine the thickness, which will depend on the available communications, the floor itself, and its evenness. The average thickness is 30-50 mm. Periodically it can reach up to 60 mm. But in the latter case, we also need additional sheets as a layer. The most important thing is that the selected material has a maximum size of up to 5 mm, with a moisture content of no more than 1%.

1. Expanded clay. They are clay granules that have passed the firing process. The selection should be carried out without dust and sand, otherwise you will have to constantly listen to the floor creaks. A dry screed with your own hands should have a layer of at least 30-40 mm.
2. Perlite. In order to remove all moisture from the material itself, heatstroke is produced with a temperature of about 1,000 degrees. Apply in expanded form.
3. Vermiculite. It is heated to form sticks of silver and gold colors. Their appearance resembles worms. The load on the slabs is noticeably reduced in comparison with expanded clay by about 2.5-4 times.
4. Compavit. There are practically no mistakes when choosing. The device of a dry floor screed with such material allows you to remove the deformation of the floor, and the level of sound insulation and thermal insulation is noticeably increased.

Preparatory activities

Do-it-yourself dry screed is performed in stages. For the main stage, you should prepare the old floor. The coating is removed, the surface is cleaned and all possible debris is removed. Any noticeable surface damage should be repaired and repaired whenever possible. To remove all possible surface irregularities, the floors in the apartment are repaired with a dry screed.

When there are pipe communications, they can be passed through polyurethane corrugations. In this case, the screed layer must be at least 20 mm. But one must be careful not to go over the maximum parameters. After all, the filling level should not exceed 120 mm.

Do-it-yourself dry floor screed in the apartment should be carried out with even walls. This is neglected by many. The coating should fit snugly to its base, which increases the reliability of the entire structure.

Arrangement of insulation is carried out using glassine or polyethylene film. Everything will depend on the subfloor. If glassine is used for wooden floors, then polyethylene is used for concrete. The sheets should also go onto the walls, with an overlap of 15-20 cm. The main thing is that it should be above the level of the backfill. A damper tape will help get rid of bridges of cold and sound.

It is also glued slightly above the floor itself, and subsequently cut to the required parameters or covered with a plinth. The technology of dry floor screed in terms of waterproofing is slightly different for wooden surfaces. It is best to use tar-impregnated construction paper here.

Waterproofing tape is used at the joints of walls together with a special waterproofing layer on the floor surface in bathrooms and other areas with high levels of humidity.

Dry backfill

Subsequently, the surface is leveled. Do-it-yourself dry floor screed using technology provides for two options for the location of the guides:

1. Temporary. They are initially placed on the floor, and subsequently are already adjusted using a level, choosing a certain height. It can be used if there is a certain skill of dry filling the material without prior fixation.
2. Hard. Do-it-yourself dry screed guides are fixed on the base of the floor using a prepared mixture of alabaster and cement. After leveling work, they remain.

Backfilling is carried out towards the entrance to the room from the far corner. Make sure that everything is scattered evenly over the entire area. If a non-fixed guide is used, the first of them is installed near the wall, and the second at a distance less than the length of the leveling rail. When everything is set around the entire perimeter, the backfill level is checked and, if necessary, it is added to the required value. The ramming is only minimal. All that remains is to remove the beacons from the room. So that far-away guides can be removed without damaging the screed layer, for example, lay down a sheet of plywood on which you can walk.

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It makes no sense to lay the heating cable in the thickness of expanded clay. The heat generated will be “lost” and not delivered to the floor. Underfloor heating is relevant only if infrared films are used. But their location should be carried out directly under the floor covering.

Floor installation

Sheet elements are laid in the final stage. Dry floor construction starts from the corner of the room. True, all masters in this situation consider in different ways where to start. Suitable, including flooring from the entrance to the back of the room.

The joints of the sheets are made according to the grooves and the location of the locks. But before that, they should be greased with PVA glue, and then screwed with self-tapping screws. It is better to choose a step between the screws in 15-20 cm.

GVL fastening is performed using self-tapping screws with a cone-shaped head. This will allow him to "drown" into the sheet itself.

Joints are not allowed in the doorway if a dry screed is installed simultaneously in several adjacent rooms. The indentation should be at least 30 cm. Each subsequent sheet is stacked in a checkerboard pattern, just like with brickwork.

When the sheets are laid, all that remains is to cut off the part of the waterproofing film that protrudes above the floor level, as well as the damper tape. In addition to sheets of gypsum fiber board, plywood can also be used, but it is best to carry out everything in two layers, without leaving the "bandaging" of the joints aside.

The cost of work

The final price, in order to level the dry screed, will depend on the area of the room itself, as well as the backfill layer. In addition, the market value, which will differ from the manufacturer, will also play a significant role. It is also important to choose the backfill material itself. Regular expanded clay will cost less, but the proprietary mix reduces shrinkage and deformation of the floor to zero.

Costs are reduced when dry leveling the floor with your own hands. Here, about 40% of the total cost of purchased material for work remains in place. You can also watch some videos on the network, which allow you to carry out the work as accurately and without defects in the end.

Conclusion

If the technology is followed in full for a dry floor screed with your own hands, then we will get a really high-quality foundation. It can be used immediately for later use. The new floor is ready in a matter of days, which is noticeably different from, for example, a "wet" screed.

It is possible to compare the cost of forces with a cement screed. Installation is much easier, and there is no dirt at any stage. In addition to this, a high level of sound insulation, waterproofing and thermal insulation can be added. No elements are required for floor heating, and their use will be meaningless due to the dry mix.

If necessary, such floors can be easily dismantled. The main thing is to remember the place where the sheets were laid. From this place it is more expedient to start all the work on "analysis".

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