Traditionally, a balcony is a repository of unnecessary things. But this part of the apartment can be turned into an elegant continuation of the living space. Transformation should begin with laying a strong foundation, which in this case is the floor. You can choose any coating - from wood to tile.
Possible floor repair methods
The floor on the balcony can be made of ceramic tiles. It meets almost all modern consumer requirements. Ceramics do not cause problems during operation. It looks aesthetically pleasing, and is offered for sale in a wide range of colors and textures. Another important factor when choosing for housewives is the ease of care for the coating. Tiles withstand any exposure to the most aggressive detergent. This decoration material can decorate the floor on the open balcony or glazed loggia. The material copes well with the effects of heat and cold, as well as changes in temperature and humidity.
The flooring on the balcony can be done using porcelain stoneware. This finishing material is durable and durable, it does not wear off so intensively and has a low susceptibility to mechanical stress. Household items on porcelain stoneware to leave a scratch is almost impossible. This building material is moisture resistant and able to undergo frequent temperature changes. All these qualities are complemented by the ability to implement any design decisions. This coating is easy to care for, and you can use it on the balcony of any degree of protection.
The floor on the balcony is often covered with a massive board. It can act as an additional heat insulator. The massive board looks pretty attractive. If you mount it in accordance with all the rules, then it will be ready to serve a long period of time, and you will need to replace it if you are tired of the coating design. The only requirement when laying a massive board is the need for a glazed space.
Reviews about the laminate and linoleum
You can laminate the floor on the balcony. This material is usually placed in a warm space, because it does not tolerate sudden changes in humidity. The surface before installation must be prepared, leveled. Laminate panels are easily adjusted to each other, which is one of the positive qualities.
Another plus, according to consumers, is the presence of a snap mechanism on the products. Due to this, the joints between the panels are practically not visible. According to home craftsmen, linoleum is one of the available flooring offered by the modern construction market. The coating can imitate natural materials such as wood and stone. If you consider that styling is a simple procedure, the choice becomes unambiguous. Customers also like the fact that the material is inexpensive compared to the other solutions described above.
Carpet Reviews
Floors on the glazed balcony can be improved with carpet. If your plans are to repair the loggia, then it can be turned into a zone of relaxation and rest. Currently, carpet can have any quality of pile. Consumers, in their words, like that it can be based on yarn from different materials, namely:
- artificial;
- natural;
- combined.
This affects the cost, but also expands the possibilities of choice. Natural materials include animal hair. Among the artificial ones, one can distinguish:
- polyester;
- nylon;
- polyacryl;
- olefin.
Combined materials based on carpet include those to which natural wool is added in a volume of 10 to 30%.
Preparation of tools and materials
Quite often, novice home masters ask themselves what is better to lay on the floor on the balcony. No matter what decision you make, you must prepare the following materials and tools:
- insulation;
- waterproofing;
- sealant;
- metal corners;
- timber;
- level;
- chisel;
- putty knife;
- a rag;
- cement;
- levelers for the floor;
- lighthouses;
- hardboard;
- roulette wheel;
- hammer;
- Master OK.
For staining you will need a primer, brushes and a roller. If you decide to lay linoleum, then you should take care of the presence of:
- glue;
- baseboards;
- fasteners;
- knitted roller;
- scissors for metal;
- linoleum;
- accessories for joining the plinth;
- glue brushes;
- knife for cutting linoleum;
- gon.
We make the floor on the balcony of ceramic tiles. To do this, prepare:
- glue;
- primer;
- tile;
- wooden block;
- tile cutter;
- drill for tile;
- glass cutter;
- tile grater;
- Tong tongs;
- porous sponge;
- grout composition;
- distance crosses;
- metal corners;
- grinder;
- electric drill;
- dowels;
- hammer or mallet;
- putty knife; comb;
- scraper.
If you decide on what to make the floor on the balcony from, then you can choose a bulk coating. For it you will need a special mixture, pigments and fillers.
But for laying a wooden coating, you should take care of having a wider list of tools and materials:
- polyurethane foam;
- baseboards;
- electric drill;
- self-tapping screws;
- flooring;
- varnish;
- flame retardant;
- plywood sheets;
- grinders;
- dowel-nails;
- screwdriver or screwdriver;
- glue.
Plywood sheets can be replaced with one of the following materials:
Surface preparation
Floor repair on the balcony always begins with the preparation of the foundation. The complex of works for all types of coating will include cleaning the rough surface from contaminants and objects. If necessary, you can remove existing coatings. If there is a screed, then it is removed from the carrier plate. The next step is cleaning the floor from debris. The plate should be aligned.
