Leveling the floor on the balcony: an overview of the best methods for creating a level surface. Filling the floor screed on the balcony and loggia Level the floor on the balcony using a log

In natural form, the balcony floor is a bare concrete slab. Upgrading the slab and turning it into a full-fledged floor is impossible without high-quality leveling. The process is time-consuming and resource-intensive, however, the finish coat needs a solid base.

Materials used

The alignment method is determined by the type of balcony. Depending on the glazing, temperature and humidity, materials vary. With finished glazing, insulation and heating, for decoration, you can use any material, just like for a living room.

No heating makes its own adjustments even in the presence of glazing. Temperature fluctuations can lead to the formation of condensate, so the material must be stable. It is advisable to use a cement coating or drywall with increased moisture resistance. Linoleum, laminate are chosen for the topcoat.

Demanding case - balcony without glass. Here you will need a material of the highest degree of stability, because the choice most often falls on the screed. The front coating is made of ceramic materials and a terrace board that can withstand bad weather, moisture and sudden changes in temperature.

For reference!

When choosing materials, it is worth remembering that the balcony slab must withstand the applied load. Capital leveling is carried out with a cement screed, calculating whether the slab can withstand additional weight. For the case of large curvature, floors on logs are chosen, having a small mass, but significantly raising the level of the floor.

Methods for determining the level of alignment

Having decided on the material, they measure the level of the clean floor - the line along which the alignment will be guided. There are 3 measurement methods - a water level, a laser level and a bubble level.

Using the water level, a point is marked on the balcony wall, measuring a point at the same height along other walls. Points connected to each other will serve as the level of the horizon. Then, from the visually determined highest point of the floor, where it is pulled up, measure the height to the horizon line. From the resulting length, subtract the height of the floor and set aside the calculated distance from the horizon to the bottom, leaving a point. A straight line is drawn from the point above the floors, thus determining the level of future coverage.

laser level greatly simplifies the task. The device is placed on the highest point of the floor and the laser is turned on. The lines left by the level on the wall are marked with a pencil and, by moving the tripod of the device, are extended to other surfaces.

bubble level used in extreme cases. With its help, by setting a point on the wall at the floor elevation, they extend it to the rest of the wall, marking the line of clean coverage. This method of measurement gives a large error, therefore its use is justified only when performed by a specialist.

Leveling with cement screed

This is the highest quality option used for a height of no more than 3-5 cm. A screed less than 3 cm will be fragile and crack, and more than 5 will overload the balcony slab.

To complete the work you will need:

Primer with waterproofing;
cement mortar;
lighthouses;
Level;
Rule;
Roller and mixer.

First, the coating is cleaned of debris and dust, the cracks are sealed with cement or gypsum, and covered with a primer. When finishing an open type balcony, it is necessary to install plywood or plank formwork to prevent the primer from spreading.

Then beacons are installed in increments of half a meter. The length of the beacon must strictly correspond to the height of the future screed. There are no more than two lighthouses per balcony with standard dimensions. They are fixed with cement or plaster, checking the level of the horizontal line. After a few hours, they begin to screed.

The solution must be mixed from one part of cement and three parts of sand. With water, the mixture is brought to the consistency of thick semolina porridge. The resulting mixture is leveled on the floor, leveling the rule and checking the level of the beacons.

After a few days, the formwork can be removed. The space remaining from it is poured with a cement mortar of a thick consistency, leveling it to the level of the floor. After two weeks, they move on to finishing.

self-leveling floor

The method is used when the curvature is less than 3 cm, when the use of a cement screed is not suitable.

To perform it is necessary stock up on a primer, the mixture itself, a spatula and two rollers - needle and standard.

Surface preparation is carried out with a vacuum cleaner to thoroughly remove dust, cracks are repaired and coated with a primer. After 4-5 hours, the mixture is diluted to a liquid consistency and poured onto the floor as evenly as possible. Using a spatula, the surface is leveled, then rolled with a special roller. After a few days, the surface will seize firmly, but the finish is performed only after two weeks.

Dry leveling

This method has gained great popularity due to the speed of work and readiness for fine finishing immediately after leveling. In addition, the screed provides. For implementation use expanded clay, GSP or DSP, polyethylene film, P-profiles, rule and self-tapping screws.

Like any other method, the process starts with cleaning the floor and patching the cracks. The joints of the slab and walls are foamed.

Next stage - . A polyethylene film is laid out on a slab, leading the edges along the walls a few centimeters above the planned screed. The borders of the film should be fixed with tape. In the future, after falling asleep dry screed, the remnants of polyethylene can be cut off.

The wide side to the floor lay out the profiles under the walls, leveling the rule. The upper boundary of the profile in this position should correspond to the level of expanded clay, which, in the next step, is filled up between the beacons-profiles and leveled along them.

