Linoleum underlay: a whim or a necessity

Fiberboard waves. What to do to prevent fiberboard from going in waves. Fiberboard ceiling decoration: technology. How to level an old wooden floor under a laminate: methods and techniques

Among the different options for leveling and finishing the floor, there are the cheapest and simplest ones. One of them is laying fiberboard on the floor. This is a practical and affordable option that will rid the surface of minor irregularities. Fiberboard has its own characteristics and contraindications for use - all this, as well as how to properly lay the material, will be discussed in this article.

Fiberboard as a material is known to everyone. The sheets are used for upholstering the back wall of cabinet furniture and for various other purposes. Fiberboard is a sheet product made on the basis of waste wood processing enterprises. These wastes are steamed, milled, mixed with resins, water repellents and antiseptics, and pressed under high pressure. The result is flat and even, but rather soft sheets.

On a note! The abbreviation "Fibreboard" stands for simply - it is a fiberboard.

The dimensions of the fiberboard sheet are standard - 3.2x1700x2745 mm, although the thickness can vary from 2.5 to 4 mm. On the front side, the material is smooth, and on the seamy side, it is rough to the touch, having a mesh pattern, which appears due to the fact that during production the material is laid and dried on a special mesh with fine cells. There is always a demand for fiberboard; sheets can be purchased at any hardware store or hardware store.

Fiberboard is also used for finishing and leveling floors. It is especially common in older apartments and houses, where the subfloor is usually made of wood rather than concrete. Here it acts as a leveling material before laying finishing floor coverings - carpet, linoleum, etc. Fiberboard can also act directly as a finishing material, but it needs to be applied a final decorative layer - for example, paint.

Description and types of fiberboard for the floor

There are several types of fiberboard. Basically, they differ from each other in terms of density.

Table. The main types of fiberboard.

Operation of OSB floors

The wooden surface created from OSB allows any decorative finish on top to be carried out. The cladding not only gives the floor a beautiful look, contributes to comfortable operation, but also protects the OSB sheets from various influences.

It is impossible to arrange a warm floor under OSB slabs, since high temperatures will provoke the evaporation of formaldehydes that adhere the fibers and this can cause the presence of toxins in the air in the room. On the other hand, the high insulating properties of OSB boards do not allow heat to efficiently enter the house and the efficiency of such heating will significantly decrease.

Subject to the technology of fastening the sheets and maintaining optimal moisture / temperature levels in the room, the OSB sheets will last a long time and efficiently, contributing to the extension of the service life of the finish coating and comfort.

Step-by-step installation instructions

After the preparation of the wooden subfloor and linoleum, they begin to lay the topcoat.

Unfolded rolls of linoleum after exposure are smoothed from the middle to the edges.
An allowance of 70 mm in the length and width of the linoleum strips allows you to put the coating on the walls by 2–4 cm and make an overlap of the same size at the junction of the panels.
Linoleum is cut along the walls, leaving a gap of about 5 mm. The overlap at the junction is cut in the middle.
Cut off the coating at the outer and inner corners of the room.
Each canvas is folded back to the middle.
A layer of adhesive is applied to the freed base of the floor with a notched trowel. For dispersion glue, a spatula with a tooth height of 0.6–0.7 mm is used, for bitumen mastic - 0.4–0.5 mm, for rubber compounds and synthetic resins - 0.3 mm.
The glue is applied to the back of baseless linoleum.
The same operation is carried out with the second side of the web.
The laid panels are rolled with a special roller. You can put any sheet material and load with suitable items.
When gluing, make sure that no air in the form of bubbles remains under the coating. It needs to be squeezed out.
In the places where the door frame platbands are installed, linoleum is brought under them.
At the bottom of the doorway, at the junction of the panels of the two rooms, a threshold is installed in the form of a smooth slat. So that the heads of the screws do not come out, choose a nut model with an inner track for the screw heads.
Dowels are inserted into the drilled holes in the wooden floor. Self-tapping screws are pushed into the threshold track with hats. Then, by lightly tapping a rubber hammer, the threshold is nailed so that the screws enter the dowels.
A plinth is attached along the perimeter of the floor. It is installed so that a narrow gap remains between it and the linoleum.
For better fixation of the joints of the panels, the seams are welded with a polymer cord. For this, a special welding machine is used. It is a hair dryer to the nozzle from which the welded cord is fed.
When laying the substrate, first glue it to the floor, and then glue the linoleum.

