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» How to make your own plywood floor on joists. Laying plywood on a wooden floor: selection of material, preparation, installation step by step How to properly lay plywood on a wooden floor

How to make your own plywood floor on joists. Laying plywood on a wooden floor: selection of material, preparation, installation step by step How to properly lay plywood on a wooden floor

Often during repairs, dismantling the old wooden covering is not practical, but it is necessary to level the surface for further work. In this case, experts advise simply laying down sheets of plywood, thereby creating the necessary “platform”.

Laying plywood on a wooden floor

Pressed sheets – excellent material for rough and primary work. They are inexpensive, easy to transport, easy to install and are good at eliminating small differences in floor level. Often they prefer to lay linoleum, parquet boards or laminate on plywood, since it has the following advantages:

  • laying sheets significantly reduces time preparatory work before installing the final finishing floor covering;
  • prevents rotting of the underside floor coverings, due to good ventilation between the material and concrete screed;
  • a floor lined with plywood prevents premature wear or deformation of linoleum or carpet, extending the life of the decorative coating;
  • provides a smooth subfloor;
  • plywood sheets are light, hard, durable, resistant to stress and abrasion;
  • plywood is flexible enough and does not break during installation;
  • has no pungent odor;
  • has good sound and heat insulation properties;
  • due to big size sheets, the number of joints is minimal;
  • high-quality factory grinding prevents slipping of the sheet and materials placed on it.

Popular types of plywood used for renovation

Sheets produced by industry are classified according to various criteria:

  • wood used;
  • presence and method of impregnation;
  • variety;
  • number of layers;
  • surface treatment;
  • moisture resistance.

For repair work When the part of the structure made of plywood is hidden from view, it is recommended to use moisture-resistant plywood of grade II or III. The sheet must be at least 10 mm thick, but the recommended value is 14-22 mm. A thinner one will not cope with the load, and a too thick one will be inconvenient to work with.

The number of layers is not of fundamental importance. If possible, you should purchase sheets sanded on both sides.

    1. If possible, the plywood should be dried for 2-3 weeks before starting work. The sheets are dried vertically, at a temperature slightly above room temperature.
    2. After finishing the drying process, it would be useful to treat the plywood with an antiseptic and ventilate thoroughly.

48 hours before the start of work, the material must be brought into the room where it will be installed and laid horizontally. There are two ways to lay plywood.

Method 1. Installation on old wood flooring

When laying plywood on a wooden floor, there are many options for fixing the sheets:

  • on self-tapping screws;
  • on glue;
  • for liquid nails.

Among the adhesive compositions, there is glue for water based, two-component composition, assembly adhesive and boostilate. However, fastening with self-tapping screws is preferable.

Materials and tools

To successfully install plywood sheets, you will need the following tools and materials:

  • plywood sheets;
  • jigsaw;
  • level;
  • roulette;
  • marker;
  • self-tapping screws;
  • screwdriver;
  • substrate;
  • construction vacuum cleaner or broom.

You may also need a sanding machine, a roller and primer, glue and sealant.

Preliminary preparation and priming of the floor

Installation of plywood on wooden floors is carried out only if the height difference when checking the level is no more than 1 cm. In this case, you will also need a substrate to compensate for unevenness and tape, which will need to be used to glue the joints of the strips of material.

Inspect the condition of the floors. Strengthen creaking and loose floorboards, replace rotten and damp floorboards. Do not try to restore boards that have traces of mold, damage, or have been attacked by rodents. They definitely need to be removed and the room ventilated.

Use a broom to sweep away dust and dirt from the floors. If desired, go over the wood surface primer twice to ensure better adhesion of the materials. And dry the base for at least 16 hours.

Marking and cutting

Plywood sheets are sawn so that the number of joints is minimal, taking into account damping joints of 3-4 mm between sheets and 8-10 mm between plywood and the wall. This will help avoid swelling of the sheets, since during operation, under the influence of microclimate and fluctuations temperature conditions the workpiece will increase in area by several millimeters.

The cutting is done with a jigsaw, while the ends of the workpieces are carefully inspected for delaminations and sanded. On large areas for ease of installation, plywood can be cut into squares of 50x50 or 60x60 cm. This technique will help to more accurately level the surface and eliminate possible installation defects.

The sawn sheets are numbered, and similar to their numbers, a schematic arrangement of the workpieces is drawn on a wooden base.

Laying plywood

Installation of blanks has several features.

  1. If necessary, use the old one wood covering a backing is placed and the strips are glued together with tape.
  2. The holes for the self-tapping screws are drilled in advance and then countersunk with a drill of a slightly larger diameter.
  3. The screw heads are recessed into sheets of plywood.
  4. Laying plywood begins with niches, podiums, and ledges. Next, the sheets are arranged from the middle to the edges with a brick shift of the squares relative to each other.
  5. Cracks and gaps in the old flooring can be filled with glue, allowed to dry and peeled off.

Upon completion of installation, you should check the quality of the coating, remembering that the ideal gap between the level and the plywood is 2 mm, the maximum is 4 mm.

Method 2. Installation of plywood on joists

A more complex and labor-intensive method of laying plywood material along beams is justified if the height difference is more than 1 cm. Joists can be installed on an old wooden floor only if you are sure that everything is in order under it

Preparatory stage

Old flooring must be removed from dust and debris, paying sufficient attention to the gaps between the floorboards. The most large cracks can be filled silicone sealant or mounting adhesive.

