The Most Affordable And Cheapest Way To Level The Floor With A Small Drop

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

Preparing for alignment
Leveling concrete floors
Performing work with large differences in the concrete base
The main methods of leveling wood flooring
Additional processing methods for wood base
Video selection on alignment technologies

Major repairs are rarely complete without work such as leveling the floor. The quality of the preparation of this horizontal surface affects the service life of the materials laid on top - carpet, tiles or laminate. And in order to level the floors correctly, you should use the appropriate technology. All of them are simple enough to do the work with your own hands.

Preparing for alignment

Before leveling the floor, preparatory work should be performed, which consists in measuring the room, choosing the appropriate technique and materials. During the preparation process, the main problems with the quality of the flooring are identified, and its level is established. Building (liquid) or laser levels are used to determine all dimensions and markings of the floor.

Maximum leveling efficiency is ensured by using a material that matches the surface irregularities. For almost level floors, self-leveling mixtures should be used. Large differences require the laying of sheet materials, and sometimes even the use of a screed made of cement-sand mixtures.

Height difference on the floor, mm	Leveling material
Concrete	<30	self-leveling mixture
Concrete	> 30	traditional screed
Tree	<20	levelers, self-leveling compounds
	20 - 60	plywood, OSB, gypsum fiber boards
	> 60	screed

Leveling concrete floors

For leveling concrete pavements with small differences, it is most effective to use self-leveling mixtures, the main component of which is cement. The advantages of such materials are:

the ability to level the floor with your own hands - to complete the work, it is enough to pour dry material with water and gradually lay it on concrete. The solution fills in irregularities, providing a perfectly smooth surface;
high drying speed. After 3-4 hours you can move on the surface, and after a day - lay the tiles;
no shrinkage;
relatively small minimum thickness, starting from 5 mm, which is especially convenient when leveling floors in rooms with low ceilings.

The disadvantages of self-leveling mixtures include the need for thorough preparation of the base. The concrete must be free of dust and defects. In addition, the cost of such a self-leveling floor is higher compared to other options. And the fluidity of the material requires the use of special tools.

Performing work with large differences in the concrete base

Cement screed is the cheapest way to level the floor and is required when there are large differences. And in order to further simplify the process, guide structures are used - beacons. They are fixed on the floor at a distance of 500-800 mm, leveling in one plane using a level.

The next stage consists in preparing a solution of the appropriate consistency, adding plasticizers to it and placing the resulting material on concrete. After the screed has seized, the guides must be removed, filling the remaining grooves with mortar. After 4 weeks, the screed surface is rubbed and hardened by priming it. A faster way to level a large area is the semi-dry screed technology.

The main methods of leveling wood flooring

If the base flooring is made of wood, do-it-yourself floor leveling can be done using sheet materials. One of them is plywood, which is laid on special logs. This increases the floor height by more than 100 mm and makes the room lower. Therefore, this option is used mainly in the presence of serious irregularities and drops.

The reason for the significant rise in floor level lies in its construction:

The first layer of flooring is made of wooden planks;
Lags are fixed on the rough floor;
Plywood is installed on top of the frame.

This provides a high degree of noise protection and thermal insulation. And most often this technique is used for installation on top of plywood laminate sheets. After all, this material has increased requirements for the quality of the base.

You should know: Self-leveling joists allow to compensate for the shrinkage of a wooden house with a floor made of the same wood. They are installed using special structures for lowering and lifting wooden blocks.

A fairly flat floor is also obtained when using oriented strand board OSB, the installation technology of which practically does not differ from leveling the coating with plywood. The difference lies in the need for partial leveling of the wooden base before laying the sheets of material.

Large differences with OSB plates cannot be closed - the maximum distance should not exceed 6 cm. If there is a significant difference in floor levels, a cement screed is used.

Another way to quickly and relatively reliably level the floor level is to use Knauf gypsum fiber sheets. To make this material more durable, dry bedding and laying in two layers allows. The sheets are stacked on top of each other in a perpendicular direction. The technique is cleaner in comparison with screeds and provides leveling for almost any size of the difference. However, the cost of laying such sheets is much higher. And bedding can shrink over time, impairing the performance of the floor.

Additional processing methods for wood base

A small difference in the surface of a wooden floor, within 0.5–2 cm, allows the use of such a technique as shredding. The works are carried out manually or mechanically, depending on the area of the premises. The process requires care and accuracy from the performer - protruding nail heads and other defects that can lead to a breakdown of the scraper must be eliminated. Therefore, it is worth entrusting the execution of the cycle to professionals. Moreover, they may have in stock a tool that an inexperienced specialist does not have - high-performance cyclers and parquet grinders or hand tools that are indispensable when processing floors in the corner of a room.

If the difference in the levels of different parts of the floor is less than 20 mm, the surface is leveled using a self-leveling mixture. The principle of laying the material practically does not differ from work on leveling a concrete base, although some nuances should be taken into account:

before performing work, it is necessary to ensure the replacement of all worn out and broken boards, as well as the filling of cracks and defects;
before pouring the solution, the floor is additionally primed and waterproofed;
to further improve the performance of the treated surface, a reinforcing polyethylene mesh, laid on the layer of the cement mixture that begins to set, helps.

One of the cheapest ways to level the floor is to use PVA glue and putty made from sawdust. It consists of laying the guides and applying a thick mixture of adhesive and base material to the floor. When such a mixture dries, plywood sheets are fixed on top of it.