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OP
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Spacey

Please checkout the following advertisement.
Put it this way The work is looking for me
 
OP
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LM

Have you guys every tried using pin levels, rakes or combs ?

I stand up when I'm laying smoothing compounds and use a a pin level amd mixing station.
Not only is it less stress on the body your laying and equal amount of compound over the floor at a chosen thickness.
Then spike roller every time to release trapped air in the mix and smooth out tide marks.
Priming is essential Lets say it's an normal portland cement floor which tend to be highly porous. Look at it like the cement subfloor is thirsty and needs good drink. If you don't prime, the sub will drink the moisture from your mix which will reduce the flow and workability of the mix. When you prime first mix at lets say ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part primer
which is average for the primers I use. Apply with a roller or even a brush. If the primer is absorbed ie dries really quickly then you need to repeat the process I normal saturate a porus sub floor until it can't drink any more Then a neat coat of primer after that. That's the floor fully sealed and the smoothing compound given the best chance to fully bonded to the sub floor whilst also killing any dust. (Don't forget to hoover the life out of the floor before hand) Might sound extreme but I'm laying karndean and Amtico so it must be like glass.
Don't spill water, latex or get excessive amounts of powder on the floor as your mixing This can create week spots in the finish.
Be aware of how your bags are stored or where they are kept. Cold and wind can cause powder to start to set in the bag It might look OK but unknowingly the setting process can prematurely begin.
Keep your bags and bottles out of the sun Don't get to the job and stack them out side in the summer keep everything cool and dry.

Another thing most don't realise
If your mixing multiple mixes in the same bucket the residue from the last mix will start to set off your new mix so on large areas you really need to use multiple buckets so you can have a labourer keep cleaning them as you go A mixing station will help a lot to with speed.

I've missed alot out here but that's the basics
I agree completely with everything you have said there @Spacey for soft flooring. The problem with pin levellers etc in levelling floors for tile is that they don't take out bad humps and dips, it's more important to have a flat floor rather than smooth for tile and so in the process of achieving that you will inevatibly end up with various thicknesses of levelling compound:)
 
OP
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Spacey

I'm just answering the title of the post.

As I said that's just the basics.

If you want a flat floor with in a tolerance of 2mm over a 2m span that's where your levels and lasers come in
 
OP
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hmtiling

I'm not suggesting that anyone do this but I, naughty boy that I am, sometimes ad a little more water than instructions state. I'll do this with products, usually fibre modified, that I know will take the extra without being compromised and still set rock hard. Have tried most tiler's slc and rocatex fibre flow is the best I've used. I'm only talking around 250ml per bag extra btw and wouldn't suggest doing it unless you know the product well.
 
OP
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Spacey

It is possible to over water some products and have no issues as such but you do weaken the compound. The main problem is creating laintence on the surface which if you don't remove your effectively sticking to dust so no real bond is achieved. Sometimes you can get laintence even when the correct amount of water is added I call these dusty screeds and avoid them Who wants extra work preparing the floor.
The other problem is drying time The longer it takes to dry the longer it takes to reach its full compression strength if at all. On average most leveling compounds take around 28 days to reach full compressive strength and thats mixed correctly be it water or latex mix.
A high compression strength for a levening compound in the UK is around 35nm which is ideal for our concrete which is normally not much more. In some countrys like Italy they use compounds that reach up to to 100nm which would just pull to much when drying and blow off or floors.
Anyway back to the point.
When we lay on our levelers they are still week and at a very low compression strength A 35nm would be lucky to be 10nm after 24 hours so by adding more water it's even weaker We then cover it with wet https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ and tiles and slow it down even more ie laying our tiled floor on not much more than mush.

Just saying
 
OP
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hmtiling

It is possible to over water some products and have no issues as such but you do weaken the compound. The main problem is creating laintence on the surface which if you don't remove your effectively sticking to dust so no real bond is achieved. Sometimes you can get laintence even when the correct amount of water is added I call these dusty screeds and avoid them Who wants extra work preparing the floor.
The other problem is drying time The longer it takes to dry the longer it takes to reach its full compression strength if at all. On average most leveling compounds take around 28 days to reach full compressive strength and thats mixed correctly be it water or latex mix.
A high compression strength for a levening compound in the UK is around 35nm which is ideal for our concrete which is normally not much more. In some countrys like Italy they use compounds that reach up to to 100nm which would just pull to much when drying and blow off or floors.
Anyway back to the point.
When we lay on our levelers they are still week and at a very low compression strength A 35nm would be lucky to be 10nm after 24 hours so by adding more water it's even weaker We then cover it with wet https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ and tiles and slow it down even more ie laying our tiled floor on not much more than mush.

Just saying
I try to give levellers as long as possible when gone in at depth but we all know sometimes you can't. I certainly wouldn't tile on a mushy floor though.
Just saying
 
OP
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Old Mod

Was wondering when you'd be on my case

Here's one I did earlier Harry, earlier today! :D

IMG_9156.JPG IMG_9159.JPG
 
OP
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LM

Hahahaha. Was wondering when you'd be on my case ;) not at all. Heard good things about Uzin products and always good to try new gear.
Uzin, Tremco, Ardex, FBall, Mapei to name a few are all top notch. For levellers you can't go past flooring product manufacturers. There's loads of makes out there that are very good.
 
OP
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hmtiling

Uzin, Tremco, Ardex, FBall, Mapei to name a few are all top notch. For levellers you can't go past flooring product manufacturers. There's loads of makes out there that are very good.
Where are uzin tremco and fball at price wise lee?
 
OP
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Dougs Third Go

I like to mix a minimum of two bags a time if the floor's big enough, I push the poured levelling mix into the corners with a trowel then let it flow back a bit and then tamp it with a straight length of 2 x 1 pse, usually a 5 foot length does it for me.
 

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