levelling a concrete floor before laying vinyl

[jgkgolf]

I've got a utility room and adjoining loo at the rear of our house which have a concrete floor on which I want to lay some vinyl. The floor is a bit uneven so I want to lay a screed to level it. The difference in levels is about 15mm. However I don't want to raise the overall level as it will mean the washing machine won't fit under a worktop etc, (poor planning, I know).

Therefore the screed will go from 0mm to 15 mm. Is there a self levelling screed I can use for this which will stay solid at 1mm or 2mm thick to allow me to lay vinyl on? It's a small area about 1 metre by 2 metres?

[John Rumm]

THe latex self levelling compounds are designed to do this. You may want to do it in two layers - mix some sharp sand with the first to take out the deepest bits. The float a second layer over the top once you have all the levels withing say 5mm of each other.

[jgkgolf]

Thanks John, Are the Latex self-levelling compounds difficult to use, I've read that they set very quickly. I've never done anything like this before. Any tips or product recommendations would be appreciated.

[The Medway Handyman]

I had exactly this problem with a porch floor a while ago, except mine went from 0mm to 20mm.

I used a powder that you mixed with liquid latex. 25kg powder with 5 litres of latex.

Worked perfectly, dead easy.

Trouble is - I can't remember what it was called :-(

I went into a few tile shops & one of them came up with this stuff.

It was discusssed on UK DIY fairly recently, but I can't recall the title of the post either :-(

Maybe someone can remember?

[NoSpam]

The general advice is to paint dilute PVA on the concrete before doing the screeding, it gives you longer to work the screed to a reasonably flat surface (don't believe it's name - self-levelling is a misnomer, it ought to be called self-smoothing)

Dave

[John Rumm]

I have found them very easy to use... they do set quickly, but this is a bonus really. The last one I did was leveling the neighbours kitchen floor after old ceramic tiles had been taken up. Used a couple of bags of the Wickes latex compound (note they do a cheaper non latex one I have not tried).

Pay carefull attention to the correct amount of water to add - the final mix is very wet. I used a large flexible mixing trug that would swallow a whole bag easily. Add the water first, tip in the poweder while mixing with a whisk thingy on the end of the drill. Pour over the floor and push into the corners etc with a plasterers trowel. I have a bit of timber cut off as a stright edge so I could rule off to a level and check the flatness of the surface. You can push it about with the straight edge a few times to get it roughly level all over. Once it is in the right place and you have eliminated any big dips etc, resist the temptation to fiddle too much, and leave it alone. It will then set with a nice flat smooth surface.

If you need to feather out to nothing at an edge then you can do most of this when it is first applied with either the trowel or the striaght edge - you may need to go back over it after a couple of mins.

[John Rumm]

Yup google: ;-)

[The Medway Handyman]