Wooden floor in the apartment and installation and replacement work. Ways to repair wooden floors in an apartment How to replace an old floor in an apartment

Wood flooring is the undisputed leader among the 20th century floors. It is absolutely natural, environmentally friendly, durable, creates coziness and comfort in the house, and materials for it are generally available. Most of the buildings of the last century: "Stalinka", "Khrushchev", "Czech project", all private houses and many others were equipped with just wooden floors. Given the age of these objects, it is indisputable that it is time to renovate them. This article will tell you how to repair a wooden floor in a private house or apartment, as well as touch on the repair of the floor in a wooden house and its design features.

Diagnostics and examination of the structure of a wooden floor

Before starting the repair of the floor, it is imperative to examine it and find rotten or sagging boards, inspect the logs and beams to see if they have been eaten by the bark beetle. It will depend on the result of the survey whether it is possible to do with partial repairs: screw it there, whip it there, or you will have to do a major overhaul.

Even if the subfloor boards seem perfect to you, you still need to make sure that the subfloor is also in good condition. Let's try to find the decayed boards. To do this, tap the floorboards with a hammer. We will determine the condition of the boards by sound. If the sound is dull, then the board is rotten. And a more accurate position is determined by the nails - they rusted under the influence of a rotten board. If only the top boards become unusable, then it is easy to replace them. If the boards of the subfloor are rotten, it does not matter either, they can be cut out and replaced, having previously checked the state of the lag. But if the logs are rotten, you will have to disassemble the structure a little more, cut out the rotted piece of the log and nail new bars to it from both sides.

We check the embedded beams by piercing them with an awl

If in a private house an unpleasant smell emanates from the floor, and some elements are violated, then there is rot somewhere. We'll have to check all the elements: the finishing floor, and the rough floor, and the logs, and the beams, and the embedded crowns. The hardest part is that even rotten embedded beams can look perfect, especially when viewed in a semi-dark subfield. Therefore, we inspect all the wooden elements from the outside of the building, and from the inside, and from the underground. If no defects were found "by eye", then we take an awl and try to pierce the embedded beams. We try to do as frequent piercing movements as possible. If we find a rotten section of the beam, we will have to cut it out and replace it. And if this is not possible, then we will raise the wooden house on a jack and replace the mortgage beam completely.

Raising a wooden house with a jack

We pay close attention to the ends of the lag. They begin to rot more often and faster, taking over rot from embedded beams that are not waterproofed or if the insulation has already worn out over time.

If an external examination reveals minor imperfections in the form of gaps between the floorboards, the boards "walk", or the paint peels off, then we will do with partial repairs.

If the floor creaks, just go over it and replace some of the lags.

If the floor is too cold and allows moisture to pass through, it means that during construction they were in a hurry and saved on materials, forgetting to insulate the floor. We'll have to disassemble it and re-waterproof and insulate.

Overhaul of a wooden floor

If you are the happy owner of a wooden floor 40 years old or more, do not indulge yourself with illusions, half measures cannot be dispensed with. Next, we will look at how to make capital and other structures. By the way, all the work is quite capable of doing it yourself. While it's best to have a partner, it's more convenient, faster, and more fun.

The first step is to remove the flooring and baseboards. It can be linoleum, parquet, boards or cloth, depending on the project of the house. If to tear off linoleum or parquet is not so bad, then tearing off the cloth and hardboard may turn out to be oh, how difficult it is. During the Soviet deficit, when even nails of the required size could not be found, 5 mm hardboard could be nailed with 50 mm nails. It is possible that you will have to suffer. We throw away everything that has been torn off, it will no longer be useful to us.

We undermine and cut out old floorboards

To dismantle the floorboards, we are looking for a wider gap. Using a crowbar or crowbar, or better both, we pry the board and undermine it along its entire length. We pull out the nails. Thus, we remove all the floor boards, both final and rough. Lags in all their glory should appear before us. Well, or what is left of them. Prepare for the worst. Most likely, you will see that the subfloor simply hung in the air above the ground and the remnants of rotten ceilings.

Important! It is possible that the logs were eaten by the bark beetle. After all, there were no special impregnations before. We will definitely check this.

If the lags still remain, we dismantle them by unscrewing them from the beams and support posts.

At this, the dismantling of the old floor can be completed, and you can start laying the new floor.

Diagram of replacing beams using a jack to raise the house

But if we are repairing a wooden house or a bathhouse, in which the logs rest and are attached to the embedded beams that have already rotted, then we cannot do without helpers and equipment. To work with the anchor points, we will have to raise the house on a jack and replace all the beams with new ones.

Installing new lags

Before directly installing the lag, it is necessary to decide whether we need to drain the basement or pour the foundation. If the subfloor is damp, draining the subfloor will significantly increase the time it takes to repair the floor.

If necessary, add a foundation to the crumbled places.

We inspect the condition of the support posts for the logs: all structural elements must be in good condition. If there were none, for greater reliability of the structure, we mount the posts:

We mark the lag attachment points on the embedded beams. We stretch the cord in the longitudinal and transverse directions, determining the angles of the future columns.
We remove the soil in the designated places. We tamp, lay a plastic wrap for waterproofing the foundation, pour crushed stone, tamp it again.
We install the reinforcing mesh 10 cm above the rubble.
We mount the formwork 10 cm above the ground level.
Pour concrete. The foundation for the posts should protrude 5 cm above the ground. We are waiting for it to dry, 2-3 days.
We waterproof concrete.
We lay bricks in two rows on a cement mixture.
We waterproof bricks, install heat and sound insulation.

Installation diagram of the lag on the support posts

For the lag we buy a rectangular bar. It is better if the height of the log is 2.5 times the width. But if you buy a bar 200 * 200 mm, that's good too. You can use coniferous wood: pine, if, fir. Humidity should be 18-20%.

Important! All wooden structures: beams, logs, floorboards are treated with antiseptics against bugs and fungi.

We lay the logs on the beams and support posts. We start with the "lighthouse lags", extreme from the walls. Then we retreat from them by 2 m and lay more logs.

Important! Be sure to check the horizontal lag level. If in some place the lag protrudes beyond the level, cut off the excess with a plane. If somewhere the lag bends, we install a lining under it.

We lay all the logs and fasten them to the beams with self-tapping screws. To fix the lag to the support posts, we use the corners. We drill holes in advance so as not to split the log. From the side of the tree, we fix it with self-tapping screws, from the side of the bricks - with dowels.

Important! A deviation of the lag level of 1 mm per 1 m is allowed.

Arrangement of the lower floor

We nail the lower floor boards from below to the logs

We need the "lower" floor so that there is where to lay the insulation. For this we take well-dried boards 20-30 mm thick.

It is more convenient and easier to attach the lower floor boards across the log, fixing them directly to the beams.

To do this, all the work will have to be done from the underground, maybe even lying on the ground. We nail the boards or fasten them with self-tapping screws to the logs.

Important! If for some reason you decided to lay the lower floor boards along the logs, then you will have to nail the bars to the logs, on which the lower boards will be attached.

We check the floor for cracks. If they are found, we blow them out with polyurethane foam.

We put insulation between the logs

After the "lower" floor is ready, we lay a layer of waterproofing and insulation. Since the space between the logs remains empty, we will lay insulation mats in it: stone wool, mineral wool, basalt fiber or other material.

