Decorative flooded floor is no longer something unusual, but has not yet become familiar. It looks stylish, original, beautiful. Its advantage is a wide variety of options, the ability to create multi-colored and even voluminous floors. What are the pros and cons of bulk floors in the apartment?
Self-leveling floors
These are coatings made of cement and polymers that are applied to a concrete base. Their advantage is the lack of seams, strength, durability. They are usually used in industrial construction. But increasingly, bulk floors are found in apartments and houses.
They are of two types.
- Half-screed is used as a flat surface for laying laminate or other types of coating. It has a short solidification period. Self-leveling or self-leveling self-leveling floor is a mixture, which, in addition to ordinary sand and cement, includes various polymer plasticizers. They help the surface become very even. Moreover, the process does not require the use of complex instruments or tools.
Instead of a cement bulk floor, plaster can be used for screed. How are such bulk floors rated by owners? Pros and cons are found in both forms. Gypsum floor is much cheaper. It, like cement, must be laid in several stages of 3 cm, bringing it to a thickness of 10 cm. Since gypsum is still more expensive than cement screed, it can only be used to eliminate small surface errors.
Gypsum does not like water, so in the kitchen, in the bathroom, it is better to give preference to cement, and in the bedroom and the hall they install gypsum. It is not compatible with adhesive mixtures for cement-based tiles.
Both types of screed floors dry much faster than a sand-cement screed.
The self-leveling floor for the screed must not be used without topcoat. It crumbles and collapses, while sand-cement screed can be used without coating for a long time. But it dries much longer. Such a coating completely dries in 28 days, while the bulk floor can be covered with a finish coating after 3 days.
- The finish is a smooth glossy surface.
It may have different thickness and percentage of sand in its composition. Depending on the purpose, there may be smooth and rough finishing bulk floors. Owner reviews of the pros and cons (photo in the article) are seen in both. Smooth ones are easier to clean, but they can cause injuries. Rough do not slip, so they can be used where there is a danger of injury. But washing them is more difficult.
Using a variety of mixtures, pigment dyes, you can create an incredible number of different options for the bulk floor of the desired color and characteristics. Let's consider what kind of bulk floors can be . Owner reviews describe the pros and cons of each of them in detail.
Kinds
- Highly filled polymer floor is particularly durable thanks to quartz filler. Its tension coefficient reaches 600%. It is applied on production.
- Epoxy coating perfectly combines with any type of base (concrete, metal, wood), resistant to mechanical stress, chemicals. It hardens slowly.
- The polyurethane floor is the most flexible, therefore it is used in rooms with high temperature and vibration. Worse tolerates contact with chemicals.
- The acrylic resin methyl methacrylate floor hardens very quickly, in just a couple of hours.
There are monophonic, with a pattern or pattern, with photographs flooded into it, backlighting, a 3D image, the quality of a matte or glossy floor can be bulk. The pros and cons of reviews are described differently. Many laid a self-leveling floor as the basis for the laminate. They were quite satisfied with the result.
Benefits
- Durability. Bulk floor will serve at least 20 years. The mixture is perfectly bonded to concrete, which allows to obtain a high-quality coating.
- Tightness. It has no seams, so dirt has nowhere to accumulate.
- It has a small thickness. Highly filled up to 4 cm thick, thin layer even smaller.
- Absolutely flat surface. The liquid composition is aligned under the laws of physics. With a large floor thickness, markers are used to obtain a flat surface.
- Not slippery.
- Lasting.
- It does not bend, because the furniture leaves no traces of legs on it.
- Does not burn.
- Does not form dust on its surface.
- It does not rot.
- Not harmful to health.
Owner reviews
The pros and cons of such sexes indicate that the attitude towards them is ambiguous. Everyone is talking about a perfectly flat surface of such a floor.
Some buyers doubt whether the bulk floor will be slippery, as it is very smooth. But the owners say that the floor glides no more than tiles. In any case, they have no special problems in this regard.
