Laying a concrete floor is time consuming, costly and time consuming. Let's figure out how to make a concrete floor in a bath, from the beginning of preparing the soil for it to the final part of the installation - pouring a reinforced cement-concrete coating. Content:
- Peculiarities
- Design
-
Technology
- Preliminary work
- Materials (edit)
- Preparation of the base
- Fill
- Finishing
The functionality of the bath depends entirely on the design and arrangement of the floor in it, which must retain its properties in conditions of high humidity and be a guarantor of safe movement. When choosing a coating, one should take into account the material from which the structure is made, the type of soil under it and the foundation laid.
Features of the concrete floor for the bath
A small bathhouse, which is planned to be used only in the summer season, with only a dressing room and a steam room, it is more expedient to equip a wooden floor. But when making a floor in a bath from wooden elements, after a while they will require a complete replacement due to the effect of destructive moisture on them.
Therefore, it is worth thinking about the construction of a concrete base, it is advisable in capital buildings that are used all year round, in which several rooms will be planned, such as a recreation room, a washing room, a dressing room, a steam room.
The concrete floor in the bath is fully justified by its operational and quality characteristics, since it is not subject to decay processes, is resistant to moisture, perfectly withstands mechanical and physical loads, and is easy to clean. In addition, the correct installation of the structure will provide an increase in its strength over time.
Concrete floor structure in the bath
A standard floor in a concrete bath consists of several layers alternating one after another, which are laid on a prepared soil base and used on a strip or column foundation.
The construction of the concrete floor in the bath looks like this:
- Compacted gravel (10-15 cm);
- The first layer of concrete (5 cm);
- Waterproofing;
- Insulation (for example, expanded clay 5-8 cm);
- Waterproofing (bitumen, roofing material);
- Sub-floor (second layer of concrete);
- Reinforced (for large rooms) cement screed;
- Ceramic tile.
The technology of pouring a concrete floor in a bath on the ground
The installation of the floor in a concrete bath must be treated with due attention. The durability of the coating depends on adherence to all processes, correct mixing of the "rough" and final mixtures, and the use of quality materials.
Preliminary work before installing the concrete floor in the bath
The beginning of work on the laying of a concrete floor presupposes the obligatory arrangement of a pit outside the bath, in which water used to be collected will be collected. The depth of the sump should be at least 30 cm. The walls of the pit should be concreted, the thickness of the concrete layer should be at least 5 cm. The drainage system connected to the gutter is laid at an angle. Equip the drain pipe in the bath with a water seal.
If such a sewerage system is not provided for by you, and it is planned to discharge wastewater into the ground under the washing room (with well-absorbing sandy soils), make asbestos pipe vents in the basement to avoid the appearance of a negative odor over time. In this embodiment, the absorption pit should be dug to a depth of at least 60 cm. It can be filled with broken brick, gravel or crushed stone. When installing the floors, be sure to take into account the slope towards the drain.
Materials for the concrete floor in the bath
After the place for receiving wastewater is ready, you can proceed with the remaining preparatory processes for the subsequent laying of a concrete floor in the bath.
You will need materials:
- Slag (from 800 rubles / m3 or 12, 08 $);
- Polyfoam 25 cm (from 143 rubles or $ 2, 16);
- Expanded polystyrene, with a layer of 7-10 cm (packaging from 1450 rubles or $ 21, 89);
- Gravel, fraction 5x20 (price from 1 750 rubles / m3 or $ 26.42);
- Mineral wool (from 369 rubles or $ 5, 6);
- Roofing material (from 460 rubles or $ 6, 98);
- Liquid waterproofing (from 370 rubles or $ 5.6);
- Cement M400 (from 175 rubles / bag or $ 2.63);
- Grain sand of medium grinding (from 99 rubles for 40 kg or $ 1.49);
- Reinforcing mesh (from 102 rubles or $ 1.55).
Preparation of the base before arranging the concrete floor in the bath
Prepare the base - clear and compact the soil. Lay a layer of whatever material you have: slag (20-30 cm), rubble or gravel (10-15 cm). After that, carefully seal it. Next, pour the first concrete layer, its thickness should be at least 5 cm.
When laying the first layer, do not forget to observe the slope towards the pit. When the initial layer of concrete hardens, proceed with insulation, since with all the advantages of concrete floors, they still have a significant drawback - coldness.
To eliminate this "flaw" use expanded polystyrene, mineral wool or foam concrete. Place thermal insulation between two layers of concrete base. Bend the insulation layer near the wall in the same way as the waterproofing in order to ensure tightness and avoid cold penetration through the basement part of the wall.
The bottom pouring of concrete and the installed thermal insulation from above should be covered with a layer of waterproofing, which can be a roofing material, liquid waterproofing (concrete priming is required) or a dense polyethylene film.
After the completed heat and waterproofing, proceed to pouring the second concrete layer of 3-5 cm, which for large rooms should be reinforced with a chain-link mesh, the diameter of the cells of which will be 10x10x or 15x15 cm.
For the first and second rough concrete layers, a standard mortar is used, for the preparation of which mix dry construction sand, cement and water in a ratio of 1 to 2 to 500 ml for each kilogram of cement.
Pouring the concrete floor in the bath
The second "rough" cement layer is covered with a final screed. The solution that is prepared for this is special, since expanded sand or perlite (light, fine-grained sand) should be added to it, which gives the flooring additional thermal insulation.
To prepare the solution, you will need the following materials: perlite (from 1550 rubles or $ 23.51); cement M400 (from 175 rubles per bag or $ 2.63).
We prepare the mixture according to the following instructions:
- Mix 2 buckets of perlite with 10 liters of water in a concrete mixer.
- After the resulting mixture is slightly reduced in volume, add 5 liters of cement to it.
- Stir for 5 minutes and add 5 liters of water. Continue kneading until the mixture is smooth.
- Then add 2 liters of water and 1 more bucket of perlite. Stir the ingredients until the mixture is free flowing. As soon as this happens, stop the unit for 8-10 minutes so that the resulting solution acquires plastic properties.
Perform the final screed with the prepared mixture, not forgetting to observe the slope. Start laying the mortar from the most distant corner from the entrance.
Pouring concrete floors in a bath in large rooms is carried out in stages, it is advisable to work with four hands. The room is divided by means of guides. This makes it possible to level the surface with convenience.
At the end of the pouring work, remove the guides, and fill the empty space where they were mounted with concrete mixture. After three weeks, the finished floor can be used for its intended purpose.
Concrete flooring in the bath
The final stage in working with a concrete pavement will be its finishing. Leaving the concrete floor in its original form is not recommended, since even such a strong coating will deteriorate over time under the influence of moisture and temperature extremes.
Judging by the photo of baths with a concrete floor, most often in the final it is covered with ceramic tiles, which are laid in compliance with the previously laid down slope for draining water onto a cement-sand mortar.
On the tiles, at your request, you can lay portable softwood logs or special polymer rugs. Such additional flooring will exclude contact of the feet with a cool and hot surface, in addition, it can always be taken out in order to wipe and dry.
Features of the concrete floor in the bath are presented in the video:
The knowledge gained from our article will give you the opportunity to technologically correctly perform concrete floors in the bath with your own hands, which will have high performance characteristics, durability and maintain the required indoor climate.