At this time, you should prepare the plywood - you need to saw the material, make markings on a piece of paper and number the squares, taking into account that they will be laid out in bricks.

Installation of logs and plywood sheets

According to the drawing, the plywood squares should be installed. Fastening can be done liquid nails or self-tapping screws; in the latter case, the screw heads must be thoroughly recessed. The holes can be pre-marked and countersunk.

Final processing

After laying the materials, the joints of the plywood sheets should be treated with fine-grained sandpaper, this will smooth out all the unevenness and differences of the adjacent sheets. After sanding, the entire surface must be coated with several layers of varnish.

  1. If a laminate or parquet board will be installed on top of the plywood, then the thickness of the plywood should not be less than the finishing coating.
  2. Try not to allow 4 plywood sheets to touch at one point at once.
  3. The width of the log step should be 0.5 m from the side of the square.
  4. Plywood cannot be used in rooms with high humidity, even if it is a moisture-resistant grade of material.
  5. If non-moisture-resistant plywood is used in the work, then laying a layer of waterproofing will be a prerequisite at the next stage of work.
  6. The length of the screw should be at least 2.5-3 times the thickness of the plywood.
  7. When laying plywood on joists, after sealing the gaps between the boards, the base can be primed and a layer of heat and waterproofing can be applied, and only then the guides can be installed.

It is important to remember that defective plywood sheets cannot be used in the work, even if they are intended to be further covered with decorative materials.

Video - Laying plywood on a wooden floor

Video - How to lay plywood on a wooden floor

A wooden floor, like any other base, loses some of its performance properties over time. Wood is a living material, and gradually it begins to change - it becomes somewhat deformed, the floorboards no longer become so even. But plywood will help correct the situation (and this may be necessary when laying laminate or other material that is demanding on the evenness of the base). How to lay plywood on a wooden floor?

Plywood is widely used in construction industry. It can be used to create partitions, cladding walls and ceilings in wooden house, formwork is built from it and floors are often leveled with it before laying coverings that require the evenness of the base.

This material is a layered “pie” created from wood veneer. To create it, an odd number of veneer sheets (from 3 pieces) are glued together, which are connected in such a way that the wood fibers in different layers are perpendicular to each other. Due to this, the strength of the material increases.

For installation in warm and dry rooms, e.g. residential buildings, plywood is a material that fits perfectly. It’s easy and quick to work with, which is what attracts many builders and novice craftsmen to use it. If necessary, sheets that have lost their strength and reliability can be easily replaced with new ones.

On a note! Plywood makes an excellent option for a dry screed; you won’t have to wait 30 days for it to dry (unlike a regular cement screed) - you can begin laying the topcoat almost immediately after installing the plywood. Using this material will save not only time, but also money during renovation of the premises.

Advantages of plywood on the floor

Plywood is so often used as a leveling material for wooden floors for good reason. It has a lot of advantages:

  • has a low price, and therefore with its help you can perform a budget, but high-quality repairs gender;
  • makes it easy to make floors even, copes with both the curvature of the base and small surface defects;
  • is an additional insulating material, thereby reducing heat loss in the room;
  • can also be used as a finishing option for flooring;
  • do-it-yourself installation without the involvement of craftsmen;
  • easy to process;
  • is environmentally friendly pure material , smells nice of wood.

Plywood itself is a fairly stable material and practically does not deform when the right conditions operation, which means it allows you to create a reliable and durable subfloor that will serve for decades. And to work with it, a small set of tools that are found in almost every home is enough.

On a note! Sometimes plywood is used to create very beautiful options floor finishing.

The disadvantage of plywood is its fear of water. Ordinary material does not like high levels of humidity, which means it cannot be installed in a bathroom or toilet. For these purposes, it is better to purchase moisture-resistant plywood.

What types of plywood are there?

Plywood is divided into several types depending on its characteristics. For example, according to the presence and number of defects, the material can be divided into 4 groups.

Table. Types of plywood.

Varietya brief description of

Most best variety material. Sheets of such plywood have no defects, they are even, smooth, there are no knots or cracks on them. Although a certain number of small cracks are allowed, they practically do not play a big role on the quality and appearance of the material, since they are not visible to the eye.

Such plywood may have up to 5% defective area of ​​the entire sheet. Defects may include small dents and glue residues (no more than 2-3%).

Such sheets have knots and wormholes, but in moderate quantities.

The worst type of plywood. It can only be used to create formwork, as it has too many external disadvantages. However, the sizing of the sheets, as a rule, is still of high quality.

Also, plywood varies depending on its purpose. The following types are distinguished:

  • industrial;
  • for package;
  • furniture;
  • structural;
  • construction

Sheets of material can be made from various types of wood. So, they distinguish:

  • birch plywood;
  • coniferous (made from cedar, larch, pine, fir, etc.).

Coniferous is cheaper than birch. In its production, varieties can sometimes be used deciduous trees, however, only in the inner layers.

On a note! Size range plywood sheets are large enough. Parameters vary from 1525x1525 to 3050x1525 mm.

Table. Types of plywood depending on its properties.

Abbreviation (designation)Characteristic

The impregnation in these plywood sheets is albumin casein glue. Such plywood is afraid of water, but is absolutely safe for human health, as it is environmentally friendly.

