Construction - Floors and floors

Comfort, ecology, high quality

The floor is an indispensable element of the building. The comfort depends on what materials will be made in many aspects: movement, thermal and acoustic, as well as the possibilities of managing the space of the house.

Floor design - more and more important. Due to the greater possibility of differentiating materials for both floor construction and floor finishing, the floor design is being prepared as early as possible - preferably already at the construction stage. Another foundation is used today for wet and dry rooms, a special design requires a floor in which floor heating will be installed. In floor design, a big emphasis is put on energy saving - other materials require flooring for heated and unheated rooms, otherwise it is designed over heated and unheated rooms. Floors on the ground floor must be insulated against moisture and heat, and these on the second floor additionally acoustic.

Technical parameters of materials getting higher. Durability and durability are the basic requirements of materials used both for the construction of foundations and the floor. Manufacturers therefore attach importance to the fact that products meet the high demands of investors. Modern technologies for the production of underlay materials increase the strength parameters of the floor as well as thermal and acoustic insulation.

System solutions. Today, the manufacturers of materials think about the floors in a comprehensive way - this is a new standard.They offer not only a set of appropriate related products: foundations, supplies of equipment for their implementation, floor heating systems, appropriate adhesives, but also recommend contractors.

Ecological trend. Well-known manufacturers of foundations do not use harmful waste substances for their production - caseins, slags, ashes. Their production is based on new binders and additives, e.g. new generation superplasticizers. Respect for the environment is also manifested in the reduction of the use of natural raw materials for the production of floor materials, such as gres, slim (gres tiles with a thickness of already 3 mm ) or limiting the use of precious wood species in the production of panels and laminated boards. Separation is a separate phenomenon, for example the use of waste materials for the production of wood-based panels - woodworking residues. For the environment, there is also the use of quickly reproducible materials, such as bamboo grasses, on the floor. Modern chemicals necessary to make floors, eg adhesives, mortars, varnishes, do not contain substances harmful to health. Grout for grouting ceramic tiles is enriched with substances that prevent the formation of toxic fungi and mold.

The floor in a new function. Increasingly, the floor also has heating functions. It installs heating in it, thus saving the space of the house occupied so far by radiators, as well as protecting our health - dust does not float in the air, only settles on the floor.Thanks to new flooring materials, eg thin stoneware, the effectiveness of underfloor heating also increases. In energy-saving and passive houses, the floors made of heat accumulating materials such as ceramics or stone are an additional source of energy.

Savings in many aspects. Nowadays, both the execution of the foundation and the laying of the floor is much easier, which translates into saving time and money. We owe this to modern materials: eg self-leveling screeds, varnishes or flooring materials such as composite boards.

Traditional materials in a new way. New technologies have made it possible to increase the durability of materials known for ages. Thermal treatment of wood increases its resistance to water, biological corrosion or darkening. Appearance can imitate exotic wood.

New flooring materials. Stoneware, laminated panels, cork panels, elastic floor coverings are a response to current needs - cheap and quick laying of the floor. They often imitate noble materials such as wood or stone - they can reproduce not only the uniqueness of natural patterns, but also the depth of their textures.

Floor insulation is not only a protection against heat loss, but also an important noise suppressor. THERMO ORGANIKA

FOUNDATION MATERIALS

Today, mainly foundations are used, which significantly accelerate the laying of the floor, including screed, that is, foundations made of ready-made mortars. Mortars can be cement and anhydrite. They usually have self-leveling properties so that they do not need to be evened or smoothed.

In cement screed, the binder is a mixture of cements with mineral fillers and modifiers. They have a high load capacity - the compressive strength with a semi-dry consistency reaches 35 MPa. Most of them can be used indoors and outdoors and in damp areas.

Calcium sulphate (so-called anhydrous gypsum, ie anhydrite) enriched with activators, fillers and modifying admixtures is responsible for bonding in anhydrite screeds. The compressive strength of anhydrite mortars is comparable to cement ones (35 MPa), but sometimes also below 20 MPa.

The advantage of many modern compounds is that they can be stacked manually or mechanically without effort - they melt and bond with the substrate very well. It is self-leveling screed. These include all anhydrite screeds and cement screeds. They have a homogeneous structure with a semi-liquid or liquid consistency, and due to reduced shrinkage do not require surface reinforcement. Most of them function as compensating layers, although some can also be used as load-bearing sleepers. They work great in underfloor heating systems, because they tightly cover the ducts, and thanks to the flexibility they do not break during heating.

