What is fiberboard and what types of boards exist, the pros and cons of the material, features of use and selection rules, the technology of mounting wood sheets on the floor using wooden logs, glue and mastic. Fibreboard plywood on the floor is a building material in the form of a sheet, which is made from wood products using the hot pressing method. It also contains resin, antiseptics and water repellents.
Description and types of fiberboard for the floor
Fiberboard (Fibreboard) is a sheet building material. The front side of the product is smooth, the wrong side has a mesh structure.
The raw materials for the production of fiberboard are waste from sawmills and wood processing, firewood, as well as technological chips. After steaming and grinding it, fibers are formed, which are scraps of wood tissue, individual cells, groups of cells. Fiberboard is obtained from such wood fiber, which is formed in the form of a carpet.
Fiberboard can be of different density. According to this criterion, the plates are divided into the following groups:
- Soft fiberboard … Their density is not higher than 350 kg per cubic meter. Such slabs have high porosity, low density and are suitable for insulation work, floor and wall insulation. They have low sound and thermal conductivity. They are divided into three types: M-1, M-2 and M-3.
- Semi-hard fiberboard … They have a density of at least 850 kg per cubic meter. They are used in the manufacture of back walls of furniture, drawers.
- Solid fiberboard … Their density is 800-1000 kg per cubic meter. They have low porosity and are used in the production of panel doors and furniture. There are such types: T, T-S, T-P, T-SP.
- Superhard fiberboard … They have a density of at least 950 kg per cubic meter. Their level of porosity is very low. They are used in construction and for finishing works, creating partitions, flooring, in the manufacture of furniture, doors, temporary buildings. They have a smooth front side coated with paint, varnish or primer. In addition, the raw materials for the production of such boards are treated with pectol, which increases the strength of the fiberboard by 20%.
Fiberboard sheets have standard factory dimensions. The length ranges from 1220 to 3000 millimeters. Width - 1220-1700 millimeters. Such sheets are rather inconvenient to transport by hand, so you will definitely need a cargo taxi service or a car with a trailer.
As for the thickness, this figure can vary from 2.5 to 40 millimeters, depending on the type of plate and its density. Fiberboard is most often thicknesses of 8, 12, 16 and 25 millimeters. These are slabs of medium and low density, which, as a rule, are not used for finishing work. Semi-solid slabs are 6, 8 and 12 millimeters thick. Hard as well as superhard fiberboards are produced in thicknesses of 2, 5, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6 millimeters. Walls and floors can be clad with such materials.
Advantages and disadvantages of fiberboard flooring
Fiberboard is often used as a subfloor laying material. They are suitable for mounting on almost all surfaces. If you follow certain rules, then it will be possible to easily attach the sheets even to the old coating.
Laying fiberboard on the floor has many advantages:
- Low price of this building material. This type of rough flooring is budgetary, and installation costs are minimal.
- No time-consuming work - the process of laying the slabs is very simple. There may be some problems when installing logs, but to avoid them, you need to carefully calculate the layout of the boards on the floor.
- Absolute environmental friendliness of the plates. The sheets are based on natural wood. Therefore, they can be used to create flooring in bedrooms, nurseries and playrooms.
- The strength and durability of fiberboard, provided that boards of appropriate density are used. However, such a coating should not be subjected to heavy loads and should not be directly exposed to water.
The disadvantages of this building material include the following:
- Low level of fire resistance. At the slightest interaction with fire, the coating will quickly ignite.
- Relatively low wear resistance. For reinforcement, a topcoat is applied over the slabs so that they do not wear out and rub off so quickly. In addition, the finish will add aesthetics to the flooring.
- Low level of moisture resistance. Fiberboard sheets tolerate moisture better than, for example, chipboard, but, nevertheless, it is not recommended to install them in the bathroom or in the kitchen, because this way the coating quickly deforms. For finishing in such premises, it is better to use water panels, gypsum fiber or moisture-resistant plywood.
Features of the use of wood-based panels
Fiberboard is not recommended to be laid in rooms where water and aggressive chemicals can get on the boards. But today, thanks to the development of technology, the performance of these plates is also improving, which helps to significantly expand the scope of the material.
Modern fiberboard on the floor has excellent performance, but it is worth noting some small limitations when installed indoors:
- It can be laid in dry rooms with a low level of humidity (no more than 60%) and temperature indicators greater than +10 degrees.
- The slabs must not be placed on the floor in rooms where they will be subjected to a large force load, for example, in shops or warehouses. Under mechanical stress, such a floor covering will quickly collapse.
- Wood boards are practically not used as a finishing floor, but they are excellent for roughing. Fiberboard flooring is an ideal base for laying parquet and laminate. Also, with the help of these plates, you can level or insulate the floor.
Remember the safety of using the stoves: if you purchased them more than twenty years ago, and before that they were stored in an inappropriate place, the material can be dangerous. Previously, the technology for making fiberboard sheets was different. To make the fibers in the boards stick better, unsafe products were used. Such plates cannot be installed in a residential building!
How to choose the right fiberboard for the floor
To buy high-quality material, you need to know several basic criteria for choosing plates:
- Be sure to study the fiberboard certificate for the presence of harmful components. Some manufacturers, in order to improve the density and moisture resistance indicators, add hazardous components, for example, formaldehyde, to the composition of the plates (or rather to their fibers). The presence of this substance indicates that the material is not intended for installation in residential premises. This is extremely dangerous! It is almost impossible to determine by eye whether the panels have this component. Therefore, ask the consultant for documents for building materials. They should clearly indicate that the fiberboard has passed sanitary and epidemiological control. When buying, stop your choice on trusted manufacturers.