Arrangement of wooden flooring

We lay a finishing floor on top of waterproofing and insulation

For the "upper" or final floor, we buy well-dried wood with a moisture content of no more than 12%. The thickness of the board should be about 40 mm. It is more convenient if the board is grooved.

We begin to lay the floor from the corner of the room, farthest from the door. We lay the first board with a tongue to the wall at a distance of 10-12 mm from it. We fix the comb to the beams and joists with self-tapping screws in such a way as to hide the head of the self-tapping screw with a plinth. On the reverse side, screw the self-tapping screws into the groove at an angle of 45 °.

We insert all other boards with a comb into the groove, from the side of the groove we fasten with self-tapping screws.

Important! If the length of the flooring boards is less than the length of the room, then they will have to be laid "at random", i.e. with an offset of half a meter so that the butt joints in the row do not coincide.

We fasten all boards to all lags, without exception. If you bought non-grooved boards, then we use wedges and pads for installation.

Important! We alternate the direction of the growth rings in each row.

If we plan to leave the flooring wooden, then the flooring must be sanded and covered with transparent varnish or paint. If we are going to lay linoleum, then we level the final floor with plywood or chipboard. And on top we lay linoleum, laminate or parquet.

The device of a wooden floor in an apartment differs from a floor in a private house in that the logs are laid on a concrete base, and not on the ground. Therefore, the technology for repairing such floors in an apartment will be slightly different.

The first step is to dismantle the old floor, remove the floor boards and dismantle the joists. Below them we should see a concrete base. We thoroughly clean it from debris and dust.

The logs of the wooden floor in the apartment are laid on a concrete base. We clean it from dust and debris

Be sure to make a cement screed or screed with a self-leveling mixture. We prime the surface and lay the waterproofing. You can use 200 micron plastic wrap, lay in strips and glue the joints with tape.

We put soundproofing on top of the waterproofing. You can use cork, fiberboard, roofing felt, rubber or polyethylene foam.

We lay the logs. We fix them with dowels.

Important! If we use a beam less than the length of the room, then the laying should be done "at random".

We put insulation between the lags. We lay floorboards on top.

How to fix squeaky floorboards

Any wood floor sooner or later starts to creak. Either the place is too often used, or the floorboards are simply cracked, or the logs have splintered. There can be many reasons. And flooring on top of plywood may not solve the problem, but only delay its solution.

The floorboards squeak when they are loosely attached to the joists. There are several ways to eliminate the cause.

We drive a wedge between the floorboard and the log from below

Method 1. If it is possible to access the floor from below, for example when the floor is a basement ceiling, then you can fix the floorboard from below. To do this, one person goes downstairs and the other walks on the creaky floor. Thus, a "squeaky" board is defined. We find the place where the gap has formed between the board and the log or beam, and drive a wooden wedge into it.

We fix the boards with screws at an angle

Method 2. If there is no access from below, then we screw in the screw from above at an angle. To do this, we drill holes in all logs and fasten the boards with screws. Putty the caps of the screws. And when the putty dries, we grind the surface.

Method 3. If the reason for the squeak is the friction of the boards against each other, then you need to walk on the floor and find the "causal" places. Then pour talcum or graphite into the cracks between the floorboards or drive in wooden wedges.

How to eliminate sagging floorboards

The most common cause of floorboards sagging is that they were not laid sufficiently dry. Over time, the wood shrank, cracks appeared, the boards began to "walk" and sag under the weight of a person or furniture. There are several ways to solve the problem.

Push the cord dipped in PVA glue between the floorboards

Method 1... We buy a thick braided synthetic cord (rope). We saturate it with wood glue or PVA glue. We push the cord between the floorboards to the middle of the thickness of the board. We prepare a putty from PVA glue and sawdust. We pre-sift sawdust, remove fragments of bark and debris from them. Stir the mixture until sour cream is thick. We fill the cracks with putty. After the glue dries, cut off the excess with a knife. After drying, after 1-2 days, the floor can be painted.

Fill the gaps between the floorboards with putty

Method 2... If the reason for the bending of the floorboards is rarely located logs, then we will fasten the floorboards together. Prepare round long wooden sticks or large diameter steel wire pieces. With a long drill we drill holes in the floorboards at a large angle so that the hole goes through one floorboard and half goes into the next one. Insert sticks into the hole. We start drilling in a checkerboard pattern, first in one floorboard, then in the next one. After all the sticks are inserted into the holes, we putty the cracks, as in the previous method.

Important! If the dowels stick out of the holes, cut off the excess and putty.

How to partially replace floorboards

We pry the board with a crowbar, leaning on a block

There are situations when only a few boards need replacing, or even just one, and the rest are in good condition. What to do in this case:

If it is necessary to replace not the entire board, but only the damaged area, we are looking for where the lag is.
We push the crowbar into the slot, pry the board.
Raise it to a sufficient height to push through the fixing pad.
We cut out the damaged area.

Important! The site must necessarily reach the middle of the lag with both ends. If you decide to remove the entire board, then we cut out all the sections until they are completely removed.

Cut out a section of the board from the new wood, using the old piece as a template.
We lay a new fragment, fix it with self-tapping screws to the lags.

Important! If the flooring was made of grooved boards, then the replacement technology is much more complicated.

Despite the fact that wood is a durable material, it should be well cared for. In order not to repair the wooden floor too often, do not forget to treat the wood with antiseptics, which will prevent it from rotting and being eaten by bark beetles. From time to time, check the fastening of the boards for looseness. And open the finished floor with a protective material such as varnish.

Dismantling of wooden floors, reasons and options for removing the coating, technology of work: preparation, removal of skirting boards and old timber structures.

Reasons for removing a wooden floor

Wood floors are very popular with ordinary consumers due to a number of their positive characteristics. Among them are high quality, environmental friendliness, long service life and aesthetic appearance of this building material. However, under the influence of time and the influence of external factors, the wooden covering deteriorates and needs to be replaced.

There are several types of wood floors: regular plank floor, wood laminate, parquet board. Each of these coatings has its own characteristics, pros and cons.

But the nature of the origin of all types of wooden floors has endowed them with such general characteristics as lack of resistance to moisture, instability to temperature changes, risk of deformation, tendency to mold and mildew formation if the coating is not properly maintained.

In the event of fungus and rotten, deformed areas on the floor elements, it is necessary to dismantle them and partially or completely replace them. Otherwise, not only the appearance of the interior decoration of the room may suffer. Since mold and mildew are known to cause allergies, their presence in a living space can pose a serious health hazard to the occupants of the home. Especially for children and people with weakened immunity.

Wooden floors need special care, for example, a coating with special compounds that increase their water-repellent or antiseptic properties. Neglecting these measures can lead to a reduction in their service life and early failure. Ultimately, it will be necessary to dismantle the old wooden floor and replace it with a fresh coating.

In addition to the above reasons, for carrying out work on replacing the floor covering, one can also highlight:

Severe mechanical damage;
Errors during work and incorrect installation of the old wooden covering;
Poor quality material;
Destruction of structural elements as a result of the vital activity of insect pests;
Obsolete wood flooring.

Important! When carrying out work to remove old wood flooring, you should take into account what kind of floor you are dealing with - parquet or board.

The main methods of dismantling a wood floor

To find the answer to the question of how to dismantle a wooden floor, first of all, you should decide on how you would like to see the end result. The method of waste disposal will depend on this.