You can lay fiberboard on the floor. Basic conditions for laying fiberboard on a wooden floor

Each floor covering has its advantages and disadvantages, and fiberboard flooring on a wooden floor remains the simplest and most practical. It does not always make sense to rip old boards off the floor, especially in old houses and suburban buildings. They provide surface integrity and extra warmth. However, the boards deform over time and require partial or complete replacement.

Alignment surfaces with plywood sheets, Fiberboard or chipboard (not to be confused), experts recommend doing on logs made of high-quality timber. However, thin layers of these materials cannot always withstand significant loads, for example:

for working machines that give a lot of vibration;
under thin metal furniture legs;
for heavy and bulky furniture, especially if the supports are not on the logs under the sheets of the covering, but on the gaps.

The choice of materials for laying and how professionally the work on their installation is done is very important. It directly depends on whether there will be floors later:

even;
solid;
durable;
sustainable.

A horizontal surface is a fundamental criterion for the quality of flooring work. Therefore, prepare the necessary tools in advance, including a universal building level, without which it is difficult to verify the accuracy of the floor geometry.

It is equally important to properly prepare the old base:

thoroughly clean and remove all construction waste;
remove the skirting board, which interferes with mounting the base under the fiberboard;
fill up all the cracks in the floor for tightness;
clean off everything that peels and crumbles on the floor;
mark the level of the lower horizontals near the walls, along which the surface will be aligned;
if the entrance to the cellar is supposed to be in the floor of a summer cottage, a country house or a building, then it is better to start with its arrangements, and then lay the floors.

Attention: If the logs are ideally set, then poor-quality work on laying fiberboard sheets can ruin the whole impression!

Fiberboard should not be laid too tightly without a gap, otherwise, when the level fluctuates, their edges will rise, splitting. The sheets should also recede from the walls of the order of 4-7 mm - this edge will still go under the plinth.

Experts recommend starting the laying of fiberboard sheets from the opposite wall to the front door.If there is no experience in how to lay fiberboard on a wooden floor, experts recommend that the first layer be checked immediately with a level for leveling if any inaccuracies are detected. Each subsequent row is checked horizontally by the same method - haste in case of inaccuracies is inappropriate. When gluing the plates, it is advisable to lay the load on top of the seams, and if they are nailed, then it is not necessary. If the floors are lined for laying linoleum or carpet, then no further processing is expected.

Fiberboard on the floor under linoleum. Is it possible to lay hardboard under linoleum, advantages and technology

The flooring market offers the buyer a lot of interesting and profitable offers, which allows you to choose the option of the product that best meets the needs in terms of quality and price. However, among all types of floor coverings, linoleum is in greatest demand. This material is notable for its low cost, while it loses little to expensive floor coverings, and sometimes even surpasses them.

Among the many advantages of linoleum are reliability in operation, high strength characteristics, undemanding maintenance, moisture resistance and ease of installation. And this is just a small part of the benefits. However, in order for the coating to serve flawlessly for many years, it is required to provide a high-quality substrate when laying it. You can put hardboard under the linoleum, in this case you will provide the coating with an even base and extend its life. How to choose the right material and lay linoleum on hardboard, we will talk in this article.

Hardboard

Choosing hardboard correctly

Immediately, we will say that the hardboard (fiberboard) presented in stores has a marking, which is set depending on the manufacturing method and the type of finish. If there is a T on the material, this marking indicates that the material is solid. By the type of front side, hardboard is divided into the following types: processed and unprocessed. If the letter C is in the marking, it means that the hardboard is superhard.