- Carefully inspect each wood panel for any visible production or transport damage and scrap. Manufacturing defects include oil or paraffin stains, bulging and blistering on the surface of the boards. The only drawback that is allowed on fiberboard sheets is a small spot no more than two centimeters in size. Remember that panels become flammable when combined with oil or paraffin stains.
- Pay particular attention to the technical parameters of the material and the labeling of the sheets. So that it can be used for a long time, the thickness and density of the wood panels are important. The level of moisture resistance is also important. All fiberboard should be selected according to technical indicators, based on the room in which you will lay them.
Fiberboard mounting technology on logs
If you lay wood-based panels on logs, then the floor will turn out to be warmer than when working with screeds. Also, working with this type of flooring, traces of fiberboard fastening to the logs will be practically invisible.
Preparatory work before laying fiberboard
Before laying the fiberboard on the floor, it is necessary to carry out some preparatory work according to the following scheme:
- Once you have brought the panels into the room, moisten them with a little water, and stack them on top of each other. Installation can be started the next day. Thus, you will protect the material from possible deformation.
- Further, if necessary, dismantle the old coating and skirting boards. All paint should be removed from the floor and all debris removed.
- Fill the gaps between the coating and the wall with polyurethane foam. After it hardens, cut off the protruding remnants.
- Also, the gaps can be sealed with a filler for movable bases.
- We examine the old floor covering for the presence of mold or mildew; if necessary, we replace these places, since in no case should they remain under the new panels. After replacing the damaged areas, we treat the surface with a fungicidal primer or a special antiseptic solution for wooden materials.
Installing lags on the floor
With the help of lags, you can correct the slight curvature of the floor, align its drops, slopes or unevenness. Previously, it is recommended to treat them with special compounds that will protect them from pests, fungi and decay.
They need to be fixed according to the following scheme:
- Dry and even beams with a thickness of about 30-50 millimeters are installed on the main coating with a step of about 50 centimeters.
- All logs should be located strictly horizontally. You can check their evenness using a building level or a long ruler.
- In the assembly of lags, we use special zinc locknuts, which will not allow the fasteners to move freely along the thread. Thanks to these devices, the nuts will not loosen and loosen the entire structure. The lock nut itself should go a little deeper into the wood structure.
- We fix the bars on the old coating, and where there are no wooden boards, we put pieces of timber or pieces of wood under the logs.
Rules for attaching fiberboard to logs
It is recommended to start the installation of slabs on logs from the corner that is opposite to the entrance to the room. Before laying fiberboard on the floor, study the scheme of work:
- We attach the fiberboard to the joists with screws, self-tapping screws or nails. The step is about a centimeter along the edge and one and a half centimeters in the center.
- Do not forget to leave 5-10 millimeters between the wall and the covering for thermal expansion. In the future, it will be possible to close it with a skirting board.
- The seams of the slabs must necessarily converge on the bars.
- The next row of material should fit snugly, leaving a small gap of maximum two to three millimeters.
- All subsequent panels are stacked in the same way in rows.
When installing fiberboard, you will need to trim them. This is easy to do using a hacksaw, jigsaw, hand saw. To get holes in the sheet for the pipe, you can use a regular sharp knife. If you need a more complex cut, it is recommended that you first make a cardboard template and cut the slab along it.
Fiberboard laying technology on glue
Wood-based panels can be installed on a pre-leveled base surface using glue. The preparatory stage in this case is identical to the one that preceded the fastening of the fiberboard to the logs.
We work according to the instructions:
- Apply the glue to the entire surface of the material; it should be well and evenly distributed, without spreading.
- We give the sheets 30-40 minutes to dry.
- The adhesive composition is also applied to the previously primed and well-dried base surface.
- Press down the sheet in a horizontal position.
- Press the next product tightly against the previous one.
- Be sure to check each fixed sheet for evenness and horizontalness using a level.
Note! When laying the next row of fiberboard, you need to displace the joints of the plates by 40-50 centimeters in relation to the previous row. This will give the floor more strength and the load will be evenly distributed.
Fiberboard fixation technology with mastic
Installation of slabs on a concrete screed is much easier than on logs. But most importantly, such styling must necessarily be carried out on a perfectly flat surface. If the base has slight irregularities, then they must be leveled with cement mortar. For laying on a concrete floor, strong and thick fiberboard is used. You will also need mastic in the work.
We carry out the installation according to the following scheme:
- We carefully prime the screed surface.
- Half an hour before the start of the installation process, apply cold mastic to the underside of the wood-based panels and leave them aside.
- We immediately process the entire surface of the screed with mastic. The thickness of the composition should not be more than 0.6 mm.
- We apply hot mastic immediately before fixing so that it does not have time to cool down. The layer of the product is no more than one millimeter, we level it over the surface of the sheet and the screed with a rubber comb.
- The final stage of installation - it is necessary to firmly press the fiberboard to the base.
Features of finishing fiberboard flooring
The final treatment of the fiberboard floor helps to increase the service life of the boards. The main thing is to carefully prepare the surface so that it is perfectly smooth and even, since it will be impossible to correct defects after painting.
We work according to the following instructions:
- We clean the floor from the remnants of glue or primer.
- All gaps between the panels are sealed with putty or reinforcing tape.
- We carefully rub all the seams with fine sandpaper.
- If there are stains, then we treat them with a degreaser.
- We remove all dust from the surface with a vacuum cleaner.
- We cover the boards with paint or varnish in two layers. We apply with a spray gun, roller or brush.
How to lay fiberboard on the floor - watch the video:
With wood-based panels, you can assemble quality flooring with a minimum of effort. Before leveling the floor of the fiberboard, it is necessary to carefully study the technical characteristics of the plates and choose the appropriate material for the room being repaired, and then it remains to observe the technology for performing installation work.