The plywood is impregnated with carbamide glue. It does not have increased moisture resistance and therefore can only be used for making furniture and for indoor work. Exposure to outdoor precipitation or high level it will not tolerate humidity.

Also called aviation. It is made using bakelite alcohol-soluble glue. It was previously used in shipbuilding, the creation of aircraft and other aircraft. It has increased strength, resistance to external factors, and is not afraid of water and microorganisms.

Bakelite-based glue is used to create this plywood. It is water soluble, and therefore the sheets are not used to create any open-air structures.

The layers of material are impregnated with bakelite-based varnish. This plywood can be used in quite aggressive environments. If necessary, the material can withstand moisture for a long time.

Plywood with high fire resistance. Otherwise, this material is unremarkable.

The layers of this plywood are impregnated with formaldehyde glue. The result is a durable material that is not afraid of moisture. It also practically does not burn, which is important for the construction industry.

Prices for plywood for flooring

plywood for floor

Which plywood to choose

Among such a variety of types of plywood, how can you choose the one that is suitable for a subfloor and will cost reasonable money? To do this, it is important to evaluate the operating conditions of the material. For example, in ordinary room To level a rough wooden floor, you can use plywood without any special properties. This may be a material belonging to grade III or IV, because a finishing coating will be laid on top of it and defects will still not be visible.

Next, you should think about choosing the type of plywood. In a residential building, ordinary FC plywood will serve its purpose well. Moreover, it will even cope with the level of humidity that can be observed in the bathroom or kitchen. And in the nursery you can lay sheets designated by the abbreviation FBA. This is the most environmentally friendly type of material.

Advice! You should not buy plywood made with phenolic glue for your apartment or house. It may be too toxic. Although, it is worth admitting, its level of moisture resistance is excellent.

The dimensions of the sheets are also important, especially their thickness. To make wooden floors smooth, it is enough to use sheets 10-15 mm thick. Although some experts claim that only sheets more than 18 mm thick can withstand the load. And to achieve optimal strength, plywood can be laid in two layers. It's easier to evaluate here actual costs and see which option will be more profitable from a budget point of view. For ease of transportation, you need to pay attention to the length and width.

The nuances of laying plywood sheets

Plywood is a simple material, but nevertheless requires compliance with certain rules when laying. If they are neglected, it will not be possible to achieve the desired effect, or such a foundation will quickly become unusable.


How to lay plywood on the floor: installation methods

The process of laying plywood will directly depend on the condition of the subfloor, as well as on additional work. For example, sheets can be laid directly on a wooden base if it has not yet fallen into disrepair and is still strong, although it has unsightly gaps between individual boards or has lost its appearance. The sheets are placed with small gaps - up to 3-5 mm between them. A distance of 15-20 mm should be maintained to the wall. The sheets are attached using self-tapping screws or glue. Glue consumption is about 1.2-1.5 kg/m2. Installation of the sheet should be carried out by screwing in self-tapping screws around the perimeter, and then diagonally.

Plywood can also be used to cover a slightly crooked floor. In this case, the material is partially laid on the base itself, as well as on small bars that will act as a kind of lags. The bars may have different section depending on the curvature of the floor. Sometimes even scraps of boards are used.

Less often, when the subfloor has completely become unusable, a new base is created from plywood installed on joists or supports. In this case, the old base is completely dismantled, and then logs are installed, onto which they are attached fresh sheets. They are laid in such a way that the edges of the sheets do not sag - on the contrary, they must have support underneath them.

Required tools and materials

To install plywood sheets on a wooden base, you may need the following tools:

  • screwdriver;
  • drill;
  • hammer;
  • screwdriver;
  • level;
  • electric jigsaw.

The materials used are self-tapping screws usually 30-50 mm long, nails or glue. The first ones are preferable to use, since they are the easiest to work with.

Preparing for work

Before laying plywood sheets, a number of preparatory work should be carried out. It includes:

  • assessing the condition of the wooden base and repairing it if necessary– replacing dried out floorboards or floor screed. Floors should not “walk”, sag, or creak;
  • checking and measuring humidity levels in room;

On a note! You can find out the humidity this way: a piece of polyethylene measuring approximately 1x1 m is placed on the floor and secured to the base. After 3 days have passed, the film is lifted and its condition is assessed. If condensation has accumulated on it, then the humidity in the room is high and only moisture-resistant plywood can be laid.

  • removing all debris from the rough base. If it remains, the plywood will not lie flat. The floors can be swept and vacuumed, and washed if necessary;
  • The plywood itself must also be cleaned of sawdust and dust;
  • recommended process the old one wooden surface primer mixture.

Laying plywood on an old wooden floor

Step 1. If necessary, the rough foundation is repaired. The evenness of the floor is checked using a building level, after which the protruding parts can be filed down. The floor should be as level as possible.

Step 2. Holes are drilled in the floorboards where the joists run and screws are screwed into them. This procedure will make the floors stronger. Screws are screwed into each board at approximately a distance of 50 cm from each other.

Step 3. The rough base is covered with a thin backing. Its individual strips are fastened together using tape. The strips are laid with an overlap of about 10-15 cm.

Step 4. The first sheets of plywood are laid so that there is a small gap of 2-3 mm between them, and the gap to the walls is about 10-15 mm.

