What is zero level. Zero level. What is zero level in an apartment? How to conduct a zero level

Let's draw an analogy with a ship in which there is a line called the waterline and denotes a single level. So in an apartment, in order to level the height of the floors and ceilings at a single level, you need to find its zero level.

How do I find it?

To make the level zero in the entire apartment, you need to proceed from two mandatory actions:

1. Determine the highest point of the floor around the perimeter of the entire apartment.

2. With the help of special tools for determining the level, find out the line, which will be zero in the entire apartment.

Thus, based on this mini-plan, it is necessary to find the most protruding point of the floor relief, add 3-5 cm to it. And based on this point, draw a zero level, which will then need to be guided by when screed the floor. The zero level around the perimeter of the entire apartment must be measured using special construction tools.

What tool to choose for determining the zero level in an apartment?

There are different types of building levels. Consider the features of their use, accessibility, advantages, and also highlight their main disadvantages.

If there are no similar tools, then you can use a simple, but not the most effective method for calculating the zero level in an apartment. That is, first determine the highest point in the floor relief, and then measure an equal distance from the ceiling throughout the apartment, thereby determining the zero level. However, this is a laborious process that gives not entirely accurate measurements.

Do you remember how many ATP molecules are synthesized in our cells during the complete oxygen breakdown of one glucose molecule? (If you are a biologist, do not answer, it will not be interesting.) If you don’t remember, then it’s probably not so scary, although this information refers to the basic level of the school curriculum in biology, and if, for example, you have children who study in in the tenth grade and have positive grades in biology, they must learn this information one way or another. And in general, they know so much: and in what year was the Battle of Poltava, and what is the molar mass of nitrogen, and what is the highest mountain in Africa - even the three-grade, after all, at the very least, they teach all this. Especially if it's set for tomorrow. If this took place last year, then the chances, of course, decrease ...

I study biology with high school students. Well, as it usually happens, a subject has been chosen for passing the Unified State Exam, it turns out that most of the necessary knowledge is either safely confused, or has never been mastered, which means that it is necessary to specially work out. Depending on their current performance at school, students (and their parents) usually assess their level somehow. Sometimes (not so rarely) one has to deal with the fact that the level is assessed as "zero". Such a rather self-critical assessment - well, the child never paid attention to this subject, somehow he earned his triples for "get off", and as a result, he could not take out practically any knowledge from the study of the subject. Happenes. And then, it turns out, the exam must be passed. We must, therefore, work out well. How much material do we have? A school biology course is actually four textbooks, each two hundred pages. There is, probably, a lot of unnecessary information - look, children, around you, wave your right hand, wave your left hand ... There are manuals for applicants - there, in a compressed form, all the necessary information is given clearly and without any unnecessary distractions. This is one book of pages, say, four hundred pages. You need to learn everything that is written there - and it's in the bag. And tests, of course, decide. And just in case with the teacher, otherwise the child is lazy himself. (This, of course, is a good option, they often think that you can limit yourself to tests - just learn the answers to all the questions, why are there any other textbooks?)

So, we have a zero level, but there are still a few months before the exam; the amount of material does not seem to be outrageous; We don't need a super high score on the exam, so it's okay. We need to work out.

Well, let's go. And then it suddenly becomes clear: in order to master how the functions of DNA are carried out, one must first of all, at the very least, understand what molecules are and what a chemical bond is. To solve problems in genetics, you need to have the skill of calculating percentages and some understanding of what probabilities are. Mastering the topic of the circulation of substances in the biosphere is impossible without basic ideas about the structure of our planet. To understand cellular energy, you need to have in your head at least a firmly mastered law of conservation of energy and a confident readiness to use it at the right time. Excuse me, these are all other subjects, we are weak with this, but we are not going to take them, we actually wanted biology ...

Further, as Alice said, everything is more wonderful. It turns out that although a separate subject "biology" appears (depending on the program) in grades 6-7, the student begins to acquire knowledge of biology earlier. For example, from the subject "the world around", in which generally important things are studied. And even worse - a person normally begins to acquire knowledge of biology literally from birth. How many legs a dog has or what color the leaves are on the trees in summer - we do not know all these things from textbooks. So the "zero level" is such a flirtatious figure of speech, behind which, in fact, there is nothing definite. A newborn baby has a zero level. And how far our eleventh grader has gone from him - this is his real level.

