Since new technologically advanced floor coverings have become available on the market, plank flooring has begun to be perceived by many as a relic of the past or, in modern flawed language, “sucks.” Only natural wooden parquet, which still belongs to the category of elite coatings, has not lost its position. Whereas simple floorboards are associated with times of poverty, equalization and shortages. Is this really so and how to make a beautiful modern floor from boards - we’ll figure it out.
Brown wooden floor from the Soviet past Source odstroy.ru
Wooden floors - myths and reality
In the minds of many, plank flooring looks too simple compared to laminate or parquet boards. But this is a mistaken opinion. These materials are produced with a ready-made decorative top layer, which can imitate expensive and exotic wood species. But precisely to imitate. Nothing prevents you from decorating the floorboard, giving it any desired look. For this purpose, there is a huge arsenal of paints and varnishes, waxes, oils, and impregnations.
In addition, there is no problem in buying not pine boards, but oak, larch, walnut or any other species, including merbau or wenge. It's just a matter of price.
Decorating a wooden floor Source dvervdom.ru
Another erroneous opinion is that the boardwalk will definitely dry out, become deformed, creak, and cracks will appear in it. Indeed, this will happen if the boards are poorly dried, initially have defects, if they are laid on a poorly prepared base, or if errors were made during the installation process. The coating laid in a room with an unstable microclimate with frequent changes in humidity and temperature will also creak and dry out. But all this, with similar initial data, will happen with parquet boards, parquet, and laminate. Repairing such floors will be more difficult and expensive.
Yes, laying and finishing solid wood floors can take longer. But they will probably cost less, and they will look the way you want. And they will last longer.
Installation
What rules must be followed when installing:
- It is necessary to first level the base of the floor so that the coating fits perfectly. This precautionary measure will allow the material to be laid in the best possible manner.
- If the planks are no longer than a meter, then experts recommend using glue to connect them. There is no need to glue long planks together - the locking structure will connect them together well.
- It must be borne in mind that before laying the covering, it is necessary to first lay a layer of waterproofing - the material is afraid of dampness.
- The room must be dry and at room temperature during installation. It is not permissible to lay the material in a damp, cold, damp room.
- The very first board should be facing the wall with its tenon.
- Don't forget to leave a small technological gap between the coating and the wall.
- Since the board is laid, you need to sand the finished surface with fine abrasive sandpaper, which will give the floor an even, glossy perfection and eliminate possible gaps and roughness.
- If there are any chips or damage, they must be puttied and painted over with paint to match the color of the coating.
- The material must be coated with acrylic varnish on top - choose for yourself what it should be: glossy or matte. After the first layer has dried, it is recommended to apply a second one to make the coating more stable, durable and beautiful.
- A week after the second layer of varnish has dried, it is recommended to arrange the furniture in the room.
What should the floorboard be like?
Most often, planed pine boards are used for floors. They have good strength, resistance to rotting, an affordable price, and can be easily processed and decorated using paints and varnishes. The board can be:
- regular edged;
- tongue and groove;
- and a quarter.
Floorboards with a quarter Source garantwood.ru
The most popular option is tongue-and-groove boards equipped with a groove and a tongue on the opposite long end edges. Sometimes tongues are also present at short ends for joining boards along the length. This profile provides the highest quality coating without cracks and with minimal risk of deformation.
Thickness
Before laying a wooden floor, a base is prepared for it in the form of a frame made of logs. The thickness of the floorboards is selected taking into account the distance between the joists: the larger it is, the thicker the boards should be.
Table for determining the thickness of boards Source stroimzanovo.ru
It is important! Do not forget that after leveling and sanding the flooring, its thickness may decrease by several millimeters.
Variety
The higher the grade of products, the fewer knots, chips, scratches, resin bags and other defects they have. The best and highest quality, and therefore more expensive, is the “Extra” variety.
See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in doors, windows and related work
Humidity
Floorboards can be sold raw, immediately after leaving the sawmill. It can warp and become deformed during the drying process, especially if stored improperly.
It is better to buy natural or chamber-dried lumber. The latter have a humidity of 8-10%, they can be used immediately without fear that the flooring will dry out. Boards with a moisture content of 12-20% must be dried in a dry room, stacked using spacers. In utility rooms, on terraces, and verandas, floors can be laid from planks of natural moisture.
Storage conditions
It is advisable to select floor boards personally, inspecting each one for defects and distortions and of the same thickness. It is important to pay attention to the conditions in which they are stored. The storage location should be dry, ventilated, and the boards should not be in bulk, but in stacks.
Lumber storage warehouse Source tildacdn.com
Magestik Floor - the best solid exotic wood plank
Photo: parkett-shop.ru
Rating: 9.8 / 10
The company is registered as a Dutch brand, but only has an office in Europe. All production plants are distributed around the world and are located in close proximity to wood growing areas.
The main emphasis of Magestik Floor is on the production of solid boards from exotic wood species, so materials from wenge, rosewood, lapacho, curupaya and other equally rare varieties are on sale. Strict adherence to specific production technologies helped create absolutely competitive products that are valued by consumers, despite the high cost.
Magestik Floor often uses oil or semi-matte varnish as a coating, which allows you to maximize the natural grain of the wood and increase the service life of the coating. Product features also include excellent geometry and the presence of a chamfer around the perimeter. The last factor is considered decisive for preventing the varnish from falling off along the edges during installation and operation.
Reviews : “Perfect geometry! We were able to combine boards from different batches – that says a lot.”
