Self-leveling cement floor leveler. Which self-leveling floor leveler is better? Basic options to choose from

Most types of apartment renovation involve manipulation of the floor. Whatever new coating is planned, it will most likely need a leveled surface. What and how is it better to level a not-too-flat floor? Special formulations of the new generation will help cope with this.

These are high-quality mixtures that have the ability to harden quickly. Reliably filling all existing cracks, they quickly and evenly cover the surface being treated. For their working qualities they received a unique name - self-leveling.

They are also called floor levelers. When filling of a minimum thickness is required, it is most rational to use this particular product.

Why do you need to level the floor?

Carrying out a variety of repair work often requires removing the floor covering. Nude concrete base most often it does not please with its appearance - it is rarely perfectly smooth.

Modern materials for finishing floors look beautiful and respectable, but a smooth and even base is one of the main conditions for high-quality installation.

Device cement screed will help solve the existing problem. It is convenient to use a self-leveling floor leveler for this purpose - a special new product.

One of the undoubted advantages of the composition is its ability to harden quickly: after just a few hours, you can walk on freshly treated floors.

Another name for the material is self-leveling floor. All floor leveling compounds have excellent fluidity and can contain different fractions. Accordingly, they differ in their purpose. For heated floors, for example, you need to purchase a special type of self-leveling floor.

Self-leveling leveler - application

If significant damage to the floor is not observed, and the difference in height is not so large, it would be most rational to use this particular remedy. It has the following quality characteristics:

Types of levelers for pouring floors

To know which composition is suitable for specific case, you should familiarize yourself with the classification of available ones. They consist of various components, and depending on this they are divided into:

If the room where you plan to install the heated floor is dry enough, then a leveler for gypsum base.

IN industrial premises It is advisable to use a cement leveling mixture. According to their purpose, all levelers are divided into different types:

Before you go to the hardware store, you need to study the surface of the base in order to understand how many layers it will require.

In the best case, just one thin layer of self-leveling compound is sufficient. But more often you have to purchase two types of levelers - coarse grinding for rough finishing and finer grinding for finishing.

Choosing a self-leveling mixture for the floor

The construction market offers a fairly wide range of floor leveling mixtures.

It is quite difficult to immediately decide which one you need. How not to make a mistake with your choice? To do this you need:

The price of the product is directly related to the amount of plasticizers present in the mass.

The more of them in the composition, the better the resulting surface will be. And vice versa.

Have you decided to lay the floor with laminate or tiles? But are you faced with the problem that the base surface is far from ideal? This is where floor levelers come to the rescue.

Types of levelers

All leveling mixtures are divided into two types:

cement,
plaster.

This type is used for leveling floors in any premises: public, residential, industrial, and is also suitable for outdoor work. The thickness of the material layer can be from 2 to 50 millimeters. Dries out cement leveler quite quickly, so subsequent installation of the flooring will not take long. It is worth noting that the composition becomes stronger when it takes moisture from the air, so the cement leveler is ideal for rooms with high humidity.

Gypsum mixtures

Such compositions are used in rooms with low or medium humidity levels. Gypsum does not tolerate water well - it absorbs it, thereby increasing its volume and losing its shape. This type of leveler can be laid in a layer of 20 to 100 millimeters. True, the drying of a composition of such thickness will be quite slow. Since gypsum is environmentally friendly pure material, mixtures from it are used in the renovation of residential premises. The composition also has good thermal insulation properties.

How to choose the right leveler

A universal composition is suitable for a concrete base. But, if the surface has cracks or bumps, then it is better to treat it first. To do this, you can use different strengthening compounds.

For parquet, laminate, ceramic tiles It is better to use levelers for complex bases. These compounds have more high level clutches, resistant to changes in humidity.

For heated floors, there are mixtures for heated floors. These compounds are specially made elastic so that they do not deform or deteriorate due to temperature changes. Gypsum levelers initially have good flexibility.

Prices cement compositions slightly higher than plaster ones. But the first ones are more universal.

Manufacturers of floor levelers

On domestic market There are many brands of leveling agents, but the most high-quality and popular are the following compositions: “Vetonit”, “Yunis”, Bergauf, “Ivsil”, “Volma”, “Horizon”, “Nivelirom”, “Osnovit”, Knauf, Ceresit, “Starateli” .

The Russian company produces high-quality floor mixtures. They can be used without preparing the base. The compositions are used for both residential and office premises. Advantages of the "Prospector" levelers:

harden quickly - hardening time from 4 to 48 hours;
economical - 15 kg of solution is needed per 1 m2;
durable and strong.

Another important advantage of this company’s products is the price - it is very low.