Slabs are laid on top of the expanded clay layer, which serve as the basis for finishing. It is better if the plate has a groove. They are driven tightly under the wall and move from it to the edge of the balcony, fastening at the joints with self-tapping screws.

Lag Alignment

The log allows you to additionally insulate the floor and raise its level, practically without exerting a load. The general scheme is to create a bar frame, which is covered on top with a board or slab. Between the floor and the stove there is space for insulation or communications.

For execution you will need bars, insulation material, self-tapping screws, board or plywood, dowels.

After cleaning the surface of debris and sealing cracks, a crate is installed - wooden bars 50x50 mm. Logs are placed at a distance of half a meter from each other and attached to the floor with dowels. In the resulting niches, you can place a heater. Expanded clay is used for open-type balconies, while closed balconies can be insulated with basalt or glass wool.

Immediately after the completion of work, you can proceed to the front finish.

Conclusion

The choice of material for leveling the floors depends on the type of balcony being repaired, but in each case you can find the best option. The fastest option for a small height correction is a self-leveling floor. In case of serious errors, a wooden crate is used, which significantly speeds up the finishing process on the balcony.

When choosing a material, you should also pay attention to the load of the balcony base so that the rough finish does not shake the structure.

Video

The review shows how to properly dry level the floor on a balcony or loggia.

The floor on the balcony (loggia) in most city apartments is a concrete slab without finishing. This means that when landscaping a balcony, a considerable part of the costs and time will have to be devoted to leveling the floor and preparing it for laying the finish coat. Let's see how to do it yourself.

What materials can be used?

If the balcony is glazed with high quality, insulated and heated by radiators or using a warm floor system, then you can choose any materials for leveling and finishing surfaces. The same as in living rooms.

A glazed balcony without heating is also protected from precipitation, but is subject to temperature changes, which can affect the appearance of condensation. Therefore, for such premises it is recommended to use moisture-resistant materials. Plywood, GVL, moisture-resistant drywall, DSP, OSB, screeds are suitable for leveling the floor. Linoleum, tile, carpet, moisture resistant laminate (class 33-34) are used as finishing.

The most difficult case is an open balcony, on the floor of which rain and snow fall, and sub-zero temperatures reign in winter. You can level such floors with screeds, DSP sheets, OSB. Finishing coatings: ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware, terrace board.

It is very important to remember that a balcony is a slab, three sides of which are suspended. It is undesirable to overload it. Therefore, the design of the floor on the balcony should be as light as possible. If the floor needs to be raised 20 cm for leveling, do not use a heavy cement screed for this. Give preference to floors on logs, which practically do not load the stove. Cement screeds are good if the floor needs to be leveled 3-5 cm and no more.

How to determine the level of a clean floor?

When we have decided on the material, another question arises: to what level should the floor be leveled? You can use the water level (water level). To do this, they put a risk on the wall of the balcony in an arbitrary place, using a spirit level, make marks at the same level on other walls. A line (horizon) is drawn along the points obtained. In the highest places of the floor (determined visually), the distance to the horizon is measured. The thickness of the floor structure is subtracted from the smallest measurement and the resulting distance from the horizon to the floor is set aside. Focusing on this point, using the water level, mark the level of the "clean floor".

Easier to use laser level. It is enough to install it in the highest corner of the balcony, turn it on and, using laser dots or lines, it will indicate a flat horizontal line. According to it, you need to be equal when arranging the floor.

Home craftsmen often use a regular bubble level to create a horizontal line. You need to act like this: by eye determine the highest corner of the room, put a mark on the floor. From the received mark up, measure the height of the floor structure. Using a level, draw a straight line along the mark, extending it along the perimeter of the balcony. However, this method has too large an error, so it is not used for high-quality alignment.

Leveling with cement screed

This is one of the most reliable ways to obtain a smooth and durable surface. It is used if the height of the required alignment is 3-5 cm. The screed less than 3 cm is fragile and, with a high probability, will quickly crack. At the same time, a screed thicker than 5 cm will unnecessarily overload the balcony ceiling.

Materials and tools required for work:

waterproofing primer for concrete;
cement, sand or ready mixes (cement mortar or sand concrete);
lighthouses, formwork boards - if necessary;
building level;
metal rule;
trowel (for laying out or kneading the solution);
mixer;
brush or roller (for primer).

The technology of work is as follows. Remove debris, clean the surface of dust, oil stains, chipped parts of concrete. All cracks are sealed with cement or gypsum mortar. Then a primer is applied to the surface, which will enhance the adhesion of the screed to the concrete slab and additionally act as a waterproofing agent.

If the balcony is open, with a lattice fence, then, to prevent the screed from spreading, a temporary formwork is installed along the edge of the slab. Most often, its role is played by thin boards or plywood. A balcony with a monolithic railing does not need formwork.

