Leveling Concrete Floor

[James \Cubby\ Culbertson]

Hiya,
I'm planning to put down wood flooring over a concrete substrate (1/2" thick
boards so it's ok to glue down). I've just checked the flatness of my
floor and as expected, it's not very flat. I've been told of a product
called "LevelQuik" that supposedly will self-level the floor. Has anyone
used this stuff? I read the data sheets on it and am just a little leery of
ending up with a bigger mess than I'm starting with. As I read it, I
basically mix this stuff up and pour it out on the floor and roughly spread
it around and then....wait. It'll self level. Is this true? Is it that
easy or should I plan on screeding it? I've also got a few hairline
cracks so I assume I can put down their AntiFracture membrane first and then
the LevelQuik? Thanks for any insight!
Cheers,
cc

 

[roger61611]

I just had Levelrock done on part of my floor, might be similar. Had
to have a pro do it cause it's not available retail. If it's anything
like what I had the stuff is effective but not forgiving.

Dunno about the cracks and the membrane, Levelrock I believe has to be
put directly over the (primed) cement surface.

 

[RicodJour]

Hiya,
I'm planning to put down wood flooring over a concrete substrate (1/2" thick
boards so it's ok to glue down). I've just checked the flatness of my
floor and as expected, it's not very flat. I've been told of a product
called "LevelQuik" that supposedly will self-level the floor. Has anyone
used this stuff? I read the data sheets on it and am just a little leery of
ending up with a bigger mess than I'm starting with. As I read it, I
basically mix this stuff up and pour it out on the floor and roughly spread
it around and then....wait. It'll self level. Is this true? Is it that
easy or should I plan on screeding it? I've also got a few hairline
cracks so I assume I can put down their AntiFracture membrane first and then
the LevelQuik? Thanks for any insight!

The self-leveling stuff works well, but there are a few caveats. The
edges usually have to be trowelled out to a feather edge and the lumps
flattened. It's not always easy to get that perfectly mixed creamy
consistency when you're working on a tight time table. If you're
planning on doing a fair bit of the floor, you have to move very
quickly so that the separate pours will flow together and you won't
have to feather as much of the edges.

I once used some fast-setting leveling compound and got a couple of old
bags. The stuff never set up correctly. I had to remove it and
repour. PIA. They didn't date the bags either, so there was no way to
know if the stuff was still good or not. Tech rep said the bags were
probably a year old or older.

R

 

[Charles Krug]

Hiya,
I'm planning to put down wood flooring over a concrete substrate (1/2" thick
boards so it's ok to glue down). I've just checked the flatness of my
floor and as expected, it's not very flat. I've been told of a product
called "LevelQuik" that supposedly will self-level the floor. Has anyone
used this stuff? I read the data sheets on it and am just a little leery of
ending up with a bigger mess than I'm starting with. As I read it, I
basically mix this stuff up and pour it out on the floor and roughly spread
it around and then....wait. It'll self level. Is this true? Is it that
easy or should I plan on screeding it? I've also got a few hairline
cracks so I assume I can put down their AntiFracture membrane first and then
the LevelQuik? Thanks for any insight!
Cheers,
cc

Check your floor. My project was an old garage that was pitched to
drain. I wound up pouring some sand mix about an inch thick on the low
end 'cuz it's about a tenth of the price.

Run the powder through a mix. Any lumps in the bag will only give you
grief.

I marked one pail at the specified water level and did all my mixing in
that one pail. Have a long-handled squeegee or something similar to
smooth the edges out.

Rent a BIG right angle drill whose max RPM is close to the recommended
mixing speed. Don't try to mix it by hand, it'll only give you grief.

Any holes that water will run through will only give you grief.

It's more of a PITA than concrete, but the results are worth it, imo.

 

[sleepdog]

I've been told of a product called "LevelQuik" that supposedly will self-level the floor

That might be the HD stuff. I used it on a 12x15 ft room, and an
adjoining laundry room. Overall was not bad at all, had to buy one of
those long mixing attachments for the drill and mark the bucket at 6.5
qts on the first fill to speed up mixing of the subsequent bags. I had
to prime the concrete first with their product, comes in a quart
bottle, mix with same part water, roll on with a paint roller.

Expensive, yes. $30 for each bag, only covers 50 sq. ft. at 1/8"
thick. If you have a spot that is an inch too deep, that's only about
6 sq. ft. of coverage.

Good luck.

 

[James \Cubby\ Culbertson]

Hiya,
I'm planning to put down wood flooring over a concrete substrate (1/2"
thick boards so it's ok to glue down). I've just checked the flatness of
my floor and as expected, it's not very flat. I've been told of a
product called "LevelQuik" that supposedly will self-level the floor.
Has anyone used this stuff? I read the data sheets on it and am just a
little leery of ending up with a bigger mess than I'm starting with. As
I read it, I basically mix this stuff up and pour it out on the floor and
roughly spread it around and then....wait. It'll self level. Is this
true? Is it that easy or should I plan on screeding it? I've also got
a few hairline cracks so I assume I can put down their AntiFracture
membrane first and then the LevelQuik? Thanks for any insight!
Cheers,
cc

Thanks folks for the inputs. So I have a few high spots and obviously a
few low spots. If I'm reading the inputs correctly, I should figure on
covering the entire floor with this stuff vs. trying to bring the low spots
up? Is that correct? Just how thick does this stuff tend to settle out
at? I'm trying to minimize any change in the floor's height.
Cheers,
cc