Primers requiring leveling can also be laid by hand or machine, but their consistency is compact - from dense to semi-dry. On the ground, therefore, they must be spread out and leveled. Laying them is therefore more labor-intensive than self-leveling masses. In some situations, however, they are irreplaceable - when repairing the ground or when you need to make a floor with a slope, on the terrace or towards the drainage system in the garage.

The advantage of modern mortars is also the short time of their binding and drying. Traditional mortars ripen for several days, and they need between two weeks to a month to dry and achieve a certain strength. Mortars with admixtures of fast binding binders have a shorter setting time and reach durability faster, thanks to which you can walk after a few hours. Unfortunately, it does not affect the time of drying - with laying the floor you still have to wait from several days to a month. The fastest works are carried out using fast drying mortars. The floor can be laid on them practically after one or two days. However, a fast drying process exposes the undercoat to strong shrinkage and cracking, which is why blends are further improved. A plastic or a special liquid acrylate and quartzite additives are used for this, which increase flexibility and reduce the stresses generated in the initial maturing phase. Fast drying screeds are more expensive than traditional ones, but the ability to avoid a monthly technological break significantly speeds up the work, and thus partially also allows you to save on labor.

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Low gray energy

Similarly to other building materials, an important criterion in assessing the environmental performance of underlay materials is the lowest consumption of raw materials, energy and the time necessary for their production and manufacturing of ready-made elements, which has a positive effect on the balance of so-called. gray energy. Traditional foundations require additional reinforcement in order to prevent them from breaking, and dilation is more dense. Modern screeds enriched with polymer fibers or special additives that improve flexibility do not require additional reinforcement, which translates into a significant saving of materials and a shorter time of making the floor. AT THE WEBSITE OF SOLUTION

Self-leveling screed is the easiest way to level the substrate under the floor.

The thinnest cement foundations are 5 mm thick, the thickest 150 mm . The most popular thickness ranges are from 10-20 to 50-80 mm . You can find among them that are suitable for indoor and outdoor use, for underfloor heating and for rooms exposed to permanent moisture. For the repair of the substrate and the performance of inheritance mixtures with a densely plastic consistency are particularly suitable, their thickness range is usually 5-35 mm . The screeds may be connected to the ground or separated from it by intermediate layers.

Combined screeds are usually self-leveling primers, which are laid on the existing substrate in order to smooth it. Their thickness usually does not exceed 30 mm . Screeds on the separating layer are not directly connected to the ground, thanks to which both constructions work independently. The function of the spacer can be made of ordinary polyethylene film, only if there is a risk of undersowing from the bottom of the moisture it should be a waterproof mat. Such sleepers usually have a thickness of not less than 20 mm .

Screeds on the insulation layer, called floating, are completely distant from the construction of the building. This allows the foundation to be deformed freely during bonding and later during thermal movements, preventing stress formation and cracking of the floor. From the bottom of the substrate, they are separated by a layer of flexible thermal or acoustic insulation (expanded polystyrene or extruded polystyrene, non-absorbable mineral wool or polyurethane foam boards), which ensures stress compensation and improves the acoustics and thermal insulation of the floor. Vertical foundation elements are separated by a foundation of edge joints (wool, foamed polystyrene or special belts). The screeds on the insulating layer must not be too thin (minimum 35 mm ), and those in which the floor heating system is additionally used must be even thicker - at least 20-40 mmabove the upper surface of the heating cables (values ​​are different for different sleepers).

Another type of undercoat is dry screed. They are made of gypsum fiber boards. They are laid out freely on ballast made of mineral aggregate. Podsypka allows for a good leveling of the foundation. The boards are often mounted in two layers. Only light partition walls, for example with frame construction, can be built on dry screed. The panel backing is not suitable for garages.

If polished stoneware is not pre-impregnated, it must be covered with a layer of impregnation after laying.

CERAMIC TILES

Types of floor tiles. Gres became a particularly attractive material. It is not only durable, but also resistant to scratches, staining, non-slip, basically non-absorbent (up to 3%) and easy to keep clean. The tiles can be laid on an existing ceramic or stone cladding, so it is an excellent solution in renovated interiors. Traditional terracotta is also used on the floor - recently it is more often referred to as floor tiles, as well as clinker tiles and handmade cotto.