The compositions of this company not only level the floor surface, but also give it high strength. All levelers from this company have a viscous consistency, so they can be used without pre-treatment base, which significantly saves both time and financial costs for repairs. Ceresit products are quite expensive.

Famous all over the world German company manufactures high quality products. Its floor levelers provide a truly flat and smooth surface that is resistant to cracking and shrinkage. The hardening time of the mixture is about 1.5-2 hours. True, the price Knauf products higher than levelers from Russian manufacturers.

The company produces compounds based on cement based. They are used to level floors in both residential and office premises. The company also produces a leveler for heated floors, which has good elasticity. "Scorline" produces its mixtures for manual and mechanized method application. Product prices are affordable.

It's time overhaul floors, and a new coating requires a flat surface. New generation mixtures will help prepare the base. These are special quick-hardening compounds. They fill all the cracks in the concrete and fill the entire floor area evenly and smoothly. They are called self-leveling mixtures or floor levelers. Such mixtures are an ideal solution when you need to fill a floor of minimal thickness.

Floor leveler - what is it?

The task of leveling the floor has to be solved when repair work when the old floor covering is removed and all the unevenness of the concrete base is revealed. What is a floor leveler? Modern flooring looks very attractive and durable, but one of the conditions for its installation is a level base. A tie-down device will help you get out of this situation with minimal loss of time. concrete base. And new special mixtures are used for this - self-leveling floor leveler.

The main advantage is that liquid formulations for the floor they harden quickly, literally in 2-5 hours and you can already walk on them.

There is also a second name for the mixture, which the manufacturer calls based on the composition of the materials - self-leveling floor. Essentially, these are floor leveling compounds that have good fluidity, depending on the composition of the fractions. Therefore, there are many names and purposes. For example, when pouring heated floors, it is important to choose a special self-leveling floor.

When the question is whether it is better to choose a floor leveler or a self-leveling floor, it is important to pay attention to the minimum thickness of the screed indicated on the bag. When on big construction markets or in the store Leroy Merlin When buying a leveler or self-leveling floor, it is important to know in advance what the minimum and maximum floor level differences are. This will help you save a lot and buy a rough and finishing self-leveling floor.

Use of levelers or self-leveling floors

Once the concrete subfloor is freely accessible, many problems are discovered. Each of them has its own type of leveler. Actually, based on this, all levelers are divided into two main groups:

for roughing;
for final finishing.

Based on the task, you need to choose a leveler for the floor. They are different both in composition and properties. The main difference is minimum thickness floor filling.

Rough leveler

To eliminate significant defects - deep pits, rough chips and height differences with the main floor surface, coarse levelers are used. Such dry mixtures have a larger fraction. After the dry mixture has been diluted with water, the floor leveler is ready to be applied in a thick layer.

With the help of such a floor leveler it will not be possible to reduce the level of the floor drop to<0>

The base component in starting levelers is most often cement. It provides the necessary strength and grip. Recommended for alignment with the main surface. A coarse leveler is not able to lay down evenly and smoothly if used as a base layer.

Before applying the main layer of leveler, the starting layer must be completely dry.

Finishing leveler

Due to the fact that the starting leveler has a larger filler, it will not provide an even and smooth base. For this purpose there is finishing leveler, with a finer fraction of materials.

The main advantage of finishing mixtures is that after mixing with water they are more homogeneous in composition. After on concrete surface After laying this mixture, the floor surface turns out even and smooth. What cannot be achieved with starting mixtures.

The composition of the “finishing” floor leveler is more complex than the starting leveler, using mineral and polymer additives and has a number of advantages:

more elastic;
perfectly smooth floor;
has increased strength;
increased resistance to physical influences.

In practice, most often, finishing floor levelers are used immediately. They perfectly fill minor defects and level differences. After leveling the floor in this way, you can safely do it.

It is necessary to mention that when choosing a leveler, you need to know that it differs in its properties. For the residential premises of the apartment, ordinary mixtures are used, and in the premises of bathrooms, showers and kitchens it is planned to use special levelers. They contain special polymer components that are not capable of allowing water to pass through. Therefore, when pouring floors in wet areas this factor must be taken into account.

pros

In addition to the fact that the levelers are easy to prepare and use, the floor leveler has a number of advantages:

Dries in a few hours.
You can move on the fresh coating immediately after drying.
Easy to use.
Virtually no shrinkage combined with high wear resistance.
The minimum thickness is only 2 mm.
The solution can be poured over an insulating film.

Minuses

Before pouring, the floor surface should be free of cracks and dust and have slight differences.
Improper preparation of the floor for pouring may require dismantling the entire coating.
The responsibility and sufficient skills of the invited workers cause a high cost.