Then beacons are installed. They are long metal guides with a reinforced profile. They are cut into pieces equal to the length of the balcony, and installed every 50-60 cm. The top of the beacons should coincide with the upper level of the planned screed. For standard narrow balconies, it is enough to use 2 beacons.

Lighthouses are fixed on a cement or gypsum mortar, carefully checking the level of their horizontality. After 2-3 hours, after the solution has solidified, the beacons will be ready for pouring with a screed.

When performing a screed on a small balcony, formwork boards can play the role of guides, the top of which is hewn to the desired level.

Then knead the cement mortar for the screed. The optimal ratio of cement and sand is 1:3. Water is needed so much that the solution becomes like thick sour cream, on average, 2 liters of water are required for 10 kg of dry mixture. Mixing of components occurs either manually (using a trowel) or with a mixer. The finished mixture, of course, is more convenient to use - you do not need to calibrate the components, just mix the mixture with water and mix.

Now pour the solution on the floor. The solution is leveled with a metal rule, pulling it along the beacons. In hot and dry weather, the wet screed is covered with a film or burlap. This will prevent the mortar from drying out quickly and cracking.

After 1-2 days, the formwork is removed. If necessary, take out the beacons (you can leave them in the screed). The paths from the lighthouses and the gaps left from the formwork along the edges of the screed are sealed with a thick cement mortar. The surface is leveled with a grater (foam or wooden). After 1-3 weeks, the final coating is laid on the finished screed: linoleum, laminate, tiles, decking, etc.

Leveling the floor with self-levelling mortar

If the existing irregularities on the concrete floor are less than 3 cm, then it is undesirable to apply a conventional cement screed. It will most likely crack. There is a more reliable way to make a thin, absolutely flat and smooth surface - to use self-leveling solutions. The thickness of such screeds can vary from 3 mm to 3 cm.

For the installation of a self-leveling screed, you need: a primer, a self-leveling compound, a spatula, a brush or roller (for priming), a needle roller (for deaeration of the screed) and a mixer.

The alignment goes like this:

The floor is cleaned of chips, paint, grease and oil stains. Cracks in the floor, between the slab and the walls close up. Dedust the surface with a vacuum cleaner - construction or household.
The cleaned floor is primed with a brush or roller. According to the instructions, the primer gains strength in 4-6 hours. It is advisable to maintain this interval before proceeding to the next stage of work. Despite the fact that the primer dries much faster - in the summer in 1-2 hours.
Close the leveling mixture with water, mix with a mixer until a liquid, fluid state.
Pour the mixture onto the floor, trying to distribute it evenly. Level the screed with a metal spatula.
Roll over the liquid surface with a spiked roller to remove air bubbles from the mixture.
Such a screed hardens for 1-2 days, after which you can walk on it. Finishing is performed only after 1-2 weeks, according to the recommendations of manufacturers of specific mixtures.

How to level the floor using this technology, see the video:

Performing a dry screed

A dry screed on the balcony will help you out if you need to not only level, but also insulate the floor. At the same time, there is no desire to interrupt the technological process while the cement mortar is solidifying. Dry screed is ready for further finishing immediately after its creation. Another advantage is the speed of installation. On the balcony, dry screeding will take only a few hours.

To install a dry screed, you will need to purchase: loose heat-insulating material - expanded clay (or coarse sand, slag), floor base elements (GSP, GVL, DSP, OSB), plastic film (waterproofing), self-tapping screws, edge tape (made of foamed polyethylene), adhesive tape or masking tape, U-shaped profiles as beacons, a grater and a rule.

Dry screed technology:

Perform floor preparation. Clean it from debris, dust. Cracks are sealed with cement mortar. The gaps between the slab and the walls are filled with mounting foam.
Along the perimeter of the walls, an edge (damper) tape is laid, which acts as a soundproofing material. If you skip this installation step, then the subfloor slabs will make quite noisy sounds when they come into contact with the walls.
Start waterproofing. To do this, a plastic film is laid on a concrete slab, leading it over the walls 6-10 cm above the level of the future floor. The edges of the film are fixed with tape.
Beacons are installed - thick-walled U-shaped profiles that will help to more accurately align the expanded clay layer. They are laid on the floor along long walls without fixing, with the wide (reference) side down, they are checked for horizontality by the rule. The level of the upper edges of the profiles must match the planned level of the expanded clay layer.
Expanded clay is poured between the profiles with a layer of 3-7 cm. Stretching the rule along the beacons, level the resulting surface. The remaining irregularities are smoothed out with a grater. To move along the expanded clay layer, “footpaths” are used from square sheets of plywood or GVL, laid out in the form of paths.
Lay the slabs. In order to be able to connect them together (they will not be attached to the floor!), Use plates with grooves. They are laid, pressing as tightly as possible to the wall. Then the design will be able to withstand any load no worse than a concrete screed. The joints in the grooves are glued with building glue and fastened with self-tapping screws in increments of 5-10 cm.
The parts of the edge tape and the polyethylene film that rise above the floor are cut off at the level of the coating slabs.

