Bathroom supply store New Bathroom Style knows pecific conditions that distinguish the bathroom from other rooms in the house or apartment. This implies an unusual approach to its decoration. This is especially true for floors and flooring. Their design should be such that you do not have to worry about the life of the material and the possibility of moisture getting on the floors below. Therefore, it is worth discussing how making the floor under the bathroom and throughout the room is better. Our advice is that if you have in your room a good quality 24 inch bathroom vanity, it’s not worth looking for new unique bathroom vanities for your bathroom.
Table of Contents
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FLOOR
The bathroom can be called one of the most visited in an apartment or house. This is especially true for those cases when it is combined with a bathroom. That is why the floor and coating in this room must meet the following requirements: good waterproofing; the presence of heating; soundproofing; strength; wear resistance; moisture resistance; environmental friendliness; inertness to chemicals. Water droplets on the floor in the bathroom are standard. Sometimes more water gets in than required, which can cause it to seep through the floor slabs. This may result in the appearance of stains on the neighbors’ ceiling. This can become additional expenses, especially if the neighbors downstairs have recently repaired. That is why it is essential to take care of good waterproofing of the floor in the bathroom, which will prevent moisture seepage. High humidity also affects the choice of flooring in the bathroom and directly under the bath. The flooring should perfectly tolerate moisture and be easy to clean. It is good if there are no stains on it. The presence of underfloor heating in the bathroom is desirable. On the one hand, it is more pleasant to step on it after leaving a warm bath or shower.
On the other hand, it dries the room faster. As for the space under the bathroom itself, you can not build a warm floor because there is no sense of it in this area. It is essential to ensure that the space under the bathtub is well ventilated so that moisture is removed by ventilation. The tile has good acoustic conductivity. This means that downstairs neighbors can hear every step in the bathroom. This means that it is essential to take care of normal soundproofing. This also applies to the floor area under the toilet, which will allow you not to hear the sound of falling water. The bed in the bathroom must be of high strength. This is especially true of the area under the toilet. Suppose a cast-iron sample is installed, periodically filled to the brim. In that case, the total weight of the structure can reach more than three hundred kilograms with a person in the bathroom, which is a significant indicator. It is often impossible to change the floor covering because this entails considerable funds and difficulties during the installation. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the coating has good wear resistance. Bathroom floors need to be cleaned periodically, which involves chemicals. Its coating must be inert to them so that interaction does not occur.
FLOOR WITH YOUR HANDS (DIY)
The floor in the bathroom and the area under the bath can be arranged independently, but this will require considerable effort. The arrangement of the floor in the bathroom is not in a hurry because all materials must go through their drying period.
PREPARATION
The first step is the preparation stage, as in any business. That might be the hardest one. It will depend on the state of the floor and what kind of intervention is required. If the bathroom has already been in use, the first step is to remove the old flooring. In most cases, dismantling is quite simple, but there are situations when the tiles laid in the times of the 1990 do not want to lag behind the concrete base. In this case, it will have to be destroyed with a perforator or cleaned off with a grinding disc. In some instances, linoleum may be laid. It is enough to pry it with a knife and remove it from the floor surface. The next step in the preparatory phase will be dismantling the old screed. It must be carried out directly to the floor slabs. This can be done using a grinder with a puncher or a jackhammer. It is better to warn the neighbors about the work being carried out in advance. In addition, it is essential to be careful so that the finish of the neighbors does not crack. It is better to take out all construction debris immediately so that it does not accumulate. The dismantling process will be easier if we talk about a new building. As soon as the floor slabs become visible, it is necessary to clean the room area well and eliminate cracks and gaps in the slabs and between them. This is done with the usual sand-cement composition.
WATERPROOFING AND INSULATION
When the screed is eliminated, and preliminary preparation has been made, in some cases, it will be appropriate to fill in a rough screed of small thickness. For this, three centimeters are usually enough. This is done to make it easier to carry out the waterproofing process and pre-level the surface. Waterproofing can be carried out using the following materials: mastic; special membranes. Bituminous mastic is a versatile material used in certain construction areas for waterproofing surfaces. It can also be used when preparing the floor in the bathroom. To have good adhesion to the surface of the rough screed or floor slabs, you will first need to cover the area with a primer and let it dry well. Only after that can you start applying the mastic. It should cover the floor area and the lower part of the wall to the height at which the finishing screed is planned. Waterproofing can also be done with membranes that are specially designed for this. The best option is the use of butyl rubber. Ordinary polyethylene film with a thickness equal to or greater than 200 microns is also suitable. In most cases, it is problematic to find a canvas covering the entire bathroom area, so several canvases are more often used, laid with an overlap of 15 cm. At the same time, it is important to glue the junction well along the entire length so that the tightness is not broken under any circumstances. When using the canvas, a turn is also made on the wall in the size of the future screed. After the implementation of waterproofing, you can proceed to floor insulation, which at the same time will simultaneously provide sound insulation. Thermal insulation is a prerequisite for installing water or electric underfloor heating. Extruded polystyrene foam is a material that perfectly resists decay processes and has good density. Its minimum thickness for high-quality insulation should be 5 cm. This will only be a plus if you manage to lay a layer with a greater thickness. The insulation is applied directly to the waterproofing. In this case, it is essential to ensure that the seams are interlaced so that there is no deflection along a particular line. Note! If the floor is installed in a private house and the insulation is carried out on the ground, there will be a screed and finishing flooring. Then a tiny foundation must be made under the bath, which will hold its weight. A small pit is prepared, the bottom of which is compacted with a sand and gravel mixture. Reinforcement is laid on it, and pouring is carried out. In this case, you do not have to worry that the bathroom may be skewed. But moving it to another location later will be impossible without repeating the procedure.
HEATED FLOOR
If you will be lying on a water-heated floor, the ideal option is to use a heater with bosses. They make it easier to lay the pipe according to the required pattern. When it is not possible to purchase such a heater, a metal mesh is laid on the sheets of expanded polystyrene in the bathroom, to which the pipe is fixed. Only after that, the finishing screed is poured. Suppose he talks about an electric underfloor heating. In that case, its installation in the bathroom is done on a finished screed, which has gained strength. This is since its power is less than that of the water one, and it cannot warm up a large floor thickness. It is necessary to go around all the places where the furniture in the bathroom and the bath itself will be installed during installation. This is done purely to save material. If desired, a warm floor under the tub can be left so that the space dries out faster. Still, it is essential to be careful about the maximum temperature and whether it will affect the bath design if the latter is cast from acrylic and not from metal. A good completion of the warm floor in the bathroom is porcelain tiles. It has good durability and does not slip when wet, as conventional ceramic tiles. If the bathtub was installed on a fine screed, but the tiles under it do not need to be laid, in most cases, the bathtub is installed after the finishing flooring in the bathroom has been completed. A video of the whole process of applying underfloor heating in the bathroom is below. Note! Communications connected to the toilet can be hidden on the floor below it if the thickness of the screen allows it. This applies to both plumbing and sewer pipes. It is worth doing this only when the bath will not stand against the wall but, for example, in the middle. In other cases, it is better to leave the pipes open to make it easier to maintain and repair them.
SUMMARY
As you can see, preparing the floor for a bathtub in the bathroom is practically the same as the primary process of constructing the floor surface. Exceptions are those cases when the overlap itself is not designed for the heavyweight. In this case, you will have to make a small additional foundation or make metal fasteners from wall to wall under the screen. If a metal bath is to be installed on a tile, then it is good to provide rubber pads under its legs, which will prevent damage to the tile’s surface. This procedure is not required for acrylic baths since the frame already has plastic legs.
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