Technical parameters. One of the most important features of ceramic floors is resistance to abrasion. Tile class is talking about it. In the lobby and corridors, to which we enter without shoes and where we do not bring sand, class III tiles are sufficient, they have high resistance to abrasion. In the vestibule, class IV and V tiles can be used. An important parameter is also the hardness of the tiles, which determines their scratch resistance. It is denoted using the Mohs scale. Floor tiles used in the entrance area should have a hardness of 6 to 8 on this scale. Absorbability is an equally important parameter. The tiles are divided into three groups due to their absorption - the higher the number for the group, the more absorbable they are. Group I tiles have absorbability up to 3%. Group II is divided into two subgroups. In the sub-group IIa absorbability of 3-6% is allowed, and in the sub-group IIb - absorbability of 6-10%. The symbols R 9 -R 13 are used to designate anti-slip properties. Often, however, a graphic designation, eg in the shape of a shoe, suffices. Slip resistance provides tiles with reliefs, that is, convex patterns on the whole surface of the tile, or grooved - convex or concave straight elements at one edge of the tile. Most often, however, the smooth tiles are more slippery.

STONE

More and more supporters are also stone floors, especially the impressive travertine (scratch-resistant type of limestone), slate and marble, which attracts not only the richness of colors and harvesting, but also a relatively low price. It is as resistant as granite, and it is much easier to get the desired shapes. In addition, it is very decorative and original - it delights not only with a characteristic "split" texture, but also with colors. Hard, fine-grained stones, such as granite and basalt, will also work on floors.

WOOD FLOORS

Solid wood. The most durable and repeatedly renewable are floors made of solid wood: parquet, mosaic, industrial mosaic, boards, tiled or palace parquet. The best known is the parquet - made of staves 16 - 22 mm thick , 200 - 500 mm long and 30 - 100 mm wide - they can be joined with a tongue and groove. The fashionable cladding is solid planks - their length is from 0.5 m , thickness is 21-30 mm , and width 80- 180 mm . Due to the lower price and rich texture of numerous supporters, there are mosaic parquets sometimes called lamella.

When buying material for wooden floors, pay attention to the hardness of the wood - it is given on the Brinell scale (BHN) and marked with a number. The higher the number, the harder the wood. The harder the wood, the more resistant to abrasion and damage. The most resistant will be wood with the designation above 4 BHN - wenge, iroko, jatoba. But even in the most intensely used rooms of a single-family home - in the lobby and on the stairs - wood with the designation 3-4 BHN, for example oak, ash, pear and hornbeam, will also work. If you want to use wood in rooms where it will be exposed to moisture, please pay attention to the shrinkage factor. The most resistant to moisture is wood with a small shrinkage, rich in natural oils that do not discolour under the influence of water and provide protection against moisture, for example teak (shrinkage factor 9.1) and iroko (9.4).

Remember that the cost of making a solid wood floor also consists of the price of glue for parquet, varnish or oil, and labor. A solid wood floor is an exclusive and expensive solution, so it is worth using it in representative places. It works especially in contemporary interior arrangements in which a large surface is often exposed.

Layered panels and boards. More and more supporters have also wooden layer floors: boards (double-layer) and panels (three-layer). The panels have a thickness of 10-22 mm and a top layer of precious wood, 3- 4 mm thick . Double-layer boards are 10- and 14-millimeter, but the usable wood layer is thicker in them than in three-layer elements - 5-6 mm . The most durable panels are made of long-seasoned wood (up to 5 years). Their two lower layers are most often made of softwood or wood-based panels. In the double-layer elements, the underside is most often an element made of hardwood, such as oak or beech. The facing layer is made of several dozen species of wood - domestic and exotic, which are marked with different classes defining the color and graining.

Finishing wooden floors

- Wooden floors need to be glued to the ground. It is worth reaching for a non-toxic product that does not contain organic solvents, i.e. hardening by evaporation of water.

- Wooden floor also requires protection and maintenance. Among the varnishes, water-soluble: acrylic, polyurethane-acrylic, polyurethane are considered ecological. After evaporation of water, they form a durable coating, and during painting they do not emit irritating chemical substances and unpleasant smell. You can also buy oil, oil-resin and resin varnishes containing oils (drying or semi-drying), natural or synthetic resins, thinners and additives, for example, faster drying. The spirit varnishes are also safe - these are natural solutions (rosin) or synthetic resins in ethyl alcohol. One of these products is polish.

- However, we are more willing to reach for wood preservative oil. The oils available today are more durable and easier to apply, but products based on plant ingredients are still used for their production. The oils are 100% solvent-free and biodegradable.