For installation of coatings on wooden floor or on plywood, a self-leveling solution is not used, in such cases it is better to use.

What is the best floor leveler to choose?

For different tasks When leveling the floor, there are also different floor levelers on sale. The price depends on the manufacturer and the composition of the mixture.

The line of compounds from the Knauf plant in Krasnogorsk is represented by the “Knauf Boden” series

Knauf Boden

If the room has a deviation from the plane from 2 mm to 15 mm, Knauf Boden 15 in packs of 25 kg at a price of 500 rubles is suitable. If the differences are more than 22 mm to 80 mm, then a Knauf Boden 30 bag weighing 40 kg costs 420 rubles.

The Knauf company is a leader in the production of leveling mixtures. Their composition is dominated by high-strength gypsum with modifiers. And to improve adhesion to the surface it is added quartz sand the smallest fraction. This is a self-leveling floor plaster Knauf Boden 25 layer thickness from 10 mm to 35 mm bag 25 - 40 kg cost from 400 rub.

Gypsum screed "Knauf Boden 25" is intended for high-quality leveling of floor surfaces and the installation of thin-layer heated screeds up to 35 mm thick.

As you know, gypsum is a natural product and has long been used in construction as a heat-insulating material. Self-leveling mixtures based on gypsum are used for fairly thick screeds when installing heated floors. Floor levelers “Finish” on a gypsum base, despite their advantages, fast drying, must still be laid on a prepared and dry base.

Advice! For areas filled with the mixture exceeding 20 m², provide expansion joints.

The Vetonit mixture is good, but it costs a lot more and is slightly inferior to Knauf Boden in quality. The price of one bag depends on the composition of the materials used, but on average from 500 rubles. per bag.

They already contain the necessary additives for the screed, with high performance. Thanks to special additives, the base is smooth and quickly ready for use. The only negative is that it is impossible to give the desired color to the composition.

The main advantages of Vetonit cement-acrylic compositions:

minimal shrinkage during installation;
possibility of use for screeding;
can be used on any basis – dry or wet;
there are no cracks in the frost when the coating is used;
compatibility with underfloor heating systems;
possibility of walking after 4 hours;
minimum period from installation to operation.

But there are also disadvantages: it is the most expensive in its line.

The top three are mixtures from the Horizon company. The products are packaged in 25 kg bags from 180 rubles per bag.

Types of mixtures for floor screed Horizon

Composition mainly from cement-sand mixture. It is used for installation of “warm floor” structures, with maximum permissible thickness 10 cm. Fit well on the surface paints and varnishes. Suitable for finishing fill floors

Almost all manufacturers sell polymer mixtures based on:

epoxy resins;
polyurethane.

Main advantages of polymers:

have increased strength;
able to withstand vibration and heavy loads, such as in industrial and warehouse environments;
easily tolerated sharp changes temperatures;
the texture of the leveler is smooth, like glass;
at correct execution long service life.

Leveler consumption for the floor for each manufacturer is calculated based on the mixture per 1 m² with a layer height of 10 mm - 20 kg.

Basic options to choose from

Before going to the store to buy, you need to make a choice of a floor leveler in advance. To do this, you need to answer several questions:

What will be the humidity in the room?
For what rooms are future floors being made - for the bedroom or for the bathroom or kitchen?
For what type of work – leveling or finishing?
Nature of the foundation?
What should the floor be like in the end: with anti-slip, noise-absorbing or thermal insulation effects?
Is it planned decorative finishing gender?

We use a self-leveling mixture

After everything necessary materials have been purchased, you need to take care of additional accessories:

notched spatula;
needle roller with a long handle;
mixer;
container;
bucket.

Before installing the screed, it is necessary to prepare the base. Delete old paint, dust and oil stains. Prepare the solution correctly and apply it to the prepared base by hand or machine. Before filling the floors with leveler, be sure to prime the base of the floor well! The result should be a dust-free base ready for pouring. Clean and dry, without wide cracks.

Before filling the floor with leveler, the mixture is kept indoors at a temperature of 10-30°C.

It is not difficult to prepare a self-leveling floor leveler. Simply add water to the mixture, following the included instructions, and carefully mix with a construction mixer until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Let the mixture sit for 5-7 minutes and you can start working.

the mixture is poured from the container onto the finished base;
air bubbles on the surface are removed with a needle roller;
waiting for the mixture to dry.

If you cook it right away a large number of mixture, it is likely that the entire mixture will not be used immediately, but will dry out in the container. This is due to the fact that literally after 1-2 hours the solution hardens.