And here is the most wonderful thing. Have you seen some demotivators on the Internet: some more or less abstruse formula and a postscript "I'm still waiting when I need it"? Both students and parents very often not only do not understand, but also turn out to be completely unprepared for the idea that everything that a child was taught at school for eleven years, generally speaking, may be needed and will affect how much he is ready to learn for example biology. No one doubts, of course, that you need to be able to read. Or perform the simplest arithmetic operations. But, say, physics: what is it for, is it a completely different subject?

It is this, and not the lack of crammed with some specific facts from the textbook, that usually creates the main obstacles in learning. It is the opportunity to “pass and forget”, in order to then move on to cramming the following sections, that creates the student the opportunity to demonstrate the illusion of moving forward without having any sufficient base for mastering new knowledge. The problem is that the basic knowledge is usually not specifically checked by anyone, therefore, if you do not "dig", you may not find a reason to be horrified. There is no formal reason to ask this. Many of my colleagues work in various more or less elite schools with gifted, motivated children, and they do not really believe me at all, but believe that I am greatly exaggerating. But I'm not exaggerating. My sample is students from ordinary Moscow schools who, in one way or another, had the idea of taking biology as an elective subject. I testify that the situation is quite common when an eleventh grader calculates 10% of ten (sic!) On a calculator, or operates with probabilities greater than one, or does not understand that if a substance enters the system, then it must go somewhere, or asserts that we get energy from oxygen, or I am sure that there is high pressure in the mountains, or answers that the spider feeds on cobwebs, that cones grow on oak trees ... Honestly, I really heard all this. The list can be continued, but I do not have the task of making a detailed list of the gems of my students, especially since it would be too extensive.

Jokes as a joke, I heard about cones on oaks only once, but, say, hypotheses that clearly violate the law of conservation of energy do not bother almost anyone. And the ability to count in your head, without drawing up a proportion on a piece of paper, how much will be 20% of thirty, is rather an exception than a rule.

Our school system allows the student at some point to cheat and "jump" to the next level without really mastering the previous one. From this point on, a vicious circle begins - further training will be for the most part just memorizing meaningless texts and memorizing magic formulas. I remember how, when I was still in school, I was surprised that I could get a positive grade in a quarter simply by having a certain number of positive grades in a magazine. And it doesn't matter what they were awarded for. I can miss a topic, skip, and nothing will ever force me to learn it. And if I am not obliged to master it somehow, then why is it needed at all? If only "for show", then all thus obtained knowledge will, of course, replenish the list of things that "I wait for everything when they come in handy."

Going this way, you can more or less safely report on your current homework, but when it comes to the exam, it turns out that you can't remember everything and you need at least some systemic mastery of the subject. This is where the "zero level" is declared in, say, biology. But the depth of the chasm that needs to be filled in order to honestly, with good reason to start studying the subject, is usually not realized. Yes, in general, it never occurs to anyone to look into it. The knowledge that is required at the "current" level is tested. Moreover, knowledge and their simulation usually do not differ. And if it even occurs to someone ... then he most likely will not do this, since, no matter how unpleasant it is to admit, it is not beneficial to anyone. Who would have the courage to do a massive eleventh grade test on adding simple fractions and posting the results? And the results, I am sure, would have turned out depressing. However, it is no secret to anyone that, according to polls, about 30% of our citizens believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth (for those who did not know, I am reporting this bitter truth). But these are adults, they studied at school for a long time, and there are no teachers who, with their signatures, would be responsible for the grades in their diaries. And schoolchildren have these signatures. Teachers put them.

Of course, we have very good schools. We have very good teachers. And, of course, there are schoolchildren whose results we can be proud of. They win international Olympiads, participate in various educational projects, and generally achieve excellent success. And that's great. However, our country is traditionally strong in the results, suitable for a conditional "exhibition of achievements". But it is very difficult to assess the average level. Estimates? I have seen excellent students who are not able to answer the most elementary questions. Grades can sometimes be earned in a bunch of different ways, behind them may be a real level, or may not be. And if they say “a weak three” to me, it usually means that real, meaningful learning ended somewhere in the fourth or fifth grade. And the fall into the abyss, which has no zero mark, began.