Front and back side

Hardboard sheets are coated with crushed wood pulp or are produced without it. On the market, in addition to the standard hardboard, which has a brown front side and a corrugated back side, another type of material is presented - laminated hardboard. Its coating imitates mosaics, tiles, stone and so on. The surface of such sheets can be structured or smooth.

Laminated material

When choosing such a material, it is worthwhile to understand exactly what purpose it is intended for. If hardboard is purchased for laying linoleum and performing the function of a substrate, in this case, an unrefined material will do. It will perfectly cope with such a task, moreover, its cost is lower than that of a laminated or refined one.

What is worth knowing

According to its characteristics, the material is close to natural wood, from which it is made. Therefore, it is an environmentally friendly material, there are no hazardous chemicals in its composition. Although the composition contains special additives that provide the hardboard with moisture resistant quality, it is not recommended to use it in rooms with high humidity conditions. Therefore, if the flooring is to be installed in the bathroom, such a backing under the linoleum is not recommended.

Before mounting the sheets under linoleum, they are left to lie in a room for acclimatization for 2-3 days. Sheets are transported and stored only in a horizontal position. They are placed on a flat surface and left in the room for several days, during which time they absorb moisture from the room.

Attention! If you decide to lay hardboard in a damp room, in this case you will have to subject the material to additional processing with a moisture-resistant composition. Dignity

Dignity

The main advantages of hardboard:

ecological cleanliness;
ease of installation;
low cost;
excellent thermal insulation qualities.

Styling

The best way to fix the sheets is considered to be gluing them with the help of special adhesives. If the material for linoleum is laid on a screed, then mastic is used for fixing, and if on a tree, then glue is suitable here. Adhesives are applied to a clean surface, it is recommended to prime it still. After the hardboard sheet is glued to the base of the subfloor, it is pressed down with heavy objects, which are evenly positioned over the surface of the material.

If there are slight differences at the base, the sheets are glued in two layers, while the displacement of the seams must be observed. This step will allow you to get a reliable and durable base for laying linoleum.

Sheets can be fixed with using screws or nails, they are placed at a distance of at least 15 cm from each other, otherwise the laid material may go in waves. The heads of the nails are sunk in the sheets. After the sheets have been laid over the entire area of the room, linoleum can be rolled out onto them.

Linoleum selection

Before properly laying linoleum on a concrete floor, it is necessary to pay serious attention to the choice of coating, paying attention to both the appearance (design, pattern, shade) and properties (material of manufacture, safety, performance characteristics, resistance to various influences and etc.). In addition, linoleum may differ in cost, thickness, purpose.

All currently existing options for linoleum can be divided into two categories: natural and artificial material. The natural coating is created from a variety of components - oak bark flour, pine resin, wood, etc. Artificial is usually made from polyvinyl chloride, the thickness of which can be from 1 to 6 layers.

Artificial linoleum is cheaper and more durable, but it can be toxic, give off a bad scent, and shrink over time. According to the scope of application, this type of coating can be: household, commercial, semi-commercial, and also specialized. Each category assumes specific characteristics of wear resistance and thickness.

Types of linoleum based on:

PVC - polyvinyl chloride can be single / multi-layer, without a base, with fabric and special heat and sound insulation coating.
Glyphthalic - from different types of alkyd resins with fillers and dyes.
Colloxylin - this type of linoleum belongs to nitrocellulose materials, without a base.
Relin (rubber) - with a base of two layers.
Natural - from different types of environmentally friendly raw materials.

Here the choice is simple: for residential premises with a not very high load (rooms), budget options are chosen, for places with high traffic (a corridor, for example) - semi-commercial, for arranging offices and public premises - commercial or specialized.

Linoleum may or may not have a base. The base material of fabric, jute, felt, polyester, foam has the best heat / noise insulation characteristics, so it is more often chosen for residential premises. Linoleum without a base is durable and strong, it is laid where there is a high permeability.

