It is important to choose the right floor coating, so that the floor of the attic is durable and maintains its attractive appearance. The method of protection depends not only on the individual preferences of house owners, but also on the wood.
Functions of wooden floor coating
In addition to their excellent decorative properties, wooden floors have a number of other advantages:
- availability - wood is a natural material, and the choice of wooden flooring offers a wide variety and price range
- strength and durability - wood is durable material, whose deterioration can be prevented with proper care
- good thermal insulation - wood provides comfortable temperature of the floor and the room in general
- easy replacement - a damaged flooring element in a wooden house is quite easy to replace.
Some characteristics of wood reduce its functional qualities:
- hygroscopicity
- poor soundproofing
- susceptibility to mechanical damage and abrasion
- susceptibility to biological effects (rodents, insects, rot)
- deformation when humidity levels fluctuate
However, it is easy to eliminate these disadvantages with the help of protective coatings, which include oils, waxes and varnishes.
Preparing floors for coating
Before you begin to cover the wooden floor with a protective composition, it is necessary to properly prepare it. The boards should be cleaned for a better penetration of the composition into the wood structure - this will improve the adhesion of the product to its surface, provide protection and a longer service life of the coating.
- Preparation of new and old floors is different in that in the second case it is necessary to remove the coating layer - paint, varnish, oil layer. It is best to use a scraper for this. After removing the old protective layer, if necessary, they replace damaged boards, putty or paste from sawdust and PVA glue to close up the cracks and cracks.
- It is necessary to fix all the floorboards and to lay the heads of nails protruding above their surface with a doboy. They should be recessed into the board for 1-3 mm.
- Traces of nails and screws are rubbed with wood putty or sealant.
- Grinding is done using a parquet grinder and edge and corner strippers. The process is associated with the formation of a large amount of dust, so you need to close the door to the room, open the windows, wear protective glasses, headphones and a respirator. Grinding is performed in three approaches: at an angle of 45 ° to the direction of the floorboards, perpendicular to the direction of the first pass, and along the floorboards, moving in the direction of the fibers. The edges are machined with a grinder and the corners with an angle grinder.
- All dust is removed from the floor surface, the floor is wiped with white spirit.
- Treat the floor with antiseptic. The composition is applied to each floorboard separately. A wide wet brush is carried along the direction of the wood fibers.
- After drying, a protective coating is applied to the wooden floor, before each subsequent application, waiting for the previous layer to dry completely.
Choosing a coating for a wooden floor
Modern wooden floor protection products have excellent decorative properties: they emphasize the texture of wood, provide a beautiful color, give the material a noble dullness or glossy shine. The flooring in a wooden house provides a certain level of protection against moisture and mechanical wear, environmental exposure.
The living space of the attic floor does not carry the increased operational load, the wear of the floors in them is much less than in the kitchen, living room, hallway. Heated attic with good thermal insulation does not require the use of special tools, so you can choose any type of coating.
Oils
Modern oil formulations for flooring contain natural vegetable oils (soybean, linseed, sunflower), hard wax, polyurethane synthetic polymers and other substances that increase the strength of wood. The tool fills the pores, impregnating the wood and forms a thin protective film on top. The depth of impregnation depends on the concentration of the composition, the oil fraction.
The surface treated with oil is durable, resistant to moisture (does not crack, does not swell). With the help of oil coating the wooden floor can be given a rich color of any natural shades: from whitish to bright yellow, from reddish to brown and black.
Oil formulations are not used when installing underfloor heating and in rooms with frequent temperature changes.
Varnishes
Varnish formulations are the most common means for covering the floor in a wooden house. They prevent damage to the tree from mechanical effects, moisture, protect against fungi and insects. Depending on the chosen means, wood acquires a matte surface or glossy shine.
Varnish is chosen in accordance with the type of wood, type of room to improve certain characteristics: to give greater strength, increase durability, protect from water, highlight the texture of wood, tint the floor.
The varnish coating is applied in several layers with a roller or wide brush. For the first pass, varnish is diluted with a solvent from 10% to 50% for better impregnation of wood. After complete drying of the layer, intermediate sanding is performed, cleaning the irregularities with an emery paper and removing the roughness.
Varnishes are not used on surfaces treated with oil-containing compounds in rooms with high humidity, on terraces, verandas, and balconies that are not protected from precipitation.
Wax
The wax coating of the wooden floor gives it a silky and frosted shimmer, provides good protection against moisture, dirt and scratches, but does not prevent damage from strong mechanical stress. The basis of the funds are natural flaxseed oil and beeswax.
The wax composition is applied to the floor with a wide soft roller and polished with a cloth. This coverage needs to be updated twice a year.
The process of covering a wooden floor with protective compounds requires adherence to the sequence of actions and careful selection of means. Floor protection should be appropriate for the load on it and the type of wood.