Anyone Used Latex-Based Floor Levelling Compound?

Mark#1

Hi,

I'm no tradesman, but I can handle a few DIY jobs, and I need to level a 7m x 6m room. One corner (about 3m x 2.5m) is a few mm higher than the rest of the room, and it's not perfectly level.

I got a quote for €1600 for a pour-in screed. I can't pay that, so I've enquired at a local builder's providers who advised that I should be able to do it myself with a latex-based floor levelling compound.

Has anyone used this?

The max depth I need to go to will be about 5mm or so.

I definitely don't want to spend ages on my knees skimming with a float, so having watched the video that the screed company sent out with their quotation, I really fancy the idea of letting quite a runny mix find its own level with minimal help from me.

So if anyone has used latex-based floor levelling compound,

1. How runny did/can you mix it?

2. Did it really "find its own level"?

3. What depth did you go to?

4. Should I lay builder's film on the floor before I pour the mix?

5. How long did it take to dry?


Thanks for any replies,

Mark

killwill

Well Mark,
I had to use it for my kitchen floor as I laid 14mm semi-solid flooring in the living area. You have to gauge the mix yourself really. It did level itself perfect, I had to go about 3mm and tile on top of it. I laid it straight on the concrete floor. I thought it was a great job.

Mark#1

killwill wrote: »

It did level itself perfect.

Thanks Killwill,

Did you have to help it along at all? Into corners? Over humps?

Mark

gsxr1

from lots of experience with it I can tell you that 5mm is to much for it.

If you go 5mm thick over a big area, I guarantee it will crack within 6 months. Coming away from the concrete.

It come as a 2 pack mix. a gallon of latex liquid and a bag of compound.

Dont thin it down or thicken it up. It is the correct measure as is

It will need troweled on in big semi circles. It should find its own level. You can trowel it again in 2 or 3 hours to knock off any trowel marks from before.

You will need a mechanical whisk and a big bucket to do it right. It will start to go off quick . Its important to either polybond or hover the surface before application to get good adhesion.

builditwell

Hi Mark

Have to contradict GSXR1 a little bit but everything else is spot on,

You can actually lay a screed up to 30mm using certain floor levellers either in one go or in layers. Firstly you should get the surface as level as possible and use mechanical mixer as gsxr1 stated. The bag will tell you how much water to use, this is critical as too much water weakens the product and will not ensure a good balance in the mix. You should mix very close to location ane be ready to pour product almost immeidatly so as not to let product settle in bucket. Start at furthest corner and pour slowly to ensure less splash and even coverage. Continue to edge of floor and cover entire area blending each additional pour with flat trowel to remove seams of previous pour. (this will only be a few seconds work woth trowel.)

Regards
Builditwell

gsxr1

I was referring to the Evo-Stick 2 part leveling compound that would be common in the provider.

As BIW suggested, ask for a product designed to go deeper than the normal leveling compound. .

I promise you. going beyond the recommend tolerance on the pack and you will crack it . It is a nightmare to scrape off when if it fails.

If you go Latex. No water will be needed.

Mark#1

Thanks for the good replies guys.

I'll have a loan of a mate's electric mixer. Rather than pouring the mix directly from the mixer onto the floor, I was going to pour from the mixer into a bucket, and then from the bucket onto the floor.

If the mix must be as per instructions, then that's what I'll do.

Must it be a trowel/float used to smooth the mix? Or could I use a long piece of straight wood?

The brand that my builder's providers sells is Ardex, and the Ardex website lists 4 different types of latex-based mix, with some good information on each.

A builder I know has suggested that I might be creating too much work for myself doing the whole floor (the largest floor area of the room is actually smooth, snotless and level with itself), and that I should just make level the floor areas adjacent to the raised area.

He reckons we wouldn't notice the tiny gradients that may result. My wife likes this idea - get it all over with quicker & cheaper.

My problem with that is that, even though I'm not a professional, I don't like half-jobs. Even if I really couldn't feel a gradient (improbable), I'd know it was there, and it'd bother me.

Even if there were imperfections in the floor after I covered the whole room, I'd feel that at least I tried my best to do what I thought was the right way to do it, and I'm sure they'd be less noticeable than the gradients that would result from doing it the way he suggests.

Looks like I'll be doing it this weekend. I'll order the materials today.

Thanks again for the replies.


Mark

Mark#1

Job done.

Only had to go as far as the builder mate said - the stuff levelled itself off more or less at that point anyway. I just feathered it off. It's dry now and a couple of checks with a long straight edge show it's good.

Just got to scrape up a few snots now.






Thanks all for the replies,

Mark

ctrl-alt-delete

you cant beat the B&Q buckets, cheap as chips

well done on getting it done anyways

gsxr1

nice work man;)