How To Self Level A Concrete Floor: My Simple Process
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ม.ค. 2023
- #EverythingAboutConcrete #MikeDayConcrete
How to self level a concrete floor in 2023. This concrete floor was poured one inch out of level. The builders needed the concrete floor to be leveled in order to install the flooring.
We used Mapei PlaniLevel 360 self-leveling underlayment concrete to do the job.
The floor space was 1800 square feet and we estimated it was about one inch out of level. We figured to go 1/8" thick over the highest point which meant some of the lower areas would be 1 inch thick to level the floor.
The average thickness was hard to determine but we figured about an average of 1/2" to 5/8" thick for the entire area.
We ordered 166 bags of self leveler from New Jersey Decorative Concrete supply. njdecorativeconcretesupply.com/
The shipping was fast and they were great to work with!
We were supposed to use Collomix's LevMix mixer to mix the bags and apply to the floor but had a delay in shipping and it didn't show up in time. Instead we used Collomix X04 hand held mixers and they worked great!
The video shows how we did the prep for the self leveling compound and the method we used to make sure the self leveler was level as we poured it out on the concrete floor.
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Mike, I’m a remodeler in California. Don’t normally have to deal with leveling floors. I gotta tell you your video really helped me completely clear and made tons of sense. Thanks.
I appreciate that!
Getting caught up on old jobs...love your work ethic Mike!
I did this several years ago to my home! Wow, what a job for 3-4 of us! We used plastic "chairs" instead of screws for leveling, and of course the laser made it accurate! We premade a 30 gallon bucket on a roller/ hinge to deliver the mixed leveler to the exact spot so one guy could mix and pour! After 100 bags our dual motor mixer blew out, so I purchased a single blade mixer to finish the job! Thanks for the excellent video! I have another job like this soon and it helps to refresh my memory on the whole process!! Oh yeah! Just remembered the first time I tried this the bags were defective! I had to scrape the stuff up after two days with a shovel! Never hardened! Nasty! Called the company! They sent out a rep and said...oh yeah this stuff was recalled 3 months ago! Ha! They shipped out new bags overnight and paid for the job! Evidently this stuff has a shelf life of two years! I always call in lot codes to make sure ive got a fresh shipment!
Thanks for posting ! We used this on a large condo tower, to level hallways areas that were bad. Great product, easy to work with, I heard we bought around 100K worth of product to do the building ,,,, 26 floors plus 6 of parking.
What are these "plastic chairs"?
Screws and plastic chairs... LMAO!
You all are a bunch of heathens! They are called self leveling pins. They install quickly, easily, and accurately. You begin by drawing X's in a grid pattern on the floor. Keeping 1 foot off the walls, then every 3 feet or so. Setup your laser to be 60" or some even number (non fraction) from the desired finish height. Then go around measuring @ every X on the floor. Write down the difference from your number on the floor ( 1/4, 9/16, whatever to the closest 1/16th. Then go to your racks of self leveling pins (come in racks of 10, rubberized tabs with measurements and double sided sticky tape) you go around the floor, cutting the pins 1/16 longer than the measurements on the floor and stick them on the X's. I recomend orienting them the same direction, so they bend predictably while spreading self level. When doing your pour, you make sure you can just barely see the tops of the pins, this is why you cut them 1/16th long. Your floor is now level exactly where you intended!
Self leveling pins aren't cheap, because they know what the alternative is. They cost 1 dollar per pin 7 years ago, 10 dollars a rack, and 100 dollars a bag... But they pay for themselves vs screws by expediting the process.
Why does it take 100 bags to do a house? Is it the Taj Mahal?
@@_JimmyBeGood its called mathematics...
Homeowners, lol. "Is it the library of alexandria" (pushes their glasses closer to their face)
You dont even want to know how many bags a store the size of an apple store eats. We used ardex too, like 2x the price per bag. It woulda halled the taj nicley. Ive used so much i had to fill it with rocks, then pour more on top. We quit that and began pre floating a rough float as needed for thick areas, then self level over the top of that. But you still want about 1/2" ideally for flow with cheaper self levelings. More expensive stuff flows better in my experience and can take more water.
