Laying laminates, need to level the floor a bit

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Tomresearch

32 posts

Geek

#312194 25-Mar-2024 15:43

Hi,

We are busy laying down laminates through the house ourselves (everywhere except the bedrooms).

We have removed the original tiled areas and carpets, and are ready to lay the laminates.

One area, near the window unto our verandah has a slight slope (as per attached picture).

This is where the original tiles were, and when they laid them, the tilers must have added a bit more tile adhesive in this area, as the tiles were level.

The laminate instructions state that over a 1 meter long area, the floor should not drop more than 3mm - well, in this case it does.

Hence I am thinking of using something like "Cemix Floor Self Leveler" compound from Bunnings.

Just wanted to know whether that is the correct approach to this problem?

And whether the Cemix product is good enough for this area.

Thanks

BlueOwl

85 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3211518 27-Mar-2024 09:38

I had the same issue a couple of months ago, and tried the Cemix concrete floor leveller. It didn't go so well. I think because I hadn't sealed the concrete the leveller compound dried and set really quickly - about 10mins while I was still trying to level and feather out the edges. Ended up with about 3mm variation in flatness.

I put the laminate flooring over it anyway and it turned out OK. Some slight movement where there are dips, but not much. Most people don't notice it.

Note that the Cemix concrete leveller specifies a depth of 3 to 6mm - so it use it properly you'd need to do the whole floor in which case getting it all level won't be easy. Or cheap - a 5litre bucket of Cemix was about $45 and covered only a very small area, like half a square metre. It's basically portland cement with fine sand.

If I was doing it again, I'd probably use the Sikafloor Level-15 compound which goes down to 0.5mm thickness, and is much cheaper, and is suitable for small patches as opposed to the whole floor. Prime or seal the concrete before applying otherwise it dries and sets before you can smooth it out.

And I think next time I try, I'd let it set for a couple of days, then use a 2x4 with 80-grit sandpaper stapled to it to grind down any areas where the levelling compound is too high.

Alternative if there is only a mm or two of variation in a small area you could just cut some strips of building paper to level it out.

No definitive answers sorry, but let us know how you do it and what the result is.

mdf

3512 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3211545 27-Mar-2024 11:09

I've used the Cemix compound before, but like the previous poster said, it is designed for gaps >3mm (my floor was less level than yours)! It was okay, but did need help "self" levelling.

Are you doing a floating floor or gluing it down? If gluing, make sure that the glue is compatible with whatever you use to level it. Floating floors are a bit more forgiving - you might even be able to get away with a double layer of underlay?

Tomresearch

32 posts

Geek

#3213470 3-Apr-2024 09:14

Hi @BlueOwl,

Thank you for that useful information.

We put down the Cemix, but agree with you - wish we had tried the Sika route instead.

Once you poured the self level compound, did you wait 7 days before laying down the laminates?

As all the guidance state a 7 day full cure window -so we're now living in a work site, haha

Tomresearch

32 posts

Geek

#3213471 3-Apr-2024 09:17

Hi @mdf,

thank you for your reply, we're laying down a floating floor - just finished all the required undercuts, and as mentioned already, waiting for the self level compound to cure now....but also thinking I might get some SIKA anyway, to fill in some of the minor gaps left by the CEMIX product...if we're gonna have to wait 7 days for curing, might as well get the leveling as close to perfect as possible.

cheers

BlueOwl

85 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3213524 3-Apr-2024 11:50

Tomresearch:

Hi @BlueOwl,

Thank you for that useful information.

We put down the Cemix, but agree with you - wish we had tried the Sika route instead.

Once you poured the self level compound, did you wait 7 days before laying down the laminates?

As all the guidance state a 7 day full cure window -so we're now living in a work site, haha

I just waited a couple of days - at which point it was hard and dry. Then put on some Cemix primer to seal it, then next day laid the laminate. To be honest, it was hard as concrete less than an hour after pouring.