Do-it-yourself floor repair in an apartment chipboard

In detail: do-it-yourself floor repair in an apartment with chipboard from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

How to lay the chipboard on the floor correctly. Recommendations for stacking chipboard with your own hands, the main stages and features of work on stacking chipboard with your own hands

Chipboard acts as a leveling material for the final floor covering. It must be laid on a plank floor, on logs and on a concrete base. But due to the properties of the material to absorb moisture, it should be used only in dry rooms and precisely follow the technology of installation of all layers of the finishing floor. In the article, we will consider the features of laying chipboard on a floor made of different materials.

A large number of advantages have made chipboard a popular material for rough flooring.

  • If the chipboard is laid directly on the joists, then the cost of the floor will be much less than when using edged boards.
  • The boards have a flat surface and are suitable for laying laminate, tiles and parquet.
  • Chipboard has high strength and rigidity. In terms of compressive strength, it is almost equal to wood.
  • Provide sound and heat insulation.
  • Can be laid on glue, as chipboard has high adhesion.
  • Laying slabs is an easy task that does not require skills and special tools.
  • It has a long service life and is not susceptible to decay.
  • A compensating layer is provided in the construction of chipboard plates, it will protect the seams of the floor material from destruction under poor operating conditions.

But chipboard has drawbacks

  • In the manufacture of plates, formaldehyde, which is harmful to human health, is used.
  • They have low resistance to moisture, so their use is limited. When wet, the leaf swells and crumbles. Moisture-resistant chipboard can withstand no more than 4 wetting cycles.
  • It is necessary to transport carefully because of the high fragility of the edges. Often they break off, and the docking will no longer be tight.
  • Russian chipboard, which is used everywhere due to its low cost, is fire hazardous.
  • Due to the low density of the material, it is better to use self-tapping screws, since the nails will not fix it firmly enough.
  • Needs a mandatory topcoat, as the material is not abrasion resistant.
Video (click to play).

  • Plywood is more expensive than chipboard.
  • Plywood is made from veneer, and chipboard is made from shavings. Therefore, plywood is more resistant to moisture and mechanical stress.
  • Chipboard has a lock connection and is already with a decorative laminated coating, plywood is suitable only for subfloors.
  • Chipboard contains a phenolic component, which provides for the technology of manufacturing these boards. Plywood may or may not contain phenols harmful to humans.
  • Chipboard is a panel material. It is made from wood shavings and resin by pressing. Despite its excellent characteristics, it is not possible to use it for flooring in all cases.
  • It can be used only for residential premises, where the humidity does not exceed 60%, and the air temperature does not drop below 10 degrees.
  • Cannot be used in crowded places or in those rooms where a high load will be placed on the floor. Chipboard can deform and begin to collapse.
  • It is perfect for leveling and insulating a plank floor for laying a finishing floor covering.
  • When arranging a log under a chipboard, the resulting space is additionally insulated and soundproofed.
  • This material is perfect if you need to restore the old floor in an apartment or house, but there is no way to dismantle it or make a screed.

Tip: if the chipboard sheets are green, this means that urea-melamide resin was used instead of formaldehyde. Which not only improves moisture-resistant characteristics, but is also harmless to humans.

  • Sheets of grooved chipboard have a tongue / groove system, which will guarantee strong seamless joints.
  • The presence of ridges and grooves in the locking system also makes it possible to shorten the installation time, and the joints are particularly strong and less susceptible to deformation under high loads.
  • They are used as additional reinforcement for flooring, for example, on model catwalks.

Chipboard is marked by strength class. Before buying, you should read it carefully.

  • Chipboard PA. These are the sheets with the greatest strength. They are simple and laminated. Suitable as a topcoat in rooms with low traffic.
  • Chipboard with a density of less than 550 kg / m3 is used for sub-flooring and as thermal insulation.
  • Chipboard with a density of 500 - 750 m / 3 is recommended as a base for laminate and parquet. It levels the floor and is strong enough to be laid on logs.
  • According to the degree of safety for human health, the chipboard is divided into classes E-1 and E-2. They indicate that the formaldehyde content is within the normal range. But in any case, they are not recommended to be used as a topcoat, but to be used as a rough base.
  • Chipboard with a density of 750 kg / m3 is more moisture resistant. It withstands 2-3 wetting cycles without losing its technical characteristics. This is important if there is high humidity below (in the basement).
  • Also, a special marking also speaks about the moisture resistance of the material. So, the plate with the designation P5 is the most moisture resistant - when it is completely wet during the day, it swells by no more than 10%. Material marked P3 and P6 swell much more and are only suitable for dry rooms.
  • The thinner the chipboard sheet, the larger the step is allowed between the lags. Choosing a thickness is better than 2.4 mm. Chipboard 1.6 mm is only suitable for laying on a solid base (plank or concrete floor). But the differences in height should be minimal - up to 2 mm.