Great job guys.
Great job gentlemen
Good work mike , thanks for the tips. I’m from NH I started my own flatwork company last year but havnt got into anything like this. Thanks for the inspiration
Best of luck!
That planitop material is pretty sweet. We use it alot.
That was a lot of work !
Good job
Great video! I will be doing this next month to an existing concrete floor for a future gym. I will then add turf and rubber matting over the self leveler. Mike, do you think I need to worry about cracking in the future?
Brilliant video, and awesome team work!
Thanks
Mike, really nice job on this! Long time watcher first time commenter. The timing of you posting is so coincidental as we were just discussing doing self leveling to our garage. Thank you, and cheers from SC. Jason
Awesome, make sure you use an exterior self leveler in the garage, unless you're converting it to a finished room with flooring.
If you haven't done it yet. Don't use screws as self leveling pins. Use self leveling pins as self leveling pins. It will save you time and money.
Also, why self level a garage? Is it in really bad shape? Did it settle to keep puddles from draining out?
I normally recommend a patch job and epoxy coat for garages that need help. I've only self leveled in garages that drained inward to keep nature @ bay.
Hello Mike thanks for sharing all these videos they are excellent on how you do your work and helping us all who are in the same field. Quick question how do you charge for something like this?
wow new construction ..... slab guy FIRED
Mike...i was on a job where 2 troughs were being filled along with the balance of the floor. The guys used pea gravel in the deepest part ( about 2 to 3 inches ) mixed with the self leveler. This is a great product.
Yes, anything over an inch and it recommends using pea gravel in it.
When I use pea gravel, I do 2 separate pours. The gravel is often dirty and leads to surface grit. So I try to keep it low and do a second pour on top to keep buttery smooth.
The self level manufactures all call for pea gravel that has been washed and cleaned. Apparently no one does a good enough job except @ ardex headquarters...
It definetly saves on cost, but it definetly adds to the complexity, which adds some cost back in.
I typically don't do it unless it is required.
Amazing
Thank you! Cheers!
Great job Mike. You surveyed the floor height and the screw idea was great. I'm impressed
Thank you!
Use self adhesive insulation spike, it allows you to cut off to grade and saves time drilling and setting screw heads to grade.
No. No it was not.
There are already products that exist for that. They will save time and money. They will also increase accuracy.
They are thin rubber tabs, preset with adhesive, and measurements to cut to the desired height. They are called self level pins (or that's what we call them) 100 bucks a bag, 1 dollar per pin, and still a money saver... Time is money, here 2 dudes is like 70 an hour (southern california)
You just go around setting them to your benchmark or pre determined height using a laser level, tape measure, and scissors.
I won't give up all the secrets unless you hire me and want to hang out watching me work though. So that's it for now!
Mike, I have a similar need for my house. I converted a 2car garage to bedrooms and the area is terribly uneven with variation as much as 1 1/8” but on average is about 3/8-5/8”. I have another 600-700 sq ft to level. I think I can use your method. What types of screws did you use to pin your level points? Do I need to pre drill?
Mike they make Plastic self sticking tabs that measure 2 5/8” you can cut them to any height you need.. 100x Faster and cheaper then using Tapcons …
Can you provide the right name to search for this plastic material?
Nice stuff. With a job of this size are you billing by the bag or you just price out a day rate for your crew? I’ve used novaplan plus 2 a few times and it doesn’t seem to flow as nice as yours even with adding an extra half quart.
Love the video but does the floor have in floor heating? A lot of pipes for not having it. Using the screws could damage that?
Wow! How did this, pass inspection? From California
Thank’s. Mike !
finally got the first like.... having all those mixing guys was a huge help. great idea with the dollies.
Awesome! Thank you!
SCREW-HEADS. WISHED YOU HAD ZOOMED IN ON THOSE. GREAT JOB
How did you transition at the doorway to the rest of the house? The leveled area would be higher now, correct?
what do you do with the screws after the pour?
Im wondering about how you set up the screws and found the line you needed to fill to. Do you have any resources for that?
I did retail build outs, my go to was added self leveler. Pour to walkable was 6 hrs. Was able to lay flooring at that point. 1 bag covered 50ftsq at 1/8".
