DIY customised flooring - does it worth it?

Private house building may be a long process, requiring a great deal of time, labor and finance. Many people, trying to save money, may decide to do some of the work themselves. How to make floors in private houses without resorting to the professional builders services? Make custom flooring by yourself is real, if you have the necessary materials, tools and knowledge.

What kind of floor construction should you choose?

Before you will begin to work on the floors in a private house, you need to decide: what will be the type of construction of the future coating? Specialists distinguish three types of structures:

• Single
• Double
• Concrete floor

The choice of this or that construction type depends on the features of the building in which the floor is laid. The defining factor can be recognized as the conditions of a private house operation. Single floor is the simplest construction, the construction of such a floor does not need much time and materials, as the boards of the floorboards are fastened with nails directly to the logs. The main drawback of a single plank floor is its limited use: such a covering will be appropriate only in small summer houses and summer cottages. For a house where year-round living is planned, a single construction is not suitable.

If you want to make a private house, suitable for living at any time of the year, then you will have to deal with the arrangement of a double floor. This type of construction is warmer, it allows to reduce heat losses and provide comfortable living in the house during the cold season. The double floor consists of several layers, the main ones of which are rough and finish coatings. Between these two layers are additionally laid hydro and heat insulation materials, protecting from the destruction both the floor itself and the entire house.

Most often, the rough cover in a private house is collected from a unedged board, and the finishing floor is made from a grooved floor board. All work, including the laying of insulation from sawdust or expanded clay, can easily be carried out by hand.

The third possible type of floor construction in a private house is the pouring of a concrete screed. Observance of all the rules of carrying out preparatory work, laying waterproofing, pouring cement mortar and the terms of its drying will make it possible to obtain a solid quality floor, ready for decoration with any decorative coating.

Wooden floors installation

When building a private house, many people prefer to make a floor of wood. Such a desire to have high-quality wooden flooring underfoot is due to the desire to use environmentally friendly materials, which include wood. In addition to high environmental friendliness, such a floor has a number of advantages.

Wooden floors are easily installed and easily repaired during operation period. Due to the low heat conductivity of the material, such a floor will keep heat inside the house without letting it out in cold period and contrary. The wooden floor of high-quality wood has a long service life and an attractive "natural" appearance.

To make a custom floor in a private house, you need to choose the right wood. The choice of source materials should be based on the structural features of the material itself. The installation of a floor in a country house must necessarily provide for the presence of a sub-floor, which plays the role of an air layer. If such an interlayer is absent, the wooden floor will quickly become unusable due to the moisture. In addition, for a good custom flooring, it is important to have all layers of the structure, including logs, roughing, hydro and thermal insulation, a finish coating.

The floor in a private house is subjected to significant mechanical stresses, so for it it is required to choose wood with good technological characteristics. The boards should be well dried, the recommended moisture content is not more than 12%. Any chips and cracks on the surface of the material are not permissible. Experts recommend to give preference to softwood, pine, larch, fir, cedar are suitable. To increase the future floor lifetime, all boards must be treated with an antiseptic and fire retardant.

The installation of the wooden floor begins with the definition of the places for supporting poles and their installation. A fertile layer of soil around the perimeter of the house is removed and cleaned, in its place is covered with gravel, and on top of it - sand. Layers of gravel and sand should be well tampered. Waterproofing material is placed on the ends of the support pillars.

Next, we make beams, which must be fixed on poles with metal corners. Customised floors in a private house are better to do with double insulation. Specialists suggest first laying plywood sheets from the sides of the beams, and then placing mineral wool or other insulation material on them.

When the layer of insulation is ready, you can proceed to the floor covering. The planks of this layer must be well adhered to each other, as their fastening to the beams can be used conventional screws. Between a flooring and walls of the house it is better to leave some distance: a gap of 1.5 cm can be considered for this part of the floor the norm. These gaps provide ventilation of the entire floor construction and protect the walls from expansion of the floorboards when they are subsequently dried.

On top of the rough floor is laid a layer of vapor barrier from a polyethylene film with a thickness of 200 microns. The joints of individual pieces of film must be glued with adhesive tape, and the edges wrapped on walls at a height of about 20 cm - the height of the finish coating. When the layer is laid and fixed, you can proceed to the assembly of the finishing floor.

Custom floor's final layer is collected from boards of solid wood or from plywood sheets. Plywood sheets are attached easier, but they do not look very attractive in the end. Therefore, if you want to leave wooden floors in your house, then it is best to collect the finishing coat from a sheet pile, and if you plan to cover it with decorative material, it is enough to fix the plywood sheets. The plank floors after the finishing of the finishing floor are to be varnished, which not only protects the material from external mechanical and chemical influences, but also emphasizes the decorative qualities of natural wood.

And that is almost it. Sounds too complicated? Then you better call professionals, for example, use European Carpenter's flooring services - and you will get luxury-quality flooring in no time.

And more information about floor finishing and concrete floors will be in our next article! Good luck!