The choice of linoleum color for different rooms:

Small room - covering with a small pattern.
For several rooms - the same colors or well-combined shades will visually expand the space.
A dark coating will add intimacy and coziness to the room, better suited for large rooms.
The light coating looks great in small rooms, making them more spacious and freer.
For modern interiors, monochromatic coatings are often chosen.
For a classic decor, imitation of natural wood, stone, etc. is suitable.
Avant-garde premises can be decorated with linoleum with unusual patterns, original drawings.

Before choosing and laying linoleum, you need to decide on the technical characteristics that the material marking demonstrates:

The first digit is the type of premises: 1 for premises with minimal traffic, 2 for living rooms, 3 for offices, 4 for industrial premises.
The second number is loads: 1 indicates the lowest, 4 - the highest.

So, for a bedroom and an office, you can choose class 21 linoleum, for a kitchen or a corridor it is better to take a 23 or 24 class, but 31-33 is better.

The choice of linoleum for different rooms:

Corridor, kitchen - it is better to choose a coating with a thickness of at least 3 millimeters, a semi-commercial durable will be well used.
Living room - the thickness should be up to 1.5 millimeters: even polyester household linoleum with a low cost and a PVC-based coating will do.
Bedroom - you can lay a thin coating with a thickness of 1.2-1.5 millimeters: household type based on foamed polyvinyl chloride.
Children's - there is a high risk of mechanical damage, so you need to choose a semi-commercial coating with an upper protective layer of at least 0.25 millimeters.
Balcony - it is better not to lay linoleum, as it can collapse under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and precipitation.

Views

The building materials industry produces several types of roll flooring. All of them are acceptable for laying on floors made of wood or wood materials (OSB, fiberboard, plywood or chipboard). The following types of linoleum are sold in the retail network:

PVC cover.
Alkyd.
Relin.
Colloxylin.

PVC cover

This natural flooring is made from linseed oil. According to the degree of wear resistance, polyvinyl chloride linoleum is of three types:

domestic;
semi-commercial;
commercial.

Domestic

The material is produced in all colors and shades. You can lay linoleum on a wooden floor throughout the apartment, especially in children's rooms. The coating is environmentally friendly and does not emit harmful vapors. It is not afraid of moisture. The linoleum underlay increases the heat and sound insulation properties of household flooring.

Semi-commercial

Linoleum has an average wear resistance. It is better for them to cover the floors in common areas with a small load (offices, small shops).

Commercial

This type of flooring is characterized by the highest wear resistance, withstands the movement of large human flows for 7-10 years. Commercial linoleum is laid in public places such as cinemas, restaurants, conference rooms.

Alkyd linoleum

The production of alkyd coatings is carried out by complex technical processing of vegetable oils (linseed, cottonseed and others). The material is wear-resistant, environmentally friendly, aesthetic, easy to clean. Linoleum has a strong felt or jute base. It is used for finishing floors in medical, recreational, children's and educational institutions.

Relin

The technology for the production of rubber linoleum consists in the processing of used rubber, rubber and plastic products. Practical and cheap flooring is used in various buildings and structures. It is not used for flooring in houses and apartments. Relin is produced both in rolls and in the form of tiles.

Colloxylin

Its basis is nitrocellulose filled with pigments, plasticizers and fire retardant. Linoleum is produced without a base. It is lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant and does not fade from direct sunlight. It is used in residential and public buildings. Environmental friendliness allows the use of such linoleum in medical and childcare facilities.

Selecting the type of underlay

V trade network of building materials offer several types of substrates. All of them have high individual quality characteristics:

jute;
cork;
linseed;
combined.

Jute

This is a rather coarse fabric made from the fibers of the jute plant.Bags, ropes and rugs are made from it. There are substances in the structure of the fiber that prevent rotting and burning. The jute backing fits easily over wood floors.