Step 5. Sheets of plywood are screwed to the boards with self-tapping screws in increments of about 20 cm.

Step 6. The plywood in the next row is laid with joints shifted by 1/3 of the sheet. If necessary, the sheets are sawn in accordance with the measurements taken.

Step 7 The joints of individual plywood sheets can be taped after installation. The base is ready for laying the finishing coating and installing skirting boards that will hide all the gaps near the walls.

Video - An unusual way of laying plywood on a wooden floor

Video - Installation of plywood on a wooden base

Checking the quality of plywood floor installation

Immediately after the installation of plywood sheets has been completed, it is recommended to check the quality of the work. It is important to do this before laying the finishing coating. Using a long, even strip, the evenness of the material is checked - the gaps between it and the floor level should not be more than 2 mm according to SNiP 3.04.01-87. Next, you need to use a building level and evaluate the horizontalness. The permissible slope cannot be more than 0.2% according to the same document.

SNiP 3.04.01-87. Insulating and finishing coatings. Downloadable file (click the link to open the PDF in a new window).

The base, covered with plywood, is tapped with a hammer at the end of the work. The procedure is necessary to identify areas of possible delamination of materials. Where the sound upon impact will be dull, there is a problem area. The sound when tapping the entire plywood floor should be the same if the sheets were laid correctly and were not damaged during installation.

It's not called plywood for nothing universal material. It was also suitable for leveling floors. And if the installation of the sheets was carried out correctly, then the master provided himself with high-quality and reliable flat floors for many years.

Plywood is often used to create flooring. Her Smooth surface considered a good base for styling finishing material, and some types of plywood are also used as decorative finishing. In this article we will talk about laying plywood on a wooden floor.

Plywood sheets are very often used in construction to create a subfloor, and the reason for this is their positive properties:

  1. Plywood is durable, it can withstand significant static and dynamic loads, while almost not deforming.
  2. The budget cost of the material makes it attractive and affordable option for most categories of citizens.
  3. Long service life is another advantage of such sheets.
  4. For all its strength, plywood is lightweight, which is considered important indicator in the construction industry.
  5. The surface of the sheets is smooth and hard, it is well suited for further installation of almost any floor covering.
  6. Plywood is environmentally friendly, safe, does not emit environment harmful substances, has no unpleasant odor.
  7. The material is easy to process. It is easy to cut and can be bent if necessary. Transporting plywood is also not difficult.
  8. Some brands of plywood look very attractive and can be used for finishing floors. Their processing in such a case will consist of painting or opening with varnish.
  9. In terms of its moisture resistance, modern plywood is noticeably superior to chipboards, which have greater porosity, absorb water well and are quickly destroyed by moisture.

When choosing plywood for flooring, pay attention to its thickness. The best option is considered to be 12-15 mm, but if finishing coat If the boards are heavy, it is better to use thicker plywood sheets.

Subtleties of installing plywood on a wooden floor

  1. If the floors are laid on joists, before installing the plywood you need to check whether the boards are sagging. If the boards bend along the joists, the covering must be removed and the base of the floor itself must be repaired.
  2. Covering floors with plywood is not possible everywhere. For example, in rooms with unfavorable environmental conditions, the material will quickly become unusable. Unfavorable conditions include humidity and temperature fluctuations. It is not recommended to lay plywood in bathrooms, as well as in unheated rooms, for example, in basements. By the way, you can check the moisture level of the base yourself by laying plastic film on the floor and securing it with tape. After 2-3 days, you need to remove the film and see if any back side droplets of water. If not, the floor is dry enough and suitable for laying plywood.
  3. Installation of plywood sheets must be carried out offset so that no more than 3 seams intersect at one point.
  4. There should be small gaps up to 1 cm wide between individual fragments of material. They are called damper seams, and they are needed so that the material does not deform as a result of linear expansion.
  5. At the junction of the plywood with the walls, the seams should be even wider and amount to 1.5-2 cm. They will not affect the appearance of the coating, since they will subsequently be disguised under the baseboard.
  6. Before installation, the sheets must be cut into fragments of the required shapes and sizes. In order not to confuse the elements during the work, it is better to number them, and schematically depict a plan for their installation on a sheet of paper.
  7. Many builders recommend cutting plywood into squares measuring 60x60 cm. In this case, the number of expansion joints will be optimal.
  8. Before laying plywood on a wooden floor, it should be cleaned of debris and dust, and then covered with a primer.
  9. The material is attached to the base with glue or self-tapping screws. Self-tapping screws are screwed in along the perimeter of the sheet and diagonally, taking steps of 15-20 cm. Approximately 2 cm recede from the edge of the part. The heads of the screws must be well sunk into the wood.
  10. When laying plywood on a wooden floor, choose fasteners that will be at least 3 times the thickness of the sheet.

Laying plywood on a wooden floor

To install plywood sheets you will need the following:

Laying plywood on a wooden floor starts from the central part of the room, and only then finishes niches in the walls and areas near columns and ledges. The material is first laid without the use of fasteners. After dividing the sheets into fragments, be sure to inspect the ends to exclude the presence of delaminations. If there are any, it is advisable to replace the sheet, since in the future a low-quality part will ruin the entire finishing.