This technology is reproduced step by step in the video plot:

Leveling the floor with a log

This method will help to level, lift and insulate the floor. And at the same time, practically do not load the concrete base of the balcony. According to the technology, a crate is made of timber on the floor, which is sewn up from above with boards or slab material. Inside such a floor, you can lay any communications, waterproofing and insulation.

Required materials: timber, insulation (mineral wool, polystyrene, expanded clay), waterproofing film (optional), self-tapping screws, dowels, lag sheathing material (boards, plywood, OSB, GVL, GSP).

Alignment is performed according to the following plan:

Remove debris and dust from the concrete surface using a broom and a vacuum cleaner (construction or household).
If there is an open space or an unglazed neighboring balcony under the concrete slab of the balcony, the floor must be waterproofed. To do this, a plastic film is laid on the floor, the edges lead to the walls. Instead of a film, you can use combined materials that simultaneously act as a hydro- and heat insulator. A well-known similar material is penofol.
On top of the waterproofing, logs are fixed - wooden bars. Usually bars with a section of 50x50 mm are used, but this size can be adjusted depending on the height of the planned floor structure. If it is necessary to increase it, it is allowed to lay the bars in several tiers in height, fixing them together with self-tapping screws. The logs are fixed to the floor with dowels in increments of 40-50 cm. The distance from the extreme bars to the walls is about 5-10 cm.
A heater is laid between the bars. If the balcony is open, then in this capacity it is better to use foam or expanded clay. All modern heaters can be used on a glazed balcony: glass wool, basalt wool, EPS, etc. When laying the insulation, you should leave as few gaps as possible, which will lead to the appearance of cold bridges.
From above, the logs are sewn up with finishing material: grooved boards, plywood, DSP, GVL, GSP, OSB.

How to make a floor on the logs will tell and show the master:

After leveling is completed, the final finish can be laid on the subfloor: carpet, laminate, linoleum, tiles, decking.

Balcony or loggia are rooms that are exposed to the adverse effects of temperature changes, as well as high levels of humidity. It is these factors that affect the integrity and service life of structural elements, load-bearing parts and other parts of the room. Over time, under the influence of the above conditions, the floors of the loggia begin to deform and collapse, cracks form, as a result of which it becomes necessary to carry out restoration work and repair floors and other surfaces.

There are several ways to level the loggia floor with your own hands, to choose one of them, you must first determine the further purpose of this room, calculate the presence or absence of furniture or other interior details. These should include:

Leveling the loggia floor with wooden logs and arranging plywood, wooden boards or parquet flooring;
Leveling with a screed (dry or wet);
Laying the floor of the loggia with ceramic tiles.

Important! All of the above methods for leveling the floor of a loggia or balcony involve weighting the structure, which must be taken into account when calculating the subsequent maximum load.

Preparatory work

Before leveling the floor on a balcony or loggia, it is necessary to clean this room as much as possible, dismantle various design elements and structural details, knock down areas of the floor surface that sag or crumble, clean the floor of dust and other debris with an industrial vacuum cleaner. With the proper approach and the fulfillment of all conditions, such work can be done by hand.

In some cases, when the work surface is prone to crumbling, it is necessary to additionally treat it with special primers for concrete surfaces, for example, Ceresit CT19 Adhesive Primer "Concrete Contact" or ESKARO MONOLIT silicate primer for concrete floors.

Depending on the chosen method of leveling the floors, a certain set of tools will be needed.

When leveling the floor of the loggia with your own hands using wooden logs, you will need:

Hand, miter saw and electric jigsaw;
Electric planer;
Level, measuring tape and construction marker;
Electric screwdriver and impact drill;
Hammer, chisel.

To level the floor using a dry or wet screed, tools such as:

Level and measuring tape;
Rule;
Spatula and trowel;
Construction mixer or electric hand drill with a special nozzle for mixing cement mortars.

When laying ceramic tiles, you must have at hand:

Rubber mallet;
Electric or manual tile cutter;
Auxiliary elements for leveling the width of the seam when laying tiles;
Level and rule;
notched trowel;
An electric drill with a nozzle or a construction mixer.

Leveling the floor on a balcony or loggia requires the necessary building materials and parts, depending on the chosen method to achieve the result.

When leveling the floor with your own hands when using wooden logs, you must:

Wooden beams with a section of 50x70;
Batten;
Nails 6-9 cm;
Mineral wool for warming the gaps between the lags;
Waterproof film.

When laying ceramic tiles, you will need materials such as:

Adhesive for laying ceramic tiles;
Ceramic tile;
Grout for seams.

