iam very interested in learning all about self leveling and different types of floors (wot to use on wot type of floor and wot should be done and wot shouldnt etc),.also the difference between laytex and non laytex? is there any coarses out there i can go to that will teach me the correct way ? i understand it comes down to experience but i have non and dont want to make mistakes on customers floors ! also do all floors need to be primed before being levelled ? any advice would be great thanks ! ive just been priming and plying all my floor jobs and avoiding jobs that need levelling and have ufh as these scare me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Z
I'd like to see one of the rollers that you guys have avaialble.


As in a picture?

I use one similar to this one: Click this bar to view the full image.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Z
There was another thread recently about SLC's....it had some good tips for you. Dave, could you find that thread for Steve?

Here's a guide I wrote ages ago:

http://www.tilersforums.co.uk/86527-post6.html
__________________
sWe's compilation of guides to tiling

sWe's materials calculation spreadsheet

Originally Posted by terry the tiler

iam very interested in learning all about self leveling and different types of floors (wot to use on wot type of floor and wot should be done and wot shouldnt etc),.also the difference between laytex and non laytex? is there any coarses out there i can go to that will teach me the correct way ? i understand it comes down to experience but i have non and dont want to make mistakes on customers floors ! also do all floors need to be primed before being levelled ? any advice would be great thanks ! ive just been priming and plying all my floor jobs and avoiding jobs that need levelling and have ufh as these scare me

Terry

Weber do courses in the UK give em a bell they are near bedford somewhere

tel

I have one of those rollers,leaves a nice smooth air bubble free surface to work on.

A spiked roller will not miraculously level out a bad floor and if you go over 5mm deep i think you are wasting you time with one as they get clogged quickly and end up pushing the slc around the substrate too much ,when i have used them i found no greater benefit to the floor finish than using a clean plasterers trowel ,you would be better off buying a mixing drill and whisk to mix the slc ,
survey the floor and find out where the dips or bumps are ,this is where experience comes in to play if there is a huge bump in the centre of the floor you have to decide whether it is better to chop or grind this out or use the slc to bring the rest of the floor up to the high point , pouring on buckets of slc will get you nowhere fast you will just get an even coating of slc over the bumps and you will still be left with a rocking straight edge ,it is much better once the high points or dips are found to set up packers to the height required so you can actually see how much material is to poured in to where it is needed, this can be done by sticking broken pieces of tile around the floor to give the height required using your spirit level or laser to make sure these are all at the same height, SWE suggested using nails in his post to give height guides and this is a quick easy way of doing this, i am just offeing an alternative which has worked for me over the years .
once the packers are set, pour in the material and drag the excess off using a straight edge and leave to set ,most slc dry within 2-3hrs i always check the slc after 2 hrs to see if it has gone off at this stage it is normally still green and any lumps that are present from over pouring or dragging can be shaved off using a plasterers trowel held a right angle to the floor.
hope this post helps , anyone who tells you leveling floors with slc is easy is misleading you it gets easier the more experience you gain ,the larger the floor the harder it is and this is where surface preparation such as grinding becomes important ,there is a big difference with the brands and some of the so called slc are to be avoided ,the best ones i have used are mapei and weber nivdur s which are good water based levellers ,the best 2 part levellers are the stopgap and ardex na but this is just my opinion

Good post Gary, definitely agree with you on the spiky roller and that fact the SLC done well is not easy by any means, but it can be made easier with right tools and materials.

As a brief outline for how we level out for geometric floors where flatness is crucial. May seem a little OTT but the end result is a totally flat floor designed for zero lippage on a 1mm grout joint; the only thing better is laying on a wet screed.

1. Use rotary level and staff to pinpoint high/lows of floor, positions marked
2. Low points are filled to average current floor level, major high points ground down
3. Using a skid leveller we apply our thicker grade 10mm - 20mm SLC as a first coat, this gets pretty close to flat, but not enough for our floors
4. Using a fine grade SLC we use a pin leveller to around 3mm - 5mm to ensure the floor is totally flat (we would repeat this if necessary)
5. Spiky roller used to remove air

cheers

frank