Having laid out the material on the surface in accordance with the diagram and observing the expansion joints, the plywood is fastened to the wooden floor using self-tapping screws. The holes for them are made in advance, and the heads of the fasteners must be recessed into the wood. In some cases, plywood is mounted on a special adhesive composition, which must cover at least 80% of the material area.

By placing plywood on a wooden floor, check the evenness of the coating building rule, paying attention to the width of the damper joints. The plywood should lie horizontally tolerance is no more than 2 mm. Then the floor is tapped with a wooden hammer or block to identify the presence of delaminations. You can identify weak points by the sound - it will be dull and booming. Having noticed this, the sheet of material must be dismantled and replaced with another fragment.

If plywood is used as a final covering, the final stage Its installation will involve sanding and opening with varnish. Sand the material with fine-grained sandpaper until smooth, and then cover it with transparent varnish or paint.

Laying plywood on joists

Installation of plywood sheets on joists is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. For such work it is necessary to use material with a thickness of at least 15 mm. The installation process consists of several stages:

  1. First, all the logs must be adjusted to the same level so that they form a single horizontal plane. When trimming the logs, their evenness is checked using a building level.
  2. The next stage is insulation and soundproofing of the floor. The necessary communications and insulating material are laid between the lags.
  3. After this, the installation of plywood boards begins. The joints between the sheets must coincide with wooden beams floor bases.
  4. Having attached the material with self-tapping screws, the surface is sanded and cleaned of debris with a vacuum cleaner.

If a laminate is laid on top of plywood, then the subfloor is covered with a shock-absorbing underlay, which will level out small differences in height and serve as an additional heat-insulating layer.

Laying plywood on a wooden floor. Video

During renovations, it is often necessary to replace the floor. In this case, select suitable covering is not difficult. Before laying upper layer, it is necessary to level the base, since the service life of any floor covering depends on this. Laminate and boards, for example, have interlocking joints and form cracks when laid on a lumpy surface.

In this case, the most favorable option for leveling the base would be plywood. And here, not very experienced repairmen are faced with the question of how to strengthen the plywood onto the base, and with what tools to do this. Before leveling the main floor, you need to assess in advance the condition of the surface and the degree of deformation of its “relief”. Sometimes the subfloor per 1 m² has differences of about 2 mm. Then you can achieve perfect evenness using putty made from wet sawdust mixed with PVA, or by covering the base with acrylic sealant. Old boards are renewed with a plane and laid back. All loose parts are simply nailed or secured with screws. But in order to smooth out significant unevenness, you will need to lay sheet material. Here again, information on how to attach plywood to the floor before finishing is useful.

Working conditions

Before you begin the repair process, you should prepare all the tools that you will need for the job. This list includes:

  • perforator;
  • hammer;
  • notched spatula;
  • electric jigsaw;
  • roulette;
  • drill;
  • screwdriver;
  • spirit level

To secure the plywood to the base, glue and dowels are used. The adhesive can be solvent-based, water-based, or two-part. What is the difference between these means? In short:

  • the water base slows down the drying of the glue and can delay the repair for several days;
  • glue, which is based on a solvent, dries very quickly, but has a pungent specific odor;
  • two-component adhesive is used most often, especially if communications are laid in the concrete and the screed has not yet dried.

To lay plywood on the floor, you simply need a good screed.

This is where the labor process begins. It doesn’t matter what method (wet or dry) the screed is made, but it must be done with high quality and in perfect horizontal position. To keep the floors in original form, kept dry and warm, the following conditions are necessary:

  • screed completed according to all rules;
  • waterproofing;
  • compliance with technological standards when installing thermal insulation;
  • the presence of moisture in the base is not more than 1%.

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Mounting Selection

For the base under a parquet floor, it is best to choose material of grade FK 4/4 and higher. A thickness of 1 cm or 1.2 cm is suitable. It is these plywood sheets that have sufficient strength and the necessary flexibility. And this plays an important role, since laminated plywood bears quite a serious load when arranging furniture and when residents walk around. When choosing a material thicker than 1.2 cm, financial resources will be wasted, since its properties are equivalent, but the cost is more expensive. If we take into account the price-quality ratio, then 2nd grade plywood is suitable. When marking on plywood sheets, it is indicated what type they are - sanded or unsanded:

  • Ш1 ─ grinding 1 side;
  • Ш2 ─ grinding of 2 sides;
  • NS ─ without grinding.

Sanded plywood is marked with the free formaldehyde content:

  • E1 ─ 100 g of dry plywood mass contains less than 10 ml of formaldehyde;
  • E2 ─ 100 g contains 10-30 ml of formaldehyde.

To make the floor perfectly flat, you need to choose a 2nd grade plywood sheet, marked with the marks Ш1, ФК and Е1, the thickness of which is 10-12 mm.

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Cutting and fitting

Plywood consists of several layers, so high humidity does not have the best effect on it and delamination can be expected soon. Before you start laying, you need to determine the humidity concrete structure. To do this, during repairs, the worn out top covering is removed, and during construction the ceiling is cleared. Then on concrete slabs lay out a large piece of polyethylene and press it tightly around the edges, leaving the central part free. After 7 days, the film is examined. If no condensation is found on it, then you can safely lay the substrate. If drops of liquid appear on the polyethylene during testing, then the floors must be additionally covered with waterproofing.