In accordance with GOST, the length of the slab can be from 1830 to 5680 mm, the width is 122 mm, and the thickness is from 10 to 38 mm.

The most popular chipboard boards, which are most often found on sale, have the following dimensions:

  • length 2750 mm, width 1830 mm, thickness 16 mm;
  • length 2440 mm, width 1830 mm, thickness 16 mm.

To calculate the required number of chipboard sheets for a room, you need to make simple calculations:

  • first, it calculates the area of ​​the room by multiplying the length by the width, for example, let's take a room of 5x3 m. The floor area will be 15 m2;
  • then the area of ​​one sheet of chipboard is calculated 2.75x1.83 = 5.033 m2;
  • now you can find out how many sheets you need, for this we divide the floor area by the area of ​​sheet 15: 5.03 = 3 pcs. (rounded, taking into account the indents from the walls).

If chipboard is supposed to be laid directly on the concrete floor, the screed must be in perfect condition. If it is old, then all irregularities, cracks and differences in height must be leveled. And the topcoat will quickly deteriorate.

  • Before laying, the prepared screed is cleaned not only of debris, but also of dust with a construction vacuum cleaner. If wet cleaning was carried out, the base is allowed time to dry completely.
  • Before laying chipboard sheets, they are treated with moisture-resistant impregnation. Linseed oil is suitable for these purposes.
  • When the processing is finished, they are laid on the floor in a checkerboard pattern. To prevent squeaking, small gaps are left between the sheets.
  • They also make a small indent from the walls - 1 cm. The last sheets are cut to size with a jigsaw.
  • Chipboard is attached to concrete on dowel-nails using a perforator. There are 14-16 fasteners per sheet, which are evenly distributed along the edges, corners and center.

Wooden logs are used if the house where the work is being carried out has a wooden floor or the concrete slab is badly damaged and it is not possible to make a new screed. This is a more time consuming and costly process, but it has several advantages:

  • you can additionally insulate the floor and make noise insulation by placing mineral wool in the space between the logs;
  • additional communications are secretly carried out under the floor;
  • the resulting surface will be almost perfectly flat.
  • wooden block for logs;
  • chipboard plates with a thickness of 12 mm;
  • building level;
  • roulette;
  • screwdriver and hammer drill;
  • jigsaw;
  • dowel-nails and self-tapping screws for wood.
  • It is advisable to put a moisture-resistant material under the logs - a film or smear the concrete with liquid mastic (primer).
  • The lag at the doorway should be of the greatest strength - 5-6 cm thick.
  • In order for the lags to stand evenly, markings are made around the perimeter of the room with a level (preferably laser). Guided by it, log boards are attached from opposite ends of the room. A string is pulled along them, which will become a reference point for all subsequent lags.
  • If you need to do something above, then a piece of chipboard, plywood or OSB is laid under it. The step between the lags is the same, and in such a way that all the joints of the sheets are in the center of the boards. The maximum step is 40 cm.
  • Attach the bars to the anchors using a perforator.
  • Insulation can be laid in the resulting space. If sound insulation is also needed, then it is better to choose mineral wool, and if it is just thermal insulation, then foam plastic crumbs or ecowool, which fill the entire space. To do this, use wide boards, fastening them with self-tapping screws perpendicular to the direction of the lag with a step of 50 cm. It turns out a lattice and very strong base.
  • Chipboard is attached to the crate with a 10 mm distance from the wall. If necessary, the edges are trimmed so that the joint fits in the middle of the sheathing board. The sheets are staggered, the gap between them is also made 10 - 15 mm.
  • Self-tapping screws are twisted frequently, in 20 cm increments over the entire sheet area.
  • For reliable fixation, the length of the self-tapping screws must be three times the width of the chipboard. When screwing, the caps should be recessed into the material by 1 mm.
  • It remains only to lay the substrate and mount the finishing floor covering.

Advice: in case of improper stacking, when the sheets are placed close to each other without the provided lock connection, after a while a creak appears. How to prevent chipboard from squeaking on the floor when laying with your own hands? It is very simple, between the sheets necessarily leave gaps of 1 cm. No joints - no squeak.

Chipboard tongue-and-groove plates have a tongue / groove joint. It is made on all 4 sides, which guarantees a tight and strong connection. In addition, this facilitated the assembly, it will be done with high quality, even if the stacker is doing it for the first time.