Cork

The material is made from crumbs of cork bark. Such a substrate does not contain synthetic substances, which characterizes it as an environmentally friendly material. The cork supports the linoleum well, keeping its flat surface. A cork backing should not be used in rooms where heavy furniture will be standing.

Linen

The linen fiber backing has a porous structure, which creates good conditions for natural ventilation. In the manufacture of linen material is treated with fire retardants and antiseptics. Due to its porosity, the substrate has high heat and sound insulation characteristics.

Combined

Substrates of this type have in their structure in equal parts linen, jute and wool. The combined material surpasses all types of substrates in quality and price.

Some types of roll coverings already have a felt, jute or fabric base. Such linoleum does not need a substrate.

Marking

Today on the market you can find a huge assortment of fiberboard boards. In order not to get lost in their variety, you should focus on the following markings:

T - hard slabs, the front surface was not additionally refined;
Т-П - the frontal surface is tinted;
Т-С - the frontal surface is made of finely dispersed wood pulp;
T-SP - the front surface is made of tinted wood pulp and painted;
M-1 - M-3 - soft plates;
ST - superhard plates, the front surface is not refined;
ST-S - the front surface is made of finely dispersed wood pulp.

Floor preparation for linoleum

Before laying linoleum on a concrete floor, it is extremely important to properly prepare the surface. The durability and quality of the coating will depend on this stage.

It is not worth laying linoleum on concrete without preparation - this will lead to the rapid destruction of the layer. There are several ways of preparation, each master chooses the one that suits him best.

Wet screed

Before laying linoleum on concrete, they perform a number of works designed to level the floor, eliminate defects, and create a high-quality base for finishing.

Stages of work:

Dismantling of all previously laid coverings to clean concrete, cleaning up debris and dirt, removing dust with a vacuum cleaner.
Sealing all joints between ceilings and walls, filling gaps with concrete, filling potholes with foam.
Surface waterproofing - the easiest way is to lay the plastic wrap in strips of the desired size with a large overlap, going onto the walls (just above the level of the future floor). In order to compensate for the thermal expansion of the finished screed, expansion / damping tape can be installed around the edges of the room.
Marking the top level of the screed using a laser level that will show a clear horizontal line on the wall. It is repeated with a pencil or a stretch of threads. The thickness of the screed is equal to a maximum of 3 centimeters - this is the top level line.
Installation of beacons on the floor - small sections of a perforated profile. The height of the profiles is regulated by plastic wedges, which are knocked towards each other under the profile.
Preparation of the solution: pouring the dry mixture into water, thoroughly mixing it with a drill mixer, settling the mixture.
Pouring mortar in areas between two beacons installed in parallel. They begin pouring the solution from the far wall, the surplus is moved to the empty zones with a metal rule, which rests on the edges of the profile beacons. So, in stripes, the surface is poured and becomes even.
Then they wait for the solidification time of the solution, observing all the rules for care.

Self-leveling mixture

The preparation of a concrete floor for linoleum involves the elimination of any irregularities and the perfect leveling of the surface. Often, after pouring the screed, small defects appear that need to be corrected. If we put linoleum thick and soft, with a springy backing, this can be avoided.

When it is planned to lay thin linoleum without a base, it is imperative to level the floor to an ideal state. For this purpose, you can use ready-made dry mixes of a water-soluble type.

Their difference from other materials used for a coarser leveling is that they are able to independently distribute (spread) over the surface under the influence of gravity and do not imply any mechanical processing by the rule.

After the mixture is poured, it is advisable to carefully process the surface with a spiked roller. This is done starting from the far corners, passing to them in special spiked shoes. After the mixture has frozen, two layers of primer must be applied to the floor, and then linoleum must be laid.

Dry screed

This technology is also used quite often and allows you to quickly, qualitatively level the floor before proceeding with the linoleum flooring.