When everything is ready to lay plywood, the room is measured and the sheets are cut according to the measurement results. In this case, you need to ensure that the seams between the sheets of plywood are 1 cm, and near the walls they are 1.5-2 cm. The plywood covering should not be allowed to touch the walls. This gap is left in case the coating parameters increase due to heat or humidity. If there is no free space, the floors may simply swell. In addition, the small format of plywood panels has greater stability and strength.

After cutting, check the ends of the workpieces. If they delaminate, they are rejected and new ones are prepared. Then the plywood sheets are laid out on the floor and adjusted to the base. It is very important that 4 sheets do not join in one place. To do this, all blanks need to be laid out using the method brickwork, that is, with a shift.

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Surface primer

Having adjusted the plywood, the sheets of blanks are numbered and a schematic representation of the layout is sketched out. Then the parts are removed and the base is leveled. To do this, remove any remaining mortar, paint, and construction debris. After this, dust is removed. It is better to do this with a special vacuum cleaner, but a simple broom will do. Cannot be carried out wet cleaning, because water will spoil them wooden parts designs.

Now the coating needs to be primed. A primer is required for this. It is prepared from an adhesive composition, diluted with a special solvent. The purpose of the primer is to:

  1. Increase the strength of the bonding surface. This is achieved by penetration of the primer into the pores concrete base and gluing microscopic dust particles. All this increases the adhesion of plywood, glue and any dissimilar materials.
  2. The primer holds the concrete surface together and protects against the formation of cement dust.

If the room has big sizes, then it is produced in sections. In this case, the primer should be applied in parts. Base for plywood covering small rooms primed entirely. In both cases, the primer is applied before laying the plywood sheets.

Many people try to embellish their lives with new renovations. To be completely satisfied, a person wants to use the highest quality and natural finishing options for these purposes. For many years, materials such as wood, stone, lime, gypsum, ceramics, and tiles have not lost their popularity among consumers. Since many cannot afford expensive repairs, they have to look for alternative replacements for natural products.

Finishing the floor and walls is the basis that is the basis of any repair work. If these parts of the room are not in proper shape, then no matter how hard you try, you will not achieve success in transforming your home. Therefore, we need to start with these figures.

When starting a renovation, you want to do everything quickly and correctly in order to plunge into the aura of freshness, novelty and cleanliness as soon as possible. But everything is not so simple, because each surface requires mandatory preparation, cleaning of all kinds of flaws, deformations and protrusions. So, before updating the walls with any type of finishing, their base requires careful leveling, which means additional time and expense. The good thing is that this does not need to be repeated time after time, every repair. I made a solid foundation - I got 50% success and a durable structure.

The floor has a high status in every room, namely its design and performance. Firstly, it must be warm, secondly, it must be of high quality, and thirdly, it must have a strong monolithic base. This is a mandatory condition, because in a house where this surface is made anyhow, there will definitely be rodents, reptiles or microorganisms born from rotting processes.

A plywood floor in its usual form is a practical and neat draft, which most often serves as a leveling base for other finishes. To the question: “Why this particular material?” -You can answer by lobbying for its strength, resistance to deformation and long service life. Many even use plywood flooring as the main covering, since a well-done job of laying sheets can create a picture that you don’t want to complement with anything, and sanded and varnished material looks so beautiful and noble. Laying plywood on a wooden floor is especially popular among owners of dachas, cottages and private houses. The reason for this was the inherent thermal insulation ability of the material. Moreover, if after a while the owner wants to change the finish, such a floor can be quickly and easily dismantled or simply laid a new covering.

Plywood: what does it look like and what is it?

Plywood is a material consisting of peeled veneer with tightly glued plank sheets. The history of her name goes back to distant France. It is from there that the word “plywood” is taken, meaning “to impose” in translation. Typically, the number of veneers ranges from three to five pieces, and a strong connection between them is ensured by a special glue. Such sheets are produced for repair work, as well as furniture manufacturing. The quality of the material depends entirely on the properties of the glue that connects the veneer layers to each other. Particular strength is provided by the method of adhesion of the board elements that make up the sheet. Thus, if they create a perpendicular position of the fibers in adjacent rows, the guarantee that the shape of the product will be stable and strong will exceed the norm.

There are several types of plywood:

  • Laminated.
  • Birch.
  • Combined.
  • Coniferous.

The first type of material is well applicable in the manufacture of durable bases. This plywood is moisture resistant and independent of influence chemical processes and natural changes.

Birch is used exclusively in cases where it is necessary to purchase a very reliable material with a planned large load on the surface to be finished. Due to its multi-layer nature, plywood made from this type of wood can withstand any weight without bursting. This determines the material as a carrier of beautiful physical and mechanical properties. Wide Application birch products were found in industrial production transport and construction organizations.

Coniferous plywood is the same unique material as those described above. It weighs a little and is used for finishing walls, building partitions and other types of repair work. Durable coniferous plywood is invulnerable to various fungi, mold and other microorganisms. Used for the manufacture of interior items, furniture and sales design ideas. Also, many builders like to use coniferous species in roof finishing, since it is not susceptible to drying out and moisture.

Combined plywood is a mixture of different types of wood. Very beautiful in appearance, it is also not expensive in price, which is why combined sheets of material are so popular in interior decoration and furniture making.

The material in question is also divided into sanded, sanded on both sides and non-sanded plywood.