If the work is not done accurately, without preserving the original shape of the boards, with a large number of small elements, it will be somewhat problematic to take the debris out of the room. Sharp edges and chips can cause splinters and wounds on the hands, even if all manipulations are carried out with gloves.

If the parts of the wooden floor are carefully removed during dismantling and sawn into several small parts, it will be quite easy to take them out of the room and deliver them to the disposal site.

In addition, labor costs depend on the chosen method of removing the flooring. Much less effort and energy will be required to carry out the work in the event that the dismantling is carried out not simply with the use of brute physical force, but by carefully separating each board.

Thus, depending on the condition of the old coating, plans for the disposal of debris, as well as the construction of a new floor, the following methods of dismantling the structure are distinguished:

Removing the old coating with maximum preservation of the shape and structure of its constituent parts... This may be necessary in situations where you plan to reuse the floorboards. For example, when partially replacing the floor covering or for using them in another room. With this option for dismantling a wooden floor, work must be done very carefully and with great care.
Quick removal of the coating without maintaining the shape of the boards... This method is most often used in cases where the floors are severely damaged and deformed, as well as if all the component parts are attached using construction glue or large nails. Then it is almost impossible to dismantle the wooden floor while maintaining the integrity of the parts.

Advice! Accuracy during work is required not only to preserve the elements of the old floor, but also to avoid serious damage to the base of the coating and difficulties in installing new floors.

Preparatory work before removing the wooden floor

Before proceeding with the removal of old wood floors, there are a number of factors to consider that will accompany the work process:

Removing floors is accompanied by high noise levels. Therefore, it is necessary to more responsibly choose the time for the work, especially if they will be carried out in an apartment building. It is advisable to dismantle the wooden floor during working hours from Monday to Friday, so as not to create unnecessary difficulties for neighbors and your loved ones.
Removing the old coating leaves a large amount of dust and small debris in the air. This is due not only to the mechanical effect on the structural elements, but also due to the dirt accumulated under the floorboards during the period of the floor's operation. For this reason, work clothes, a respirator mask, goggles, gloves and a hat should be prepared before starting dismantling work. In addition, it is necessary to create conditions that prevent the penetration of dirt into neighboring premises, and to limit the access of unauthorized people to the work site.
Dismantling wood flooring creates a lot of debris. In order to reduce the time of the procedure, you need to think in advance and prepare a place, a method for placing and transporting old boards and debris.
Removing wooden floors is a rather laborious process that requires the use of physical force. For this reason, it is not advisable to carry out the dismantling alone. Working in pairs, it will be much easier and faster to cope with the task.
Any piece of furniture and decorative elements will complicate and slow down the work of removing the old wooden floor. Therefore, it is advisable to free the room from unnecessary things as much as possible.

Before starting to dismantle the wooden floor, prepare all the necessary tools. Most likely you will need: crowbar, hammer, nail puller, pliers, chisel, ax, screwdrivers, jigsaw or hacksaw, polyurethane foam to eliminate cracks after work is completed.

If you plan to re-lay the boards after removing the wood floor, you must first number each element. This is necessary in order to preserve their previous order during installation.

Dismantling technology for wooden floors

To have an idea of how to remove wood floors, you need to figure out what the steps are in this process. After preparing the premises and all the necessary tools, it is worth determining whether any communications have been laid under the covering, and their location. This must be done in order to protect yourself and avoid damage to them. You can start removing the old coating only after that.

How to remove the skirting board

Disassemble the construction of the skirting board from the end. This avoids damage to it. The dismantling process consists of the following steps:

The location of the first hammered nail is determined. At this point, carefully lift the skirting board with a nailer (max. 3 cm).
The same should be done at the rest of the fastening points of the structure until the entire plinth is removed around the perimeter of the room. When carrying out work, it is advisable to place the nailer as close as possible to the place of fixation. This will prevent splitting of the skirting board and maintain its integrity.

In cases where it is impossible to pull the nail out of the skirting board without damage, you should slightly clean its surface with a chisel from the wood layer. After that, the nail must be removed by prying it by the head using a nail puller. At the same time, to protect the coating from damage, it is necessary to place a small block of wood or a piece of plywood under the tool.

There are times when the plinth is so thickly covered with paint that it is impossible to visually determine the location of the nails. In such a situation, work should be started, stepping back about 10-20 cm from its beginning.

If the structure is attached not to the flooring, but to the wall, the position of the nailer should be changed. In this case, the point of support should be the surface into which the fastener element enters. If the fixing of the plinth is carried out with screws, then dismantling is done with a screwdriver or an electric screwdriver.

The specifics of dismantling a wooden floor

After removing the plinth, proceed to disassembling the floorboards. If the floor structure is equipped with ventilation openings, first remove all protective grilles from them.

The dismantling of wooden floors in a house or apartment begins with the floorboard farthest from the entrance. If for some reason this cannot be done, as an alternative, you can start with any other narrow board located against the wall.

The technology for dismantling a wooden floor may differ depending on the method of fastening the structural elements. If the fixation was carried out with screws, they should simply be unscrewed with an ordinary screwdriver or a special power tool. And then sequentially separate the boards from each other.

If nails were used as fasteners, the wooden floors are removed using a nail puller. To do this, it is inserted into the gap between the farthest wall and the first board. Further, the process of removing the floor looks like this:

The floorboard is carefully raised by 2-3 cm. It is undesirable to raise the boards by more than 3 cm, and sharp jerks should also be avoided.
Using a hammer, the board is tapped into place so that the head of the nail remains raised. To do this, you can put a small piece of plywood under it. If the work is done correctly, then after the board is returned to its place, the heads of the nails will rise 1-2 cm above it. Just as in the case of removing the plinth, a small block must be placed under the nail puller. This is necessary in order to protect the coating surface.
After all the nails have been lifted and the board is returned to its place, a chisel must be carefully inserted into the gap between the floorboards, gradually widening the gap. Thus, the spike of the removed board is separated from the groove of the adjacent one. The first floorboard can then be removed.
Next, you should repeat all the steps sequentially, gradually separating each board and disassembling the floor.

When dismantling a wooden floor, remember that the most vulnerable point of the entire structure is the junction of the spike of the floorboard to be removed and the groove of the board adjacent to it. Therefore, when separating one element of a wooden floor from another, you should work extremely carefully.

If it was not possible to separate the boards from each other without damage, and a crack has formed on the spike or groove, this can cause the floor to squeak when the floorboards are reused. However, this can be avoided if, before installation, the damaged part is glued with PVA glue or fixed with a small nail. Damaged floorboards will need to be laid as tightly as possible.

Dismantling the wooden floor on the joists is carried out in the same way. The only difference is that after parsing the coating, it is necessary to remove the base beams themselves. To do this, they need to be unscrewed or beaten off from the foundation using a sledgehammer.

How to remove a wooden floor - watch the video:

Dismantling work takes the lion's share of time and effort when carrying out capital repairs of housing. Old floors are no exception. They can lose their appearance, start to creak, or simply serve their life and rot. Therefore, the dismantling of the wooden floor, which is often found in the houses of the old foundation, is an integral part of the work during the renovation. How to remove such a floor with minimal waste of time?

