Nowadays, many people involved in the construction of country houses or major repairs of apartments use wood for arranging floors, which can act not only as a subfloor, but also play the role of a topcoat when properly processed. At the same time, do-it-yourself wooden flooring does not require any professional skills, and everyone can cope with this task.
Many people, thinking about choosing a wooden floor, prefer wood, as it has a number of favorable characteristics, the main of which is the natural origin of the material. Therefore, it is environmentally friendly. Also, wooden floors are quite warm, but they are not without drawbacks.
About the disadvantages
First of all, I want to talk about the weaknesses of wood. It should be noted that wooden floors often creak, as the rigidity of fixation at the points of attachment of the boards to the joists with nails or screws is gradually broken. This is due to the impact of physical exertion on the floor, assembled with your own hands, and that is why an unpleasant creak appears when walking on the floor.
Also, wood is afraid of exposure to moisture, and not only that which is spilled on it. Wood perfectly absorbs moisture from the air. Thus, when installing wooden floors with your own hands, you need to think about reliable protection of the material with special products sold on the market.
Another important point is to choose the right type of wood and dry it thoroughly. Permissible moisture content in wood should not exceed 12 percent.
Types and properties of different types of wood
In order to choose the right wood flooring, you must first consider the types of wood suitable for flooring installation. These include the following:
- ash;
- larch;
- maple;
- pine;
Let's take a closer look at each of these breeds.
Oak
This wood is quite strong and hard, so it does not warp and has a fairly bright texture. The color of oak wood depends entirely on the area where the tree grew. For example, when oak grows in sandy and dry areas, the color of the wood takes on a brown tint, and when oak grows in the mountains, the wood takes on a pale pink color. The color scheme varies, starting with yellow and ending with brown.
Ash
This wood is quite elastic and dense, therefore it is suitable for the production of parquet. The process of drying it takes place over steam, but the wood is still sensitive to temperature and humidity changes, so it must be covered with a protective varnish. Ash is mostly gray in color with pink or yellow veins.
Wood of medium density is moisture resistant and does not warp. It lends itself well to various processing. Maple wood is whitish with a peculiar sheen that creates the effect of silk. Maple wood is easy to paint and can be used to create an imitation of acacia or boxwood.
Like oak, larch has a hard and dense wood that is suitable for flooring. those species of larch that grow in Siberia are of particular value. They are moisture resistant and frost resistant. Larch wood contains a lot of gum, so insects do not spoil the material. The color of the wood varies from yellow to golden. There are up to 12 shades.
Beech
In the manufacture of furniture, beech wood is very often used, which is characterized by high hardness. In the radial section, its color can vary from pink-yellow to speckled brown, and thin and dark strokes are characteristic of the longitudinal section. In this regard, beech is also used to create decorative finishes. Beech wood is easy to stain and does not change color after varnishing. It is used to imitate walnut or mahogany.
Pine
This wood is characterized by medium density, and the type of pine depends on the resin content. Wood containing a lot of resin is not suitable for flooring. From dry chips (pine containing little resin), floorboards and parquet are made. The color of the wood is pale yellow and yellowish red, but there are also reds with orange veins. In rooms that are finished with pine wood, there is always a pleasant aroma and a sense of comfort.
Spruce
This type of wood is in second place in popularity in our country after pine. It has wood similar to pine, but spruce is softer and has more knots. As a result, the material is difficult to work with and is not suitable for laying floors. White wood with golden veins retains its original color for a long time.
Rules for choosing wood for flooring
There are several important rules that must be considered when arranging the floors in the house:
- The selected material must be dry, as raw or overdried material is subject to severe deformation.
- When choosing a tree, it is necessary to ensure that there are no cracks, dents or stains in the boards.
- It is necessary to correctly calculate the amount of wood used for the floor, and you need to buy it with some margin - up to 15 percent.
- The length of the purchased board must exceed 2 meters.
- In order for the color and pattern of the wood to match, it is necessary to buy material from the same batch.
- For decking, you should buy grooved or cut wood that does not have to be sanded.
- Be sure to consider where you will lay the floor. If the room has high humidity (bath, bathroom), moisture-resistant rocks should be preferred. These include oak, ash and larch.
Arrangement of a wooden floor on an earthen base
If you want to equip a wooden floor on a dirt base, you should know that this method differs in the technology of installing lags. In total, there are two common methods for arranging a lag in the case of a soft base:
- Pouring a cement screed with subsequent installation of a log.
- Filling special support posts on which you will need to install logs.
Hardwood floor
Logs are usually installed at a distance of about 80 centimeters from each other. This distance is relevant when using a board with a thickness of 35-40 mm. In the case of a thinner or thicker board, the distance may decrease or increase. You need to remember that the distance between the lags must be made so that the boards do not bend under the weight of people in the future. The horizontality and height of the lag can be easily adjusted using wooden linings. These pads will carefully press against the floor at the moment of fixing the lags with the help of anchor bolts. It is necessary to set two logs near two opposite walls, after which you should pull the cord and install the remaining logs along it.
Step by step installation process
When self-laying floors made of plywood, chipboard or boards in the house, it is necessary to take into account such recommendations as:
- To create a markup, the boards must be mounted on the bars, at the same time not forgetting to follow that. So that the tree rings are placed in opposite directions.
- In order to avoid fitting the boards with their subsequent grinding, each of them must be numbered.
- You need to start the installation of boards from the wall, leaving a gap for high-quality ventilation. Subsequently, this gap will be covered with a plinth.
- When using nails, they must be hammered at a certain angle, driving the hat as deep as possible.
- After laying the first board, it is necessary to step back from its edge by 5-6 centimeters and drive a bracket into the timber, leaving a gap. It is necessary to insert a rail into the slot, and after driving the wedge, the rail is pulled out. This will allow you to place the boards as tightly as possible, removing all the cracks from the floor.
- Staples must be removed after nailing the boards. After that, the entire process must be repeated until the laying of the entire floor covering is completed. it is recommended to seal the boards with a mallet, fixing with nails.
- When laying a chipboard, plywood or plank floor, there may be some problems when laying the last element. In the case of boards, the last piece can be installed after leveling the tongue with a planer. After that, the board is put on glue and nailed. You can also file the ends of the boards near the wall so that the bottom is a little shorter than the top.
- After laying the entire floor, you can begin the process of grinding the joints.
- Each gap between the wall and the flooring must be covered with a plinth, and then parquet flooring or laminate should be laid.
- At the final stage of work, varnish is usually applied or the surface is painted. In this case, experts advise moving parallel to the wood fibers so that the marks from the brush or roller are as small as possible.
Advice. If you want to leave your wood floor unfinished, treat it carefully. First you need to polish it, and then treat it with a greasy soap or leach it with soda. Then the floor is primed with a mixture of drying oil and vegetable oil, and after installation, the surfaces are varnished.
Summing up
Today, the world market has a huge range of new building materials suitable for flooring, but many consumers choose wooden floors.
In this regard, when choosing wooden flooring, you need to take into account all the newfangled trends, personal views on coziness and comfort, as well as take into account the quality of the material and its cost. Only after that you need to start buying the necessary goods.
