Each person tries to create the most comfortable and high-quality living conditions for the whole family in his home. I want to borrow and organize every square meter. If the balcony is not equipped, it is cold in the winter. Therefore, many apartment owners have a desire to warm this space, to make it cozy.
Doing a warm floor with your own hands on the balcony and loggia is the decision of every zealous owner. For its implementation, a wooden coating is most suitable. After all, it is able to retain heat, does not harm health, and is resistant to moisture.
How to insulate the floor on the balcony with your own hands? This question appears to many. Performing the work yourself, you can save and do everything as needed. The whole process is carried out in stages. It all starts with rough work screed for concrete floors. If you follow simple rules, there will be no difficulties.
Preparatory work
Before starting, preparatory work is carried out. Since the concrete base is outlined, the actions will be as follows:
- The screed is cleaned of any existing debris, dirt. It is convenient to do this with a vacuum cleaner.
- With the help of a cement mixture or polyurethane foam cleaved chips or cracks, holes. This is a prerequisite.
- After drying of the applied means, the surface should become completely smooth.
- A primer is applied to the surface of the base of the future floor.
Protective functions
It is not difficult to make a warm floor on the balcony with your own hands. To achieve the result, each step is performed sequentially.
Without waterproofing, it is impossible to make a balcony protected from various surprises. Repair masters claim that there are many ways. Each is performed using the right tool and materials:
- Around the perimeter, the floor is covered with a film, on one side of which is a foil. Matter must be airtight, joints are strengthened with construction tape.
- Sometimes a roll of roofing material is used, it is combined with heated bituminous mastic.
- If staining is required, high-quality products are used that can protect the surface from moisture.
- Some use plaster for insulation. Not only sand-concrete mixes are suitable, but also putty.
- Moisture repellents are applied to concrete. They penetrate deeply and permanently protect the entire structure, increasing the service life. When a tree is on top, it is already protected from the negative effects of moisture, condensation.
- In construction, there is always something new. This includes liquid rubber. It passes air well and protects against moisture. On a concrete base, it is applied in a small layer, like waterproofing. Elastic rubber. Even a beginner can work with her. Such material can be found in any construction stores.
Each master, making a warm floor on the balcony with his own hands, chooses the installation method. It depends on how these squares are exploited. For the formation of a space closed from external conditions, one material is required, for an open one - another. You can use garden parquet tiles with all its positive characteristics.
Stages of construction
How to make the floor on the balcony with your own hands? When a balcony space in the house or apartment is unprotected, then garden parquet tiles can be laid on the floor. For its positive qualities in the operation in open spaces, it is often used for decoration. Advantages:
- The material does not respond to sudden changes in temperature indicators.
- When creating a tile, it is heat treated, which contributes to moisture resistance.
- The material is pleasant to the touch. This quality makes walking barefoot on tiles.
- Excellent external performance. The material is not clogged with dust and dirt, it is well washed. These performance for many housewives in the first place.
Before installation work with tiles, some homegrown masters have doubts as a result. Will it be possible for a novice to arrange the floor on the balcony with his own hands? Manufacturers thought through the design system, so the tile has special fastening locks. The dimensions are standard, so it’s simple and easy to carry out such work. Before buying, it’s worth accurately measuring the entire area of the balcony, taking into account the presence of turns. The territory is open, so rain flows will accumulate. To avoid this, it is necessary during installation to make a slope towards the drainage system. The cost of the tile is high, but with the correct design of all components, it will justify the cost and will last a long time.
Wood flooring
When the space is closed, the best option is a wooden coating. Manipulating yourself with floor heating on the balcony with your own hands is a simple process that requires special attention and time. It can subsequently be laid on linoleum or left in this form. The first stage is the design of the crate, after which it is filled with any heaters. It can be:
- Styrofoam.
- Expanded clay.
- Mineral wool.
- Foam.
Depending on how the space will be used, this or that type of coating is used. Do not forget about financial opportunities, because each finishing material has its own price. Some products have recently appeared on the construction market, so their cost is high. Although operational properties also affect the price.
If you plan to use the balcony or loggia zone in the warm season, then serious insulation is not required. In addition, there is no need to raise the wooden floor high. When the logs are fixed, the selected insulation is laid out. The latter is slightly turned on the walls - this increases the waterproofing properties. After that, the wooden coating of chipboard or plywood is lined. It is pre-measured and cut to the size of the balcony space. Everything is fixed with nails or screws.
Such options are not excluded, when additional squares become a way of expanding an adjacent room. In this case, the amount of work will be more. The first thing to do is to compare the height of the floors. Logs of the appropriate size are mounted and purchased. If it does not work, then brackets are added. They come in the sale of different types and sizes, so choosing the right ones is easy.
The most affordable option for floor insulation on the balcony with your own hands is polystyrene. It is sold in sheets of different thicknesses, widths and lengths. For accuracy, the size of the area of the balcony or loggia is measured and a calculation is made. The material is bought with stock because it is fragile. Everyone can make the floor on the balcony with their own hands using polystyrene foam. It's cheaper, but you have to follow certain rules.