In addition to these types, there is a separate classification according to purpose:

  • Construction
  • Furniture.
  • Plywood for formwork.
  • Laminated.
  • General purpose plywood.
  • Bakelized.
  • Flexible.
  • Decorative.
  • Ship's.
  • Aviation.

Choosing a plywood brand

Before you start laying material on a wooden floor, you need to understand the brands of plywood and decide which one will be the most the best option. This indicator is determined by the level of moisture resistance of plywood.

  1. FB and FSF brands are used exclusively for industrial purposes.
  2. FK and FSF brands play a significant role in construction. I would like to note that FC plywood is suitable for use in the renovation of children's rooms, as it is absolutely safe. In this material, the veneer is joined with phenol-free glue. Moreover, plywood is resistant to mechanical damage and is produced in all forms of sanding.

FSF brand plywood is waterproof and durable. These qualities remain unchanged even as a result of change weather conditions and room climate. The disadvantage of the FSF brand is that such a product achieves its final appearance by gluing the veneer with compounds containing a high content of phenol-formaldehyde substances. It is because of this that plywood is not favorable in interior repair processes.

We mark the plywood elements in accordance with the size of the room.

Advice: At this stage, it is important to make an allowance for damper joints (3 or 4 mm), as well as 10 mm for wall joints. This solution will prevent changes in the material due to changes in the indoor climate, i.e. increase or decrease in humidity and temperature. If you ignore this action, the plywood, due to the precisely measured parameter without allowance, may swell and deteriorate.

The next step is to check the integrity of the ends of the sheets - their delamination and divergence is unacceptable. If defective products are found, they must be replaced or put aside as they are no longer needed. Plywood boards are laid out on a wooden surface in the order in which the fastening will take place. It is important to place numbers on each element. Mark the floor along the contours in the order in which the sheets lie, with the joints between them falling in the middle of the joists.

For work, logs made of plywood with a width of 30-40 mm are used. We distribute them according to the markings made and, using wood glue or self-tapping screws, fasten them to the floor. If during work there are gaps between the floor and the joists, we lay cut plywood in them, first smearing them with glue on both sides. The same work needs to be done if the base surface has protrusions. To correctly lay the logs in a horizontal layer, you need to use a building level. If you do everything right, then new surface will be perfectly smooth.

What you do next depends on what type of finish you choose. If it is going to be regular carpet, cover the plywood floor with several layers of varnish. If there is laminate or parquet, a soundproofing layer is placed as an intermediate layer between the plywood and the finishing.

A high-quality plywood base will serve you for a very long time, and the material itself will serve as an addition to thermal insulation.

The simplest and least troublesome option is to lay plywood sheets directly on the old boards. Of course, you will bypass the process of leveling the floor, but if the base surface is ideal, this method can be used. The main condition for the work is to ensure that the new coating is unable to creak under load. When laying plywood elements, you need to maintain a small space between them so as not to cross the seams.

After the sheets are laid out in the desired order, check the resulting layer for uniformity. To do this you will need a building level.

Rules for laying plywood on old wooden floors

While working, do not neglect the following rules, which are important in construction activities and set its rhythm.

  • The relevance of laying plywood on a wooden base comes at a time when the old finish is completely damaged, and the boards have dried out or rotted. Who, if not plywood, can find a way to eliminate defects? Flooring made from this material will improve the floor and eliminate problems.
  • If the old boards sag while walking, they need to be dismantled and the base prepared in the condition necessary for subsequent repairs.
  • Plywood as a material does not like moisture, so try to avoid using it in such rooms. If this is unavoidable, treat the material with a special water-repellent solution and antiseptic. It is important to remember that where high humidity or large temperature changes, plywood is not recommended.

Advice: You can check the floor for moisture levels by laying polyethylene on it. Take one square meter film and spread on the test surface. Leave the material to “lie with the floor” for 3 days. If, over time, you notice that inside polyethylene drops of condensation have formed, then such a base will be unfavorable for finishing with plywood.

  • Before installation, the base floor must be in impeccable condition, i.e. cleaned of dirt, debris and dust.
  • The cleaned surface can be re-primed.
  • It is important to know that the size of the fasteners should not be larger than the thickness of the plywood board.
  • After finishing the floor with plywood, using grinder treat its surface.

Features of laying laminate on plywood

In conclusion, I would like to consider some ways of finishing plywood covering as a base. Let's dwell on everyone's favorite laminate and the features of finishing with its use.

First, let's prepare the necessary construction equipment in the form of materials and a set of tools. These will be:

  • Laminate.
  • Substrate.
  • A simple pencil.
  • Construction tape.
  • Square for marking parts.
  • Jigsaw.
  • Saw with fine teeth.
  • A plastic block for fitting laminate flooring.
  • Wedges for laying the starting row between the laminate and the wall.
  • Drill.
  • Dowels and screws.
  • Hammer.
  • Devices for laying the finishing coating.

Advice: Before starting work, ensure that the laminate remains undisturbed in the room for 48 hours. This is necessary so that it “absorbs” the climate of the room and adapts, taking the desired shape.

Laminate involves two installation methods:

  1. Diagonally across the room.
  2. Parallel or perpendicular to the window.

The first method is technically difficult and requires construction skills, abilities and competent measurement of parameters. One big plus is that the room in which the material is laid using this method looks aesthetically pleasing and interesting.

