floor levelling compound and PVA primer / tile just using ?

[Keith (Dorset)]

Hi,

I believe I have to use floor levelling compound on a slightly uneven concrete floor before I lay (bathroom) ceramic tiles.

I anticipate putting the compound on in about 5mm levels, as it says on the packet. The floor is only 'shallower' than that in a few places, mainly near the edges. With another 'recess' of up to 1 cm towards the middle of the room (30sq cms approx).

The packet says use PVA primer before the floor compound - which makes sense.

I have only used PVA adhesive / sealer.. which dilutes with water.

Is 'PVA primer' and 'Universal PVA adhesive and sealer' the same stuff?

alternatively:

The area to be tiled is only about 6 sq metres. Would it be easier to just try and put the tiles down using varying levels of adhesive instead of using the compound? If so what tile adhesive would be best?

Thanks,

Keith

[The Natural Philosopher]

If you have small uneveness, then using tile cement is probably easier though not as cheap.

I assume you are going down on concrete not wood.

What you need to do is get a LONG level and decide what level to lay the floor too..never less than a 5mm bed.

Then start by laying a horizontal string at finished floor height, and get one row down dead level in the room centre maybe. Use a small level to get the tile flat in right angle direction to the string.

Use a rapid set quality cement - I use Ardurit rapid set because its made near here and the merchants stock it. It sets fast enough to get warm doing it!

Just slap huge gobs of STIFF mixed cement down, level it with a float, and scratch it up with a tiling 'comb'. Then tamp the tile down with a rubber mallet and remove excess at the edges. If there is no excess, take it up and gob more muck down. Wash tiles immediately with a sponge dipped in water and squeezed out using ONE pass per rinse and squeeze. That makes cleaning the cement off later trivial - brick acid is the last resort.

The rapid set is kneelable on after about an hour. But take care..full strength is several hours or overnight. Once one row is done, use the levels to lay adjacent ones..you end up working off the laid surface, but if you take your time and be careful to clean up the mess, thats ok.

Ive laid upwards of 70 sq meters like this. LONG and tedious job, but the results are immaculate.

I had a lot less success with floor levelling stuff. Couldn't get it level. You need really with that stuff to have a sort of vibrating plate to assist it to run. And its not THAT much cheaper than the cement.

[Mark S.]

I used self levelling on my kitchen floor and it was still miles out.

Just pva the floor and use tile cement to make up the difference.

I don't know what's in the self level stuff but the tile cement mixed thin looks very similar anyway. ;-)

There's a picture here of my floor as it stands:

kitchen51.jpg

It takes AGES...

I'm getting a bit more used to knowing how much to slap down per tile and don't try to mix a lot of tile cement in one go as you'll end up rushing and getting annoyed and wasting cement.

I don't use a rubber mallet just pressure from my hands, the broken tile at the back is the only one I tried to mallet. ;-)

Mark S.