How to Level a Floor! (Self-Leveling Concrete Tutorial)
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- How to Level a Floor! (Self-Leveling Concrete Tutorial) Here's a quick and easy step by step tutorial on how to seal, prime and level a wonky concrete floor using self leveling cement the same way the pros do! We're making self leveler so simple, you'll be able to do it yourself in no time.
Lets face it- your tile floor will only ever be as good as the subfloor beneath it. If you're stuck with wonky floors that are not flat, and way out of level, you've probably stopped dreaming of having a beautiful, flat tile floor, right? WRONG!
We're here to show you a simple way to show that funky floor who's boss in only a few simple steps. Head over to the nearest big box store, grab a can of spray foam, some self leveling cement (any kind will do) and leveling primer- and lets get started! - Jak na to + styl
What a great video! 👍
Just the video I was looking for. You just got yourself a subscriber. You’re a cool dude
Thanks Tanner! We really appreciate the support!
Excellent video, very informative!
Thanks!
Gentlemen - Followed your instructions to the T, but I still have two small dips in my self-leveling concrete (I think I mixed it a bit too thick). Would I be able to use a patch-and-level for the two small dips, then apply the thinset and uncoupling membrane? Or, what would you recommend? Great video and thanks for having this channel. 👍
Well explained sir.
Thanks 😎
I have one question if the floor ist not complete in level you don't need using this product to measure and pour more of this product in some areas than others?? It does by it self???
That's awesome! Y'all make it look easy...like a pro should😄 Thanks for sharing!
Haha, that’s a good way to look at it! Our hope is to give everyone the confidence they need to at least try some of this stuff themselves 👍
Also does the self leveler need to cover the whole floor?
Thanks! A couple questions as I prep my floor for vinyl wood overlay. My room is similar to yours.
1. How did you prep the drain to keep it out and even taper into the drain a bit?
2. What is the depth the leveling material when you are complete? Certainly, depends on subfloor. But overall, 1/4" 1/8" thinner?
good job boys!
Thanks! 👍
How many bags did you use?
good explanation and great video.thank you🤗//////////
You're welcome 😊
We have bathroom downstairs we need to level too. Thanks for the instructions.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for sharing. I have a question. I’m adding a shower in my basement. The area where the shower is going has ceramic tile. Can I use this product over top of the ceramic tile to level the area out?
Good question. Technically, yes, it is possible- but you will likely need to apply a primer, and you could run into a large number of problems (adhesion, cracking, etc.). It depends on the type of leveller you use as well. As always, we recommend going by exactly what the product states (it will tell you what it substrates it can be used on). If it were us, we’d likely just remove the old tile first, to avoid any unforeseen issues 👍.
I'm curious about how well it mixes with water. When you poured the material out of the bucket did you find any lumpy stuff at the bottom of the bucket?
You’ll want to mix any self levelling product EXTREMELY thoroughly (make sure to start with a little water in the bucket too- ensures nothing sticks to the corners). This product mixes as well as any others we’ve used, but as a rule of thumb, dont pour until you’re sure its mixed completely. Trust us 🤦♂️ 😂.
I’ve seen where installers have used some type of material for expansion on the perimeter. I’ve watched videos where they’ve used a foam tape around the perimeter in order to compensate for contraction and expansion , or they used spray foam but instead of cutting like you did, they do it after the pour.
I’m doing this in an upstairs bathroom on top of plywood,would my scenario need foam around the perimeter?
It’s not a bad idea. We just don’t think you need to leave more than 1/4” of flexible material regardless.
I have to do this in my kitchen and dining room... and going down the hallway to the bathroom. Previous owners agreed to replace 44' of drain line to sell me the house and had to dig a trench in the slab. They didn't level the new concrete and the tiles have a ton of hollow spots that can't be fixed with Fix a Floor adhesive alone.
Yikes, sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you! Best of luck, let us know how it goes 👍
I want to finish my basement, do I put up framing before using self leveling cement? Or vice-verse? Or does it not matter?
I don't see it in this video but really there should be some type of subfloor for remodeling a basement from a house pre-1990. Otherwise you aren't managing water issues. Suggest czcams.com/video/M3jwVa7MiEQ/video.html&ab_channel=HomeRenoVisionDIY
AMAZING, someone that actually understands the term “SELF LEVELER”.
