hi i put a post on here yesterday but have since then wanted to know something else.
can anyone be kind enough to just type down the different types of concrete floors and a brief description of how to identify as this is a bit of a bleak area for me.I just dont want to be laying tiles onto a type of floor that i havn't really identified properly and get failure.Thanks guys.

You say concrete, is it the finer screed on top of the concrete

can you give us a bit more to go on Davey,type of screed, ufh?

Are you sure its not an anhydrate screed m8?

This is the thing that i dont know guys.As im starting out im just trying to deter which is which.Can anyone put down a few types of floor substrates as in solid ones with a brief description of how to identify these ,other than wood ones as i know these.Do you get what im looking for. like anhydrate screed,screed,concrete,powerfloated concrete,thanks everyone

Ajax123 is the man for this!

just sent you a PM Davey.

Originally Posted by davey-j

hi i put a post on here yesterday but have since then wanted to know something else.
can anyone be kind enough to just type down the different types of concrete floors and a brief description of how to identify as this is a bit of a bleak area for me.I just dont want to be laying tiles onto a type of floor that i havn't really identified properly and get failure.Thanks guys.

This is a massive post if I list all of the substrates. Are there some pictures we could look at.

If it is concrete it could be anything from brush finished or wood floated to powerlfloated or even self compacting. It might have a curing agent on it it might not. It might be a dark colour or almost white. If it has been overwatered it might have a laitence on it. If it has not been cured it might have dessicated (driedd too quickly)

If it is a screed it could be sand cement, anhydrite, Alpha hemihydrate, Magnesite (although this would be rare) SBR, Epoxy, polymer modified or lots of other combinations.

To just write a list is very difficult given I want to get some sleep tonight.

Pictures or a description might be helpful (colour, size, depth, surface texture - those sort of things). Will await come more detail and then try and help. sorry this not much help yet but if you can give us more info I am sure we can identify it for you.

wow now im in the brown stuff i never knew there was so much to concrete floors ill try and get some pictures on here for you pal.cheers

Also Davey-J How old is the floor. Has it been covered previously?

Ajax is gonna enjoy this one

Originally Posted by doug boardley

Ajax is gonna enjoy this one

Might do

hi ive took 2 pictures and tried to put them on if it didnt work ill try again.Just need to know what type of concrete floor this is and if a suitable primer and a rapid set adhesive will be ok with ceramic tiles.

Looking at the second pic, it looks like a fine concrete concrete that was used

Do you have a moisture meter davey-j. Pic 2 looks like it might be a concrete topped off with a thin screed. It could just be a hand compacted semi dry concrete. I don't think though the pics are conclusive enough to draw a firm answer. The colour changes worry me a bit. I just want to check out the possibility of magnesite (I realise this is quite rare). If you take a moisture meter reading even if it is bone dry you will get an off the scale reading. Don't think it will be but looking at the colours it is worth checking out to make sure. Also how old is the property. Looking at the doors and skirtings it looks Victorian. Is there a DPM under the substrate.

Magnesite is the only thing here which might prove troublesome in terms of the screed itself

If it is not magnesite heave a sigh of releif. If there is no DPM you may need to use an epoxy surface DPM or something like. This would serve as a good primer.

It is deffo not anhydrite.

What is Magnesite, I've done been around for a long time and have never heard of it

the stone or the leverling compound

whoops sorry I thought this was the start of a new thread - Magensite was (maybe still is) a floor leverling concrete, I belive it can turn quite corrosive and damage steels or pipes buried in the concrete

It is a screed which was used from about 1910 through to the late 1940's although some council houses as late as the 1960's were screeded with it. It is made from magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride. It is usually pinkish, greenish or yellowish. It was popular I guess because it could be laid very thinly (down to about 15mm) so was good for renovating older properties e.g. old council houses which were being refurbed. I know there is quite a lot around Lincolnshire and Leicestershire particularly in old forces accomodation (loads of old RAF bases in Lincolnshire). It can lose its colour over time but it is electrically conductive so even if it is bone dry you will get an off the scale reading with a tramex or protameter. It is very difficult to get anything cementitious (i.e. tile adhesive, levelling compound etc) to stick to it because the high chloride content "rots" the cement and the bond fails. Also long term the presence of highlevels of chlorides will affect the cement matrix and eventually the tile adhesive and the concrete floor underneath will also fail especially if there is a likely hood of moisture being present e.g. Kitchen or Bathroom (popular for tiling). Also the cholrides can leech into the concrete substrate and corrode the reinforcement. If it is magnesite the best thing you can do is dig it up and replace it. Fortunately it is quite rare to see nowadays. I am not convinced that the pics above are magnesite but as it looks to be coloured it is worth doing a simple check to make certain. (so don't panic davey-j)

You can still get magnesite screeds but I don't know of any instances where it has been used in new build housing for at least 15 years. I am not cerain but it might even be a banned material for housing by building regs.

ok his answer was way better than mine!

Originally Posted by Colour Republic

ok his answer was way better than mine!

Sorry m8

just like to be thorough (I think some call it anal)

If I remember there was a few scares about 30 years ago about the steel work rotting on structures on balconys attached to flats

Originally Posted by Ajax123

Sorry m8

just like to be thorough (I think some call it anal)

You go ahead mate, I didn't know it was conductive so I've already learnt something for the day and we're only 16mins in to it

my first impressio is that it looks like red brick rubble, topped off with a screed. Something I'd be very hesitant to tile onto

Originally Posted by whitebeam

If I remember there was a few scares about 30 years ago about the steel work rotting on structures on balconys attached to flats

There were indeed whitebeam and I beleive that was one of the principal drivers for it being removed as a building screed. It was around that time (1950's through to 70's that there were loads of high rise blocks built. Unfortunately for the builders and even more for the residents Magnesite was the least of the worries as the old Alkali Silica reaction was found to rot the concrete (concrete cancer) and whole buildings had to be demolished. We never learnt of course and some of you may remember a few years ago the road bridges on the M5 were extensively refurbished because of the effects of thaumesite reaction in the concrete supporting structures. Bloody complicated stuff concrete. And you all thought it was just grey stuff wot went hard.

Concrete cancer is a word that was bandered about quite a few years ago, concrete is whole different ball game

Originally Posted by Ajax123

It was around that time (1950's through to 70's that there were loads of high rise blocks built. Unfortunately for the builders and even more for the residents Magnesite was the least of the worries as the old Alkali Silica reaction was found to rot the concrete (concrete cancer) and whole buildings had to be demolished.

I for one don't think that was such a bad thing! Ugly is a nice way of putting it for some of those buildings

Originally Posted by Ajax123

There were indeed whitebeam and I beleive that was one of the principal drivers for it being removed as a building screed. It was around that time (1950's through to 70's that there were loads of high rise blocks built. Unfortunately for the builders and even more for the residents Magnesite was the least of the worries as the old Alkali Silica reaction was found to rot the concrete (concrete cancer) and whole buildings had to be demolished. We never learnt of course and some of you may remember a few years ago the road bridges on the M5 were extensively refurbished because of the effects of thaumesite reaction in the concrete supporting structures. Bloody complicated stuff concrete. And you all thought it was just grey stuff wot went hard.

I know it's only been round ( in its' present form) for about 100 years or so, not nearly long enough to appreciate its' pro's and con's

hi ajax you certainly seem to know your stuff m8 as i obviously know nothing on this subject.Could you tell me what DPM is pal as this is a very grey area for me and no i dont have a moisture reader m8 as im not that advanced yet.Can i just ask that the floor seems to dip down onto one side as you can see slightly on picture 2,would it be worth using a slc ontop of this floor and then tile onto that?