Due to this, tongue-and-groove chipboard acquires a number of advantages at once:

  • simple and quick installation, which is accessible even to a non-professional;
  • absolutely smooth surface, no gaps;
  • quick and easy dismantling if necessary;
  • has high fracture and pressure strength characteristics. The tongue-and-groove chipboard, laid on logs with a pitch of 40 cm, without deformation, sagging and squeaking, can withstand a high load;
  • the tongue / groove system evenly distributes the load on the adjacent slabs through the lock connection, which makes the coating even more rigid.

Chipboard is also used to level walls and ceilings instead of drywall. For this, plates of 9 -12 mm are used. It will be an excellent base for any topcoat: plaster, wallpaper, tiles. And unlike gypsum boards, the bearing capacity of such walls is much higher.

Most manufacturers of tongue-and-groove chipboard make their material more resistant to moisture than normal. But there are no peculiarities of laying moisture-resistant chipboard with your own hands, all work is carried out according to the usual technology, which will be described below.

How to lay moisture-resistant chipboard with your own hands video

  • Having checked the horizontal evenness of the lag, they begin to lay the first sheet of grooved chipboard from the far wall. That is, from the opposite wall from the entrance. Fix it with self-tapping screws to the lag by the thorn. Along the perimeter, the step between the fasteners is 20 cm, in the center of the sheet 25-30 cm is allowed. By screwing the screws, the caps are deepened by 1 mm.
  • Before putting the second sheet, PVA glue is applied to the spike along the entire length. This will make the connection more airtight and tighter. Insert the next plate with the groove and press the joint so that the adhesive is evenly distributed. In order for the spike to fully enter the groove, a bar with a groove is applied to the sheet to be mounted and knocked on it with a hammer. In this way, the material and the connecting element will not be damaged when fitting the sheets.
  • This method is used to lay the entire floor. All joints are located strictly on the logs. If the subfloor made of chipboard is made in a narrow room, the logs should be located across the movement.
  • Laminated chipboard already has a decorative and durable top layer. Therefore, it is used as a topcoat for floors, walls and ceilings.
  • Such slabs necessarily have a lock connection so that the floor covering is solid and even.
  • To protect the joints from swelling, when moisture gets on them, all joints are glued with PVA glue during installation. And after laying, on top of all the joints are treated with paraffin. A regular white candle will do.

Chipboard floor can be done, in principle, for several reasons. Firstly, chipboard can be used as a material for leveling the floor, and on top of it, lay the main coating, for example, linoleum, cavrolin, laminate. For example, old plank floors can be leveled in this way, but it is worth remembering that the floor level will rise by at least 20-30 mm. Secondly, Chipboard for floor used for the purpose of insulation. If you put the topcoat on a bare concrete-cement screed, then in winter it will not be very comfortable for you and your loved ones to walk on such a floor. To somehow rectify the situation, pre-stack chipboard. Well, and thirdly, on top of a rough concrete screed, you can organize the so-called chipboard floor on logs.

Particle board is wood shavings mixed with resin. When such a mixture is hot pressed, the well-known chipboard is learned. Plates are produced in thicknesses of 10, 18, 20 and 30 mm. For floors, a slab with a thickness of 18-20 mm is usually used.

In the first case, that is, to level the floor with chipboard sheets, you must first prepare the old base. As a rule, plank floors are leveled in this way. Before laying chipboard, it is necessary to get rid of the creak of the boards, which almost always appears in places with increased stress, for example, aisles. Find the old place where the board is attached to the joists and use a 150mm nail to make a new connection. In this way, eliminate the creaking of the planks across the entire floor area.

When you dismantle old skirting boards, please note that there is a gap of about 10mm from the laid boards to the wall. The same gap should be observed when installing a chipboard floor. This gap for expansion of the material will later be closed by a plinth, but if it is not left, then with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity in the room, the chipboard sheets can rise, damaging the finish floor covering.

Taking into account the gap, prepare a chipboard for the entire area of ​​the room. You will probably need to saw through the sheets. Here you need to act carefully, because the board crumbles during sawing. For a high-quality cut, use a hacksaw with fine teeth, and it is better to stick adhesive tape or molar tape along the cut line. If you need to drill a chipboard, do it with a sharp drill at high drill speeds.

Chipboard, like any material made of wood, has an extremely negative attitude to the effects of moisture, therefore, it is recommended to completely process the sheets with two layers of drying oil before laying.

Now you can start stacking sheets Chipboard on the floor... There is nothing complicated here: you lay the sheet, level it and fasten it to nails or screws to the floor. If you lay linoleum on top, then to fix the hole, you must first countersink with a large-diameter drill. Once the entire floor has been laid, again, depending on the topcoat, it may be necessary to seal the joints and fixing holes. To prepare the putty, you can mix sawdust with PVA glue, or use wood mastic. To completely hide all the irregularities, sand the seams with fine sandpaper.