When dismantling a wooden floor, not only the floor boards themselves are often removed, but also the logs on which they are fixed. This is quite hard work, albeit seemingly quick and easy from the outside. At the same time, everything must be done carefully so as not to harm yourself.

On a note! Sometimes it is necessary to dismantle new plank floors, although more often it is the old coverings that are dismantled. In the first case, you need to remove the boards as carefully as possible, so that later they can be used again.

In general, the reasons for removing boards from the floor can be very different:

loss of appearance;
high level of deterioration of the coating;
increasing the level of humidity in the room;
decay processes that damage boards;
cracks and other mechanical damage to the floor surface;

creak and dips when moving on the surface;
the formation of colonies of various microorganisms, including mold, fungus, etc., harmful to the flooring and human health;
mistakes made when laying the material;
the use of low-quality materials in the arrangement of floors;
destruction of boards by insects;
laying a new coating.

In general, when carrying out major repairs in an apartment, it is better to immediately update the floors. Especially if the wooden covering has been used for several decades - during this time it has deteriorated significantly in terms of operation. Despite the fact that the work is not as easy as it seems, it will still be justified and far from superfluous.

Repair of "playing" floorboards - an alternative solution

Advice! Finding out whether the boards have rotted or not is very simple. For this, the floor surface is tapped with an ordinary hammer. Those elements that emit a dull sound upon impact must be removed and replaced with new ones. It is necessary to completely disassemble the floor if such a sound is heard when hitting with a hammer anywhere on the floor.

By the way, few people think that wood is not only a floor made of solid wood. The same category includes coatings such as wood laminate, parquet board. Dismantling of each type takes place in its own way, but there are certain similarities between the works.

The main methods of dismantling a wood floor

There are several ways to dismantle a wooden floor. And in order to decide how this process will go, it is important to decide what the final result should be. It will depend on this how all the work will go.

Methods for dismantling a wooden floor.

By the way, it is always better to carry out the work on dismantling the wooden floor as carefully as possible. In this case, all the resulting garbage, even with the first method, will be much easier to dispose of.

Attention! Cleaning splinters can cause a lot of trouble. You can reduce the risk of injury by working carefully and wearing gloves.

Features of professional floor dismantling

There are certain requirements for dismantling old floors and work rules. Some of them may not be observed depending on how the old coating will be removed.

By the way, sometimes not only the wooden covering itself is dismantled, but also the screed that is under it. After all, if it has fallen into disrepair, this will also affect the state of the new coating equipped in the future.

Where to start dismantling the floor?

Before proceeding directly to the dismantling of the wooden floor, it is important to carry out a number of preparatory work. They are not so difficult, but, nevertheless, they are necessary in order for all the work to take place in the most comfortable conditions and quickly.

Preparation for dismantling a wooden covering

The first step is to remove all furniture from the room. Otherwise, dismantling will be simply impossible, since any detail of the furnishings will interfere with removing the boards. Chairs and chairs will have to be rearranged from place to place, and this is an extra effort and a waste of time. That is why it is important to remove everything that is possible from the room - the room should become completely empty. It is also worth removing all garbage from the room - it will interfere with assessing the condition of the floors.

After this stage of preparation is completed, the condition of the floor is assessed. To do this, it is important to inspect it and tap it with a hammer. Rotten floorboards will make a dull sound. The level of the boards is also assessed, that is, the evenness of the floors.

On a note! If the floor boards are not deformed, and also if the arrangement of the self-leveling floor is not planned, then the plank covering can not be removed - it is enough to carry out cosmetic repairs.

It is important to choose the right time for dismantling the floors if the work will be carried out in an apartment building, since the process will be accompanied by a rather strong noise. You should not start work in the early morning, the optimal time period is working hours, when most of the tenants are not in the apartments. It is also best to work on weekdays rather than weekends.

Work clothes should also be chosen. Personal protective equipment for the eyes and respiratory system is being purchased. The clothes should be the ones that can be thrown away later, because during the dismantling of the floor, a mass of fine and corrosive dust appears. Gloves are also recommended to reduce the risk of splinters. Unauthorized people, especially children, should not be present during the dismantling process.

It is better to call a friend or relative to help yourself - this way the process will go faster. In a small room, you can work in turns, but the strength of your partner will significantly speed up the work.

When dismantling, various tools can be used - these can be:

axes;
hammer;
crowbar (crowbar) or nail puller;
hacksaw, jigsaw;
ticks;
sledgehammer;
screwdrivers, chisel.

Removing skirting boards

Before removing the old floor boards, it is important to remove the skirting boards along the walls. They will slow down the workflow and greatly interfere if you skip this stage of preparation.

In order not to damage the wooden plinth, you need to disconnect it from the base, starting from the end. The location of the extreme nail is calculated, and here the plinth is gently lifted by a crowbar with a crowbar by a couple of centimeters. Likewise, the skirting board rises at each point where the product joins the base. If necessary, they return to the first nail and again raise the plinth higher, sequentially lifting it at other points. The closer the crowbar is to the fixing point, the more chances you have to remove the product carefully without damaging it.

You can also try to remove the nails themselves by prying on their caps with a nailer. A piece of board, chips, plywood, which is placed under the working tool, will help to protect the plinth from dents. If the skirting board is not planned to be saved, then it can be broken.

It is much easier to remove a plastic product. To do this, the protective strip is removed from it, the fasteners are untwisted and the plinth is easily separated from the wall.

Dismantling technology for wooden floors

Let's consider how the dismantling of a wooden covering goes if old boards are removed and then they will not be used again.

Table. Instructions for dismantling the floor.

Steps, photo	Description of actions
	Along one of the floor boards in its center, a cut is made using a circular saw, a jigsaw, a regular saw. This is usually done on the board that is close to one of the walls of the room.
	A crowbar is inserted into the cut made, one of the halves of the boards is lifted and then removed. To do this, the handle of the crowbar is pressed - the handle of the tool is used as a lever.
	The second half of the sawn board is removed. Debris is immediately removed from the premises so as not to interfere with further work.
	The other floor boards are sawn with a jigsaw. The cut is made perpendicular to the removed floorboard. In this way, work is done if there is no need to keep the boards in their entirety. The cuts are made so that the boards are divided into sections 30-60 cm long.
	Each board must be removed completely - only then the transition to another floorboard and work with it is made.
	If the crowbar does not fit between the board (the board is not pliable) and the base (or lags), then it is hammered under it with a hammer. Then, when you press the tool, the board is lifted and removed completely.
	Each board, if well anchored, rises evenly from one edge to the other. This is especially important if the boards need to be kept intact.
	All boards are removed in the same way.
	The dismantling work is completed by the collection of debris from the base.

If you plan to replace the lag, then the old ones are deleted. To begin with, after opening the floor, the insulation material is removed, if one has been laid between the logs. If there is glass wool under the floor, then you only need to work with it with gloves. The logs themselves are broken with a crowbar or ax and thrown away.

If necessary, the old screed is also removed. Work is carried out using a jackhammer or perforator. The base is finely crushed and then removed piece by piece.

Prices for the range of Makita perforators

hammer drills

Video - Dismantling a wooden floor

Video - Dismantling a parquet board

You can remove the wood floor yourself. The main thing is to follow all the rules for carrying out work. And, as they say, breaking is not building, because problems with this stage of work on the restoration of the premises are usually not observed.