Thanks for commenting 🙂
sounds good
Mike, how much pressure will self leveling handle. ie can you drive a car over it if it is used in a garage. Will it crack up
Great video! It's great to see the process of self-leveling a concrete floor in action. The use of Mapei PlaniLevel 360 self-leveling underlayment concrete was a smart choice, and the fact that you estimated the floor was about one inch out of level and went with a 1/8" thickness over the highest point was impressive. The use of Collomix X04 hand held mixers, although unexpected, was a good solution to the delay in shipping for the LevMix mixer. Thanks for sharing this informative and well-explained process.
You're welcome 😊
Hi-my building completely burned down and the the foundation/slab was never levelled before the new floor was reinstalled. Is is industry standard to level the slab/foundation before putting in a new floor after a total rebuild? Thanks!
If I remove a floor and need to level it do I have to sand when I am done before putting tiles back down ?
Hi Mike! I know it sounds like a no brainer for a pro but could you consider doing a video covering cleanup processes? Tools, chutes, barrows, the slop, jobsite cleanup, removing trowel buildup, no water on site method's etc.. Tips you use and maybe others will chime in.. that keep tools ready to work, and finished product looking professional. This is a messy industry and its a topic I've never found covered.
Great suggestion!
What is the psi rating on this stuff. I just had a concrete slab poured for my garage I'm building. The center of my 34x48 is 1 inch low. I found that after a rain and the rain water pooled up in the center.
Great job, you set up a very efficient process for installing the product. I'm curious to hear you talking about the finished level. Isn’t the idea of the product to find its own level which should give you a perfectly level floor, once you install enough of the product to raise above the highest point of the existing un-level floor.
thicker parts will level on their own without any help, thinner areas can be more difficult, hence the minimum thickness requirement, it simply won't flow if the thickness ain't enough, so you use the spiked rollers to agitate it and help it move around to find the level, shame Mike didn't show him using those, he did talk about them though
I didn't end up needing to use it, it self leveled good on its own.
What kind of weight can the Plainilevel take? Our driveway was poured many years ago and evidently poured right before a freeze. Now the milk is chipping off of the the top.
what do i do if my floor is 2" out of level? should i use a special leveling cement?
You make it look easy.
Awesome, thank you!
because he wasn't mixing in the dusty room and carrying the filled buckets?
18' x 18' x 4".... how much do I need? Could it be done with bags? It has to be pretty smooth because it's for my daughter to practice skateboarding on but also I would like to be able to drive a vehicle onto it
Can you apply an epoxy mvb over this ?
Looks like they have in floor heating. Don’t you worry about putting one of those screws into the in floor?
Nice job. If I do areas that large I would use an 18” roller. Goes much faster. Key is being prepared and having the extra labor to move product.
Very true!
I used that primer on my recent bathroom remodel beneath tile adhesive. Seems to be doing the trick as all my tile looks wonderful. I have used this type of floor leveler before too. Was getting my next door neighbor’s bathroom ready for tile and their floor was way out of level. Upon further examination I found that the contractor who built their room addition had used 1/2” CDX for floor sheathing. Some contractors - amirite?
Thanks for sharing!
arent you supposed to hit it with a spike roller to break the surface tension and it will aid to it "self leveling"?
Can this be used outdoor?
House owners most likely thankful for hiccup correction. Nicely done project. Will use this product to correct wack floors when prepping for installing tile.
It was easy to mix and use!
I did this at my own house about 20 years ago, I also have water heated floors, and maybe 10 years after the pour I had some areas "delaminate", the 1/2" and thicker portions crack and lift off of the concrete (noticeable when you walk over the area, you can hear it making "hollow" noise, but barely any noticeable movement up/down), I guess the heating/cooling expansion/contraction cycles the whole floor has went through are to blame, no problems where it was thinner.
What I did was to chisel the cracks wider at few places and poured special thin epoxy in and watched it traveling along the cracks. I also had tile over part of that floor, scraped the grout around the edges and poured in the same thin epoxy, haven't noticed any new sections lift since then.
Looks good. Surprising it's still unfinished after 5 years.