Self-leveling floors are sufficient expensive material, they are usually applied with a thickness of only a few millimeters. The base for them must be strong and level, otherwise there will be an overconsumption of material or its service life will be limited by the life of the screed. That is why levelers were developed - mixtures with which you can prepare a high-quality base several centimeters thick. With their help, a screed is prepared, onto which thin-layer self-leveling floors, including decorative ones, are then applied.

What is a leveler for self-leveling floors?

Leveler is a dry construction mixture based on a cement binder. The composition includes fractionated sand, polymer additives and fillers. The dry mixture is mixed with water in the proportion recommended by the manufacturer, after which it is brought to the desired consistency by stirring. The result is a plastic mixture that is easily applied to the prepared base. It is easy to level with the help of a rule, and it does not crack. The main advantage of the leveler is its non-shrinkability; this property allows you to prepare a screed with excellent geometric characteristics.

Scope of application of the leveler

The leveler is used in rooms with normal and high humidity. The base can be a rough screed, a floor slab, or laying on chipboard or wood is possible. The material can be used in residential and public spaces, including in hospitals, clinics, preschool institutions. The leveler is also used during the construction or repair of production workshops in which it is planned to install machine tools and other equipment.

It is recommended to apply the leveler in a layer of 10 to 50 mm; if you need to exceed the maximum value, then it is worth reinforcing the screed. The advantage of this material over conventional mortar is that the resulting base is vibration-resistant. The likelihood of cracks forming in it is zero, which significantly increases the service life of the floor. All this, along with efficiency and affordable price leveler makes it a popular material used in critical work. All leading suppliers produce levelers building mixtures, which allows you to select products optimally in accordance with the construction budget.

Today you can get perfectly smooth floors in your apartment without the help of professionals. This article provides step-by-step instruction filling with mixture for leveling. Following it, you can independently level the floor in the house.

So what is a leveler? The bulk of leveling agents in stores are sold in the form of a dry bulk mixture, packaged in bags various volumes. Self-leveling mixtures are produced on cement, polymer-cement, gypsum and polymer-gypsum bases. Used as a solvent for mixtures pure water.

There are two types of leveling mixtures:

levelers for rough leveling;
levelers for final leveling.

The first, rough layer may be the only one, but more often it is covered with a second layer, which is the finishing layer, it allows you to make the leveled surface of the floor smooth.

Basic levelers with coarse fraction components allow you to quickly level the surface relative to pre-prepared markings. Final alignment smoothes out roughness from coarse-grained components of the previous layer, so a thickness of a leveler of several millimeters will be sufficient.

Beginning of work

Floor repairs are carried out after all work on the ceiling, if any, has been completed.

While working, make sure that you and your assistants follow basic safety precautions.

To avoid short circuits and other accidents, de-energize the wiring in the room.
All work should be performed with safety glasses, and it is also recommended to wear a hat.
When using cement-based mixtures, remember that it reacts alkaline with water.
Use rubber gloves when working with such mixtures.
A respirator will prevent harmful dust from entering the Airways. Use a serviceable tool and only for its intended purpose.
Doors and windows in the room must be tightly closed.
About two weeks should pass from the time the foundation is prepared.
The recommended indoor temperature is within +10 - +25 oC, and relative humidity- less than 95%. Avoid drafts in the first 1-2 days after pouring.
You should familiarize yourself with the recommendations of the mixture manufacturer to obtain the maximum quality of the work performed.

Step-by-step instructions for filling a floor with leveler

The base for pouring should be carefully prepared - the final quality largely depends on this. The entire base is completely cleaned of dirt, grease, and easily peelable elements. Fill cracks and large defects with repair mortar.

Install beacons to control the evenness of the surface: not large rooms Self-tapping screws screwed to a level can handle this; in large rooms it is better to use metal profiles.

A damper tape needs to be installed around the perimeter - it will dampen the deformations that inevitably occur at the junction of the wall and the floor. It is especially important to perform this procedure in a new home.

A clean, uniform surface is primed. A primer is needed to reduce the rate of moisture outflow from the leveling layer into the base. For these purposes, there is a special primer for pouring floors, but you can get by with a universal acrylic primer for water based. A dispersion primer will improve the adhesion of the solution to the surface and prevent the formation air bubbles, will help to avoid rapid absorption of water from the leveler.

Dry absorbent surfaces, such as concrete, are recommended to be treated with primer 2-3 times for better effect. For more difficult conditions, special elastic primers are designed, primers with enhanced adhesion for surfaces that do not absorb moisture well. The primer composition must be used in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. A primer is required before applying each layer of leveler.