With the exception of a small percentage of secondary buildings with timber joists, slabs are used in multi-storey buildings. On the logs, either a tongue-and-groove floor covering or a rough floor made of edged boards, OSB, GVL, DSP, plywood or chipboard for other claddings (parquet, linoleum, PVC tiles, cork, tiles, carpet and other materials) are laid.

Therefore, the repair of the wooden floor in the Khrushchev can be carried out in a day (replacing the tongue and groove) or delayed for several weeks (laying soundproofing, insulation, log and subfloor under parquet).

Classification and repair operations

Due to the complex design and the many layers of the pie, repairing a wooden floor in an apartment is varied, time consuming and budgetary. When the appearance is lost, the surface of the grooved board is cleaned of the existing paintwork layer, painted in several layers to give the necessary aesthetics of perception.

In all other cases, partial or complete disassembly of the coating or subfloor becomes inevitable. To simplify the search for the reasons for the decrease in the operational properties of the structure, layer-by-layer dismantling is usually practiced:

for the restoration of grooved flooring or parquet, you will have to disassemble the entire floor covering so as not to damage the locks of its individual elements; Dismantling the tongue and groove.
pieces of lag are changed through hatches cut in the finishing and black floor; Repair of lags in the apartment.
it is possible to completely replace the lag only after dismantling the entire structure, since the floorboards are located perpendicular to these elements and are fixed to them with nails; Replacing the lag.
in order to replace or re-make hydro- and sound insulation, even the logs will have to be removed, since the layer of these materials must be continuous and located on top of the floor slab.

The reasons for the squeak can be any structural element (floorboard, log or self-tapping screw) when the mutual fixation with another floor part is weakened. Therefore, different methods are used to eliminate the creak - from filling the cracks in the floorboards with talcum powder to replacing the logs or screwing all the boards to the logs at an angle of 45-60 degrees in new places.

The reasons for the squeak are the wear and tear of the elements of the wooden floor.

Advice! During the initial laying of a grooved board as a floor covering, only the first, every fourth and last rows of material are rigidly attached to the logs. After drying, after 3 - 12 months, the floorboards are re-tightened with jacks, clamps or other tools. This operation is not a repair of the floor, it refers to the maintenance of the coating.

Repair technology

When using a multilayer structure, the repair of wooden floors in an apartment becomes necessary with audible and visually obvious defects that sharply reduce the comfort of living. In other words, they walk on the floor covering until the creak gets bored, or the user's leg falls through.

A preventive audit is not economically profitable, since for this it is necessary to take out all the furniture, dismantle the plinth, all or most of the floorboards. Repair is carried out as the structure is disassembled, depending on its complexity, special technologies are used:

wedging, pulling the floorboards; Pulling the boards from the squeak.
additional fastening of boards with self-tapping screws;
replacement of parquet planks, tongue-and-groove boards;
restoration of logs in certain areas;
impregnation of wooden elements with an antiseptic / fire retardant;
changing the floor design with significant wear and tear of lumber;
leveling of surfaces by grinding or scraping. Elimination of squeak by additional fixation.

Important! After the revision of the floorboards, boards unsuitable for further use are rejected. Either defective areas are cut out of them (rot, fungus, mold, warping, flying through knots).

Removing a squeak

In Soviet times, the exploitation of wooden floors in Khrushchev and Brezhnevka was practiced. The logs were laid on the glassine, leveled with wooden wedges. The tongue-and-groove boards were pulled together once - during the decoration of the rooms, users were usually not warned that the floorboards needed to be pulled off again after drying.

The reason for the squeak is the weakening of the mutual fixation of two or more structural elements. Under the load from the traffic of residents, they bend, make characteristic sounds.

To eliminate the squeak, the following algorithm of actions is usually used:

identifying a creaking area by ear, outlining it with chalk;
checking for the presence of a fastener (nail or self-tapping screw);

existing nails can be buried in the wood with a punch;
with a self-tapping screw with a full thread, the floorboard is fixed in any convenient position relative to the log bar;
with a self-tapping screw with an incomplete thread, you can tightly press two wooden floor elements together, including if the hole in the floorboard has expanded over time;
a polymer wedge is driven under the lag hanging above the floor slab;
upon detection of rotten, turned into dust sections of sawn timber, they are cut out, the timber / board is built up with new pieces treated with an antiseptic.

Planks in rows located far from the walls are very difficult to dismantle without destroying the lock connection. Therefore, their spatial geometry and relative position relative to the floorboards in adjacent rows are regulated by longitudinal wedges:

a wedge is cut out of a long chip;
hammered in between the rows of floorboards;
prevents sagging, eliminates creak;
is sanded flush with the surface of the floorboards.

Elimination of squeak with a wedge.

After that, local staining of the defective area is carried out or the floors are re-painted entirely.

Read more about the fight against squeak in the article: How to remove the squeak of a wooden floor.

Replacing a grooved board

In dry rooms, a complete replacement of the floor covering is usually carried out, since the wear of the boards is the same here. In rooms with high humidity and an abundance of cold water supply, sewage, hot water supply, restoration of individual areas affected by mold, fungus or rot due to pipe leaks is often used. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the factors:

the lags and the condition of the screed should be carefully examined;
in case of an unsatisfactory condition of these structural elements, the overhaul of the coating will be cheaper, since the operational resource of the updated section will be much higher than that of existing floorboards, which will also have to be changed soon;
the grooved board is laid according to the standard technology (fastening to the logs of every 4 rows), after 4 - 12 months the flooring must be pulled off again with fixation to the logs of each row of boards;
the skirting board is attached exclusively to the walls to ensure high maintainability of the coating and mobility during linear expansion of the timber (about 0.15% for dry sawn timber).

Important! The height of the groove / ridge location of modern sawn timber may not coincide with similar locks of the operated sheet pile, issued during the Soviet era.

Therefore, the technology of restoration of the floor covering is used according to the following scheme:

the flooring is laid from the wall into the castle;
at the junctions of the new flooring with the old boards, a docking bar is mounted;
on the one hand, a groove of the tongue-and-groove joint is left on the plank, the second is cut along the width of the slot, fastened into the wedge with self-tapping screws or nails without a lock with the existing flooring boards, as in the bottom photo.

Advice! It is forbidden to use spacers between the joists and the floorboards of the finished floor, since it is these details that cause the squeak in the future. Plastic wedges should be placed under the logs, control the upper plane of the bars from which they are made.

Replacing the subfloor

When repairing an old wooden floor, it may be necessary to replace the worn out subfloor. At the step of the lag that satisfies the operational loads, these elements remain in place, only the subfloor decking is dismantled and replaced with a new one.

Depending on the finish floor covering, the following materials can be used:

edged board - under a grooved board;
multilayer plywood - for any coating, including self-leveling floor, tiles, porcelain stoneware; Replacement of the subfloor with plywood.
OSB and chipboard - under PVC tiles, ceramics, laminate, parquet, linoleum, carpet, cork;
DSP - usually used for tiles.

The works are carried out according to standard technologies with the provision of natural ventilation in the underground space.

Lag replacement

If the wooden flooring has no visual defects, but its surface is uneven, there are creaks and other factors that reduce the quality of living, you will have to dismantle the parquet or tongue-and-groove board completely to provide access to the bars on which the flooring is attached.

