How to level floor for tile without self leveler - level floor before tiling
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- čas přidán 26. 07. 2024
- On-site at one of my flips I am renovating a bathroom and wanted to share this tip: How to level floor before installing tile without the use of self leveling material.
There are tow main reasons not to use self leveler in my opinion:
1. Without floor leveler, tile may be installed almost immediately,
2. Self leveling requires more mixing and takes more time to complete the job
There are, however, situations that necessitate the use of self leveling material and that's ok. This video shows an alternative to using self leveler for the two reasons above.
This bathroom is 5 x 8, so it wasn't a large space and the one side was completely level, which made the choice simple to use thinset instead of a self leveler.
I used Mapai's thinset that is especially formulated for plywood underlayment, so make sure you read the label when purchasing your material.
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Watched 20 videos before I found this one that’s perfect for what I need. Thanks!
Thank you for the support! Glad you found it helpful. Just make sure you fill in any voids with the mortar. You want to ensure you have no waves in the floor and that it’s flat. Good luck! BTW I just completed another bathroom with groutable LVT and it looks awesome, I will upload that video soon.
Great video, this is exactly what I'm going to do for my 1939 era house. Keep em' coming!
Thank you for the support! good luck with your project.
Great job! thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Very helpful video. Thanks! I’m putting a floating floor over old sheet vinyl in a bathroom. Realized that one side of the room slopes down, but didn’t want to mess with self leveler. This was exactly what I needed. Got some 1/4” hardiebacker and thinset and I’m got to go!
Glad you found it helpful! Good luck with your job. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
Perfect, I was thinking of doing the same exact thing on my very own first project. This Video just confirmed my thoughts 👍👊🙂
Glad you found it helpful! Just make sure there are no gaps under the cement board. Good luck with your project. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
this was the best information
Thank you! Appreciate the feedback 👊🏼
You should always use thinset under durock … “glue it and screw it.”
Great video, I have the same problem with my kitchen, I'm trying to install a tiles for the first time, and the floor I'd not leveled, thankyou for the idea
Glad you found it helpful! Good luck with your project. Thanks for watching 👊🏼
I'm working on my 71 year old house that I cut out all of the pine plank subfloor (in kitchen/dinging room to put down a porcelain tiles). After I removed the pine sub-floor I discovered the joists are un-even up to about 1/2" in the center of the room. I have added sister joists along four of the center joists for added strength. I'm using 3/4 Advantech OSB for the new sub-floor. I intend to put the level across the joists, and ad shims to fill in the gaps, then fine tune it when I lay down the hardie backer sheets using this method but if I shim carefully enough might not even have to do that. But thanks, I also don't like the idea of using "floor leveler" which over time is going to crumble underneath the floor which would open up gaps. Think outside the box, in this case, think outside the bag:) If it goes well enough I might make a vid even though I am not a flooring expert. I chose to do it myself because one never knows what they'll end up with if and when you hire professionals, they are not all the same and you can't judge what quality of work they will do based on what they charge..which is always an arm and a leg.
I agree with all you said. Your approach is right on target with leveling the subfloor. I would spend extra time ensure the subfloor is as level as possible, it will same a lot of time on the other end. When you shim your subfloor, ensure the shim goes along the entire gap if possible to avoid any space b/n joist and subfloor. You are saving thousands doing it yourself. Good luck with this project. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
Cool method. You can add accelerant to floor leveler to make it dry faster, but floor leveler is WAY expensive compared with this method. I think that if I were using your method, I'd have treated the thinset like concrete and run a screed over top of it between your two high points to get it flat and the prerfect level for your boards, then run the square edge over it in one direction only (shorter dimension) before laying down the board.
U can certainly do that (I assume you meant Screed). Since it wasn’t going to be visible and my objective was to ensure the subfloor was just level, this worked very well. I could also use a bonding agent too. Thanks for watching 👊🏼
Great video. I assume you can do the same thing with Hardibacker? Also , can you just do the same when laying tile by adding more thinset on the low side of the room?
Thank you! And yes to both. I find it to be a pain though having to add more thinset as I tile. Ideally, you want the floor to be ready to go, so the job goes faster. It’s almost never perfectly level, so I understand having to add a little more thinset here and there. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
Thank you. Very nice. Did you nail it down right away or did you have to wait few hours?
Thank you. Screwed it down right away.
