Ground Floors.
Hello.
In a construction university, we were usually recommended to carry out all work according to the principle: “From simple to complex, From cheap to expensive.”
This means that floors on the ground should be equipped with the simplest and most inexpensive methods known to us.
And only if it is impossible to achieve the desired result with these methods and means, the budget should be increased and more sophisticated technologies should be used.
If we are talking about the simplest floors, then we just need to thoroughly compact the soil under our feet and lay a path on top.
You can do without carpets, if expensive.
Even now, in many rural (and not only) houses you can find similar earthen floors.
And a few decades ago, this was the most common solution in private low-rise construction.
If at the same time the floor from the soil turned out to be wet, then it was sprinkled a little and raised relative to the horizon.
If that wasn't enough, the earthen floor could be paved with a layer of clay, providing some sort of modern waterproofing.
Everything was outrageously simple and inexpensive.
Today, the requirements for comfort have increased somewhat and it is customary to equip rolled waterproofing everywhere.
The easiest way is to lay a plastic film, but you can also have a couple of layers of roofing material, as many experts advise.
And the solid base itself and the floor covering, at the same time, can remain ordinary clay.
If you don’t like clay, then you can increase the budget a little more and perform a cement-sand screed or even concrete.
Now this decision is generally accepted.
If you want the legs to be comfortable walking on the floor without shoes, then it is better to lay a layer of extruded polystyrene foam under the screed as a heater.
Want even more comfort?
Install underfloor heating.
And what, in fact, do we expect from the floor?
We just need to get a relatively solid base, preferably dry and not very cold.
And in essence, all these solutions allow, to one degree or another, to solve these problems, the only question is the budget and technology.
To be honest, no matter what you stuff into the floor, and in whatever sequence you do it, in 99% of cases the floor will remain acceptable.
And it's very good if the builders understand that they are shoving the floor into the pie, and not just "mastering" other people's budgets.
For example, floors on the ground, in a heated room, do not require the presence of reinforcement in the screed at all, since they do not experience tensile forces at all.
But…
As soon as our floors on the ground fall into conditions of negative temperatures, then the tasks immediately change.
This applies to unheated garages, sheds or a wooden gazebo, as in my case.
In fact, the same forces act on a similar floor as on a concrete blind area.
You can watch this video on my channel to clarify the nuances.
In short, the forces of frost heaving of the soil will be able to locally lift our floor and break the concrete screed.
That is why, along the perimeter of the floor, I lay reinforcement with a diameter of 8 mm, which I hope will resist tensile forces and prevent the concrete layer from crumbling.
And I also use a masonry wire mesh of almost 3 mm and a cell of 70x70 mm.
Of course, we will not completely get rid of cracks, but we will significantly reduce their size and number.
I prepare concrete for pouring from M500 cement, washed river sand and granite crushed stone of a fraction of 5-20 mm in a ratio of 1: 2: 3.
Also, for partial leveling of frost heaving forces, a 3-cm layer of extruded polystyrene foam is placed under the screed.
This material also acts as a waterproofing.
If the task was to completely get rid of the effects of the forces of frost heaving under the floor of the gazebo, then a layer of polystyrene foam had to be arranged at least 100 mm.
And this layer should also be larger than the screed spot and extend along the entire perimeter beyond the floor of the gazebo by at least 1 m.
Considering that the size of the filler floor in the gazebo is 3.4x9 m, we have to consider the budget, therefore it is so.
Estimate attached and...
Thank you for attention!
#GroundFloors #GroundFloors #DIY
11 июл 2023
