We solve the problem of a crooked floor: dry screed. Pros and cons, reviews, cost of materials

Tags:Bathroom and toilet, Living room and bedroom, Children's room, Kitchen, With your own hands

You can level the differences in the curved floor in different ways. Most often, a concrete screed is used, but there are situations in which pouring is impossible. In this case, only a dry floor screed will help. Pros and cons, reviews, the price of this type of coating, styling features and specialist recommendations are in this material.

Dry screed: pros and cons, reviews, price

Loose mix will keep the floor warm

The content of the article

1 Technological features
2 Fast dry floor screed: pros and cons, reviews, price of ready-made mixtures
- 2.1 Dry floor screed: price per square meter
- 2.2 Reviews
3 Dry coating installation
- 3.1 How to make a dry floor screed with your own hands: video from experts
4 Useful little things
5 Summing up

Technological features

A dry screed is considered to be the most economical leveling method compared to concrete casting. In addition, the technology of a dry floor screed device is considered to be simpler in execution. It does not require specific skills or extensive construction experience. Such work can be performed by a home craftsman, without the involvement of qualified specialists.

On sale you can find ready-made dry mixes for floor screed. Their prices are slightly higher than for ordinary expanded clay

Floor processing is carried out using small bulk materials: expanded clay or coarse-grained perlite sand. The backfill is compacted and covered with gypsum fiber material for strength. After that, the finishing floor is installed from above.

GVL sheets are used to cover the backfill

The number of layers and backfill options can be different, depending on the specific requirements for the room.

You can use a dry screed not only on concrete floors, but also on floors with logs

When using a dry screed:

the difference in floor level is more than four centimeters;
engineering communications in a protective shell were carried out on the floor surface;
for the repair of old wooden surfaces, including parquet boards;
if it is necessary to carry out repairs in an extremely short time;
when working indoors at sub-zero temperatures, when the concrete fill simply does not rise.

Fast dry floor screed: pros and cons, reviews, price of ready-made mixtures

For the choice of the mixture, reviews and price matter. Dry floor screed, pros and cons:

Table 1. Disadvantages of technology

Disadvantage	Description
Does not tolerate contact with water	You cannot use this leveling method on the floors of a bathroom, bathhouse, kitchen. Moisture will cause mold and mildew stains. It is undesirable to arrange water floor heating systems even with reliable insulation.
Has the ability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere	In a cold basement, on a balcony or in a room without heating, the dry mix will gradually absorb dampness and moisture from the air, which will inevitably damage the base.
Does not tolerate mechanical stress	Backfill does not work well in rooms with constant mechanical stress. If the surface is not tamped down firmly enough, the unevenness of the floor will reappear, this will lead to deformation of the laminate or parquet. Under the influence of heavy pieces of furniture, partitions, floors with a dry screed tend to be pressed through.
Significantly reduces room height	It is necessary to take especially careful measurements of the room before the installation of a dry screed. Otherwise, the area of the room can be significantly reduced.
Increased room noise	Due to the special properties of expanded clay, at first the floors will rustle when moving around the room. After the final shrinkage of the material, this should stop.
Breeding of rodents and insects under the floor	In country houses, this drawback occurs quite often. It is not difficult for animals to arrange passages and nests under such a floor. In such a situation, you will have to regularly carry out deratization.

All these nuances should be taken into account and appropriate measures should be taken when operating the premises.

It is safe to say that a dry screed has no less advantages than disadvantages, and its use is justified in most difficult cases.

Table 2. Benefits

Benefits	Description
Ease of installation	Even a novice master can do this work. Laying does not require the use of special equipment or tools.
Speed	The filling itself does not take much time, there is no need to wait for the material to develop. Immediately after leveling and tamping, you can lay the finishing floor and operate the room.
No dirt during installation	This seemingly insignificant advantage can only be assessed in comparison with concrete pouring.
Low material cost	The savings when installing a dry floor screed in an apartment is not only due to the lack of the need to hire qualified workers. Low prices for expanded clay and sand, gypsum fiber boards are available to every developer.
Light weight	This factor is important for buildings with limited supporting structures. The low weight of the screed allows it to be used even in buildings with wooden floors.
Excellent heat and sound insulation	The concrete surface is always cold, and the dry screed perfectly retains heat in the room and isolates all unnecessary sounds.

Dry floor screed: price per square meter

Prices for laying dry screed start at 200 rubles per square meter. For such a price, you can negotiate with a familiar master. Employees from the official company of piglets from 500 rubles, depending on the volume.

The cheapest way to buy ordinary claydite is in the construction market. Ready mixes are on sale.

