Self leveling compound

[paul50]

I'm tiling my flat (six rooms in total) and was wondering which room would be the best place to start in. each room runs off the hallway from the front door. As soon as you enter the flat, take 3 steps and you have the front-room on your left and kitchen on your right, walk down the hallway which is six meters long. There is a bedroom just in front of you (slightly to the right) and a bedroom on the left with the bathroom opposite on the right. To get the tiles to be central would it be best to start in the bedroom on the left and get the tiles to line up with the hallway so that each tile will then start in the middle of the door way for each room. The tiles are 500cm by 500cm white artificial stone.

I also have electric under floor heating which I installed and I need to use slc. I'm considering using Sealocoat Super from Selco as they have offered me a good deal at £11.50 a bag of 25kg and then buying a squeegee from eBay with gaps in to spread the slc evenly. Would anyone recommend this brand? I would prefer just to lay the tiles straight onto the cables but I'm scared of damaging the cables and I’ve never laid tiles before. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards
Paul

 

[paul50]

Sorry guys and girls but my brief introduction was missing from the start of my thread. My name is Paul and this is the first time I've ever used a forum. Please forgive me if I have posted it in the wrong place. Hello to everyone and have a great day.

Kind Regards
Paul

 

[DHTiling]

Hello paul and welcome to tilers forums..

Thanks for the introduction...

Firstly we could do with some more details please..

Is the floor concrete or timber...are you having more than 1 zone for the UFH,,?

Are the tiles being laid normal set or in a pattern..?

Are all the rooms getting tiled.?

 

[diamondtiling]

Hi paul,:welcome:, if this floor is being tiled all through the flat and its your first time tiling and you need to lay slc over ufh then goodluck to you Sir, I admire your spirit.
(you may want to have a bottle of spirit close at hand, you may need it.)

:hurray::hurray:

 

[paul50]

Hello Dave, thank you for responding to my thread. The floor is like concrete but not as tough. If you put a hammer drill on it with a chisel it will break up very easy. I've put 10mm insulation board in the bedroom on the left when you come in through the front door. I've stuck it down with dunlop fast set large format adhesive, but I've not filled in the gaps between each sheet. (does this need to be done) All rooms have ufh wired and connected to the fuse box and I'm working on puting the insulatin boards in the other bedroom and hallway. All rooms will be tiled. In total it's 60 square meters.

Kind Regards
Paul

 

[diamondtiling]

It sounds like a weak screed, what size gaps do you have between the insulation sheets, you should not have any, I take it that each room is on its on stat, silly question I know but I have seen them wired wrongly. Can you load pictures of the floor ?

 

[paul50]

Hi Diamondtiing, the gaps are about half a centimeter, where each bord meets at the side that is 600mm. I got most of the sides which meet at 1200mm to meet without gaps but I could not get them all to meet without gaps with the sides meeting at 600mm. I guess I could just fill the gaps with adhesive but I don't think it's a major problem. The floor is not week, it's very solid but the flat is an old one. I may need to buy a lead for the camera and buy some batteries.

 

[paul50]

I forgot to mention that each room has it's own thermostat and fused spur. It's a very good install beering in mind that I'm not a sparky but I get good advice from my friend who is.

Regards
Paul

 

[White Room]

Don't know about using a sqeegee for self leveling, a spiked roller or a trowel would be better

 

[Time's Ran Out]

:welcomeaul - Oh brave Paul!!!!
My first thought was what floor do you live on in your flat ie ground floor, top floor etc.
And have you checked your freehold or lease to see if there are any restrictions to hard flooring being installed!

As far as self leveller is concerned - cheap is not always best - Mapei fibreplan is suitable for underfloor heating and gives good coverage. Some SLC are like water and take more to cover the wires - so false economy!

Timeless John.

 

[faithhealer]

Hi Paul, couldn't find Sealocoat Super on Selcos website, is at a flexible one?

 

[paul50]

It's flexible and it dos say on the packaging that's it's suitable for electric underfloor heating.

 

[paul50]

Hi Timeless John, I live in a ground floor semi detached flat with no restrictions.

Faithhealer, I may have the name wrong but when I was in Selco's I'm sure the name was sealacoat super. However, they only sold three types of slc. Two of them were the same brand but only one is suitable for use with ufh.

 

[White Room]

I find there are so many slc with names that we have never heard of, just a repackage IMO. Take pva as an example, each company don't make their own, it's bought and a name change. Sbr is another, Runna fix and even the white liquid for the admix to Bisazzas start called Up is sbr but thinned to their spec. Get a well known make and be safe rather than cheap.

 

[paul50]

Would it be better to use a squeegee with slits in the rubber to spread the slc evenly, like a sealy squeegee.

 

[White Room]

Never used one, only used the spiked roller or large trowel found I had more control over the slc