How often do residents of modern apartments notice uneven floors! Every now and then, something needs to be placed under the legs of the furniture in order to level it, bulges and cracks appear on the linoleum. Therefore, even with cosmetic repairs, it becomes necessary to level the floors. However, in this case, it is not possible to make a concrete screed in compliance with the technology. Yes, and this requires certain skills.
Self-leveling compounds are a good help for non-professionals in self-leveling floors. They allow you to easily and quickly achieve a flat and smooth floor surface without joints with your own hands. In addition, their clear advantage is that with them it is possible to smooth out floor irregularities up to several centimeters, and also that all self-leveling mixtures are fluid, and therefore they are easy to apply to the subfloor. But there are a number of disadvantages, including the inability to use them in rooms where it is necessary to make a screed with a slope for draining (garage, sauna, shower) due to fluidity. In addition, self-levelling floor compounds have a very high consumption on uneven areas.
To make a final decision and start leveling the floors with such mixtures, it is important to make sure that the height difference of errors and irregularities on the floor does not exceed two centimeters. There should be no cracks on the surface, or they must first be repaired. Immediately before pouring, you need to carefully prime the entire surface of the floor, which will be leveled. It is also necessary to make bumpers, eliminate all cracks and holes through which self-leveling compounds can leak into other rooms.
Do not start working with the mixture without first reading the instructions for it. It describes in detail how much water is needed, what is the flow rate of the mixture per 1 m32, etc. Most often, the consumption of the composition with a layer thickness of 1 mm is 1.5 kg per 1 m22. Some self-levelling compounds do not allow the use of more water than indicated on the packaging. Therefore, self-activity is best avoided. A thinner solution will not necessarily be easier to work with. On the contrary, it can only spoil everything. In addition, a mandatory step in pouring the floor is the surface primer. Thanks to this, the fill will be more firmly bonded to the screed. Also, a special primer will protect the floor from the appearance of fungus and mold. If no primer is available and the room is dry and not too large, a self-levelling compound heavily diluted with water can be used to prepare the surface.
The whole pouring process lasts no more than 40 minutes. In the allotted time, you need to have time to make a batch, pour it onto the surface, help it level out and "drive" the bubbles out of it with a spiked roller. Self-levelling floor compounds must be spread evenly over the surface using a spatula or roller with a long handle. This should be done after each kneading and pouring out the solution, and gradually the entire floor will be ready. Usually one bag is used for one batch, but, of course, it all depends on the weight of the bag itself and the volume of the bucket. In addition, the area poured in one batch depends on the relief of the floor and the thickness of the fill. So, for example, for a room of 18 m2 with a filling thickness of not more than 5 mm, 4 batches are needed (a bag weighing 25 kg).