The zero level can be compared to the waterline of a ship, only it is in full view and everyone understands what it is for. It seems clear from the name for what, but where and how it appears is not clear. The main task in preparing for leveling the floor with a dry or concrete screed is to reach zero level throughout the entire area of the apartment. The floor, ultimately, should be one parallel horizon, ideally flat surface.

What is a zero level in an apartment? How to conduct a zero level

Put a mark at the highest point of the relief in the apartment.
We duplicate this mark strictly horizontally on all other walls in all rooms in the apartment. For this, it is best to use special tools - building levels.
Then you need to connect all the points, and then you get a zero level, and you need to level up on it when performing a floor screed.

The choice of elevation: from 10 to 100 mm is added to the highest point, how much is added depends on the type of screed used. From 30 to 50 mm is added with a dry screed, and there are restrictions, the minimum thickness is 30 mm, the maximum thickness is 50 mm, if several layers of the prefabricated base are used, then 70 mm. For a wet screed, the additional length can vary from 10 to 100 mm - it all depends on the specific conditions.

Moreover, there are different screed technologies: you can apply a concrete screed on top of a layer of large expanded clay, you can lay plywood on a concrete base. Different ways are good in different ways.

How to agree on the level of the premises.

When the apartment has the same floor covering, then the screed is made under the same level. But often, for example, a laminate is laid in the room, tiles in the corridor and in the bathroom, because of this it is necessary to agree on the level of the premises before laying the final floor covering.

It's simple: to determine the height of the screed in each room, you need to count all the layers of the future flooring and subtract them from the final level. Although everything is simple, if you do not do this at the preliminary stages of apartment renovation, then you will be provided with a floor with steps.

Zero markup methods

Water level.
The most accessible and simple way is to beat off the zero point of the room with a water level - a spirit level. Two glass tubes with water, connected by a long hose, allow you to measure not only levels in one room, but throughout the whole dwelling.
A plus:
Ease of use.
Low price of the tool.
Minuses:
One person is not enough to measure.
Accuracy depends on the condition of the tool: the hose must not be kinked, air infiltrated, etc.
Method with an auxiliary level.
Draw a horizontal line at an arbitrary height and measure the distance to the floor through a certain distance. The more marks, the higher the measurement accuracy.
Pros:
Versatility: can be applied to any horizontal and vertical surfaces.
One person is enough.
Minuses:
Lots of measurement samples to achieve an accurate result.
If there are erroneous measurements, then measurement errors accumulate.
Laser level
More precisely, it is not a laser level that is used in measurements, but a laser level. The method is based on the principles of operation of a laser level, that is, a line outlined by a laser beam in space is the desired level.
Pros:
Most accurate measurements.
One person is enough to measure.
Minuses:
The high price of the tool.
The possibility of measurements depends on the conditions in the apartment; problems may arise in case of strong illumination or in a very dusty room.
Bottom line: all methods are good if you apply them when you need to. The result will be at a high level, especially if you arm yourself with a high-quality and serviceable tool. We do home repairs for ourselves, so the result, as a rule, is at a good level.