Leveling the floor by forming a dry or wet screed provides for the presence of materials such as:

Metal beacon strips;
Dowels for concrete;
Sand-cement mortar;
Reinforcing mesh;
Waterproofing film;
Expanded clay of small fraction;
Gypsum fiber boards with joint locks (when leveling with a dry screed).

After the preparatory stage of work is completed, and the surface treated with a primer has dried, you need to proceed to the main stage of work - we level the floor on the balcony with our own hands.

The main work on leveling the floor of the loggia with your own hands

Leveling the floor by laying logs and wooden or plywood flooring is the simplest and most labor-intensive method of carrying out such work. Wooden bars, which act as a log, are located across the balcony or loggia at a distance of no more than 50 cm from each other. The main task when leveling the base with your own hands in this way is to ensure that the upper surfaces of the bars are at the same horizontal level. To do this, the lower part of the log is processed in such a way as to compensate for the unevenness of the original floor. Logs are attached to the concrete base of the floor with anchors. After all the logs are laid on the same level, it is necessary to start forming the final work surface from boards or plywood, which is attached to the logs with nails or self-tapping screws.

Leveling the floor with ceramic tiles is possible without the formation of a finishing screed. This is allowed if the old floor has a solid structure. In this case, the alignment occurs due to the use of more or less tile adhesive, forming a perfectly flat surface. In the case of an inhomogeneous structure of the base, crumbling of the concrete base and the appearance of new cracks, it is recommended to equip a wet screed for the subsequent laying of ceramic tiles on it. The screed must be necessarily reinforced, for which a special metal mesh is used.

Leveling with a wet or dry screed is considered one of the most time-consuming and time-consuming ways to level the floor. Both methods require the installation of beacon rails, which form the horizon for the future screed. The wet method involves the use of cement mortar, which is poured around the entire perimeter of the loggia, after which, using the rule, the mass is leveled into a single surface.

Dry screed involves the use of dry components. The most demanded is expanded clay of fine fraction. The mass is also scattered around the entire perimeter of the room and compacted in order to reduce the number of air pockets. With the help of a rule that moves along the beacons, a flat surface is formed, and gypsum fiber boards are laid on top of the finished base.

Important! It should be noted that when arranging both dry and wet screeds, after the formation of a flat surface, beacon rails should be removed.

The floor on the loggias and balconies of urban apartments is in most cases a concrete slab that does not have a finish. If a finish exists, it is usually minimal. This means that in future landscaping, a lot of time will be devoted to the process of leveling the floor on the balcony and preparing it for applying the selected topcoat.

Leveling the floor with a screed

Leveling the floor with a screed is one of the most reliable and time-tested options. The screed is great as a base for underfloor heating or any type of coating. Work can be carried out even on a very uneven floor of a loggia or balcony. In fact, the screed is a mixture of components in a certain proportion, such as cement, sand and water.

It must be borne in mind that a cement-based screed is used in cases where the alignment occurs in height from three to five centimeters. This is the only way to ensure optimal strength of the "rough" surface.

The first stage of work is the preparation of the old foundation.

Any existing delamination should be carefully cleaned after measurements. Measurements are necessary for the reason that it is not always possible to notice them with the naked eye.

If the screed is installed on an old concrete floor that has significant potholes, leveling is done using a special milling machine or mosaic machine. Dust and debris must be removed with a construction vacuum cleaner.

It is necessary to prepare the following materials and tools:

waterproofing primer for concrete;
sand, cement or ready-made mixtures;
formwork boards and beacons as needed;
metal rule;
trowel;
primer brush or roller;
building level;
construction mixer.

The surface of the balcony is cleaned not only from dirt and dust, but also from oil stains, as well as chipped parts of concrete. All existing cracks are sealed with gypsum or cement mortar. After that, a primer coat can be applied to the surface. The need for this arises if it is necessary to enhance the adhesion of the screed to the concrete slab. Among other things, the primer plays the role of excellent waterproofing.

In cases with open balconies that have, temporary formwork is installed along the edges of the slab to prevent the future screed from flowing out. The role of formwork can be played by plywood or thin boards.

Lighthouses are long metal guides with a reinforced profile. They are cut into pieces and installed every half a meter. For standard balconies, two lighthouses are enough. On very small balconies, formwork boards can be used.

In any case, the beacons are fixed with a cement or gypsum mortar, leveling is done using a building level.

The solution is best mixed using one part of cement and three parts of sand. Water is added in the amount necessary to obtain a density similar to the density of medium-fat sour cream.

Approximately 10 kg of the mixture in dry form will require about 2 liters of water. You can mix with a mixer or a trowel by hand. For the convenience of calculating proportions, it is still desirable to use ready-made mixtures.

Next, the resulting solution is poured onto the floor. Using a metal rule, the solution is leveled in accordance with the position of the beacons. If the weather is dry, then it is better to cover the screed with polyethylene or burlap to prevent cracks and premature drying. The formwork is removed in a day or two. Beacons can be left inside the screed if there is no need to remove them.

