In bathrooms and kitchens, old wooden floorboards are susceptible to moisture and are therefore often very warped. We show you, how to use them for new ones, perfectly level out protective floor coverings.
It is not easy to meet the demands placed on leveling boards. The appropriate system must compensate for the unevenness of the floor, follow the movements of the wood to a certain extent, provide an absolutely flat surface, and the assembly height of the whole should not be too great.
The Lugato leveling compound "New on old" does all of this.. It is a plastic-cement mixture, that in a thickness of 5 to 20 mm is poured out on the floorboards and there to a hard, but quite flexible level binds. The secret: With the help of a primer and a stapled reinforcement fabric, the mass forms a firm bond with the floorboards.
However, extensive preparatory work is necessary for the success of this otherwise rather “lively” work. Important is, that the crowd cannot run away from anywhere, which is why all joints must be tight. The edge insulation strip, which you stick to the wall, prevented, that a sound bridge is created from the floor to the walls. And finally, you absolutely have to re-screw the planks, to at least minimize a spring. Do you want to compensate for different deposits, so you must necessarily install a motion joint in the balancing compound. The layer must not go through under any circumstances, otherwise there are cracks in the surface. Therefore, tape the transition with a polystyrene strip.
1 This is what the floor looked like after removing the old PVC covering. The area under the former oven is tiled, added the wooden floorboards with PVC glue.
2 All adhesives are removed using a single-disc sander and a 24-grit sanding disc- and paint residue removed.
3 The planks must be screwed into each beam with two Spax screws.
4 Lubricate all larger joints with the leveling compound in a thicker consistency.
5 The primer regulates the absorbency of the wood and improves adhesion. It is precisely matched to the balancing mass.
6 At the transition to the tiles, stick a strip of Styrofoam with adhesive strips onto the joint as a recess.
7 You can finish the door with an angle strip, which corresponds to the height of the leveling layer.
8 Stick an edge insulation strip all around, also with double-sided tape, an die Wand.
9 When stapling the reinforcing fabric, leave the strips around 5 cm overlap.
10 To the height of 2 cm to mark all around on the walls, just lay a bubble level flat.
11 The mass has been introduced, it must be distributed and vented. This is best done with a coarse broom.
There's another way!
As an alternative to leveling compounds, you can also use panel materials to create an even surface on your wooden floorboards. Two types of plates are available to you: The installation chipboard with tongue and groove in a thickness of 22 mm and the gypsum fiber board. Both are to be laid without mortar or anything else touched, which is why they also bear the meaningful name dry screed. Both panel types must be screwed firmly to the wooden floorboards, both are additionally glued at the joints. Due to the panel thickness and the unevenness of the floorboards, the construction height is sometimes considerably thicker than with the leveling compound (away 5 mm thickness), it amounts to at least 25 mm. You also have to adapt the panels to the geometry of the room by cutting them to size, which can become an annoying fumbling with the common record formats.
After appropriate pre-treatment, you can use all standard floor coverings on both panels.