floor levelling compound

[Arthur]

Hi All. I've got shed floor I want to level and I've got Unibond stuff from B&Q. But after making a muck of a kitchen floor some years ago I'm already nervous about it. Then I see the instructions on the unibond that require 20kg of powder to mix with 4 litres of water. It goes on...'any product not used after 15 minutes should be discarded' This basically terrifies me...as even with an electric mixing I foresee it taking me 20 minutes just to mix even 10kg of the stuff.

Can this stuff be mixed thinner and if so how much longer will it take to 'dry'?

Any words of advice and comfort are welcomed.

Thanks :)

Arthur

[John Rumm]

Last one I used was the water mix latex version from Wickes. Similar sounding instructions. Using a medium paddle on my cordless drill it was easy to mix the whole bag in a couple of mins. Stick the right amount of water in the bottom of the tub, and have someone pour the power in as you mix.

Have you work area clear and ready to go. Cut a suitable straight edge just under the width of the space to be levelled from a bit of spare wood. Start near an edge of the room, and pour some of the compound along the full width. Use the wood to push it to the edge, then start dragging it forward. You can go back a forth a couple of times if required. Top up any low spots as you go. Repeat until you have used all of your mix, or run out of room!

If you need to mix another do it quickly to avoid getting a noticeable join. (if doing two bags in total I would tend to mix them both at once).

Don't worry about titivating the finish too much - it will sort that out itself. Just get a reasonably even coating all over.

[Stuart Noble]

I think they mean that anything you've mixed should be used within 15 mins, but even that sounds silly. You should work fast with flooring screeds because the smooth surface they create depends on not mucking about with it for too long