Flooring in the bathroom: features of the device and finishing

Have you decided to renovate your bathroom? Do you have construction skills and want to spend most of the repair estimate on quality plumbing and finishing? Then it makes sense to do the repair work yourself. It's not as difficult as it may seem, and the advantages are many. You will be sure that the work is carried out qualitatively, the materials fully meet the requirements, and all the technologies are fully complied with. In this article, we will tell you how to properly equip the floor in the bathroom, dwell on the technology, warn you against possible mistakes and give you some useful tips.

The technology of flooring in the bathroom depends on the initial base. In apartments, as a rule, the basis of the floor is concrete. In this case, the technological chain of arrangement of the floor will be as follows:

• The dismantling of old plumbing, finishing and screed;
• Preparation of the rough floor and priming;
• hydro- and heat-insulation works;
• floor screed;
• screed sealing and an additional layer of waterproofing;
• finishing decorative finish.

It is necessary to carefully prepare the concrete base for pouring screed. If you make repairs not in a new building, then, first of all, dismantle the plumbing, decorative coating, waterproofing layer and the old screed. The easiest way to carry out dismantling work is with a hole punch, be sure to use protective goggles and a respirator when working. Then sweep out the debris, dust, and remains of building materials. Make a thick cement mixture or use tile adhesive and seal all damages, cracks or holes on the surface with it. Pay attention to this step, because later you risk the quality of the entire process of flooring. In poorly sealed cracks or potholes, the waterproofing layer and screed can quickly deteriorate.

Prepare a primer and apply it to the concrete substrate. Use a roller for this purpose. After the first coat has dried, if necessary, apply a second coat. If the concrete base is very uneven, with large differences, before pouring the screed, it is better to fill the base with a ten-centimeter layer of sand or expanded clay. This will make the construction lighter, reducing the pressure on the floor.

Waterproofing plays an important role in the arrangement of any bathroom. There are several options for high-quality waterproofing of the floor in the bathroom. First of all, the choice of waterproofing technology depends on what place in the bathroom should be isolated. If you are planning to build a shower cabin with their own hands, and you need in addition to the floor waterproofing of the walls, then the easiest and most effective solution would be to choose liner waterproofing.

The most popular are roll-felted materials. They are durable, do not rot, do not let moisture through and have a long enough service life. They are made on a polyester or fiberglass base, or represent a fiberglass fleece.

Sheets of waterproofing material should be laid with an overlap on the wall and on top of each other. The overlap should be 15-20 cm.

Heating technology is not suitable for closed rooms, therefore waterproofing materials are glued with a special adhesive with a toothed trowel. This method is reliable and durable, but quite time-consuming and for such work requires experience and skills. It has one disadvantage - the surface to be treated must be flat. Allowed irregularities not more than 2 mm.

For this method, mastics or special mixtures are used.

The technology of coating is not complicated:

• We coat the corners between the floor and walls along the entire perimeter of the room with the selected material. After all the joints are processed, we apply the first layer to the entire floor. The applied coating must be completely dry.
• After it dries, stick a special waterproofing rubber tape on the joints between the floor and walls.
• Apply another layer with a thick brush or roller. The entire surface must be thoroughly coated. Moreover, do not forget to smear the walls, about twenty centimeters, creating a semblance of a waterproofing tank. The second layer should dry for about six hours. After that, the third and last layer is applied, which should dry for about a day.

This is the simplest, but short-lived method of waterproofing. It usually lasts no more than three years. The technology is exactly the same as the coating method. Acrylic water emulsion paint is used as the consumable material, so the drying time of layers of waterproofing is much less.

The waterproofing layer should be followed by a thermal insulation layer. It consists of foam with a thickness of about 0.5 cm, on top of which is laid a heat reflective fabric, which returns the heat coming from the batteries and heaters. Next it is necessary to reinforce the construction. For reinforcement, a grid of steel wire with a mesh size of 10 by 10 cm is used. If in the bathroom the device of a warm floor is planned, then on top of the grid it is necessary to lay a heat reflective coating and heating elements.

Depending on your preferences, you can choose a warm floor:

• electric heating;
• water heating;
• infrared.

The classification of screeds for flooring in the bathroom is as follows:

• depending on the state of the material: wet, semi-dry,- dry;
• depending on the design: solid, prefabricated;
• depending on the method of adhesion of the basis and the solution: floating, connected, dividing.

Consider first the types of screeds for the state of the material.

Wet screed is based on cement mixture. Ready liquid mortar should be simply poured on the prepared base and leveled with a rule, trowel or trowel. Until the mixture dries completely, it should take quite a long time, and this is the main disadvantage of this method. If the cement screed is poured in the bathroom, then before this it is necessary to put a waterproofing material on the floor. If the flooring will be used as a linoleum or waterproof laminateIf the screed is not installed, another levelling layer should be applied on top of the main screed.