The operation is performed during the screed device. To do this, you need beacons, which are strips of metal. Alignment of the position of the beacons is carried out by inserting pieces of hardboard. On the open balcony, the floor is sloped towards the street, which will provide a drain of water from melting snow and rain. Lighthouses are fixed. To do this, the cement mortar is applied with a trowel in the area where the hardboard is laid. After 2 hours, the horizontal position of the beacons must be checked and their complete fixation with a solution.
The next day you can do the production of formwork. It will consist of bars that are fixed on the outside of the railing. Before pouring the screed, the gaps between the bars and the base are filled with sealant. The solution is prepared from a dry mixture to level the floor, which is kneaded according to the instructions. The consistency composition should resemble semolina. Add 3 kg of cement to the mixture bag.
Before pouring, the base is primed with a deep penetration composition to increase adhesion. The finished mixture is poured over the entire formwork volume. The surface is leveled with a trowel, and then smoothed out with a rule. He is pressed to the edges of the lighthouses. Typically, special mixtures do not require additional leveling work. The screed after pouring is left for two days or more until drying. The formwork can be carefully removed after this and the blemishes can be corrected at the edges. After drying in the corners of the screed, metal corners are fixed along the entire length.
The sequence of work on painting or laying linoleum
The floor screed on the open balcony can be painted on concrete. It should be designed for outdoor use, which indicates its resistance to weathering. The staining process is standard. The base must be primed, and then apply the paint in several layers. You can choose acrylic.
The coating will not withstand the loads of furniture and heavy interior items, but the layer will remain for 5 years, despite sharp fluctuations in humidity and temperature. Linoleum can be used on an open or glazed balcony. Its modern types withstand any atmospheric conditions.
The material is fire resistant, high strength and environmentally friendly. But it wears out quickly and can have a pretty cheap look. For laying on a primed screed, a sheet of linoleum is covered and left for a couple of days so that the material is stretched and leveled. When this happens, the cloth is cut around the perimeter. After that, it is wrapped up to the middle, and glue is applied to the back side. The sheet is rolled and pressed to the floor. It should be rolled with a roller. The operation is carried out with the second half.
Linoleum is most conveniently laid on plywood, which is laid when installing a wooden floor. Sticking sheets makes sense only if you plan to turn a balcony into a full-fledged living space. Installation of tiles based on linoleum is carried out on glue. It is necessary to act on the same principle as for seamless laying of porcelain stoneware. A skirting board is fixed between the edges of the coating and the wall.
Ceramic tile laying
If you decide to lay the tiles on the floor on the balcony, you can use this coating in an open or closed loggia. If the balcony is planned to be used as a living room, then it is advisable to organize a warm floor in its space. It is extremely risky to do it with a heated water system. Therefore, it is recommended to use an electric heated floor.
Before you lay the tiles on the floor of the balcony, make sure that it meets the safety requirements. The surface of the finish should be rough or have a textured pattern. Glossy coating is dangerous, because due to the ingress of a minimum amount of water, products become slippery.
The tile is glued to the primed screed, which is pre-cleaned. The composition is applied to the back of the product. Installation is carried out starting from the far corner. The first product is cut at an angle of 45 Λ. Leveling of the layer is carried out with a spatula comb. This will remove its excess. A small amount of glue must also be applied to the screed. The tile is laid and pressed.
Distance crosses should be set for the same joint width. Constantly monitoring the horizontal position of the products with the help of a level, you must place all the rows according to the described principle. If necessary, the tile is trimmed with a wooden block and a mallet. Extreme tiles are cut by a tile cutter. Once the glue has dried, you can attach the metal corners with dowels. Fasteners are inserted into holes drilled with a tiled drill.
Water floor heating device
Water floors on the balcony can be arranged with concrete screed. It is pre-cleaned of debris and filled with a solution of large potholes. In those places where the screed will adhere to the walls, a damper tape should be placed. It will exclude damage to the material during thermal expansion. The surface is spread out or filled with waterproofing, then you can do insulation. For this, foam polymer slabs are used. It can be polystyrene.
A reinforcing mesh is located on the insulation layer, which will eliminate the displacement of the pipes during the filling of the leveling layer. The warm floor on the balcony at the next stage provides for the laying of the pipeline system. As a scheme, you can use a double snail. Flexible pipes are placed on the reinforcing mesh, which should be strengthened with clamps. It is not necessary to tighten them tightly. A distance of 1 m should be maintained between the clamps. It is impossible to allow a tight arrangement of pipes to each other against the wall. A distance of 10 cm should be maintained between them.