Flooring technique
Before starting, the required material and tool is collected. It’s not necessary to hire craftsmen. Here is what you need to prepare:
- The substrate. It must be resistant to moisture.
- Coating. These are chipboard, plywood, flooring, laminate, lining, etc. Each material has its own cost, and this is why you need to make a choice.
- Self-tapping screws, dowels and metal corners.
- Impregnation for wood. Their assortment is large, so you need to choose the suitable option with certain properties.
- Lags for creating a wireframe. You can use simple bars of the required size.
- Insulation. The same polystyrene will do.
When using chipboard or plywood as the main floor covering, moisture-resistant and thickened materials must be taken. Do not forget that the height of the floors has its own limitations. Therefore, before purchasing a beam, everything is well calculated. You can even the threshold on the balcony or leave it by slightly raising the floor.
The lags are the first to fit. They are securely attached. To do this, nails or screws are used. What happens next? How do I lay the floor on the balcony with my own hands? Step-by-step instructions will be outlined below:
- The surface of the balcony is cleaned, waterproofing is applied. After the substrate is done.
- A crate is formed. Cross bars are attached to the logs.
- As soon as everything is laid out, additional impregnation with special means is used. It will help prevent the formation of fungus and mold over time. Sometimes a simple wood varnish is used. The material is well protected against moisture, mechanical damage, and more.
- It is necessary to wait until everything dries well and only after that the structural elements are interconnected. Always in such work should be used at the construction level. If something is uneven, then with the help of bars the coating is leveled.
- A structure using dowels and iron corners is mounted on the concrete floor.
- The next stage is the insulation. It is also measured and laid out in the crate. Mineral wool, expanded clay, polystyrene are suitable. There are modern developments, so everyone decides for himself which choice to make.
- After the wooden covering is laid. Perpendicular to the lags, you need to correctly attach the guide half, and already from it the process will go neatly and correctly. If sheets of chipboard or plywood are selected, then they firmly abut against the wall. When attaching, the screws should go deep.
These are simple procedures, so everyone will do the floor on the balcony with their own hands. If a beginner takes on the work, then it is worth taking the material with a margin so that in case of errors you do not have to buy it again. The selected actions are performed in order. Do not refuse any stage. So the balcony will become warm, and you will get additional square meters of living space.
In addition to wood, there are other options that can make the closed space of the balcony functional and cozy. This is accomplished without building skills. Many people design the floor on the balcony with their own hands from tiles. A concrete base is required under it. After that, the tiles are laid out according to a simple scheme.
Bulk floor
This option can act as an independent floor, and the basis for any finish coating. For this, special solutions are prepared. First, you need to create a structure of wood over the entire area so that the composition does not spread. It turns out a certain box. To do this, use the bars. The design is attached to the walls of the balcony. Only after that the whole area is filled with solution. If gaps appear, they are additionally smeared. Once the solution is completely dry, the bars are removed.
This is the easiest way to create a floor on the balcony with your own hands. The cost of such flooring will be quite acceptable.
We use a laminate
This is quite beautiful, but "capricious" finishing material, because he does not like humidity. If the balcony is glazed, then laminate boards are quite suitable. Its aesthetic appearance attracts everyone. You can make a wooden floor on the balcony with your own hands quickly and correctly. But in any case, you will have to fill in the concrete screed, which will increase the reliability of the entire structure. The surface should be flat. Otherwise, the laminate will not look aesthetically pleasing. The construction level is used in the work. The board is chosen in any color, the size is mostly standard. It is worthwhile to make calculations in order not to buy too much.
Linoleum
A fairly simple and affordable option for flooring on the balcony is the use of linoleum. Today, many different color solutions are on sale, which allows you to create any design. The material is well washed and looks beautiful. Suitable for enclosed balconies and loggias. Such material does not tolerate low temperatures. Before laying it is necessary to level the surface and insulate it. This will increase functionality and durability.
Secrets of Mastery
Making wooden floors on the balcony with your own hands will not be difficult. Even without experience, everyone can cope with this work. We offer expert advice. They will help to make the whole process simple and quick:
- Before starting to equip any balcony, you need to consider what kind of load its structures will be able to withstand. Do not use too heavy building materials, increasing concrete flooring. For the device lag, it is desirable to use dried bars, so they are easier and longer to serve.
- Before laying a wooden coating, it is advisable to make a sketch or diagram. It helps to arrange the logs correctly and not do the extra work. The scheme helps a lot if a person without experience takes up the matter. This is the only way to get a beautiful floor on the balcony. Both in open and closed, it will look equally beautiful.
- If self-leveling mixtures are used for screed, then before starting work, you need to understand how they work, otherwise the material will be damaged.
- To make the floor even, wooden bars are placed under the logs. At the stage of the screed, it is worth considering the data on the construction level.
Conclusion
To make a wooden or any other floor on the balcony is quite possible with your own hands. Knowing the main stages and methods of work, even a beginner will cope with this matter.