As a basis for semi-dry screed Cement or concrete mortar is used as a basis. The mixture contains less water, but more substances that give plasticity, so it hardens faster and weighs less. Concrete screed has in the light fillers, such as expanded clay, which makes it very convenient to raise the height of the floor.

Dry screed The floor is made in two stages. The first layer is laid claydite or crushed stone, followed by gypsum fiberglass. This method is the easiest to perform and, moreover, the least dirty. However, such a design does not always withstand a lot of weight, so in the bathroom it should be used with caution, pre-calculating everything.

Now let's talk about the types of floor screed depending on their design.

Continuous screed Is made on a cement or gypsum base. The mixture may also contain polymers. The mix can be poured in one step, or alternately applied in several layers. Mixes based on gypsum are faster drying, but they are very permeable to moisture, so they are not used to cover the floors in the bathroom.

Prefabricated screed consists of several components. Typically, these are: a waterproofing component, dry mix, underlayment, gypsum fiber sheets, and edge tape.

Bound screed Bound screed is poured directly onto the substrate. This method provides a good "load-bearing capacity" of the screed, but as a result, the screed can crack.

Screed separation is usually made in bathrooms, as it involves an additional waterproofing layer.

Floating screed Nothing attached to the base. It is an independent structure on a substrate of materials that insulate heat and moisture. The minimum height of such a screed is 5 cm, so it can not be used in every case.

1. In order for the screed to lie as evenly as possible, it is necessary before pouring it to install beacons that indicate the desired level. As beacons usually act as internal profiles for plastercapton or long slat levels.
2. First you need to estimate the height of the future screed. To do this, using a construction laser level is marked on the wall at a height of about half a meter.
3. From this height is measured down to a point that will correspond to the height of the floor. This point is projected onto all other walls.
4. The points on the walls need to be connected by an even line. This line is the boundary of the future screed.
5. If you plan to leave the screeds in place after completing the repair, then impregnate them with a protective solution, which should be chosen depending on the material. Metal beacons must be protected from corrosion and wooden beacons from rotting.
6. Beacons are placed on small piles formed from thick cement mortar. The piles are laid in rows at a distance of several centimeters from each other. The distance between the rows should be equal to the length of the rule, which is usually 0.3-0.4 m. It is also necessary to try to keep a small distance from the wall - about 0.2 m.
7. Beacons are placed on top of the cement bumps and slightly pressed in.
8. After the cement hardens, you can move on to pouring the screed.

In order to prepare a concrete mortar, you will need several components: water, sand, cement and crushed stone. For one kilogram of cement, three kilograms of other dry ingredients, and for one kilogram of a three-component dry mixture - half a liter of water. The result should be a homogeneous gray mixture, without specks of other colors. The consistency of the mortar should resemble sour cream: pour well, but not be too liquid. If necessary, you can add water to achieve the desired thickness. To knead concrete manually use special tools, but you can do it with any improvised means, for example, a small spatula. If quite lazy with this pile, you can rent a concrete mixer, though, it can afford only the owners of private homes.

1. Concrete mortar is poured between the beacons, in each strip in turn.
2. On top of the beacons to install the rule, which will equalize the filling. At the same time it is necessary to ensure that the height of the screed exactly corresponded to the markings on the walls. After a day, if necessary, the beacons can be removed.
3. The voids that are left after them are filled with concrete mortar.
4. The surface of the screed must be perfectly flat, to get rid of all sorts of bulges. This is usually done with any sharp flat tool.
5. After the concrete coating is grouted, cover it with polyethylene film and do not touch it until the mortar is completely dry. The film slows the drying process, resulting in a stronger structure.

After the screed finally dries (it takes about a month, to be exact - 7 days for each 1 cm of screed), the surface should be sanded. You can get rid of irregularities with a grinder. Sanding should be the more thorough, the thinner will be the final coating. For example, if the floor is planned to be covered with linoleum, then the entire surface should be sanded.

The last stage of the work is to lay a decorative coating. The choice of finishing materials is huge, so everyone will be able to find the best option, according to the style of the room and budget.

The most common material for bathroom flooring is ceramic tile. Try to choose high-quality, abrasion-resistant and non-porous tiles.

Linoleum - The most budget option, but in the bathroom it will be constantly exposed to moisture and steam, so the joints can quickly separate. Many people complain about the rapid erasure of the linoleum pattern.

Moisture-resistant laminate. Not a bad option for finishing the floor in the bathroom, but carefully choose the manufacturer of the material. The durability of the floor depends on the excellent moisture-resistant qualities and wear resistance of the upper layer.

Finishing the floor with natural stone - Is luxury and impeccable quality. Covering with natural stone is practically eternal and has many advantages. Disadvantages include: high cost and heavy weight.

Cork floors - One of the latest fashion trends in flooring decoration. Cork floors are often used to create eco interiors. They are soft to the touch and create a feeling of closeness to nature.

We have considered the most common options for finishing floors, but you can always choose any coating you like, or combine different materials in the lining of the floor.