Modern laminate panels can also be used for water-based underfloor heating. The condition is an even distribution of heating cables on the whole floor surface. Photo: KRONOPOL

Modern laminate panels can also be used for water-based underfloor heating. The condition is an even distribution of heating cables on the whole floor surface. Photo: KRONOPOL

LAMINATED PANELS

They are made largely of wood-based materials, in which the natural material, which is wood, has undergone industrial processing and enrichment with numerous additions - plastic foundations, laminate coatings, etc. The cover layer is printed paper impressed on multilayer coating made of HPL laminate protected with so-called film, i.e. a transparent, strong protective coating of melamine. It covers the core of a wood-based panel - hard HDF or less frequently used MDF. The bottom backing layer made of plastic or paper stiffened with melamine eliminates the stresses that can distort the panel. Laminate panels imitate wood more and more - not only its pattern, but also texture. Overprinting the top layer can be any, more and more examples are patterns imitating ceramic tiles and floral or abstract motifs. Their finish can be matte, satin or shiny. They have a length of 40 to 250 cm and a width of 9 to 33 cm . They can also have non-standard dimensions, for example 30 x 30, 40 x 40 or 62 x 62 cm . The thickness of laminate panels is from 7 to 12 mm .

COVERING

Natural floor coverings. The proposal for people who value organic products are bamboo floors. Bamboo is a species of grass, whose huge advantage is very fast growing (up to 50 cm per day) and wood-stinging stem. This allows it to be used for the production of boards without reducing its global resources at the same time. Flooring materials made of bamboo grass are extremely durable, their resistance to abrasion and damage exceeds, for example, oak hardness. The floor made of bamboo grass has an interesting texture and color, which are perfect for modern interior design.

Sisal. It is a material produced from agave stems, very durable and resistant to abrasion. It is characterized by a natural, austere appearance, occurs in a wide range of shades, patterns and textures. However, the sisal flooring should not be laid in the bathroom or kitchen, because the agave fibers under the influence of moisture can change shape and size. Therefore, in rooms with increased humidity, it is better to use seagrass liners that, apart from high water resistance, are durable and have anti-static properties.

Flexible floor coverings. Also among elastic floor coverings we can find ecological products, ie linoleum and rubber. Linoleum is considered one of the healthiest and most hygienic floor coverings. It is resistant to damage and scratches. Even the heat of a cigarette will not destroy him. Linoleum is a mixture of wood flour, linseed oil, resins, limestones and pigments pressed with a natural jute underlayment. Thanks to the raw materials from which it was made, it has antibacterial properties and does not contain harmful substances. High-quality rubber, mineral fillers and environmentally friendly pigments are also used for the production of floor coverings. Thanks to long life, sound attenuation (depending on thickness from 8 to 16 dB), anti-static, resistance to abrasion, dirt and fire, attractive colors and distinguishing them from other elastic coverings, invoices can be an inspiration to arrange an original interior. "Ecopositive" fans of soft floor coverings should, however, choose natural wool carpets and carpets using natural dyes.

Modern floors made of epoxy resins create a good background for interior design in a minimalist or industrial style.

INDUSTRIAL FLOORS

They are intended to be laid in places exposed to very high mechanical loads, contact with chemical substances that can permanently stain or damage the surface, with water and variable temperature. You can choose from several types of such floors - made of dry surface tops, thin-layer screed coatings, as well as epoxy-polyurethane resins.

Resin floors. The main components are resins - epoxy, polyurethane or chemical resistant - vinyl ester. They are sold in several color options. Using them in housing construction, systems very similar to those of industrial applications are used. In housing, they are valued for the possibility of obtaining a smooth jointless floor surface. Their advantage is the possibility of joining with other floor coverings. Resins can form colorless coatings (you can see what is embedded in them or placed under them). They can also be finished by painting with epoxy paints or varnishes.

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A floor with a certificate

The FSC (Forest Stewarship Council) certificate is becoming more and more popular among Poles. It is a voluntary certificate granted to producers and sellers of wooden products that testifies to the observance of the principles of ecology in forest production processes. When buying wooden products marked with FSC, we can be sure that they come from a forest managed in accordance with the good of nature, as well as the good of animals living in its area. Companies whose products have obtained the FSC mark, put its logo on the labels of their products. The FSC mark can cover not only wood materials, ie lumber, floors or furniture, but also wood-based products, which were made of certified raw material, such as boards, plywood and even paper.