Before you repair the logs, you should revise the screed, it is possible to replace the insulation, waterproofing and acoustic materials. In Soviet times, expanded clay or sawdust served as insulation; these materials are less effective than expanded polystyrene, ecowool, basalt heat insulator. Therefore, they are collected in bags and disposed of.

Lag replacement is made according to the technology:

horizontal beating with a laser plane-plotter to find the top point;
drawing horizontal lines on walls at an arbitrary height;
laying timber near the walls, taking into account the horizontal level.

The joists can be mounted on polymer wedges or special adjustable bolts (adjustable floor system).

The bar must be securely fixed to the floor slab (screed) with anchors to prevent squeaking and movement during operation.

Therefore, when using wedges, long anchors are used; in systems of an adjustable floor, the stability of the spatial geometry of the structure is ensured by metal studs:

they pass through the block;
attached to the base;
adjustable in height with a nut, positioning the lags at the required level;
the pins are cut off flush with the grinder at the end of the alignment in a single horizontal plane of all logs inside the room.

Replacing the lag with an adjustable floor.

Advice! The logs have a certain thickness, therefore, in wooden floors (rough and finishing), by default, an underground space appears, in which natural ventilation must be provided. To do this, it is necessary to make cuts in the logs, and install gratings diagonally in the corners of the room into the subfloor and floor covering.

Insulation materials

Despite the fact that the wooden floor in the apartment has sound insulation properties and reduces heat loss, additional installation of insulation materials is often required. Their relative position in the wooden floor pie is as follows:

noise-absorbing materials - always laid on a screed or floor slab to cut off structural noise from the lower apartment;
insulation - located on top of the acoustic material, the thickness is selected depending on the specific operating conditions;
vapor barrier - preferably a membrane laid on top of thermal insulation under subfloor boards or a wooden floor covering to protect the insulation from getting wet with moist air vapor from the room;
waterproofing - it is applied with a gluing or coating method on a screed or floor slab; in wet rooms, the second layer of waterproofing is made on top of a wooden floor before laying moisture-resistant linings (protection against sewage and water supply leaks).

Wooden floor cake in the apartment.

Advice! All of these insulation layers are optional. For example, the thickness of the floor slab can be sufficient for the concrete to completely exclude airborne noise. In this case, you can do without soundproofing material.

Paintwork

Painting the floorboards is a cosmetic repair. Before painting, perform the following work:

removal of layers of existing paint with a spatula or special solutions; Dismantling of paintwork materials.
filling gaps with putty (oil for wet rooms, glue for dry rooms, budget option - a mixture of oil paint with sawdust);
grinding and impregnation with linseed oil (drying time is at least 3 days);
elimination of squeak by the above methods.

Wood floor staining options.

After that, the repaired floor is painted in several layers.

Sanding and sanding

While maintaining the bearing capacity of wooden floor elements, it may be necessary to restore its flatness for a number of reasons:

the boards have dried up and warped over time;
gaps have formed between the floorboards;
the tongue is "bent with a hump" in cross-section;
in some areas the boards sagged.

With a sufficient thickness of the sheet piling or parquet, these defects can be corrected without major repairs by grinding or scraping. Equipment for scraping is expensive and rarely required, so it is wiser to rent this equipment for the duration of the repair.

Grinding the tongue with a tape machine.

Sanding does not require high qualifications, the necessary skills are acquired after processing 2 - 3 m² of flooring. A looping machine is more difficult to use, so it is easier to order a service from qualified specialists.

Parquet looping.

Thus, when using a wooden floor in an apartment, repairs are available to the home master on their own. The easiest way is to level the floor plane, get rid of the creak of the floorboards and paint the surface. Overhaul and replacement of logs, floorboards will cost more and take more time.

Advice! If you need repairmen, there is a very convenient service for their selection. Just send in the form below a detailed description of the work that needs to be performed and you will receive offers with prices from construction teams and firms by mail. You can see reviews of each of them and photos with examples of work. It is FREE and non-binding.

Source: http://MasterskayaPola.ru/derevyannyj/remont-v-kvartire.html

Two simple ways to repair floors in an apartment with your own hands

So, this is not about me! My mother-in-law loves and respects me very much, and even entrusted me with a major overhaul of her apartment. True, at my expense. So, today I want to tell you about how to repair the floor in an apartment with your own hands.

This is how you can save both on materials and on the involvement of specialists. I guarantee that this knowledge will be useful to you more than once in your life.

In old houses, as in my case, the floors are made according to the standard scheme: floor slabs are covered with expanded clay, and on top they are filled with a layer of concrete screed, on which thermal insulation is laid. In many old houses, as a rule, it has fallen into disrepair long ago or is completely absent. After the thermal insulation, there is a wooden floor, on which the floor covering is laid.

If this floor is laid according to all the rules, then it can serve for a very long time. If the floorboards are deformed from old age, and gaps have appeared between them, this is a clear sign that the floors should be changed.

You can't just replace the flooring here. A worn wood floor will quickly ruin your new linoleum or laminate flooring.

To prevent this, you will have to carry out a complete renovation of the old floor using one of the following methods:

replacement and repair;
pouring concrete.

Method 1. Repairing an old wooden floor

This option is suitable for you if you only need to replace worn floorboards and strengthen loose ones. In my case, it also turned out to be acceptable. Here is a diagram of the overhaul of an old wood flooring:

clean the floorboards from old paint or varnish. For this, it is best to use a grinder;
replace old, worn-out boards with more reliable ones;
check the way of fixing the boards to the logs. In most cases, they are nailed, but for a more secure fix, use self-tapping screws;
putty on wood to cover up cracks, pits and grooves and rub these places with sandpaper;
remove small debris with a vacuum cleaner and then a damp cloth;
apply paint / varnish to the repaired floor;
lay the floor covering.

If most of the floorboards have become unusable, it is wise to replace the entire floor. Modern technologies make it possible to create a truly reliable, environmentally friendly and durable structure.

Thanks to the tongue, the boards are tightly connected to each other. You can even reinforce the joint with glue. After installation, you just have to choose and lay the flooring. We will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each type of flooring later. Now let's consider a method of pouring a concrete floor.

Method 2. Pouring a concrete floor

If your old wood floor is in critical condition, simple plank replacements and putty are indispensable. In this case, you can fill the concrete screed yourself.

The most important thing in this option is to achieve a perfectly flat surface, because irregularities can lead to undesirable consequences, for example, to deformation and damage to the floor covering.

Here is a diagram of the preparatory work:

dismantle the old wooden floor. Remove floorboards and joists completely;
remove debris from the underground space by cleaning the old screed or floor;
lay the waterproofing. For this, plastic wrap is usually used;
glue the damper tape along the walls. Sometimes they do without it, but this reduces the reliability and durability of the concrete floor;
since you repair the concrete pavement yourself, be sure to use guide beacons;
cover the base with expanded clay. This material is relatively light in weight and has good thermal insulation properties. In principle, you can do without it, but with large differences in height or when using gypsum fiber sheets, expanded clay is necessary;
perform reinforcement. As a rule, reinforcement is used when pouring the foundation and the floors themselves. But for strengthening the concrete floor, reinforcement will certainly not be superfluous.

