In the construction of private low-rise buildings, mainly wooden floors are used.. The use of wood does not burden the structure and allows you to do without the use of technology. Installation of wooden floors between floors in a brick house will help to significantly save on strengthening the foundation. In addition, the tree has good strength, durability, and also helps to maintain a favorable microclimate in the room.
Advantages and disadvantages of using wood
A positive aspect of the use of wooden floors is the ease of installation and the excellent quality of the material:
- environmental friendliness;
- thermal insulation;
- decorativeness.
Among the minuses of wood can be noted:
- tendency to damage by microorganisms, fungi, pests;
- decay and destruction;
- poor quality material may warp, bend, and if the installation rules are violated and the seal is loose, the floor will creak and oscillate.
Materials for the installation of floors
For the manufacture of beams for the overlap between floors using only coniferous varieties of wood. They have higher bending strength than deciduous trees. Previously, the beam or logs for beams are dried in the shade in the open air. Fully ready-to-use wood should produce a certain sound when tapped. Floor beams should be tightly fixed in the nests of the brickwork. Beams from a bar or a log with a section from 50 to 150 mm and 140 to 240 mm are used. The beam pitch corresponds to approximately 0.6-1.0 meters.
Also used for floors:
- planed dowel boards for the floor on the second floor;
- a board for a rough floor of the second floor;
- cranial blocks of 50x50 mm for attaching to the bottom of the beams;
- insulation (fibrous insulation);
- hydro vapor barrier film;
- decorative coating on the floor and ceiling;
- wood preservative, bituminous mastic, ruberoid.
Wooden flooring device
The laying of floor beams in a brick house is carried out at the stage of its construction. The depth of the nest should be at least half the wall thickness. It can be made end-to-end with further sealing with a heater. All other work is carried out before finishing work. The load on the interfloor overlap is calculated in advance, the installation step and the dimensions of the necessary beams are determined. The use of wooden beams for floors is possible only in a house where the span is not more than five to six meters.
You can also make the placement of beams by laying them on brick poles. However, they should be installed at short intervals. This method is often used when equipping the basement floors.
Beam Stacking
Laying begins with the extreme beams, aligning them with mastic-treated pads and a long bar placed on the edge. Intermediate elements are equal to the board laid on the extreme beams.
The wood is pre-treated with an antiseptic and carefully dried.. The wide sides of the beams when laying should be placed vertically - this increases their rigidity. The ends of the beams are cut at an acute angle, lubricated with mastic and wrapped in two layers of roofing material.
Treated jumpers fit into niches; a layer of mineral wool is introduced into the formed recesses. Every third beam should be strengthened with anchors. With the help of a taut cord track the preservation of the level. The step between the structural elements is not more than 1.5 meters.
Sub floor device
Hydro and vapor insulation (izospan) overlaps the floors and the subfloor. The joints are glued with tape. Fire-resistant insulation is placed on top of the film. It can be mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, ecowool, expanded clay. The material should not protrude beyond the surface of the beams.
Logs of the floor of the second floor are installed on top of the floor. It is advisable to lay an additional layer of mineral insulation between the lags in order to isolate the floor and ceiling from noise. Then the waterproofing film is laid.
Top floor device
The floor of the second floor is covered with a finishing board, plywood or drywall, and also strengthened with self-tapping screws. Then the floor covering is laid in the form of a laminate, linoleum, tile.
To properly make a “warm floor”, a foil film should be used as a vapor barrier.
Joining beams in length
If there are not enough beams for the entire span, then you need to make a connection:
- Splicing is a joint in length.
- Cohesion - alignment in width.
- Knitting - corner connection.
Basically a long connection is required. There are several ways to do this:
- Overlay - the beams are cut off at an angle and connected with bolts, brackets or a clamp.
- End to end - connection of beams to the lining with emphasis on the internal wall partition.
- Binding to the castle - A complex connection method that requires certain skills. Its essence is that grooves and protrusions are cut out in the beams, which are then connected, reliably fixing the device to each other.
Improving the bearing capacity of the floor
There are several ways to improve the load bearing capacity of beams. One of the most popular methods can be called attaching overlays from boards of large thickness to them. Their endings should be based on supports.
Also, the improvement of the bearing capacity by strengthening the channels of the U-shaped profile is applied. They are attached to the beams on the side.
The most elementary method to strengthen the overlap between floors - laying additional beams in between the available. This is the most time-consuming, but very effective way.
In the houses of the former buildings, they basically did not save on materials, so the wooden beams are installed with a small step. And their cross section is more than sufficient. But even in such a house, the overlap between floors should be checked to determine the condition of the beams. This will allow timely strengthening of weakened areas and replacing damaged areas. The damaged fragment of the beams is removed, and healthy wood is lengthened and strengthened by fastening the plates from thick boards.
How to protect floors between floors
It is not enough just to build a house correctly, it is necessary that during operation no problems arise. For this, all the factors contributing to its durability and the protection of building structures are taken into account at the design stage. Of no less importance is the solution of two problems - protection against fire and the biological impact of the environment.
In terms of combustibility, materials are divided into five categories, ranging from highly combustible to non-combustible. Constructions of various materials are distinguished by their ability to prevent the spread of fire. Fire-resistant properties - completely eliminating the spread of fire and semi-fire-resistant - capable of delaying its spread for some time. It should be noted that combustibility is not the same as fire resistance. Fire resistance is understood as the property of a structure or material to preserve the bearing and enclosing functions in case of fire.
For this purpose, the wood is treated with fire-resistant solutions to provide fire resistance for at least 30 minutes in experimental conditions. In residential construction, the device for the construction of the ceiling of the second floor must have at least semi-flameproof properties.
When drawing up the project of ceilings, it should be borne in mind that the beams are exposed to fire not only from the bottom side, but also from the side.
The rate of combustion of coniferous wood is 0.8 mm / min according to the resistance parameters. Taking into account fire resistance, a material with a cross section of 11 by 24 cm should be selected, because with a beam height of 24 cm and a span of 5.8 to 5.85 m, their width is increased to 120 mm and more.
The problem of protecting wooden structures from biological effects is also very relevant.:
- water, which violates the structure of the tree and is a medium for the propagation of microorganisms.
- mold fungi, rot.
- insects causing a violation of the structure of wood and rotting.
- ultraviolet radiation, contributing to the softening and darkening of wood.
Unlike other materials, wood is an environmentally friendly product, which is important for living quarters. In addition, the wooden floor retains heat well in the house. Now there is a tendency to return to natural materials that were previously used everywhere. Means have already been created to effectively protect wood from the harmful effects that worsen its performance.