Answer from OLGA KHALIMOVA [guru]
As you know, any ship has a waterline, which is clearly visible to everyone and everyone understands its meaning. There is something similar in every apartment - this is the zero level. Although the meaning of the zero level follows from the name, it is not visible and it is not clear how and where it comes from.
When preparing the base of the floor using a concrete or dry screed, the main goal is to reach zero level over the entire area of the apartment. Make the floor surface throughout the apartment at such the same level that the finishing flooring is one flat surface parallel to the horizon line.
How to conduct a zero level
The zero level is carried out on the basis of two conditions:
the highest point in the relief over the entire area of the apartment is determined
special tools are used - building levels
3-5 cm is added to the highest point of the floor relief and a zero level is drawn. The run of the additional section of 3-5 cm depends on the type of screed used. For wet screeds, a run-up of 1 to 10 cm is possible - it all depends on the specific conditions. Screeds based on self-leveling mixtures give a thin layer in units of tens of millimeters, and traditional concrete screeds start from 5 cm and thicker. For a dry screed, there is a limitation:
minimum thickness - 3 cm
maximum thickness - 5 cm when using one layer of dry backfill and one prefabricated base, and 7 cm when using several layers of prefabricated base.
Variations of floor screed technologies are also possible. There are technologies where a concrete screed is applied on top of a layer of large expanded clay, and there is a well-known method of laying plywood on a concrete base - each method is good in an individual design.
How to align premises by level
It's great if everything is simple in the apartment - everywhere there is linoleum or laminate. So a screed is made under one level. And if, say, there is tiles in the corridor and in the bathroom, and parquet in the rooms? We'll have to agree on the level of the premises before laying the finishing flooring.
The idea is simple: calculate all the layers of the future flooring, subtract them from the finish level and determine the height of the screed in each room. The truth is completely transparent, but it is worth talking about it, since it is necessary to harmonize the premises by level at the very preliminary stages of repairing an apartment with your own hands. If this is not done, then you will have to use the well-known Russian ingenuity or put up with the resulting mini podium and the inscription "carefully step" :)
Zero markup methods
Measurement with a water level
The most logical and familiar way is to measure the premises with a water level - a spirit level. Two communicating vessels filled with water and connected by a long hose allow you to measure not only levels in one room, but throughout the apartment.
Dignity
Easy way to measure
Inexpensive measuring tool
disadvantages
It takes two people to measure
The accuracy of the measurement depends on the condition of the liquid, if air enters the liquid or kinks the hoses, significant measurement errors appear
Method with an auxiliary level.
In a convenient place, at an arbitrary distance from the floor, a horizontal line is drawn and the heights to the floor are measured after a certain distance. The number of marks increases the measurement accuracy. We have already described this method earlier.
Dignity
Versatility of the method: suitable for working with horizontal and vertical lines, and even for measuring inclined surfaces
No assistant required
disadvantages
Large number of measurements
Limited measurement accuracy, increased accuracy is achieved by a large number of measurements. In the case of the appearance of erroneous measurements, the measurement error accumulates.
Using a laser level
Strictly speaking, it is not the laser level that participates in the measurements, but the laser level. Let's talk about this method in more detail here. The essence of the method follows from the principle of operation of a laser level: a line outlined in space is the desired level.

The zero level can be compared with the waterline of a ship, only it is in full view and everyone understands what it is for. It seems clear from the name for what, but where and how it appears is not clear.

The main task in preparing for leveling the floor with a dry or concrete screed is to reach zero level throughout the entire area of the apartment. The floor, ultimately, should be one parallel horizon, ideally flat surface.

What is zero level in construction

Put a mark at the highest point of the relief in the apartment.
We duplicate this mark strictly horizontally on all other walls in all rooms in the apartment. For this, it is best to use special tools - building levels.
Then you need to connect all the points, and then you get a zero level, and you need to level up on it when performing a floor screed.

Moreover, there are different technologies for leveling the subfloor in an apartment: you can apply a dry floor screed with expanded clay on top of a layer of large expanded clay, you can lay plywood on a concrete base. Different ways are good in different ways.

How to align premises by level

When the apartment has the same floor covering, then the floor screed is made under the same level. But often, for example, a laminate is laid in the room, tiles in the corridor and in the bathroom, because of this it is necessary to agree on the level of the premises before laying the final floor covering.

Zero markup methods

Water level

The most accessible and simple way is to beat off the zero point of the room with a water level - a spirit level. Two glass tubes with water, connected by a long hose, allow you to measure not only levels in one room, but throughout the whole dwelling.

Ease of use.
Low price of the tool.

One person is not enough to measure.
Accuracy depends on the condition of the tool: the hose must not be kinked, air infiltrated, etc.

Method with an auxiliary level

Draw a horizontal line at an arbitrary height and measure the distance to the floor through a certain distance. The more marks, the higher the measurement accuracy.

Versatility: can be applied to any horizontal and vertical surfaces.
One person is enough.

Lots of measurement samples to achieve an accurate result.
If there are erroneous measurements, then measurement errors accumulate.

More precisely, it is not a laser level that is used in measurements, but a laser level. The method is based on the principles of operation of a laser level, that is, a line outlined by a laser beam in space is the desired level.

Most accurate measurements.
One person is enough to measure.

The high price of the tool.
The possibility of measurements depends on the conditions in the apartment; problems may arise in case of strong illumination or in a very dusty room.

Bottom line: all methods are good if you apply them when you need them. The result will be at a high level, especially if you arm yourself with a high-quality and serviceable tool. We do home repairs for ourselves, so the result, as a rule, is at a good level.

P.S. And for dessert, I suggest watching a video clip: Comparison of laser levels