There are several ways to fill the floor:

pouring a cement-sand mixture. The pouring process itself is quite hard work, and the solution will harden within a month. But on the other hand, you will be pleased with the low cost of the issue. In addition, this method has been used in construction for a very long time, therefore it is considered reliable and proven;
filling with dry cement mixture. If you choose this method, then the work will not be so hard. And the hardening process will not be so long - up to 10 days. The process of leveling the surface with this filling method is much easier. But be prepared for the fact that the price of the issue will increase proportionally;
laying gypsum fiber sheets or gypsum fiber board. In construction, the name "dry screed" is also found. When using GVL, an almost ideal result awaits you with minimal labor costs. The only drawback of this option is the high price, but it is fully justified.

Now about the flooring

Hardware stores offer us a wide selection of floor coverings that differ in their characteristics and prices. This is parquet, and laminate, and linoleum, and carpet, and the newfangled Art Vinyl covering (art vinyl), and various types of floor tiles. Let's talk about the properties of each of the listed floor coverings:

parquet board. The covering is made of natural wood, so your floor will be aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly. If necessary, the parquet board can be easily dismantled and then re-laid. In order for the parquet to retain its original appearance, it requires special care. In addition, it is sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. Lay the parquet board in dry, ventilated rooms. Therefore, for a kitchen, hallway or bathroom, this is not the best solution;
laminate. Unlike parquet, a laminate board consists of four layers: stabilizing, bearing (the lock is built into it), decorative (wood-like pattern), upper protective. Laminate flooring is more unpretentious and does not require special care, like parquet, but at the same time it is afraid of moisture. For home use, the best solution would be class 31-32 laminate. Suitable for laying in almost any room except the bathroom;
linoleum. Universal floor covering. Can be on a foam or felt base. The foam base is not sensitive to moisture and is suitable for any room. Felt provides additional heat and sound insulation, but is not suitable for rooms with high humidity. But for a living room or bedroom, linoleum on a felt base will be the best solution. For home use, household and semi-commercial linoleum is suitable. For rooms with low traffic, for example, a bedroom, 0.1-0.2 mm of a protective layer will be enough. For the living room, a protective layer of 0.3 mm is suitable, and for the hallway and kitchen - from 0.4 to 0.6. The higher the thickness of the protective layer, the more durable the floor covering. For a more reliable fixation, linoleum should be glued to the surface;
carpet. Consists of four layers: secondary backing, anchoring layer, primary backing, pile. Has good heat and sound insulation. Sensitive to moisture, therefore it is suitable for laying only in dry rooms with low traffic. In the kitchen and hallway, carpet will quickly wear out and lose its aesthetic properties;
art vinyl. A new-fashioned floor covering that allows you to implement almost any design solution. Externally, art vinyl can be styled like wood, stone or other natural material. According to the manufacturers, it combines the aesthetic qualities of parquet, the practicality of linoleum (not afraid of moisture) and the modularity of floor tiles. For installation, simply glue the art vinyl tiles to a clean, even and dry surface. You will have to pay extra for such versatility - the cost of the material exceeds the price of linoleum and laminate;
floor tiles. Ideal for rooms with high humidity, easy to clean, so it will be the best solution for a bathroom or kitchen.

Source: http://remont-ka.ru

Conclusion

So, now you have an idea of how to repair the flooring without the help of specialists, and what are the options. and photos, in which you can clearly observe the process, will help you with repair work.

You have learned about the properties of flooring, so you can choose the best one for your room. Hope this information was helpful to you. And in order not to miss other useful repair articles, subscribe to our groups on social networks. and may your home please you!

Source: https://seberemont.ru/remont-polov-svoimi-rukami/

Do-it-yourself floor repair in an apartment in stages: professional advice

The floor is the most frequently used area of any apartment, which experiences a lot of stress and exposure to a variety of environments and liquids every day. When renovating a home on your own, it is important to carry out a high-quality repair of the floor in an apartment with your own hands, gradually completing all the steps necessary for this.

What repairs and when to do

Floor repair on your own is a rather complicated, time-consuming and responsible process. First, you need to figure out the types of manipulations that will have to be carried out. To do this, it is important to assess the state of the structure and decide what needs to be done: cosmetic or cap. repair.

Owners of new buildings have a floor with a ready-made and well-made screed. In this case, it will be possible to do with cosmetic repairs: if necessary, fill in the leveling mixture and lay the floor covering.

An old apartment often assumes a cap. repairing the floor, especially if wood was used as a covering. Wooden floors have a limited lifespan, and over time, the floorboards will creak or collapse when walked on. Speech about how to carry out a cosmetic finish of the worn-out wooden covering cannot go here.

The types of floor repairs largely depend on the type of coating that will be used. There is a standard classification of coatings used in floor renovation. In it, materials such as parquet, laminate, ceramic tiles, linoleum, solid board, stone flooring, carpet, self-leveling floors are distinguished.

Parquet for renovation

Parquet flooring has been known since the 17th century, when it was first used in the palaces of the kings of France. The main advantage of a parquet floor is its environmental friendliness.

Modern manufacturers offer a wide range of colors, sizes and methods of laying parquet and parquet boards, which allows you to repair the floors in the room in a style that is unique for each room.

Before laying such a coating, the floors are leveled with a special screed so that the height differences of irregularities do not exceed half a centimeter.

If there is high humidity in the room, then the film from the inside will be covered with perspiration. In this case, it is not recommended to lay parquet.

The disadvantages of such a coating are the high price and instability to moisture. Also, this material cannot be used when installing a "warm floor".

Tile, laminate, board and stone

If there is high humidity or high traffic in the room being repaired, then in this case, preference should be given to ceramic tiles.

This type of flooring is resistant to temperature extremes, detergents and moisture. It is perfect for renovating bathroom floors.

But it should be borne in mind that the tile floor will be cold, so it is worth laying electric or water heating under it.

Laminate flooring can be confused with parquet in appearance. However, it is made not of wood, but of a pressed HDF board with a polymer layer and a pattern applied to it. Laminate pattern can imitate wood, marble, and other patterns. It is quite simple to install the laminate, it does not require special care, the service life is high - up to 15 years.

Massive floorboards are not inferior to parquet in their characteristics. But such a coating requires careful maintenance: preventing moisture ingress, applying a special protective layer.

Despite the fact that stone floors are durable, they are not very popular due to the high cost and the cold that comes from the stone. Most often used in outdoor decoration of the floor of terraces and balconies.

Linoleum, carpet, self-leveling floor

More often, linoleum is used as a floor covering. It is easy to install, does not require special care, is resistant to moisture and chemicals, and has a wide variety of colors, textures and patterns.

The democratic price of the material also helps it to occupy a leading position among other finishing materials.

Even a layman can make repairs to the floor in an apartment with his own hands, gradually laying and fixing strips of linoleum.

Carpet is the most fashionable type of floor covering. With its help, it is easy to create coziness in the room, it is pleasant to the touch and makes walking comfortable even in the cold season. But the carpet requires careful maintenance, cleaning from dust, it is difficult to remove stains from it. Only regular and proper maintenance will help to keep the carpet in proper condition for many years.

Self-leveling floor is the newest among all types of flooring. It is resistant to temperature extremes and moisture, to chemicals, and also environmentally friendly. But you need to mount it on a perfectly flat surface. The material from which the floor is made may turn yellow when exposed to sunlight.