How to level a concrete floor:

Neat removal of old flooring.
Sealing all joints between the slab and walls using polyurethane foam or cement-sand mortar.
Cover the surface of the slab with a layer of waterproofing, choosing the most suitable material for this purpose.
Placing beacons on the floor is the same as in the case of using a wet screed.
Filling all the gaps between the lighthouses with dry bulk insulation (expanded clay, for example, is well suited for this purpose). Thorough leveling of insulation using a metal rule.
Laying floor slabs on top of lighthouses - you can use thick dense sheet plywood, sheets of gypsum fiber board. Plates are stacked in two rows so that the joints of the plates of the first row are not located under the joints of the second. You can also use ready-made materials to create the floor - the Superpol system, for example, which is already equipped with locks and guarantees a gapless connection.

Regardless of the chosen method of leveling the surface, all work should be done very carefully and carefully, avoiding any inaccuracies and irregularities. Then it will be easier to lay linoleum, and the quality of installation of the topcoat will increase significantly.

Step width between lags

The step between the lags is selected taking into account the thickness of the floorboard. The thicker it is, the more it is allowed to take a step between the bars. In addition, the thicker board sags less under stress.

The table below allows you to quickly select the distance between the bars.

You can also resort to the following rule: with an increase in the width of the logs by 5 mm, their step increases by 10 cm.

When installing plywood, the lag section is calculated differently. This is due to the fact that it has great bending strength. With a sheet material thickness of 1.5-1.8 cm, it is fashionable to place the logs against each other at a distance of up to 40 cm. It is necessary to install the beams so that the sheets are fixed at the edges and in the middle. Moreover, the edges of the sheets should fit in half the width of the timber.

Views

When building a room from scratch, the choice of flooring is done in advance. In a private house, the floor is usually warm, even and reliable, so any linoleum is chosen, and a substrate is not needed here. Also, it is not necessary if you want to lay linoleum on top of an existing one, if the latter is in good condition. But when the floor is to be repaired or the task of sound and thermal insulation is set, the substrate will help to solve these problems. As a rule, this is required in post-war houses with wooden floors, barrack-type houses, "Khrushchevs" and private buildings.

For soundproofing

For sound insulation, you can choose a cork backing.This is perhaps the most versatile option, albeit an expensive one. The environmentally friendly substrate pressed from the bark of a tree gives softness, but when exposed to mechanical stress, it deforms, leaving dents. Therefore, it should be denser. You can put it in a room where bulky and heavy furniture is not used. The combination backing option will also reduce the amount of penetrating noise. It contains wool, linen and jute. It is dense and tough enough for a coating such as linoleum, and therefore fits very well under it.

The foamed version can also be used, it is less environmentally friendly, but an order of magnitude cheaper than the others. It is made from polymers of a porous nature, the basis of which is isolon, or penoizol. In addition, a thicker version of the substrate for soft linoleum will not work, it will tear. With frequent walking, its pores stick together and over time, "paths" are formed in those places where linoleum is most often stepped on. To get rid of these troubles, a thin plywood layer or fiberboard is nailed or screwed on top of the substrate.

For insulation

In addition to sound insulation, floor insulation is often required. It should be noted that the wood floor itself is warm. But there are objects located above the arch of the building, on the basement floor, having a damp basement, or simply there are fistulas in the joints of the outer slabs or brickwork.

In these cases, a draft invariably walks under the floor. In addition to cork and combined substrates, which are also heat insulators, a material made from flax fibers is used, which is rolled on special machines under the influence of high temperatures. This option protects the surface from drafts, and also provides ventilation between the base of the floor and the linoleum, which prevents the accumulation of moisture inside.

The jute substrate does not get wet, but absorbs moisture into itself, gradually getting rid of it. These options are impregnated with a fire retardant that prevents the wood from rotting and protects against fungus. The foam material insulates the floor well, protects the space from drafts. But you need to take into account that it wears out over time. In addition, it does not allow moisture to pass through. In combination with waterproof linoleum, accidental water ingress into the joint does not bode well.