I meant 6 months not years, my bad!
Expence jabs $40 for bags level laibor more flooring?
always shot blast
That looks like a new floor Mike ! Did you pour it originally ??
No, we didn't pour this one.
I’m a home owner with an unexpected drain pipe excavation in a daylight basement bedroom. I had to pull up the carpet and tiling . The floor has always been uneven. I’d like a smooth, closer to level floor on a budget . I wasn’t prepared to redo the drain piping. At the end of the day I need to cover irregular concrete, mastic and painted concrete.
Can this product or similar products adhere to a variety of surfaces like concrete, painted concrete and areas where the mastic is a bear to remove?
Can I floor paint on top of it?
Can I floor epoxy on top of it?
What is needed to make the surface a durable, clean, easy to clean floor for a basement?
Some day I may marmoleum over it or something else, but I need a uniform durable , easy to clean surface for an indefinite period. Is something like this my product??
Thank you.
Everyone of the mixers must have slept well that evening!
What do they charge for that stuff shipped?
I have a dumb question. Are the containers used to mix the SL re-useable for other jobs or do they just get caked-up too fast?
We wash them out and reuse them
We did a floor one time where we hired a company and they pumped the product in from a truck, it was a liquid, don’t remember exactly what product but they said it was very high psi it installed the same way, except my floor was level, but had popped because of cold temperatures.
The people who sold me the product use a pump on their installs. That works good to.
werent you afraid of drilling into the underfloor heat tubes? I noticed a manifold of tubing in one section of floor
No, the slab was thick enough and tubes were on the bottom of the slab.
@@MikeDayConcrete having done some concreting, from time to time, I can toff my hat to you and your team,
Godbless,
Mike, for a 60 year old house with a walkout basement, and slabs that arent the most even and understandably settled a bit over time...is it safe to use self leveling compound for this job? I havent measured the drop, but likely within 1-2 inches. Thanks!
Might want to use less expensive material first to get close to what you are aiming for then use the more expensive product to bring it to where you need. Just a thought
Hi Mike is it possible to make flat (notice flat, not level) a concrete floor that has a preexisting slope but needs to be flat with a self level compound. I mean is it possible to go somewhat against the self levelling properties? The slope is about 1mm / 312mm😁 thanks Mike
I would think not. You would need to use product which does not self level because self leveling material reacts to gravity and always seeks out the lowest spot.
I would like to see a walk-around after it dried to see if any areas are low or high and how that was corrected.
No call back, it was really good.
Without giving away confidential info on this job, at the end of the day, what is the approximate cost per square foot to do a job like this?
Materials, labor etc.
Nice job. Looks Great.
Labor always varies, but materials for this are probably several thousand dollars. The bags are not cheap, usually $30-40 a bag. At $30 that'd be almost $5k for just the self-leveler for this job (166 bags), let alone any tools they used or the adhesive primer (which is about $10 a bottle).
if i was to self level my shop floor or garage would it crack easily? could i still put down an epoxy coating or equivalent on it?
If it's prep'd right, you use the right product, and lay it correctly then you can.
I have to ask Mike. Did you do the initial concrete work?
No, I explained that in the video
It wouldn't be a relevant question because 1 inch in 100 feet is not that bad. And easily repairable as shown on this video, and smooth looks and will feel great,
An inch over that whole area !! Wow, if only my 3.5m x 5.5m lounge floor was that level. I have high and low spots in all directions and the laminate wont stay together. From the highest spot to lowest its 3cm. Getting a screed coat added this week. Then need to see if we can get it flat enough (not level just flat will do) for laminate. If another coat of screed would sort it then great, if not we need a rethink. Anyone ever tried to level (or flatten) a floor this uneven?
So you use screws to ensure its level for the use of self leveling mix? I thought that was the reason to use self leveling, to self level. Is it because the self leveling mix was not intended for a whole home. I have used it for rooms...
Area's too big to just pour it all in one go. The screws helped him push enough product back to where it was needed, so it didn't just flow out to the low spots.
It is still viscous like molasses and tends to stick, so you have to screed it. If is kind of like a very flattened raindrop when poured, so needs to you feather the edges as well
👍
Does this not mess with the wood due to it being a product with moisture?