The evenness of the surface depends on the quality of the marking. The floor level is determined relative to the markings, which are carried out using a water level. To do this, the first arbitrary mark or mark is made at some distance from the lower level. The perimeter marking begins from this mark. It's better to do it together.

One person places the first flask to the mark, the second takes another flask and uses it to mark the marks on other walls, these marks will be at the same level as the first mark. By connecting the marks with a horizontal line, you will get a perfectly flat projection of your floor relative to the horizontal level.

It is necessary to measure the distance from the line to the base in order to determine the lowest and highest angle, and, therefore, find out the thickness of the fill. Having determined the highest angle and made a small indent upward, taking into account the future filling layer, also mark this distance along the entire perimeter.

By connecting these marks with a horizontal line, you will receive a clear guideline for installing guide profiles, which will serve as floor level guidelines throughout the entire area of the room. In this way the floor level is set. At the highest point, the thickness of the leveling layer will be minimal, at the lowest point – maximum. Manufacturers recommend applying the leveler in a layer of 2 to 5 centimeters, but in some cases the filling thickness is too large, so the leveler must be applied in several layers.

Beacons (profiles or self-tapping screws) can be leveled without preliminary marking, but this way you will get flat surface it will be much more difficult. Will help speed up the process laser level. The distance between the beacons should not be wider than the tool used for control (level, rule). Placing beacons is one of the most time-consuming and painstaking stages, but it must be performed with maximum precision.

The marking and preparation of the beacon system has been completed, and the surface has been primed. Now you can begin the main process - pouring. You can do it alone, but it is more convenient to work in pairs.

Into container required size Clean water is poured in, then the dry leveler is slowly poured out. During the process, it is necessary to stir the solution. For this, a drill with a special attachment is used, mixing is performed at low speeds. The purpose of mixing is to obtain a homogeneous, high-quality mass without dry lumps or clots. The leveler for the base layer is made thicker. Excess water leads to foaming of the mixture, which reduces the mechanical strength of the leveler, and delamination of the material may begin when the leveler dries.

The thoroughly mixed solution is laid out on the base, evenly filling the space level with the beacons. Since the solution is quite thick, it does not spread easily on its own. It must be manually distributed over the surface, usually using a spatula or a flat board. By moving it along the beacon, you can distribute the mixture perfectly according to the level.

To get rid of air gaps to remove bubbles in the thickness of the leveler, use a roller with needles. The suitability of the solution for work remains for about half an hour from the moment of dissolution with water. Markings made in advance can be used as technological zones for pouring. This is convenient when working on areas larger than 20 m2. Such zones can be filled one by one.

The poured leveler is given time to dry, but it should not be allowed to quick drying. Avoid drafts, and if the indoor air is too dry, cover the surface with plastic. Drying of the leveler should be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. To avoid mistakes, you should familiarize yourself with the composition and instructions for working with the selected leveler in advance.

The finishing leveler is used in two cases: if perfect smooth surface floor and if initially the base of the floor is quite level and there is no large difference in heights. They work with the finishing leveler in the same way as with the rough leveler, but it is diluted to a higher level. liquid state, which adds several nuances to the work.

For example, a liquid leveler requires a more thorough primer, and in some cases even waterproofing (for example, in conditions multi-storey building, there is a risk of “flooding” the neighbors below).

The base for the finishing leveler is prepared similarly to the first case. There should be no dust, dirt or flaking elements; the clean surface must be thoroughly primed. Beacons are not needed for the finishing leveler, since the liquid solution itself spreads to a perfectly smooth state. That is why such floors are called self-leveling. Levelers of this type are applied thin layer, a thickness of a few millimeters is sufficient, but some solutions can be poured in a layer of up to 3 centimeters. The temperature of the solution, as in the first case, should not be lower than +10 degrees.

The liquid leveler is poured onto the base or onto the rough layer of the leveler and leveled with a spatula or other tool over the surface.

It is important to divide the area into zones that you can fill in about 15 minutes. Each zone should be filled to the required level at a time, without process interruptions. This is the only way to achieve it good quality and durability. Finishing layer It also needs to be protected from drafts and rapid drying. Drying is carried out according to the instructions on the solution packaging.

Bottom line

You can level the floor in your apartment by pouring a leveler yourself. The most difficult stage is the preparation and installation of beacons. Filling is technologically accessible to everyone and does not require special skills or complex tools.

The result is a beautiful, flat floor without distortions relative to the horizontal level. If you plan to lay laminate, parquet or other floor coverings, you can get by base layer leveler If the smoothness of the floor is your main criterion, you must use a finishing leveler.

Filled floors can be used with “warm floor” systems, but this is another topic that has its own technological nuances.