leveling a mastic ashphalt floor

[yuri]

Have googled but all leveling materials seem to be on suppliers sites

-loads of specs and how to but no practical advice. I am laying a 12mm laminate narrow (1 metre x 6 metre) floor and have done a practice run and found that the floor is bowed and the wood joint opens over the bow. I just need to build the sides up to the centre but can anyone recommend a good leveling mix as this mastic floor seems as though adhesion is a problem - cement just flaked off.

thanks.

[Tabby]

I cant, but anything bitumen based rather than cement would be compatible.

NT

[Tim Watts]

yuri wibbled on Tuesday 10 August 2010 22:20

Uh-oh...

I have a very vague feeling there might be a course of treatment for asphalt (other that rip it off back to concrete).

Have a look at

- might have been them. Having been through this exercise with a floor coated with thin bitumen tile adhesive (I had to use a floor grinder to rip it off), you want to be *very* careful what you do.

If nothing turns up, ring F Ball's tech line (via main number on website) and ask them if they would prescribe a specific course of treatment - they are very helpful.

Failing that, I would personally resort to the old "cut out random 1mm cardboard" trick and pack it up. TBH, I usually have to do a bit of that when laying engineered wood (same problem as your laminate) and it is considered perfectly OK as long as the card is on the dry side of any vapour barrier you may be laying. Buy some large sheets of card from an artists shop and with the aid of a straight edge, gauge the conture line of everything >1mm below the highest point in the vicinity, and cut some card to fit. Repeat, layering more card on top until you are within spec for the laminate. This trick is usually good for about 5mm correction give or take.

Cheers

Tim

[martop]

< snipped >

uh oh ideedy

Being a novice I laid the wood over damp proof underlay on top of a bitumen floor that wasn't level, I did pack up the gaps with underlay but next morning some of the wood had pulled away, I was lucky as a chap who lays floors lives near me so I had him look at it, once he found it was a bitumen floor he suggested re laying over fibre boards and packing with hard board, self lever normally wont stick unless you wash the floor over with a cement and latex slurry, even then it may not hold together so I'm told.

I would like to find a way of levelling the floor for next time !

-- Mart.

[John]

Could you get someone in to pour hot mastic?

[Tabby]

Just bitumen in solvent plus sand - it wont self level though, but you get plenty of time to level it.

NT