Grouting the surface of the screed
The screed dries in 1-3 weeks

If there is such a need, then the gaps along the edges and the paths from the beacons are leveled with a thick cement mortar. The surface is leveled with a foam or wooden float. The topcoat can be applied after one to three weeks.

Leveling the floor with joists

Leveling with a log is a great way to not only level the balcony, but also slightly raise it and even warm it.

At the same time, the base of the balcony is not loaded with excess weight. The technology of this method

implies the preliminary installation of a crate made of timber, sewn on top with boards. The design of the floor makes it possible to lay any communications, insulation and waterproofing materials.

To carry out the work, it is necessary to prepare the following materials:

beam;
insulation (if necessary);
waterproofing film (if necessary);
self-tapping screws;
dowels;
material for finishing cladding lag.

Traditional options can be used as a material for thermal insulation:

mineral wool;
expanded clay;
Styrofoam.

As a finish, you can use boards, plywood, GSP, chipboard and others. The choice of both materials mainly depends on the financial capabilities of the owners and the characteristics of the balcony.

The order of work is the sequential execution of the following actions.

Leveling the floor with tiles

Leveling floors with ceramic tiles is not as common as the previous two described by us. The fact is that the tile is not only a material for leveling, but also plays the role of finishing.

The main distinguishing feature is the possibility of using it both on closed balconies and on open ones.

If it is intended to use the balcony as a separate living space, it is highly desirable to equip high-quality thermal insulation under the tiles or install a floor heating system. As for underfloor heating, it is advisable to use its electric version in the form of mats.

To form an uneven cut, we use a tile cutter, or an electric machine with a diamond wheel.

Ceramic tiles for a balcony must necessarily have a rough surface or any specific textured pattern. Using glossy tiles is not safe, especially if the apartment is occupied by the elderly or children. In addition, glossy tiles quickly get dirty, acquiring an untidy look.

Before proceeding with gluing the tiles, it is necessary to carry out preliminary preparation. Preparation consists in arranging a smooth screed, primed with a special solution. The glue mixed according to the instructions is applied to the back of the tile.

Laying starts from the corner farthest from the front door. The first tile should be cut at a 45 degree angle. The glue is leveled with a spatula, and its excess is removed. A small amount of glue should also be applied to the screed or to the underfloor heating mats.

Laying is done by pressing against the surface of the screed and light lapping. To ensure that the width of the seams is the same over the entire surface of the balcony or loggia, remote building crosses are used.

After that, the laying operation must be repeated. All rows are placed in this way. In the process of work, the tiles can be leveled with a block of wood or a special mallet. Tiles are cut along the edges with a glass cutter or tile cutter.

After the glue dries, metal corners are fixed with the help of dowels inserted into the holes. It is very important that when drilling the holes for the dowels, a specific drill bit designed for tile work is used.

Features of leveling the floor on a closed balcony

The main feature of leveling floors on closed balconies and loggias is the special care in the preliminary preparation of the premises.

It is from the preliminary work that not only the evenness of the floor will depend, but also the indicators of the insulation of the balcony as a whole. Any chosen method of alignment implies the elimination of even the slightest cracks.

Preparation takes place in several stages:

The most significant gap at the junction of the floor is closed and, for which sealant or mounting foam is used.
After some time, a thorough cleaning is carried out.
The gaps that are found after cleaning are expanding.
Expanded cracks are sealed with sealant or a very plastic cement mortar.
After the material dries, cut off the excess.
If it is planned to lay a screed, it is advisable to install a damper tape around the entire perimeter.

After all these procedures have been done, you can start laying waterproofing sheets. Waterproofing can be an ordinary film of thick polyethylene or a sheet of roofing material glued to bituminous mastic.

It is important that the waterproofing, regardless of the material, rises slightly on the walls. The lifting height must not exceed the height of the intended leveling structure.

Waterproofing on a closed balcony should be laid very tightly without joints. If joints are unavoidable, then the material is overlapped. The resulting joint is sealed with construction tape in the case of a film. If waterproofing is carried out with roofing felt, then the joints are disposed of by welding. Only after carrying out all the work can you start leveling.

The balcony in a new house does not always have a perfectly flat floor, and in old buildings it can be even worse - the concrete coating is crumbled or covered with numerous cracks. And then the question arises of how to level the floor on the balcony in order to ennoble and transform this whole room.

If the apartment has a balcony, this is a great success, as it may well expand the area of \u200b\u200bthe apartment, becoming an additional room. An insulated balcony becomes a wonderful greenhouse, a small workshop or even an office where you can place a computer and calmly do your work.

But before the balcony becomes cozy, it needs to be insulated, and effective insulation is possible only with aligned and waterproofed floors - with them you need to start work.