The bottom plate is on the foundation plus it is also pressure treated. Thus it should not be an issue.
What was the cost $$$
"Self-leveling" compound, ...isn't, is it?
I wonder if setting a running plate compactor on the slab would induce enough vibration to get the stuff moving into the low areas and actually cause it to level itself better?
Also wonder if mixing it much thinner or even adding a flow-out reducer of some sort might help accomplish that?
It might weaken the final product, but for that application who cares? It could develop a small crack every six inches and would never go anwhere being captive between slab and flooring... just thinking out loud...
it is self-leveling enough, you help it out with spiked rollers (which Mike mentioned, but didn't show in the vid), and avoid adding your own things into the mix, it will change its cured properties, can make it weak or contract more when curing, that induces stress into the layer and it may crack and lift in thicker sections, that is why you shouldn't be adding more water or any other additives unless the instruction on the bag allows for that, my guess that they already have added as much of the self-flowing additives as they could to the mix and have it remain similar enough to the concrete so it doesn't crack/lift in few years
@@dsfs17987 Yeah, I guess you're probably right. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Look great, and a good fix to a bad slab. But man, I would be steaming mad about the original slab. That self leveling compound is not cheap, not to mention the labor. As a GC, I’m curious who paid for all that. Not a good look for the guys who did the slab.
Anyone doing this, be very careful if you have in floor heat or cooling. If you screw into the floor you could hit a line and wreck the whole thing and you may not notice for years but it’s not fun!
Looks like a new house why does it have to be leveled already?
It was 6 months old, just poured slab out of level. We didn't pour this one.
I have only seen you guys use the screw method. Most guys just mix dump and call it good.
Kinda amazing to think the builder framed a house on an out of level, sloppy slab.
Man lots of work. Wondering though if it would be easier to call a concrete truck….
it is not concrete
@@andybrown6981 understand but would it have been easier to just call a. Concrete truck.
@@Andrico77 You are right, it is pump-able. Can a concrete truck do that?
I am bad doing self leveling.
Wow. What a disaster to have to come and fix. I can imagine the framers were cursing the whole time too. Nice fix Mike
Haha, they probably were.
It's probably about $100 a bucket go to Mexico and about five six thousand dollars for the job
'we was' lol
Whoever poured the foundation I would have refused it and made whoever poured it bust it up and do it over. Is that unreasonable?
depends on the criteria you used to chose the crew who did the slab, if you picked the lowest price, you can blame yourself, also this repair was probably 10-15% of the cost of the slab (just the concrete, no steel, pipes etc), you'd have to add the demo work, new piping etc to the new slab cost, no one in their right mind would do that, it is just too much waste, besides, however bad the crew was, they don't deserve to be put out of business, as long as they pay for this touch up
also, remember that you don't know the history of that slab, perhaps there was the pour crew who got called in and prep work was done by some other crew, something gave way and they managed to save it and avoided redoing the whole thing, more than an 1" out of level is A LOT, that sort of makes me think that something out of ordinary happened during the original pour
Slab was sound, just not level. This was much less expensive to get a level/flat floor.
@@dsfs17987 good points. It actually looked pretty good for the finished product. I wrote my comment before seeing how it came out.
Looks like a pretty costly repair job. It's hard to believe someone poured this out of level. Maybe there was major settling.
You guys are busting?
Thanks?
And I bet everybody in here is thinking to themselves why not just water down some concrete and Rapport right over the top and just make sure it's level like you would any other concrete floor
If the previous concrete contractor did the job right, it would have saved the owner thousands. But hey it’s construction where most are crooks and have no pride. I own a hotel and bar. Both businesses had to completely rebuild. We hire our own people and use word of mouth subs. And most important we buy our own materials
A pump would had been better for a job that size.
You said the power trowel finish was nice but thats what causes all the problems dude lol, going to early traps to much moisture and throws the floor an inch or more out, turns the top into marble and you can't grind or move material effectively, power troweling should be illegal in residential homes
Hope this is at the masons expense!
Mix was way to thick
Mike, keep your crew from getting silicosis. Buy them fitted masks,