To create comfort in the house you need a beautiful flat floor. Regardless of the type of room, the finishing coating material needs to be leveled. For a perfectly smooth surface, a self-leveling floor is used, which requires a spiked roller to level it. Where to buy it and which one to choose if there is no experience in repair work? What qualities to look for?
What do you need?
The spiked roller is needed to remove air bubbles from the self-leveling floor, peel off old wallpaper and bend drywall sheets. In the first version, it serves as a layer leveler, and the needles pierce air bubbles in the solution.
Self-leveling self-leveling floor spreads and levels well, but without the use of a spiked roller, bubbles will remain in it, which will evaporate through the pores over time, and voids will remain, due to which the floor will become brittle, begin to crack andbulge.
What to replace?
Often the needle roller for self-leveling floor is replaced with a regular brush. This makes the process more labor intensive. In this way, it is unlikely that you will be able to get rid of all the air bubbles.
Special magnetic brushes are also poorly suited for this function, they are designed to clean the surface of the floor before pouring or walls before plastering.
You can also build a tool for expelling air yourself: nail a lot of nails onto the roller and attach a handle to it. It takes a lot of time and patience to assemble a quality tool. It will be interesting for someone to do this, but for someone it is easier to buy a finished product, since the prices are very affordable.
How to choose?
Among the many models, a suitable one is selected according to the following criteria:
- By width - depending on the area and the presence of narrow passages.
- The length of the needles - depending on the thickness of the self-leveling floor layer.
- According to the material of the needles - iron needles are more durable and multifunctional, plastic ones are cheaper.
- According to the presence of a comfortable handle and the material of its manufacture.
If you plan to use the roller further for other purposes, it is better to purchase a metal one, more durable and durable. Only a heavy metal roller is suitable for bending drywall, it also copes well with old wallpaper. Which needle roller to choose for self-leveling floor depends on the conditions of use.
Howapply?
You can't be sure that using a spiked roller will provide a quality floor in the end. It is necessary to walk very carefully through all areas, the length of the needles should capture the entire thickness of the layer. Rolling with a roller should last from 20 minutes (for a small room) or more (the instruction is on the packaging of the self-leveling floor). To obtain a dense base, the procedure is carried out up to three times. But the final result also depends on the preliminary preparation of the base, the correct choice of material and following the manufacturer's instructions for preparing the mixture.
To bend a sheet of drywall, wet one side of it, then make punctures over the entire surface with a spiked roller. The longer and sharper the needles, the faster the cast will soften. After these manipulations, the sheet will become flexible.
Removal of wallpaper occurs in the same way: first, the surface is wetted, then peeled off by rolling the roller. The process will be even faster if you wet the wall with a special solution to peel off old wallpaper.
Features of models
You can buy a needle roller for self-leveling floor both in a regular building and in an online store. When choosing, you should pay attention to the following important characteristics: material of manufacture, width, needle length, handle comfort.
Rollers are available in sizes from 150 to 600 mm, needle lengths from 8 to 34 mm. The needles should be 0.5-1 cm longer than the thickness of the solution, so as not to touch the solution and not deform the surface. Spikes that are too long introduce new bubbles into the solution. For a smallthe standard width of the spiked roller for self-leveling floors is 240 mm.
The handle of the roller can be simple or extendable, with the ability to adjust the length. Of course, it is more convenient to expel bubbles in a standing position, so you should purchase a model with such a device. The option with a short handle, for which you can buy a long one, is only suitable if the household already has such a device, otherwise you will have to spend time looking for it.
Splash proof lid is a definite plus, but not the deciding factor. More attention is paid to the roller itself.
Construction tools must be strong, otherwise they may not withstand even one floor pour. Proven Russian manufacturers: Comfort, Sibertech, Stayer, Zubr. Foreign companies: Matrix, Jenser, Bauma, Korte, 888.
The screed spike roller can be multifunctional and durable. Which one to choose depends on the operating conditions and personal requirements. The tool should not give the impression of unreliability, a high-quality spiked roller is needed to fill the self-leveling floor.