If the balcony is open, then you need to level the floor differently, taking into account the decorative coating, the characteristics of which will correspond to the weather conditions of the region.

You can level the floor surface in different ways, which will depend on what functions the balcony will perform in the future:

ceramic tiles;

garden parquet;

With the help of log and plywood coating;

Dry or wet screed.

In some cases, insulation for the room is simply necessary, and sometimes it will be redundant. But in any case, before you start leveling the base, it is necessary to carry out preparatory measures.

Leveling the floor on the balcony with a screed

Preparing the base on the open balcony

On an open balcony, the floor surface should not only be leveled, but also have a slight slope so that during rain or snowmelt, water does not accumulate, but flows down into the drainage system. At the same time, the slope must not be too great, otherwise it will be uncomfortable to stand on the floor.

If the surface of the open balcony has an old cement screed, it must be dismantled. This must be done very carefully so as not to touch the plate. It is best to carry out this process with a perforator.

This tool may also be needed when leveling the floor on a closed balcony, if it is planned to carry out repairs using a wet screed. If you do not remove the old one and lay the new one in accordance with all the rules, these layers will seriously weigh down the concrete slab, which should not be allowed, since the balcony may collapse.
The slope of the floor from the wall on the open balcony should be from 3 to 5 degrees, if there is no connection between the floor and the fence, then the water will freely flow down the surface.
If the floor and wall of the balcony are connected to each other, or a small curb is arranged along the edge of the slab, then you will have to make a drain for water - it can be a small groove along the wall and a drain hole or a PVC screed embedded in a PVC screed - a pipe and a drain ladder anywhere gender. In this case, the slope of the screed should be directed precisely towards the drain hole.
But first of all, old concrete and small pebbles are cleaned from the slab, and then the floor is covered with a primer.
The next step is to install the formwork around the perimeter of the balcony. The joints between the formwork and the floor must be caulked so that the leveling mortar does not flow down.

The screed is poured

A thin wire reinforcement grid is laid on the floor, beacons are installed and fixed on it. On an open balcony, you can’t do without them, since in any case you will have to set the direction of the water to the drain.

Beacons are displayed along the long wall of the balcony according to the level at which you can immediately determine the slope of the floor.
Next, the solution is mixed, from cement and sand. You can add fine expanded clay there, which will make the surface warmer. The mixture should be homogeneous and plastic, have good adhesion.
The solution is laid out in parts on the prepared surface 3-5 cm above the beacons and leveled using the rule, which is carried out along the beacons.

When the screed is completely finished, it is left to dry, but to make it strong, the concrete is sprayed daily with water.
This creates the desired slope of the screed on an open balcony. And, for example, to perfectly level the surface for a decorative coating on a glazed balcony, you can use a mixture for a self-leveling floor. Dry compositions of such coatings are sold ready-made and are easily diluted with water to the consistency indicated on the package.

The solution should be homogeneous and thin, it is poured in the form of small puddles and spread over the surface of the doctor blade, followed by rolling with a spiked roller. This layer will not make the screed particularly heavy, since its thickness can be only two to three millimeters.

On top, you can lay ceramic tiles or garden parquet. Ceramic tiles will be an additional protection for the base. If a garden parquet made of thermal wood is used, then water will not be able to stagnate on its surface, passing between the lamellas to the screed, and flowing down along the arranged slope.

An excellent solution for an open or closed balcony - "garden parquet"

Leveling the floor with tiles

If the surface is in good condition and has the desired slope from the wall, but minor cracks and chips appear on it, then the floor can be leveled with floor tiles.

Minor surface imperfections can be repaired immediately with ceramic tiles

First you need to repair all the damage - this is done as follows:

Cracks and chips are expanded and cleaned of dust, treated with a primer;

The tile is laid on glue intended for outdoor work - it is resistant to temperature changes and moisture. It is kneaded into a homogeneous mass, taking into account the requirements of the instructions.
Glue spread on the surface and spread with a notched trowel. Since the surface uneven, and it must be brought to perfection, glue is often put a little more than necessary. Then a tile is laid on it, the back surface of which is also desirable to be smeared with glue and leveled with a notched trowel. The direction of the furrows when laying should be perpendicular. Calibration crosses or other special devices are installed between the tiles to maintain the thickness of the joints and the laying direction.

Convenient modern devices for maintaining the thickness of the joints and the level of the surface of the tile

If excess adhesive comes out between the tiles, then it must be removed. The seams must be hollow, since after the glue dries they must be sealed with a moisture-resistant grout - fugue.

Before grouting, the leveling elements are removed - they are carefully knocked down with a rubber mallet or simply with a foot.

Leveling the floor on a closed balcony

Usually, they start leveling the floor on a closed balcony when it is decided to insulate the entire room. This task is more complex and laborious, but the apartment will expand by one more room.