😂
hey, does the self level compound become level by itself?(i saw you didnt push it around or anything), ive tried twice in a laundry area and both times theres been ridges, humps and small marks from the trowel, i tried to just push it to the corners and not do much. I also never have enough to do basically one continuous pour, but i had someone else mixing it so id go back and get another bucket full, would you recommend adding a tiny bit extra water? cheers
What the!?!?! Self leveling… its in the name why arre u hitting it with a trowel?
@@dennisjazz5142 pushing it out into the corners
Curious if there’s a vapor barrier beneath the 2x’s. Recommend pressure treated on concrete 😉
Look really good!
Don’t worry, there are foam gaskets attached to the underside of all 2x4’s that are touching concrete 👍
Clearly visible at 1:06
How long does it take to mix it in a bucket? The bags I got say there’s a 20 min working time so I’m worried I won’t be able to get 4 bags ready and poured in 20 mins.
That’s a terrific question! And that’s one of the trickiest parts of doing it without a large scale mixer. The biggest saver for us is the spiked roller. You can mix up each bag in about 5 mins, and pour right away and get mixing on the next bag. If you’re working solo it can get tricky, but if you have a helper the other person can be using the spiked roller to blend the pours together and helping to keep them flowing as you go.
hi, thank you for the video. I'd need to do the same for the entire house room by room before putting the vynil plank. I wish there is second part of the video how you did the rest of the floor. Did you pour just next to not to let the cement pour overlap the already done leveled floor? Any advise how to do it for the 500 sq ft area?
Sounds like a big job! For this particular application, we only needed to level a small section of the bathroom floor. The other area is where the shower will be, and because that section needs to be sloped to the drain, we use a technique called ‘dry packing’ (or dry pack)- and that’s a whole other video 😂. For a job of that magnitude we would highly recommend hiring professionals who do that sort of thing for a living to make sure it’s the right thing to do, and to see that it’s done correctly. They would be able to advise you better than we would 👍.
Get a professional, this wasn't the correct way to do it, if you do that area without rolling it out with a spike roller to release the air bubbles in the levelling compound you're floor will fail
How heavy might this be. I need to llvl a floor that is over a basement. Would it be too heavy.
Over a basement meaning on concrete?
Is there anything you needed to do to prep around the toilet flange? Aside from that, awesome video man, really well done, really clear and helpful. Much appreciated!
Much appreciated! It sort of depends on the situation. If your flange is already set (at the correct height), then you simply want to make sure that the pour doesn’t make its way into (or over) the flange (remember that the closet bolts need to sit inside the flange to ‘lock in). That can be achieved by sealing the outside with whatever you used to seal the frame with, and making sure you’re not pouring more than you need to to achieve a level floor. In an ideal scenario, we prefer to leave our waste drain pipe long, level the floor, then cut it back at the exact height we need it to avoid any issues 👍
@@RefreshHomeImprovements thanks for the feedback! That all makes sense. It looks like your flange sits about 1/4" above the LevelQuik, so I'm guessing it will sit flush with the top of your tile after the tile is installed. After I removed the toilet in my bathroom I could see that whoever installed the porcelain tile did not cut around the outside diameter of the flange - they only cut the tile around the pvc shaft that goes into the drain pipe. So the lip of the flange sits on the porcelain, and then they screwed bolts into the actual porcelain tile and beyond into the plywood subfloor. Odd choice. I think they should have cut the porcelain a bit wider all the way around the outside diameter of the flange. This would have allowed the flange to rest directly on the plywood and the top of the flange would have then been flush with the porcelain tile. At the end of the day the toilet didn't wobble and there was no leak, so it wasn't a big deal. But I'm learning new things with each video I watch as I research how to remove the tile, prep the subfloor, and replace the rusty flange. Thanks again!
@0:47: Why don't your floor plates in a basement already have underlayment separating them from the concrete?
All of them do have a foam gasket roll underneath them. Some angles it’s easier to see👍
Isinth this floor supposed to have a pitch cause i noticed theres a drain sitting on your floor that wont be usefull anymore...?
Great question 👍 if you look closely you can see that the room has been separated into two sections (by 2x4 on a foam gasket). We levelled the ‘main’ area of the bathroom, and left the shower area as is. We then used a pre-fabricated sloped pan to get the pitch needed for the drain 👍
So you didn't use screws to see how much/high your leveler needed to go? I also saw you didn't have to move it around..
We have another tutorial on our page with a little added info. For larger spaces spiked rollers are key! We didn’t use screws, we had a level line marked that we wanted to hit on the side of a baseplate
What if I live in. vortex and gravity doesn't work right?