Concrete floor repair

Before you start repairing concrete floors, you need to dismantle the flooring. If there are cracks on it, then it is worth weighing all the pros and cons and deciding whether to repair the old base or form a new one. Do-it-yourself floor repair in an apartment in stages:

Before restoration, the floor is cleaned from dust with a vacuum cleaner or a brush, and from greasy stains - with abrasive compounds (solvents).
Further, the concrete surface is primed with a special solution or PVA, diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4. Dry the primed surface for at least a day.
Further, if necessary, potholes and small cracks are putty, a new layer of screed is applied.
Before pouring the self-leveling compound, you need to dry the screed for several days.
The selected floor covering is placed on the repaired concrete base.

Repair of a wooden floor

Repairing old wood floors begins with identifying creaky floorboards and logs, as well as those parts of the structure that are covered with mold. Defective parts found are replaced with new items.

The entire floor area is treated with an anti-fungal agent.

If certain areas of the floor in the room are more often than others exposed to moisture, then they should be covered with waterproofing materials, since antifungal impregnation alone will not be enough.

Frequently, gaps form in wood flooring due to the drying out of the wood. You can eliminate them as follows:

The floor is sanded.
The slots are sealed with a primer and another layer is removed with a grinder.
The boards are primed with nitro lacquer.
After the nitro varnish dries, it is primed with a topcoat (matte or glossy).

Repair of laminate and tile floors

During operation, cracks, scratches, dents from falling objects, swelling from liquid ingress may form on the surface of the laminate. Scratches can be easily removed with a wax crayon.

Dents lend themselves well to correction with special pastes. If, after falling objects onto the laminate, the locks are damaged or the coating swollen, then the only option here is to completely replace such a section of the floor.

Since ceramic tiles are the most damage-resistant material among all floor coverings, they are less likely to be repaired. However, situations are not excluded when cracks, chips, and potholes form in the slabs.

It is possible to repair floors from such a coating as follows: fill it with cement milk - a solution of cement and water in a ratio of 1: 4. It is applied to the tile and rubbed with a cotton swab (first along and then across).

In order for the solution to dry completely, the repaired floor area must be covered during operation.

If the damage to ceramic tiles is significant and gives it an unaesthetic appearance, then the only repair option is to completely replace the unusable elements with new ones.

Repair of linoleum, carpet, stone coverings

Do-it-yourself floor repair in an apartment is carried out in stages as follows:

The most common defects in linoleum can be swelling, cracking, peeling, or tearing. Such problems can be easily solved like this:

using special glue, which should be drawn into a syringe and inserted under the damaged area;
then a load is placed on this part of the floor and the glue is allowed to dry completely;
if the damage to the coating is significant, then the areas are replaced with new ones.

In order to repair defective areas of carpet flooring, you need to have its spare parts:

the damaged area is cut out, a patch is put in its place. It is attached with double-sided tape or glue;
so that the edges of the patch do not unravel, they are pre-treated with latex glue;
before cutting and gluing the patch, it is worth considering the pattern, as well as the direction of the pile.

In order to give an aesthetic look to the stone flooring, the following series of actions are carried out:

various cracks and chips are easily removed by grinding the stone and then polishing it;
polishing is carried out with special chemicals that are rubbed into the stone and make the coating impervious to dirt;
such simple manipulations will help get rid of cracks up to 5 mm deep.

Self-leveling floor repair

During operation, irregularities, chips, cracks, small roughness and grains can form on the surface of the self-leveling floor. It is important to remember that all compounds used in the renovation process must be compatible with the mixture from which the floor is made.

The cracks of the self-leveling floor are removed by stripping the area to the concrete base and pouring a new one. Grains and scratches are removed during the sanding process. After sanding, the polymer composition is again applied to the floor surface.

In each case, renovation, floor finishing requires a special approach. The choice of certain methods will depend on the characteristics of the flooring and the wishes of the owner. In any case, a properly carried out repair in compliance with all technological requirements will bring the floor into proper condition and will delight the home owner for a long time to come.

Competent dismantling of the old floor or floor covering is, as you know, a prerequisite for the successful implementation of work related to their renovation. In our article, we will try to tell you how to remove the old floor without resorting to the help of third-party specialists, while significantly saving on repair work.

It is known that the floors in modern apartments are most often equipped as follows:

pure concrete bases with synthetic carpet, laminate or linoleum known to all of us;
wooden floors, made from individual boards or from inlaid parquet;
tiled floors.

Preparatory activities

Before starting to dismantle the floor, you should prepare the most necessary tool, the choice of which is determined by the type of floor covering. But in any case, you will need special protective equipment for the body and respiratory organs, which are mandatory when carrying out work of this class (respirator, cotton gloves and a hat).

In order to avoid the spread of dust throughout the apartment, it is advisable to fix a piece of damp cloth in the doorways, and lay rugs soaked in water at the thresholds. In addition, you will definitely need:

ordinary nail puller;
an assembly hammer or sledgehammer;
screwdriver, pliers and pliers;
electric jigsaw or saw for cutting long boards.

Note that for disassembling a tile floor (porcelain stoneware), you will additionally need to prepare a chisel and a perforator. Floor coverings laid with carpet, laminate or linoleum are much easier to dismantle, especially if they are simply laid on a concrete base (no glue).

Removing skirting boards

It is customary to start dismantling the floor covering with the removal of the baseboards, which can be plastic (with a built-in cable channel) or wooden. We begin the disassembly of plastic blanks by removing the decorative strip and removing the fasteners of the product to the wall. We remove wooden plinths sewn to the floor with a nail puller, and dismantling should start from the corner of the room.

In the event that the skirting board is thoroughly painted over with several layers of paint, you first need to find a place where it can be easily “pushed off” with a flat screwdriver, after which you can use a nail puller. To avoid damage to the decorative wall covering and for the convenience of fixing the position of the tool, a small wooden plank (block) is usually placed under it.

Before removing old wooden floors, you should familiarize yourself with the procedure for placing them on logs laid on a concrete base. When carrying out these works, certain difficulties may arise with the removal of the first board, after the dismantling of which it will go much faster. To facilitate this operation, you should free the gap between the floor and the wall and pry off the edge board with a nailer in this place.

All other floorboards are easy to remove and can be removed with a hammer or large flat head screwdriver. To remove the nails driven into the boards, you can use the pliers prepared earlier.

With a circular saw, all operations for dismantling wooden floors are greatly simplified. With its help, it will be possible to cut individual "floorboards" into smaller pieces, which will be much easier to remove from the place of disassembly.

For the case when the floorboards are fastened with self-tapping screws, you need a screwdriver that allows you to quickly remove the fastening elements.

Removing concrete screed

To remove a concrete screed, you will first need to remove the decorative covering used to cover the floor. And only after that you can proceed to dismantling it, which is usually done by a shock method. For these purposes, you may need the following tool:

classic jackhammer;
perforator with a special attachment;
a sledgehammer, chisel, or scrap metal.

Note that the use of a special impact power tool significantly reduces the time required for dismantling concrete foundations in rooms of any category. But when it is carried out, personal protective equipment must be used to protect the respiratory tract of a person and his eyes from dust generated during work.

When preparing for dismantling, do not forget to prepare bags of durable material, in which you can take out broken pieces of cement-concrete screed and any garbage accompanying any dismantling.

Video

This video shows how to dismantle a wooden floor:

This video demonstrates the process of demolishing an old concrete floor with a jackhammer: