Floor preparation for pvc tiles. Preparing the base and pouring the floor with your own hands Concrete base for tiles

For high-quality laying of PVC tiles, the surface on which it will be laid is of great importance. Equally important is the choice of a suitable substrate, as well as its preparation for laying tiles.

Selecting the right surface

When laying PVC tiles, first of all, you should think about the type of surface on which it will be laid. Many materials are suitable as a base for laying PVC tiles. It can be laid both on a coupler, and on already existing coverings.

One of the main criteria for the surface on which PVC tiles will be laid is its strength. A surface that is suitable in terms of strength can be considered one that does not collapse when the tile is peeled off from it, and also does not creak when walking on it. An example of an unsuitable substrate for laying PVC tiles is OSB board. When separating a tile from a similar surface, particles of chips from which this surface consists will remain on it. As a result, many irregularities will appear on the OSB board, which, at best, will greatly complicate the installation of PVC tiles. Another example of an unsuitable base for laying PVC tiles is a poorly poured concrete screed. In places of the most frequent use, the top layer of such a surface is destroyed over time, which will lead to the peeling of PVC tiles from the base.

Another criterion is the stability of the surface. The surface on which the PVC tiles will be laid must be firmly fixed. In the case of using a wooden base, the distance between the joists and the thickness of the boards must be selected so that the floor does not sag when walking. With all other things, it should be noted that PVC tile is a fairly durable material, and will perform its functions even on unstable surfaces. However, in this case, gaps may form between the tiles.

In general, we can conclude that the following types of surfaces are suitable for laying PVC tiles:

Cement or cement-sand screed;

Plywood of increased moisture resistance (FSF);

Existing coatings (tiles, porcelain tiles, etc.);

Bulk, dry bases (Knauf Superpol);

Floor leveling compounds.

Preparation of the selected surface

If the type of surface to be finished is suitable for laying PVC tiles, then first of all you should worry about the evenness of this very surface. If the base of the floor is wooden, then you can level it by laying it with a thick layer of plywood. A floor with a concrete surface should be leveled with a self-leveling screed.

Also, the surface on which PVC tiles will be laid must be dry. Especially when it comes to screeds and leveling compounds. For cement-sand screeds, the drying process depends on many factors, such as coating thickness, air humidity, and can take up to several months. Checking the readiness of the cement base for laying PVC tiles is quite simple. It is enough to stick a piece of polyethylene to the surface to be checked with adhesive tape. The surface will be ready for laying PVC tiles in the event that condensation does not form on the polyethylene during the day. From this it will be possible to conclude that the screed is dry. In the event of condensation, the surface is not ready for tiling because water is still coming out of it. If leveling compounds have been used to level the floor, the same test method can be used. The difference is that the drying process in this case is simpler and much faster. In many cases, it is possible to distinguish dry areas of a surface treated with a leveling mixture from wet areas by color.

An extremely important criterion when laying PVC tiles is also the cleanliness of the surface on which the tiles will be laid. In the event that the surface is contaminated with any foreign matter, whether it be dust, remnants of building materials or anything else, serious difficulties can arise when laying tiles. Therefore, before starting the installation of tiles, the subfloor must be carefully primed. The main purpose of this procedure is to increase the adhesion between the adhesive with which the tiles will be fixed and the concrete floor surface. Any acrylic primer will work for this. When using tiles with interlocking joints, the need for surface priming is eliminated.

It should be noted that PVC tiles also need to be prepared for installation. To do this, it must be decomposed and kept in a horizontal position for about a day at an air temperature of at least 24 degrees.

Arrangement of the floor is an integral part of the repair of the premises in general. Of course, in different parts of the house or apartment, floors of different types and classes are more functional and beautiful, but in recent years in kitchens and bathrooms you can often find floors covered with tiles. Also, the floors in the hallway are often tiled - either over the entire area, or at least part of the floor adjacent to the front door.

Do-it-yourself tile laying

Pros of tiled floors

Tiled floors (or floors covered with ceramic tiles) are very practical and durable. They are not afraid of moisture, are not combustible, it is easy to remove all pollution from them. The owners will not have to worry about replacing such floors for quite a long time. And you can choose an ornament for the floor for every taste and wallet. After all, the modern building materials market offers a huge assortment of tiles not only of domestic production, but also tile options, as they say, from all over the world.

Disadvantages of tiling

In order for a beautiful and practical tiled floor to please you for as long as possible, you need to make sure that it is laid on a flat, flawless base.

Perfectly laid floor tiles

Otherwise, any tubercle missed during surface preparation or an unsealed gap in the concrete may give you an unpleasant surprise in the form of a cracked or loose tile. Therefore, if in the near future you do not plan to spend energy, time and additional materials on repairing or altering the floor, special attention should be paid to the stage of preparing the surface for laying tiles.

Floor tiling can be carried out using a cement mortar with an admixture of special substances, as well as on a specially designed mastic or tile adhesive. The preparation of the floor for tiling will vary from case to case, but the general requirements for bringing the floor to a condition suitable for tiling are almost identical.
To begin with, it is necessary to carefully examine the general condition and reliability of the floor on which they plan to lay the tiles.

How to prepare a wooden floor for laying tiles

It seems that laying tiles on a plank base is impossible, however, this is not so. Of course, it is necessary to prepare a wooden floor for laying tiles very thoroughly.

Do-it-yourself floor tiling

So, the first thing to do is to hammer the protruding nail heads into the thickness of the tree, as well as screw and drown the screws in the thickness of the wood. The gaps between the boards are permissible with a width of no more than 2-3 mm. Softwood slats are driven into wider slots, which, in turn, are very desirable to be fixed with glue or carnations with hidden hats, driving them obliquely into the floor. After all the cracks are sealed in this way, the floor surface can be cycled and all potholes can be puttied.
After the putty has dried, it is desirable to sand the entire surface on a wooden block. Then the wooden base must be thoroughly cleaned of chips and sawdust, then soaked with an antiseptic and dried well, then primed with drying oil.
Another requirement: the boards should not bend when walking. If the boards sag, laying tiles on top of such a coating should be forgotten. It will not work to strengthen such a floor to the required level. The same applies to parquet flooring. If the parquet planks are loose, they must be securely fastened with nails or mastic.

Leveling the floor with chipboard

You can also put waterproofing from several layers of roofing material on a plank base. Then, a reinforced mesh with a cell of 10 cm is securely attached above the floor level at a height of about 1 cm, and a screed solution is poured, on top of which, after complete drying, tiles can be laid.

Concrete base for tiles

First you need to completely remove the remnants of grease and paint from the surface. The most convenient way to do this is with warm water, after dissolving caustic soda in it in a proportion of 150 g per 10 liters of water. You can also use a 2-3% hydrochloric acid solution. With the help of a scarpel, all protrusions are cut off from the surface, and all cracks and potholes are wetted and carefully sealed with cement mortar. Places where defects were found can be additionally treated with PVA glue. This will increase adhesion. Places where defects were repaired with a solution must be carefully smoothed out with a trowel, leveling them with the surface. After that, the floor is allowed to set for at least 12 hours, periodically wetting the surface with water. When the solution dries sufficiently, the entire base must be sanded with a coarse-grained timber and then carefully cleaned of dust.

An alternative is a self-leveling screed. To perform a screed, it is absolutely not necessary to be a specialist in construction, so if you decide to prepare the floor for tiling with your own hands, you should definitely pay attention to this technology. With the help of a screed, even seemingly hopeless floors are perfectly leveled under a variety of coatings. Linoleum, parquet or parquet board, and tiles are perfectly laid on the floor prepared in this way.

Prepare the floor for tiling with your own hands

First, a polystyrene foam dividing tape is laid at the junction of the floor and walls. All cracks and potholes are sealed with an adhesive composition, after drying of which the base is treated with a primer solution. If the base of the floor is too porous and fragile, then it should even be primed two or three times.
When the primer is completely dry, the base of the floor is carefully poured with a freshly prepared screed solution. If the solution is prepared in accordance with the recipe, it spreads easily over the base, while forming a flat surface. In some cases, a metal grater or notched trowel can be used to spread the mixture.

The result is a screed layer with a thickness of 2 mm to 1 cm. If the base is strongly inclined, the screed layer can be thicker. In order to avoid the formation of air bubbles in the thickness of the solution, the entire surface along and across is carefully passed several times with a special spiked roller. The same needle roller is used to improve docking between different portions of the solution. At the same time, this procedure avoids the formation of voids between the screed layer and the base. It is convenient to move around the floor filled with a semi-liquid solution on paint shoes - special shoes on pins.

Spreading the mix for laying tiles on the floor

Already after 12 hours of exposure at a temperature of at least 20 ° C, it will be possible to walk on the screed, and after two days the solution will dry completely, and you can start laying tiles.

If a layer of screed has already been applied to the surface, it must be carefully checked for strength. This is done by simply tapping with a small hammer. The sound when tapping should not be deaf, which indicates the absence of voids under the screed layer. Also, tapping will help to understand how high-quality the solution was. If the screed crumbles and delaminates, it will be better to fill in a new layer of mortar.

In addition, it is necessary to check how flat the surface on which the tile will be attached is. This is done using a two-meter aluminum rule. During the test, a gap is formed between the floor surface and the rule. The permissible value of this gap may be different depending on the forthcoming method of fixing the tiles. When using tile adhesive, the gap should not exceed 2 mm. If the tile will be attached to the mastic - 4 mm. If you plan to use a cement mortar, you can allow a gap of even 8 mm.
Check how horizontal the base for laying tiles will allow the building level. For best results, the floor slope should not exceed 2%, or, in other words, no more than 4 mm per 2 meters of length.

Leveling the surface for laying tiles

In bathrooms, preparing the floor for laying tiles has its own characteristics. In addition to leveling the base, before facing, it is necessary to carefully seal the joints between the floor and walls with a special waterproofing compound.

Laying tiles on the "warm floor"

Systems of "warm floor", equipped under the screed, can be very different. And made of propylene pipes - including.

If the screed is checked, and there are no complaints about it, then before performing work, the “warm floor” system will need to be turned off for several days. Next, tiles are laid on the base in compliance with all recommendations regarding surface preparation for laying tiles. It is recommended to turn on the underfloor heating system no earlier than 2-3 days after grouting the joints between the tiles.

If the "warm floor" system is equipped with thermal mats, they also need to be turned off for the duration of the work. Tiles can be laid directly on the adhesive, without prior screeding. Glue for tiles, however, you will need a special one suitable for underfloor heating.

Laying tiles on the "warm floor"

Preparing the floor for plastic tiles

Just as in the case of ceramic and tile, care should be taken that the base (subfloor) is even, without any flaws. If necessary, it is also recommended to perform a cement-sand floor screed to achieve the best result. Chipboard, OSB and even plywood can be used as the basis for PVC tiles.
Before starting work on laying tiles, it is recommended that the base be primed to increase the degree of adhesion between the materials.
The temperature in the room where PVC tiles will be laid should not fall below 15°C.
PVC tiles are installed using the butt-to-butt method. One of its differences from tiles or ceramics is that air bubbles can form under it when laying. To prevent this from happening, the surface of the tile is carefully tapped with a rubber mallet.

Floor tiles are a wonderful decorative coating that can transform not only the kitchen and bathroom, but also living rooms. It is strong, durable, due to the variety of appearance it is able to fit into any interior, besides, any type of warm floor can be laid under it, except for film - it is difficult to stick tiles to its smooth surface. When laying the coating will have to work hard, but the result will pay off all the efforts.

Floor tiles are demanding on the surface. It must be clean, even, solid and stable, so the preparation for the installation of the coating will primarily depend on the type of floor, which, without going into details, is concrete or wood.

Floor in a new apartment

Most likely, it will be uneven and perhaps even sloped, but this option should actually be considered ideal. Homeowners are given the opportunity to make the entire floor "from scratch", without removing the old coating and controlling the implementation of each stage: cleaning, sealing gaps, waterproofing, pouring the screed. A well-made floor will last for many years, and any decorative coating can be put on it.

Video - Preparing the floor for laying tiles

Stages of work

1. First you need to assess the condition of the surface: find out the magnitude of the slope and irregularities, which will determine the choice of leveling method: a slight difference in height (up to 3 cm) can be corrected with a self-leveling screed, a more serious one will require pouring a cement-sand screed, and with a significant slope (more than 10 cm ) you will need to make a screed on expanded clay so as not to overload the ceiling.
2. Now, if necessary, it is necessary to repair the base: knock down large ledges, expand, prime and rub cracks and cracks with mortar.
3. Cleaning is another important stage of renovation. The floor surface must be vacuumed to remove any particles of sand and dust that may interfere with its adhesion to the screed. It is also necessary to get rid of oil and other stains.
4. The next step is waterproofing. Usually, in living rooms, the gaps between the floor slabs, the junctions of the walls and the floor, and the space under the pipes are covered with mastic. No less popular is the option with a thick plastic film that covers the room. In the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, a more thorough approach to waterproofing will be required - it covers the entire floor with a significant overlap on the walls.

   waterproofing

5. The floor, leveled in this way, is poured with a screed suitable for the situation, and after it has completely dried, tiles can be laid. In order for the laid coating to look beautiful, symmetry must be achieved, especially if it is laid out according to the scheme and depicts some kind of pattern. This is done simply: on each side of the floor, you need to mark the middle and connect the opposite points with lines that are drawn directly on the surface. The intersection of the lines will be the center of symmetry, from which they begin to lay out the pattern.
6. Where the tile cannot be laid entirely, it will have to be cut. The easiest way is to remove straight pieces - a line is drawn in the right place with a glass cutter, and then the tile must be carefully broken along it with your hands. If a complex contour is needed, for example, at the exit of communications or the junction of pipes, then first an extra straight piece is cut off from the tile, and then a cutting line is drawn, which is also outlined with a glass cutter. Then, with the same tool, you need to draw several parallel lines inside the contour, and gently break out the tile strips with pliers.

Before you start laying the tiles on the adhesive, the floor must be primed - this will improve the adhesion of the adhesive to the screed. By the way, tiles can be laid on special glue, applying it with a notched trowel, as well as on mastic or cement mortar. Naturally, glue is preferable, since it was created specifically for this purpose. Using proven tools, you can be sure that over time, individual tiles will not fly out.

floor tiles

Old solid screed in need of minor repairs

Usually it is found under the old decorative coating: linoleum, parquet or others. Also a good option for laying tiles.

Stages of work

Old crumbling screed

This is the most unfortunate option - the old screed, which is already crumbling, will have to be removed, and completely. It is necessary to remove not only those pieces that fall out on their own, but also those that have not yet begun to move away. This will complicate the work and require additional time and tools.

Stages of work

1. The first step is to remove the screed. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the floor. Most likely, this will require a puncher, since large pieces cannot simply be knocked down with a hammer, but they must be removed. Firstly, they will still go away one way or another, and secondly, they will interfere with the new screed.
2. After this difficult part of the work is done, it is necessary to inspect the cleaned surface, make repairs if necessary, and tidy up.
3. The next steps are already known: waterproofing, pouring a new screed and laying tiles after it dries.

Strictly speaking, a wooden floor is not the best base for tiles, so such a coating fits on it only as an exception. If there is a concrete base under the wooden floor, then it is better to work with it by removing the rough coating. However, for those who, for some reason, have wooden floors at home and still want to enjoy tiled flooring, there are also options to fulfill their dream.

As you know, the surface under the tiles must not only be flat, but also strong and motionless, so that bending floorboards are excluded. In addition, the tile floor is quite heavy, so you need to make sure that the existing flooring will withstand it and will not sag under the weight.

Durable wood floor

If there are no serious complaints about the floor (plank, plywood, chipboard, etc.), then only preparation of its surface will be required.

Stages of work

The only surface that can be tiled is another tile, although this should be removed as well. It's just that this process is rather difficult, and therefore it is allowed to process the old coating with emery to make it more rough. Loose tiles will have to be removed, and the resulting recess filled with tile adhesive.

So, floor tiles are a very beautiful, albeit capricious, coating. Fortunately, you can always find a way to decorate your home with it, even if it has wooden floors. Beauty will require effort, sometimes even very significant, but then it will please the residents for a long time.

Since during construction or repair it is almost impossible to achieve a flat surface, without slope and flaws (crevices or tubercles), on which the floor covering will be mounted, builders use a layer of cement-sand mixture. This layer is called floor screed.

How to prepare a surface for a screed? To do this, you need to perform a series of sequential work:

1. prepare the surface;
2. lay hydro and sound insulation;
3. to mark the base for beacons;
4. install beacons.

Foundation preparation

For a high-quality screed, it is necessary to prepare the base on which it will lie well. When repairing the floor, it is better to remove the old screed. From time and operation, cracks, chips, potholes appear on it. Expanded clay accelerates the destruction process, which was covered under it in Soviet-built houses - the backfill compacts over time, forming voids under the cement screed, which is almost impossible to repair.

The increase in the cost of work when replacing the floor will result in savings later, when it is not necessary to disassemble everything again during the service life of the new flooring due to deformation of the screed.

The old floor base is removed with a perforator. The concrete floor is cleared of debris and dust. After that, it is desirable to vacuum it and make a wet wipe. All damage to the overlap, chips and flaking are removed. Cracks, seams and surface damage are sealed with a thick cement mortar.

It should be remembered that the cement mortar will not lie on concrete without prior preparation of the base. It just goes away after a while.

Therefore, the places of damage to concrete and seams are primed. Small cracks are embroidered with a scalpel or perforator, otherwise the solution cannot be rubbed into them.

Concrete primer

Repair of damage in the ceiling and seams, and then the primer of the entire surface is carried out using:

• cement milk;
• water;
• special primer (Ceresit ST 17).

For reference: other types of factory primer are either more expensive, or their quality is lower, or, like Vetonit, they have a short shelf life.

The technology of laying the screed on expanded clay is discussed in detail in the materials: "" and "".

Dry concrete will draw water out of the cement-sand mixture and disrupt the chemical process of cement setting. In addition, the primer binds dust particles and creates a film that improves the mutual adhesion of concrete and cement mortar.

Cement milk is obtained by mixing cement with water in a ratio of 1:2. Both with cement milk and water, the restored places are wetted 2-3 times, but without the formation of puddles. It is advisable to accelerate the saturation of the pores with moisture using a paint brush. To do this, the primer is actively rubbed into the concrete with a brush. The repair mortar is applied to a damp surface (wet on wet) and thoroughly rubbed.

Priming with "milk" is much more effective than wetting with water. The cement contained in it penetrates with water into the pores of concrete and improves the process of joining the cement mortar with the repaired base.

Special primers penetrate into the ceiling in repaired areas and crystallize there, blocking the outflow of water from the solution. On the penetration surface, they form small scales that provide adhesion of the patch to the concrete.

The repair of floors in St. Petersburg and Moscow in pre-war houses has one feature - there are no concrete floor slabs. The interfloor ceiling is made of powerful metal T-beams. Therefore, the preparation of the base for the screed in such houses begins with the filling between the expanded clay beams, on which a layer of cement mortar is applied.

Expanded clay base

Expanded clay is a light, porous material. Ecologicaly clean. It is used for heat and sound insulation, as well as a filler of spaces, to reduce the load on the load-bearing elements of the building.

Before backfilling with expanded clay, the base of the interfloor overlap is covered with a polyethylene film, overlapped, (thickness 100 microns or more) or other waterproofing material. The seams are sealed with tape. At the walls, the film is laid above the floor mark.

Lighthouses are being installed. Expanded clay is poured and the surface is leveled with a long rail, preventing it from exceeding the lighthouses. We fix the leveled layer of expanded clay in this position with the help of cement milk, which will prevent the displacement of expanded clay granules when laying the screed.

Screeds in individual houses or cottages are carried out on the ground or on the subfloor.

Ground base

The soil is cleared of vegetation and leveled. Expanded clay is poured on it, at least 5 cm thick above the foundation, to provide thermal insulation and a layer of sand 10-15 cm. The resulting surface is wetted with water and rammed for dense shrinkage. This is the cheapest way to prepare for a screed, not inferior in efficiency to more expensive options.

Wooden floor base (black floor)

The wooden floor used for the base of the screed must meet a number of criteria:

• do not have rotten boards;
• be firmly attached to the lags;
• do not contain traces of glue, grease and paints;
• do not creak;
• don't bend.

Deficiencies are easily remedied. Preparing the floor for pouring the screed comes down to replacing rotten and sagging boards. Removing dirty stains with detergents or by grinding (planer). Creaking boards are additionally attached to the joists. Places of possible leakage of the solution (under the baseboards near the walls, cracks, fallen knots) are sealed with parquet putty based on wood dust or oil paint mixed with sawdust in a ratio of 1:4.

Important: water-soluble putty is not used, as it can be destroyed by the moisture of the solution.

Plinths are removed. A thin rail is put in their place. The gaps between the rail and the floor are sealed with putty. After the screed is installed, the rail is removed, and the remaining gap between the wall and the floor will serve to ventilate the space under the floor, which will prevent the boards from rotting and the lag. After laying the floor covering, it will be closed with a plinth.

The next step in preparing the base for laying is waterproofing and soundproofing. Waterproofing issues are covered in detail in the work: "".

Waterproofing

Carrying out construction or repair work on the installation of the floor with their own hands, many identify waterproofing work with the installation of a damper tape. Yes, the tape partially performs the role of sound and waterproofing, but only at the junction of the wall and floor. It does not provide protection of the base of the floor from moisture from the basement or leakage in rooms with high humidity (bathrooms).

Important: base floor waterproofing is mandatory in individual houses without a basement. Capillary moisture and water evaporation from the soil under the building destroy both the base, the screed, and the floor itself. The problem is exacerbated if the moisture has an aggressive (acidic or alkaline) environment. Interacting with the components of concrete, it renders it unusable for several years.

There are various methods of waterproofing:

• Gravel-sand cushion. Used in private houses on the first floors;
• Film. It is applied in all types of apartments and houses. It is simple in device, which allows a novice builder to perform such preparatory work. In terms of cost - a budget option. Only one point can be attributed to the minuses - it cannot be laid on a base with many pipes;
• Coating waterproofing based on rubber or bitumen. It is applied in several layers. Penetrates into all cracks, which guarantees the quality of work performed;
• Impregnation waterproofing (Penetrate). A new type of insulating material. Its peculiarity is that it can be applied on any side of the concrete - reacting with the components of the concrete, the impregnation grows special crystals throughout the entire thickness of the concrete floor. Crystals and prevent the penetration of moisture.

Noise isolation

Soundproofing is necessary for residents of apartment buildings, starting from the second floor. Music, children's screams, loud TV, etc. become a problem for the upstairs neighbor for many years. It is solved by laying soundproofing material on the floor. At the same time, depending on the type of flooring, soundproofing material is placed under the screed on the slab (floating screed), or on the screed itself.

Various materials are used for floating screed:

• polystyrene;
• mineral wool;
• perlite;
• expanded clay.

Its device is not very complicated, but requires certain knowledge and skills. Does not apply to certain types of floors. In such cases, soundproofing materials are placed between the screed and the floor. Instructions for soundproofing the floor screed are given in the article: "".

Important: carrying out soundproofing work almost always solves another problem - floor insulation.

Subfloor marking

The floor surface before the screed always has defects:

• slope, while in different rooms in different directions;
• bumps and protrusions in concrete that cannot be removed, etc.

In order to level these shortcomings, it is necessary to find such a conditional horizon, above which the floor base will not be visible in all rooms of the room. This is achieved by deriving the zero level (horizon line), and then, with its help, the floor screed line. These lines are beaten off with a building cord along the walls of rooms or drawn with a pencil along a rail or a rule.

Conclusion

Preparing the subfloor for laminate flooring includes the following steps:

• cleaning the base from the old screed;
• surface repair;
• primer (if work on hydro and sound insulation will be carried out on the surface of the screed);
• hydro and noise insulation (modern materials allow you to combine these technological operations into one);
• beacon arrangements.

It should be remembered that the durability of the laminate depends on the quality of the preparatory work.

Related videos

Laying tiles is necessary only after the preparation of the floor has been completed. It is not difficult to make it if you carefully study the instructions.

Tiles should be laid on a hard, level surface.

After performing the necessary work to prepare the floor for tiles, the base must have a flat surface that will adhere well to the tiled floor.

As a base for mounting tiles made of tiles or plastic, you can use a specially prepared surface made of various materials. Installation of tiles on the floor can be carried out on the following types of coatings:

• cement mortar;
• tile adhesive;
• tile mastic.

Checking the base for strength

Materials and tools:

The old floor is dismantled, the base under it is leveled and primed.

• a hammer;
• cement;
• sand;
• water.

Preparing the floor for laying tiles is approximately the same for all types of base. The only difference is which adhesive composition is chosen.

First of all, it is necessary to check whether the base has sufficient strength. If the base is a concrete screed, it is checked for strength.

To do this, the entire surface is tapped with a hammer. If a ringing sound is produced when the hammer strikes, then the coating is considered to be of high quality. At the same time, the concrete mortar should not collapse or crumble.

If it turns out that the concrete screed has insufficient strength, you need to remove the areas that crumble from hammer blows. Neither their place needs to be poured with new concrete.

The coverage must be even.

Then it is checked whether the base is sufficiently even. In order to be able to lay tiles, it is necessary that the underlying coating be even to the light.

Materials and tools:

• rule;
• building level;
• slats;

The surface is checked for light using the rule. In this case, a two-meter rule made of aluminum is used.

Scheme of the floor under the tiles.

If the tiles will be laid on glue, then the gap between the rule and the coating should not be more than 3 mm.

When laying on mastic, the clearance should not be more than 4 mm. When laying on cement mortar - 8 mm. All irregularities, defects should be noted with chalk.

Then check the horizontal level of the floor. The work is carried out with a building level having a length of 1.5 m. When measuring, the slope should not be more than 0.2% of the required length. That is, the slope should be no more than 4 mm per 2 linear meters of the rule.

Such a check is carried out if it is necessary to lay tiles with a flat surface in various rooms. In the event that the installation will be performed in the shower with a slope towards the drain, you need to put a rail of a certain thickness under the rule. In this case, a horizontally located rule will show the required slope.

How to eliminate irregularities in the base: instructions

Materials and tools:

Scheme of a wooden floor under a tile.

• cement;
• sand;
• water;
• primer;
• boaster;
• perforator;
• 3% hydrochloric acid solution;
• respirator;
• protective glasses;
• protective gloves;
• metal brushes.

All protrusions and depressions that were found during the check must be eliminated. With the help of a scarpel, you need to remove the protrusions.

Holes must be filled with cement. In the event that there are a lot of protrusions on the concrete base and they are large, then they are eliminated with the help of a perforator, which is turned on in the jackhammer mode.

If paint remains on the surface, it must be removed. Various oil stains are removed with a 3% hydrochloric acid solution or special means.

When treating surfaces with chemicals, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment: respirators, gloves, goggles. Work must be carried out in a well-ventilated area.

After removing irregularities, to prepare the floor for laying tiles, it is necessary to repair the joints between the floor slabs and between the walls and the floor. The joints are sealed with concrete grade M-150. Before laying concrete, the surface must be moistened with water.

If the tiled surface is going to be arranged in the bathroom, then it is necessary to perform waterproofing after concrete embedding.

Then the concrete coating must be treated with a metal brush.

Before installing the tile, the cement screed is primed.

Preparing a wooden floor for tiles

Materials and tools:

• antiseptic;
• ruberoid;
• reinforcing mesh;
• cement;
• sand;
• microfiber.

How is wood flooring prepared for tiling?

The tile can also be laid on a base made of wood. Hardwood floors require special preparation.

First of all, the wooden coating is treated with an antiseptic solution. The floor is then dried. After that, 2 layers of roofing material are laid on a wooden coating. This is necessary for moisture insulation. Then, above the layer of roofing material, you need to install a mesh of reinforcement, which has holes with a diameter of 10 cm. After that, a cement-sand screed is made, to which microfiber is added.

You can not lay tiles on linoleum and carpet. These covers are removed. Then the remaining glue is removed. If the floor covered with linoleum has a flat surface, you can lay cement-fiber boards on it, and then lay the tiles.

If the tiles are going to be mounted on a warm floor system, which is covered with a concrete screed, then the system is turned on for 2 days. Then turn off the system and lay the tile.

You can turn on the underfloor heating system again 3 days after grouting.

If the tiles are mounted on thermal mats, they are first turned off. Installation is carried out without an additional screed device, directly on the tile adhesive, which can be used for underfloor heating.

After a thorough and thorough preparation of the floor according to the above rules, proceed to the installation of tiles. Thanks to the preparatory work performed according to the instructions, the laying of tiles will be of high quality, and the tiled coating will be strong, reliable and durable.