Table 3. Average cost of expanded clay

Name	Manufacturer	Volume, l	Fraction, mm	Price, rub
Dry backfill for floors	Ecoblocks	40	0-5	134
Expanded clay backfill for precast floors AKZ	AKZ	40	0-5	140
Expanded clay backfill RDS	RDS Stroy	50	0-5	190
Backfill Knauf	Knauf	40	0-5	40

Table 4. Average cost of gypsum fiber boards

Name	Manufacturer	Volume, l	Fraction, mm	Price, rub
Moisture resistant floor element Knauf	Knauf	1200x600	20	269
Knauf gypsum fiber sheet	Knauf	2500x1200	10	463
Knauf GVL Superfloor gypsum fiber	Knauf	2500x600	20	312
Knauf GVL gypsum fiber	Knauf	2500x1200	12,5	499
GSPV moisture resistant gypsum board	PGZ	2500x1250	10	575

Samples of RDS, Kompavit and Knauf floor screeds. The price of different manufacturers is almost the same

Reviews

Andrey, Engels: “We made a dry screed throughout the house. Much faster, easier and better than a "wet" surface. There was a bad experience - they made concrete pouring in the apartment, the workers got sloppy, all the walls got dirty, and besides, they poured it crookedly. On top of all the misfortunes in the hall, the screed cracked. So in the house they decided to do only filling. No problems, everything is smooth, the floors are warm. "

Igor Sergeevich, Ulyanovsk: “We made a backfill in the apartment. Only the bathroom did not dare to align in this way, and, I think, in vain. If you make high-quality waterproofing from above tiles put - you can use there too. Overall, the impressions are good. The first week my wife was worried that the floors were noisy, now everything has calmed down, we don't even remember it. "

Olga, Moscow: “The neighbors upstairs flooded the apartment so that the furniture floated. One room had a concrete screed, the other was dry. A month later, mold appeared on the concrete, and we can't etch it out. And the dry one was simply changed. We opened the floors, removed the wet expanded clay, dried it and filled in a new one. No problem".

Dry coating installation

For laying the covering, materials and tools will be required:

expanded clay and sand;
GVL sheets;
polyethylene and edging tapes;
construction glue;
self-tapping screws;
profile and beacons.

Sequence of work:

Stage - waterproofing

The floors must be covered with foil

The amount of polyethylene film is calculated based on room area... It is necessary to provide for allowances of the order of fifteen percent of the length and width. Polyethylene is sold in pipes with a diameter of three meters. It is cut lengthwise and laid with an overlap on the floor.

Helpful information! Instead of polyethylene, other water-repellent materials can be used.

Stage - installation of beacons

The height of the backfill is determined using a metal profile

Installing beacons is desirable, but not required. You can lay the profile on the floor and navigate along it. This is a more convenient and reliable option.

Stage - filling the mixture

It is better to fill with the mixture in stages, immediately installing several sheets of gypsum fiber board on top of it. Otherwise, the legs will get stuck in the backfill, and dirt and dust will disperse throughout all rooms.

The mixture is distributed

Stage - laying sheet material

The sheets should be laid one by one, not moving them too hard along the surface of the screed. The weight of the leaf is about seventeen kilograms; it is better to attract an assistant to place it. To prevent the outer sheet from being buried in the backfill, you need to cut the fold along the wall.

Each sheet will require about ten self-tapping screws. GVL is laid with an offset on the adhesive base.

The seams are also glued, and the sheets themselves are additionally fastened with self-tapping screws

Helpful information! To work with GVL sheets, special fasteners are needed, they have a tapered slot.

How to make a dry floor screed with your own hands: video from experts

Useful little things

If, nevertheless, there is an urgent need to make a dry screed in the kitchen, you should use two layers of waterproofing: above and below the backfill.

Dry floor screed scheme

The tile can be attached directly to the sheets of gypsum fiber board using a building adhesive.

A self-leveling floor can be installed on dry backfill

The joints of linoleum on top of the dry screed are filled with putty.
Although the dry backfill is ready for operational loads immediately after installation, it is better to let it “lie down” at least a day so that the glue can properly hold the sheets together.

Dry backfill is suitable for electric floors

Summing up

We reviewed the pros and cons, prices and reviews on the use of dry floor screed. It cannot be unequivocally stated that this alignment method is the best of the existing ones. It, like any technology, has its own special requirements.If you take them into account and prepare in advance for possible difficulties, you can achieve excellent results. A dry screed will become a reliable heat insulator, preventing the penetration of extraneous sounds.

Ceramic tiles can be laid on top of such a floor.

It is not difficult to mount it, even a person who does not have construction experience can cope with the task. Such coverage will cost much less than the others and will last for more than a decade.

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