Flooring rules
The process of installing wooden flooring consists of several stages.
Preparing the base
The board must be ventilated, so it is not laid on a solid base, but on joists or beams. They must also be dry and thick enough to support the load.
The following are used as support beams:
- thick boards placed on edge;
- bars;
- debarked round timber with the top side beveled into a plane.
The cross-section of the logs depends on the installation method - on a solid concrete base or on support posts. And also on the length of the span between them. Exact numbers can be found in SNiPs and reference literature.
Before laying the logs on brick or concrete columns, they are covered with a double layer of roofing material for waterproofing. You can place cuttings of boards under the logs to level them horizontally. Both joists and linings are impregnated with antiseptic before installing plank floors.
Density and selection: what to look for
The stronger the wood, the more reliable it is in operation: it does not dry out, does not deform, and can easily withstand even strong mechanical loads. Density is considered the determining indicator of hardness, therefore, if the buyer chooses a floor “for years”, it is worth choosing the most dense materials.
Selection is, in simple terms, an indicator of the quality of wood, expressed in the absence of knots, sapwood, stains, and different shades of texture. For convenience, manufacturers of each category gave their name. Luxury solid wood board offerings include the Select, Lux, Elite and Radial categories; to more democratic ones - Natural, Fine, Premium; to the "economy" class - Rustic.
Video description
How to install logs for a wooden floor, watch the video:
Preparing the boards
Even kiln-dried lumber needs acclimatization to the conditions in which it will be used. Therefore, it is advisable to bring the floorboard into the house in advance and let it lie for several days. But this can only be done after all wet work has been completed - installing screeds, plastering walls, so that the wood does not absorb moisture evaporating from the solutions.
Then the boards are sorted, putting the deformed ones aside and choosing the smoothest and cleanest ones. Products that are not of the best quality can be used for wooden flooring in less significant rooms or for laying along walls where they will be hidden by furniture.
For reference! If the boards are of different widths, then narrow floorboards will deform less when drying.
After sorting, the lumber is treated with an antiseptic and left to dry. It is enough to carry out such processing only for the back side and ends, since the finished flooring will be subjected to sanding and protective and decorative finishing.
Antiseptic treatment of lumber Source myosu.ru
Scope of application
Europol in private homes
Today Europol has a wide scope of application. It can be used inside living spaces, it can be used to decorate floors on open street terraces, in rooms where there is a large daily foot traffic, where there is always a large crowd of people.
Since Europol is immune to high air humidity and temperature changes caused by weather changes or the use of additional heating systems, it can be argued that it is a universal material.
Decoration
The floorboards in the house should be in harmony with the interior, so it is rarely left without a finishing coating, which also protects the wood from damage, discoloration, moisture and dirt. To do this, use various tinting compounds that do not hide the texture of the wood, or covering paints.
Tinting allows you to imitate any type of wood. You can change the tone using stains, impregnations, oils, wax, varnish.
Paints provide even more scope for designers. You just need to discard stereotypes and forget that a wooden floor can only be brown.
- White, light gray, beige and other light shades of the floor make the interior light, airy, and clean.
- Black color fits many modern styles, but you need to keep in mind that dust on it is much more noticeable than on a light-colored coating.
- Bright floor shades look great with light walls in minimalist interiors.
You can also paint the floorboards in different colors, create simple patterns on the floor using masking tape or patterns using a stencil.
Non-standard floor design Source systemautepleniya.com
In short, there are many options for decorating plank flooring. During the next repair, you can cycle it and change the decor.
Types depending on the method of cutting the wood and methods of its processing
- Radial , in this case a radial cut is made, which allows you to get an even color. The inclination of the fibers can be no more than 30%, and their radial bending no more than 30% of the length of the product, the size of the knots can be no more than 5 mm and any mechanical damage is not allowed.
- Select is obtained as a result of tangential cutting, which also makes it possible to obtain an even texture; knots can be no larger than 5 mm in size and no chips, sapwood or other damage are allowed.
- Natur can be made by any type of cut; in appearance, it is closest to untreated wood, so there may be slight differences in color, there may be dark knots with a diameter of up to 3 mm and light knots with a diameter of up to 5 mm. In addition, the presence of sapwood is allowed, the length of which is no more than 30% of the length and the width is up to 5 mm; mechanical damage, through knots and chips are not allowed.
- Rustic can also be made using any cutting method; such a board may have light knots up to 30 mm in diameter, and there may be end cracks up to 20 mm in size. The presence of damage and defects that cannot be eliminated by grinding and puttying is not allowed.
Types of lock connections
The presence of a locking connection allows for quick and easy installation of the specified floor covering. There are several types of connecting boards, and if previously it was only an ordinary tongue and groove, now new types of locking connections have appeared.
"Lock"
A more economical option is the Lock type, which provides a reliable and durable connection. In this case, the connection is made without the use of glue, but it provides high strength.
In order to install such a massive board, the base must be perfectly flat; with heavy loads on the floor, over time the locks can become loose and gaps may appear.
"Click"
The “Click” type lock is more durable and reliable; to connect, just bring the board at an angle of 45 degrees and press it a little, without the need to put much effort or use special tools.
In the presence of physical activity, such locks do not become loose and can be disassembled if necessary.
Unlike elements of the Lock system, in this case the locks do not break during installation, so the installation and disassembly of the floor covering can be carried out several times. As a disadvantage, it is worth noting the high cost of such a system, but due to the ease of installation and reliability, it is fully compensated for.