Great advice but my situation is a little different I will be installing vinyl plank flooring on concrete slab floor that has vinyl 9 “ tile the area where we remove bookcase was never tile what should I do?
Thanks for watching. Just so I understand, you have a concrete slab with 9” vinyl tile adhered on top of it (I am assuming there is a 1/4” luan in between, so It’s not directly on concrete?) and where you removed a built in bookcase there was no vinyl?
If the above is correct, you have 2 options:
1- remove the existing 9” tile and luan, install luan covering the entire area to be updated with née plank,
2- keep current 9” vinyl, fill in naked area (under bookcase) with subflooring like luan and make it level with existing floor.
I personally will remove all existing subfloor, so my prepped surface is flat and clean.
In this video I installed groutable vinyl on concrete:
czcams.com/video/kjbdPwcl-Fo/video.html
I hope this helps.
2-3 bags of self leveling compound and all is strait and clean.
Definitely an option.
I have a lot of left over grout from tiling years ago. Now I am putting in vinyl flooring and in the wash room, there is a small dip in the flooring. Can I make a Thin set out of it and do what you just did?
By grout, do you mean mortar? I would not use grout in place of thinset mortar, no. They have different characteristics, so I would recommend thinset mortar with any structural or quasi structural applications. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
@@TrueGritDevelopment ok, thank you!!
Use 1/2 inch cement board for the lower side and 1/4 inch for the higher. Then level the whole area at the same time when you lying down your tile
Thanks for watching and supporting brother. I suppose you can do that too, but I do prefer to have one flat area as my subfloor (in this case the cement boards) then apply the mortar on a flat surface. I appreciate your feedback.
U can use cement board on the floor?? Thought it was just for shower wall
Yes sir, 1/4” for floors and 1/2” for walls. It’s an ideal substrate for tile. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
@@TrueGritDevelopment thx! Cement board seems like it would crumble after being walked on.
Any suggestions on leveling an old plywood floor as cheap as possible in order to be painted and epoxied? Can I use thinset to attempt to level the bad area? Perhaps top it off with a bag of self leveler? Thinset is quite a bit cheaper and I don't have much money and the really bad area is inside of a 8x11 foot area where it dips down significantly.
Is the area in the middle? When you plywood, you are talking about the subfloor, correct? If the above is true, have you considered lifting the plywood and shimming it? That would be my preference and cheapest cost no doubt.
It's a very very old plywood floor that has been painted several times and I believe there are a couple layers of plywood but I'm not 100% on that but I probably wouldn't be able to find all the screws since it's been painted several times.
Most of the floor is fairly level except along one wall, it starts high and dips down and then climbs back up to about the right height approximately 8' from that wall, the middle of that 8' area is probably at least 1/2" low.
Home Depot has floor leveler for $34 for 50lbs, I could probably only afford a couple bags which probably wouldn't even come close to covering the approximately 18'x12' room but maybe it would be enough to somewhat fix the really bad area and patch a couple other rough areas?
I was also considering bringing in my mixer (if it'll fit through the door) and I can get dirty unwashed sand for free and get a bag or 2 of Portland and pour like a 2 inch slab? Lol. The old addition that I'm attempting to fix really needs tore down and rebuilt so it's not like I'm ruining anything but it would be nice to have it look good while I wait for the housing market to crash.. lol, so I can afford lumber again. 😝
Ok, so what u have are original wood plank flooring, correct? These usually are face nailed onto the floor joists directly. If you have a pry bar, you can pry them up. That would be my preference. If paint had seeped b/n the planks, you can use a utility knife to break it up. It’s not a big area, so it’s worth the elbow grease. Are you looking to tile this area?
Alternatively, you can use my method with the mortar to level the floor before installing the durock. Just make sure you’re using a thinset mortar with latex for better adhesion. Hope this answers your question.
What are you looking to do build in that addition area?
Why’d the volume go off? I want to hear what saying!
I sped up the frames and turned off the audio so it does not sound funny. The audio comes back in minutes 6:48. I basically just adhere the thin set, so you’re not missing much. Thanks for watching.
Can I pipe thinset under an existing tile's edge before grouting?