Some complain that the floor has changed its color from the original. This can happen if you use a cheap, low-quality composition, which is often done in the back rooms or basements. Therefore, buyers are not advised to chase for cheap goods. It is better to buy products of well-known companies with a good reputation, many of which have long been working in the market. Good reviews about mixtures of the company "Ecotex", "Tikkurila"
3d floors
A very effective element of the interior is a bulk polymer 3d floor. It differs from the usual stereoscopic effect.
Such floors are often placed in the halls of various cultural and entertainment venues. Increasingly, they can be seen in apartments, though not only in large, but also in small ones. The advantage of a floor with a three-dimensional image is its original appearance. You can order or make any drawing yourself. Before pouring the polymer on the floor, various decorations are laid, such as shells, pebbles.
3d floors have a wide variety of subjects. It can be flowers, animals, ponds. Sometimes patterns on walls, curtains and other interior elements are combined. Often owners place in their bathroom the image of fish, dolphins. Sometimes, however, these drawings from the outside seem inappropriate. So images of monsters from films can hardly be considered an acceptable solution. And the abyss in the middle of the room will tickle the nerves of the guests for a long time, and even the owner himself.
How are these bulk floors created? The feedback from the owners of such an original coating suggests that they can be done with their own hands.
Creating a 3d floor
- Level the surface using a leveling concrete mixture "bulk floor".
- Grind and primer it.
- Stick on a 3d picture.
- Pour with polymer.
- Coated with epoxy or polyurethane varnish.
Reviews of owners characterize bulk floors in different ways. Each type has pros and cons. Among the advantages are originality and a smooth surface without seams.
Users are advised to install a floor with a 3d pattern in a room where there is only one entrance. After all, the image will be voluminous only on one side. The same property must be taken into account when choosing pictures for the floor.
disadvantages
But not everyone likes bulk floors. Owners reviews see the disadvantages in that they:
- Easy to scratch, fade.
- They freeze for a long time, about 6 days.
- It’s hard to care. In order that the quality does not deteriorate, the floor is washed with special means using a washing machine.
Specialists installing such floors claim that it is environmentally friendly. Consumers did not find the presence of harmful substances that could manifest an unpleasant odor.
What else to consider is the color of the image. It is not enough just to watch it on a computer. You need to print a test copy, as often the colors in the image do not match the real tone of the floor.
Scratch resistant
Different opinions and assessments cause bulk 3d floors. Owner reviews indicate that many have scratched the floor. Although modern technology can cope with this problem.
Consumers are advised to choose a light tone of the floor. There are less visible scratches on it. Or choose the Tikkurila bulk floor, which does not scratch. Moreover, it does not fade, it does not need to be polished.
But cones may also appear. This happens when the surface under the bulk floor is not high enough.
User reviews say that decorative floors blend well with the interior.
They are easy to clean. Five minutes is enough to wipe the dust. Dirt is not absorbed into such a floor.
Reviews of other consumers note that the bulk decorative floor attracts dust very much and it is very noticeable. Because you have to often and carefully clean.
Floor cracks
The appearance and durability of the bulk floor largely depend on the quality of the work performed. If the base is not laid correctly, it is not hard enough, then cracking of decorative concrete floors is more likely.
Many users report that their floors do not crack, although they have been in use for five years or more.
Floor temperature
Concrete itself is a fairly cold material. Therefore, many buyers are afraid that both 3d and bulk floors will not be warm. Owner reviews see the pros and cons in both forms. Some argue that the new floor is warm in winter and summer. Others advise laying a heating system under the screed. But not everyone liked this idea. They say that at high temperatures, harmful substances begin to be released. Reviews of experts say that the polymer is a very durable material that does not pass any substances when heated.
Consumers who need a flat surface for laying linoleum or other coatings use a plaster bulk floor.
Price
When calculating the costs of installing a bulk floor, you need to consider that the price of installing a floor in a small room will be twice as much as when installing in large rooms. If on the site you see the price of 3 thousand rubles. per square meter, then when installing in one room, count on 7 thousand.