Corrugated hose shields should be worn on the outlet piping sections that fit the manifold. If you are thinking about how to make a warm floor on the balcony, then the next step is to connect the pipeline to the water collector. Next, start the coolant, setting the pressure above normal by 1.5 times. The system remains operational for a day. After testing is complete, you can start filling. At the same time, normal working pressure should be exerted on the pipes. Then the final floor covering is formed.
Installation of electric underfloor heating and insulation
The electric floor on the balcony can be arranged on the basis of a heating cable. Such a system is supplemented with a concrete screed, due to which the room height is reduced by about 12 cm. It is necessary to proceed according to the following instructions: first, the old coating is dismantled, and then the surface is leveled. If you want to know how to insulate the floor on the balcony, then you can use foamed polyethylene. It may have a foil coating. The joints between the sheets are glued with metal tape. Along the perimeter, in this case, a damper tape is laid, which eliminates deformation.
A mesh or mounting tape is fixed on the insulation layer for further installation of the electric underfloor heating. The heating cable is attached with the same pitch. It is calculated based on the area of ββthe room and the recommended heating power. It reaches 250 watts per square meter. If you are interested in how to make a warm floor on the balcony, then you should read the instructions. The next step is to install the temperature sensor and thermostat, placing them in a suitable place for operation.
The circuit needs to ring to make sure everything is connected and working. The finished system is photographed, so that if you need repairs, you know where what is located. Then the cement-sand mortar is closed and a 5-cm screed is poured. Once it hardens, you can proceed to laying tiles or flooring linoleum.
Wood flooring
Before laying the wooden floor on the balcony, you must dismantle the old cover and remove the debris. In the work you will need logs, which are bars of hardwood. Flooring is easier to do from the floorboard. The coating elements have the necessary impregnation, they are aligned in thickness and have embossed ends for connection according to the principle of a thorn groove. Edged board requires grinding, polished board has a leveled surface on all sides. Thanks to this, the boards are well adjacent to each other.
If you faced the problem of how to insulate the floor on the balcony, then for this you can use waterproof plaster. She will also fulfill the role of a waterproofing. If the hole is large, then you can use foam to fill it. You will also need a waterproof film. For the insulating layer, mineral wool, polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam or other solutions with a low coefficient of thermal conductivity are additionally used.
To make a wooden floor, you should prepare:
- screwdriver;
- electric jigsaw;
- hammer;
- insulation cutting knife;
- drill;
- construction stapler;
- level.
The sequence of work is as follows: to protect the material from moisture, it should be sealed. For this, a film is used. Along the balcony in the next step, you need to mount the longitudinal logs. The design will become more reliable if it is formed from longitudinal and transverse elements. The distance between the latter will be 50 cm.
The insulation fits into the space between the lags. Next, you can proceed to the installation of the coating. For this, boards are used. They are checked by level or square. Having retreated some distance from the wall, it is necessary to lay the first element. Using the end mount, all boards will be fastened together. In order to provide a more tight hold, several wedges should be installed between the second board and the rail. When clogged, the clearance should decrease.
How to choose a warm floor under the laminate
If you decide to lay a warm floor on the balcony under the laminate, then you should seriously approach the issue of choosing a system. In this case, its power is taken into account. It should be approximately 190 watts per square meter. Infrared film has a maximum power level of 160 watts per square meter. There will be no benefit from such a design on the balcony.
If you want to lay the laminate on the warm floor on the balcony, it is better to use a cable system, which will effectively heat the surface. The main thing is to comply with the recommended power. According to experts, the choice of system is reduced to an electric cable floor. It should cover approximately 70% of the total area. The warm floor on the balcony under the laminate should be represented by an electric cable system. It is inexpensive, and you can carry out the installation yourself.
What kind of underfloor heating for ceramic tiles to choose
Warm floor on the balcony under the tile can also be laid. Heating mats are great for this. They have the form of a fiberglass mesh onto which shielded heating sections are fixed. They are made by joining the hot and cold parts without the clutch. Thanks to this, the system has high reliability.
, . . , . . , . 7 .
Finally
Floor-to-ceiling balconies can be repaired on their own. In the first case, repairs are often used: laminate, ceramic tiles and wooden boards. If we are talking about an old high-rise building, then it is better to abandon the technology, which involves filling the screed. Quite often, the floor on the balcony under the laminate is arranged according to this scheme. Experts do not recommend resorting to this technique, because it contributes to the weighting of the structure.