🤯🫣
Every other video says to work the material with a squeegee or rake, not to just pour. But, your outcome looks great. Can that just be the final floor?
Great question! It’s a definitely a good idea to have one on hand. We’ve done it in the past (on thicker pours)- but in a situation like this we’ve found it wasn’t always necessary if you can get a good pour- and we’ve been happy with the results without having to work it. It’s worth noting that we’ve also messed up a few pours by overworking it (probably wasn’t the right consistency, as well), so it can do more harm than good if you’re not sure what you’re doing. We’ve found you’ll know when it needs to be worked, and when to leave it alone. Either way, we always recommend to follow the instructions on the product you’re using for best results 👍.
@@RefreshHomeImprovements Very helpful. Thanks.
Looks can be deceiving.
I would use caulk instead of spray foam, when cutting sometimes you end up pulling out the whole strip
Agreed! Some people claim that foam is better for expansion and contraction concerns 🤷♂️
I’m curious, you didn’t roll this floor out with a spike roller to ensure consistency and to remove air bubbles. Any reason why you didn’t? I know if your tiling it’s not as big of an issue and this is a small space. But if your using vinyl, those bubbles and blisters can show through. I know many of self leveler concretes are sand-able, but a quick pass with the roller would eliminate any potential issues. Also caulking the joint between the wall and floor works very well. And caulk is a little cheaper than spray foam. Also, why no expansion banding? Otherwise good video.
All very good points 👍 We usually recommend just following the steps on the product to the letter (haven’t had any issues with bubbles 🤞). You’re spot on with the caulking tip- we do that when the gaps are smaller. Thanks for the input!
It’s too small a space for a spike roller to matter. Just let the liquidy concrete do it’s magic
How thick can you pour it?
Completely depends on the product you’re using. It should be clearly stated on the bag 👍
❤
👍
Did someone step in your level set?? lol. Fired!
You can’t fire us, we quit!
Instead of spray foam you can use caulking. Not sure why you would use spray foam?
Depends on the size of the gaps you’re sealing. We use both 👍
I was under the impression that there needs to be an expansion gap for self lever?
Interesting! Not in our experience, but we’d always recommend going by the instructions on the product you’re using. We’ve never worked with anything that required an expansion gap though 👍
A shame the sound sucks. Good job. No endless talk. Straight to the point.
Thanks, we’ll work on the audio 😉 👍
What materials to use, too fast , cannot create them clearly
Sorry! We do have another self-leveller video tutorial if that helps!
Post the link please
You didn't roll the air bubbles out with a spike roller bud, not good
U need to use steel lathes
We need to use what?
Nothing to say other than in 2024 there should be a more high tech pre mixed solution other than a concrete product.
That’s probably true
the dude from You before You
😂 spot on 👍
The volume is too low
Agreed. We use a microphone now to avoid this issue in our newer videos 👍
Have you ever level a shower and then to find out you removed the water drain pitch 🤔
Can’t say we have- but we mostly use the pre-sloped pans from Prova (👉provaproducts.com/products/prova-linear-pan/) which makes it a million times easier than trying to pitch your own 👍
A shower floor shouldn’t be level.
Shouldn’t have cut the foam
I really hope nobody watches this video and thinks it’s as easy as that. Really, it’s not. If you do such little prep you will almost definitely end up with a floor that is not level. First thing you need to know is that self levelling compound does not actually self level. Maybe if you’re doing a very small space like this, you might get lucky, or perhaps you are using a very thin compound. Beware, thicker compounds or larger areas will definitely not level themselves if you just pour like this. If you are doing a larger space, for example a couple of metres width, you absolutely need a spiked roller, possibly a trowel, and possibly a feather edge. Also, maybe even some spiked shoes. Also, you really need to give a lot of thought to how you stage each pour. Basically, go and watch a couple of far more detailed videos than this.
This does not discuss in any detail what you’re pouring onto, for example you need to be careful if you pour onto timber subfloors eg plywood as there are maximum limits for the amount of compound you can build up. Basically, the topic is (or most likely will be in your case) far more complicated than this very short video implies. You’ve been warned!
I say this only as a newbie who attempted a really sizeable levelling job and although many aspects went very well, I can tell you that this job needed experience, even if just being good at trowelling.
I don’t mean to pour negativity onto this vid, but instead to help some people out who may be researching their own pour.
Protect your tools.....Get some knee pads.
If it’s self-leveling then why do I need an instructional video on how to level it?