In the second case, the joints between the elements of the laminate will be invisible, and the coating consumption will be significantly less than with the first choice.

Let's start finishing the plywood covering

The most important and exciting moment has arrived - laying laminate flooring on a new plywood floor with a plank base. Let's do the work step by step:

  1. We place wedges along the perimeter of the walls to lay the first row of covering.
  2. Using a construction stapler, we fix the backing to the plywood.
  3. Use a jigsaw or file to remove the outermost panel of the laminate.
  4. We lay the starting row so that it snaps into place lock connection was located closer to the person.
  5. When laying, do not screw sheets of material to the plywood base, since if the boards expand or contract, they may become inappropriately shaped. Therefore, the laminate is positioned offset.
  6. To obtain space between the side seams, the outer panel of the next row is also trimmed like the first.
  7. Laminate tiles, tapped using a plastic block and a hammer, are snapped into place with a lock.
  8. In the same way we line the floor with the remaining sheets of laminate.
  9. Upon completion of the surface coating, remove all wedges and secure the work with plinths.

Laying tiles on plywood

Yes, your eyesight does not let you down: exactly tiles, and specifically plywood. Although most craftsmen do not accept this combination, with the right selection of materials, it is quite doable. Moreover, you don’t need a floor screed, which is a plus for time and effort. So, if you want to upgrade and transform your plywood flooring with tiles, you need to choose the material very responsibly. It is recommended to use plywood treated with a water-repellent liquid for this type of finishing or buy sanded plywood (if the base coat is not yet ready). The thickness of the plywood sheet under the tiles should be at least 2 cm. By choosing such a material, you will ensure the strength and hardness of the future coating.

Stages of work:

  • Remove all debris from the subfloor and wipe off dust.
  • Seal all cracks, seams and joints with non-expanding sealant. You can also use a solution of cement and sand.
  • Cover the plywood floor with an antiseptic solution to avoid the formation of fungus, dampness and mold.
  • We carefully prepare the adhesive mass: the solution should not have lumps or debris.
  • You can start laying tiles from the farthest corner or from the middle of the room.
  • We do a “dry” laying out of the slabs and determine the products that require cutting to the size of the room.

Advice: Before gluing the material, make sure that it is laid out horizontally. You will need a one meter level.

  • When tiling the floor, you need to use plastic corners for joints between tiles.
  • Using a spatula, apply glue first to the underside of the tile, then to the surface of the floor. Using a rubber mallet, gently tap the first piece to plywood floor. In the same way, complete the work.
  • A few hours later, after the tile is completely attached to plywood base, grout the joints.

Installation of parquet boards on a plywood subfloor

Parquet is a coating that does not lose its relevance for decades. Moreover, it is one of the most popular floor coverings, as it has a number of advantages: natural, beautiful, environmentally friendly and luxurious. Parquet will transform any room and make it truly elegant. People say correctly that beauty requires sacrifice. Likewise, our parquet is not so simple in installation technology. Since a plywood subfloor is great option for those who don’t want to bother with a concrete screed and wait for it to dry, many are interested in the question of how to combine the simple with the complex, i.e. plywood with parquet board? It’s very simple, because opposites attract.

First you need to learn about the features of parquet installation:

  1. Not only does the construction of parquet flooring require diligence and hard work, but the coating itself is very demanding and has certain conditions. One of them is to maintain the temperature and humidity level in the room. Since parquet is made from wood, it is true natural material, it requires that all climatic indicators of the room be normal, otherwise any deviation threatens swelling or shrinking of the board.
  2. If the air in the room is too dry and compressed, then the parquet may crack due to drying processes and changes in the structure of the coating.
  3. To new finish the floor has taken root, the room must be maintained at the following temperatures: heat from 18 to 25 degrees, humidity from 40 to 60%.
  4. During the cold season, it is important to moderately humidify the air using special means. This will prevent the harmful effects of heating pipes on the parquet.
  5. Laying parquet implies absolutely level base. That's why plywood is a great option.

Preliminary preparation

A parquet board can only lie perfectly on an immaculate surface. To ensure this condition, you can use one of the options. This is: making a screed, installing joists or making a subfloor. In our case, the last method is already ready, and we will lay the parquet on a plywood base.

Parquet flooring

Let's get started with the main work step by step:

  • Prepare the base coat by clearing it of debris.
  • Thoroughly sand the surface of the subfloor using a special device.

  • Apply one layer of the prepared adhesive mass and assemble the parquet.

  • Leave the finished coating to dry for one week.
  • After seven days, it is necessary to clean the surface of the finishing boards from industrial debris and contaminants.
  • Using a drum-type grinder, level the surface.
  • Penultimate stage consists of puttingtying the new floor with an appropriate composition containing admixtures of solutions and parquet flour.
  • Perform final sanding, after which the surface is primed and varnished.

Advice: Laying parquet flooring is a complex process, so you better enlist the help of specialists. When purchasing an artistic coating, the work becomes much more complicated, and it will be very difficult to cope with it in one pair of hands. Spare no expense and do not neglect the help of a specialist, because even the slightest mistake will cost the beauty of the entire parquet.

Conclusion

The article is a must-read for those who want to make a truly competent renovation, because with golden hands (or at least “bronze”), with the help of instructions you can achieve a lot, even laying tiles or parquet on a wooden floor.