So you have a gap under existing tile? I don’t see why not, if you can fill in the gap. Wait for it to try and rest it before grouting. Hope this answers your question. Thanks for watching 👊🏼
Hi there, firstly amazing video. Im going to be doing my first ever tiling job for my mum in the coming weeks. Problem I have is that half of the room is floorboards, and half of the room is concrete. Where the concrete meets the floorboards it is skewed. On one side of the meet its level with each other, and on the other the concrete is raised by roughly 1cm. Once i place my 6mm backer boards on my floorboards, im going to have an un-even meeting point. Any tips?
Thanks buddy. Firstly, good on you for helping your mother out, that’s what we are here to do man, helping people especially family and friends. Ok, I think I understand the situation. How big is the room? And how big is the area that is raised?
I need help bro I used 1 bag of self le ever screwed my floor up can Install backer o top of it
I personally haven’t done it, but I will say that you may be ok unless the leveler is too thin at which point it may start to crack and break. How difficult would it be to break it and remove it? The other thing is you don’t want the floor to be too thick/high. How bad is it?
Do you let it dry before you nail or screw?
Nope. I wanted the cement board to sit snug on the mortar. The concept is to get the floors ready and tile in one day. Hope this answers your question. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
Man I’m seasick from your wavy camera!
The contractor has already put down cement board and supposedly installed the first two courses of 12x24 tiles under the two vanities. But there’s a 1/2” gap between the tiles and the front of the vanities because the floor slopes so badly. He’s off until after the New Years but I sent a pic to him saying it’s unacceptable to just shim up the vanities in the front when the floors are wavy. We’re also installing a heat mat in front of the vanities (the only heat in that room). Can self leveling be poured on top of that cement board?? Or will he need to rip out the cement board too and fix the subfloor? That subfloor is awful 50 year old particle board. I wanted it replaced but was overruled by husband and GC. Help!
I am sorry about the camera! I heard that before, I am high energy and I forget I have the camera strapped to me! Hopefully future videos will be more steady. IMO u have two options: 1. You/contractor can adjust the thinset bed as they lay the tile down (heavier for low spots, less for flat spots), 2. They can put down self leveler: however, it’s costly and they will have to remove the tile they already installed. There is a 3rd option, but I personally have not used it yet and it’s the tile leveling systems, ask your contractor and I am sure they have them. Final thought to put u at ease is I wouldn’t worry too much about the vanity being propped up a bit, it’s almost impossible to have a floor that is completely level and your vanity may not be level either. You will know a bad contractor when you your floor is REALLY uneven and/or your tiles not level. Otherwise, u should be good. I hope I answered your question. Thanks for watching and supporting ✊🏼
Thanks for the video but wish you would have left the audio 😢 😕 😞 and had not sped up that "boring part" which I am looking for.
My bad! Figured spreading mortar wasn’t that exciting for most. If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them for you. Thanks for watching 👊🏼
Lol!😂😂😂😂
You really thought thid was better idea than just pouring floor leveler??
Hi, I don’t think I said it’s a better way, I made the video to show there is another way to level floors before tiling, which does not require waiting for leveler to set. I personally do not like using leveler. There is nothing wrong with using leveler, it’s just not my go to especially for smaller spaces. Using this standard you can lay your cement board and tape the same day. Thanks for watching ✊🏼
Ignore this video. This is a disaster.
Your camera man is really the worst. Makes me dizzy
Heard that before, don’t realize how much I move! I attach it to my head so I can show details, my bad.
Yeah, I wanted to watch, but I started getting motion sick. maybe used a fixed location camera or have someone help. Great information from what I could tell. Thanks for posting the video!@@TrueGritDevelopment
You flip houses, wouldn’t expect any proper work from you.
You’re making a general statement, can you be more specific?
@@TrueGritDevelopment you cheaped out on labor and material. You state thinset isn’t required under cement board if the floor is perfectly flat and level. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Here is the link to USG’s instructions:
www.usg.com/content/dam/USG_Marketing_Communications/united_states/product_promotional_materials/finished_assets/usg-durock-cement-board-with-edgeguard-installation-guide-en-CB321650.pdf
No where does it say thinset is a requirement. The only place mortar is mentioned is in reference to a leveling bed. In my video, I clearly state that only if the subfloor is level and flat, cement board can be installed directly. Otherwise, mortar must be used to level the floor as I did in my video. I also highlight the importance of NOT having gaps to ensure proper installation. With that said, you can use mortar in your installation.
@@TrueGritDevelopment yup, not sure what you’re trying to prove here. Page 4 my man.
@@TrueGritDevelopment that’s what the leveling bed is.