Usually a concrete floor is insulated with this method. In this case, chipboard sheets are also pre-procured and processed. The prepared sheet is laid on the floor and a hole in the floor is drilled through the sheet. In this case, the drill is used with a victorious tip. Next, we fasten the sheet with self-tapping screws to the floor. We fasten it along the perimeter and along the area of ​​the sheet, dividing it into squares. Finishing and grouting is described above.

In the article "Plywood floor on logs" the method of flooring on logs was described in great detail. All preparatory work, the process of installing the lag and the fastening of the plywood are considered. Device chipboard floor on logs is done in exactly the same way. Unless there are some nuances. Since chipboard is a less durable material, do not install the joists with a distance of more than 40 cm between them. The slab along the perimeter must necessarily lie on the logs, often because of the large size of the chipboard, they forget about this at the stage of installing the log. It is possible to fasten chipboard to the logs with nails every 20 cm, and with self-tapping screws, while the distance between them can be increased to 40-50 cm.

In conclusion, I would like to note that many do not like chipboard because of the prevailing opinion about its harm to health. Harmful in it are phenol-formaldehyde resins, which are used in the production of chipboard. To believe or not to believe the prevailing opinion is decided individually. Manufacturers claim that modern particle board is no more harmful than wood, however, people who work with particle board, I think, would not use it at home.

The main advantage of chipboard is its cost. It is about half the price of plywood or OSB. You can make both plywood and OSB flooring on logs, but if we talk about environmental friendliness and not ask “the price of a question”, then natural wood would be the best option. Putting a massive board on the same logs, there will be no need for a topcoat. However, this is no longer a budget option.

If the building rules are violated, the floor starts to creak. Only one remedy will help to solve the problem - the elimination of the squeak of the floor from the chipboard. Boards do not tolerate high humidity, therefore such a floor cannot be made in sanitary facilities. Plates are laid on logs made of wood, which must first be treated with an antiseptic.

Chipboard floors can be easily dismantled and reassembled if necessary.

  • screwdriver;
  • electric planer;
  • grinder;
  • hammer;
  • fasteners;
  • roulette;
  • rail;
  • chisel;
  • ruler.

Scheme of floor cladding with fiberboard sheets.

The average step size for laying logs is 40 cm. Before starting construction, all joints and openings of the floor slab must be repaired. The subfloor must be clean and dry. Clean dry sand is poured onto it with a layer of no more than 20 mm. A layer of soundproofing material made of fiberboard sheets is placed on top. Well-dried and antiseptic-treated logs are laid across the direction of light.

Laying logs from undried lumber is sure to create problems. The floor will squeak immediately after the lumber is dry. The lags must be laid on the same level, which is checked by the rail. Moreover, it should simultaneously touch all lags. In places where gaps are detected under the logs, linings are made that stabilize their vibrations during further use of the floor.The unevenness can be corrected by undercutting the surface of the log with a plane.

Taking into account the distance between the lags laid on the floor, prepare the required amount of chipboard. Saw them off with a width equal to this distance with an allowance necessary for filing the edges. Usually this is 10-15 cm. When planning the installation scheme, a large number of joints should be avoided. The allowable seam distance is 1-2 mm.

For a tighter fastening of the edges of the plates, they must be laid on the logs. To fix them along the length, transverse logs are laid.

Floor repair with glue and a syringe.

In rooms with low traffic, the floor can be made of chipboard.

During operation, the weakening of the fasteners is possible, then a creak appears when walking on the floor. If it is already many years old and there is an opportunity to make a new floor from a more modern and high-quality material, then it is better, of course, to replace it. This is the most expensive way.

To eliminate the squeak of the floor, you can screw several screws around the perimeter of such a plate. This is the easiest method and is used most often. The floor is guaranteed not to squeak for 2-3 years.

Another way is to install an additional support at the location of the defect. To do this, it is necessary to determine the distance from the sound-insulating layer (fiberboard) to the floor slab.

Having determined the slab to be repaired, a small diameter hole is drilled in it and measured with a steel wire. You need to purchase self-tapping screws with a length exceeding this distance. Screw the self-tapping screws into the previously drilled holes. If the self-tapping screws touch the floor slab, stop screwing in, otherwise the floor covering may rise.

Sawing of the fastener heads with a grinder is carried out only after their final adjustment (screwing in or loosening).

In order to eliminate the squeak, it is possible to carry out a partial repair of the chipboard floor. It is necessary to determine which part of the slab makes a creak and must be replaced. Make the markup so that when cutting out the defective area, you do not get on the lags. Cut it out with a jigsaw. Prepare a block of the required height and lay it between the logs.

Fasten the new sheet with self-tapping screws to the logs and the additionally laid bar.

This type of floor repair will relieve squeaks for a long time.