Alignment in combination with insulation can be done in several ways:

The cracks in the floor, found after a thorough cleaning, are first expanded, and then sealed with a plastic cement mortar or also with a sealant.

After the material dries, the excess must be cut off.
Then, it is recommended to install a damper tape along the entire perimeter along the walls if you plan to lay any type of screed.
The next step is to lay waterproofing sheets. It may consist of an ordinary polyethylene film of large thickness or roofing material, which is glued to bituminous mastic.
Waterproofing must be raised on the walls the height of the future insulation and leveling system.

We must not forget that the waterproofing material must be laid hermetically, preferably without joints. If it is impossible to do without joints, then the material is overlapped by 10-15 cm and the joint is sealed with construction tape or, in the case of roofing material, surfacing.

Alignment with log

With the help of a log, you can simply level the base, or you can combine it with insulation and raising the floor to a certain height.

Logs can be fixed directly to the base or raised using special tools. To date, there are many types of such elements on sale.
If it is decided to raise the coating from the base, then an accurate measurement of this level must be carried out. Usually the floors are leveled along the concrete threshold of the balcony door.
To raise the log, adjustable fasteners are used - these are metal studs, stands, holders or studs made of plastic. All these elements are threaded, which helps to raise one of the sides to the desired height above the concrete slab.

First, lags are installed along the walls, at a distance of 80 - 100 mm, since it is necessary to lay insulation material between them.
Having installed and fixed to the base of the stand with lags, they adjust the level by raising or lowering to the desired height, aligning the two lags with each other in the longitudinal and transverse directions.
Further, in the same way, one or two middle logs are installed and they are adjusted in height to the side ones.
Any insulation can be used: fill in expanded clay, lay one or even several layers of mineral wool or polystyrene.

The coating, laid on aligned logs, will make the floor perfectly flat. The logs are covered with thick plywood or massive boards.

Any selected decorative coating is laid on top of the plywood. Under it, if desired, you can even mount an infrared film for underfloor heating. In this case, it is convenient because the heating is turned on as needed, which helps not to waste electricity.

Leveling with extruded polystyrene foam

Extruded polystyrene foam has a high density (about 45 kg / m³), so it can be used to level the surface of the balcony floor.

For prepared waterproofed the surface is laid with expanded polystyrene mats of the selected thickness.
Along the perimeter, the gaps between the insulation and the walls are sealed with mounting foam to form an almost airtight layer.
On top of the insulation, it is desirable to lay another layer of waterproofing made of polyethylene film or roofing felt. The second material is preferable, as it is denser and harder to damage with reinforcing material.
A reinforcing mesh is laid on the waterproofing material with cells from 50 to 100 mm.
If the balcony has a traditional rectangular shape, then metal guides - beacons - are installed along its length, along the walls. They must be installed at the same height, and on the thickness of the future screed, which can be from 30 to 50 mm.
Further, a concrete mixture is laid on the surface area above the beacons by 20 - 30 mm. The solution for it should have a thick consistency.
As a rule, the solution is leveled and slightly rammed down, since it must occupy the entire thickness from the reinforcement to the height of the beacons.
The leveled screed is left to harden and mature. Starting from day 2, it is regularly moistened with water - thanks to this procedure, the screed will gain proper strength and will not crack.
Any decorative coating can be laid on the finished frozen screed.
If the surface of the screed is too porous, it can be ennobled with a self-leveling floor, and the desired coating can be placed on top.

Dry screed leveling

This way to level the floor on the balcony is becoming more and more popular due to the ease of installation and the speed of work.

A special mixture of expanded clay of fine fraction can be poured onto a base with arranged hermetic waterproofing. The layer of material can be from 50 to 100 mm. However, it should be remembered that if the thickness is more than 60 mm, then an additional layer of sheet material will have to be laid approximately in the middle.

Beacons can also be installed along the walls and raised to the desired height. The embankment is made above the beacons, the excess material is removed by the rule when leveling.

gypsum fiber

If the second layer of expanded clay will be laid, then the intermediate flooring from gypsum fiber panels must be connected to the wall with sealant. It will not allow particles of expanded clay embankment to get into the joint between the wall and the panels.
Further, beacons are again installed to the thickness of the second layer of the screed, and a new batch of expanded clay is poured out, which is also leveled and covered with slabs. The evenness of the surface should be controlled using the building level.
The gaps between the wall and the plates must again be sealed with sealant, and after it hardens, cut off the excess.
On top of the plates, you can lay any decorative coating, under which you can easily mount a warm infrared floor.

Dry screed is not only easy and quick to install, making the floor even - it is an environmentally friendly design that does not emit any harmful fumes.

Video: a visual lesson on a dry screed device on a balcony or loggia

Starting the repair of the balcony, you can not do without leveling the floor surface. Information about the existing methods of work will help you choose the one that is more suitable for its characteristics, materials used and price parameters.