hi

i thought id post this clip, as it shows you how to do a floor screed the way a pro would.
its being laid over under floor heating too so it gives a little insight into the procedure of what to do and how to approach it.....they are not that hard to do!!

the clip is a bit technical to begin with ie, flexi dry info but its worth listening to and if you just want to fast forward it to 1 min 45, it gets on with laying the screed!! they have doen this with a machine, you have to mix and just replace the tripod with ya wheel barrow hope you get something from it....



ed

Ed, not a wood or plastic float in sight. Just as I screed using wrist action with the straight edge, does this make me a technician? I really want to be a technician. Good post mate. Rob Z will appreciate this.

yeah, just the action of the screeding rule ;0) as you know, you can crack off hundreds of meters using this method.

i like to show things that are harder than people will actually comes across in a domestic scenario, because that makes them feel much more confident doing a kitchen floor of whatever........
make the training harder than the fight as they say..

also, if people are looking at australia or even their nvq3, then they expect you to be able to do a screed or at least set up dots etc


it all helps i suppose
ed

That was good quality sand, must have been a ali rule to finish off like that..........

I like that other bit of techi stuff for getting the level, been sooooooooooo long since I've screeded of any size floor.

I was waiting to see if they put a straight edge on it after it had set. He made it look easy didn't he

This method is so what I am used to, I love screeding big areas, I served my time on this stuff.Thanks Ed.

Respect... I really admire stuff like that... nothing better than watching pure skill and know-how...
In my next life I am going to be a tradesman, a good one, I'll be strong as an ox and super skilled and I'll build beautiful houses from scratch ... yes..

Nice one Ed!

Phil, when you were mudding floors here in the US, did you ever use float strips to ride the straightedge?

We use float strips for smaller floors, and for larger floors sometimes we'll build mud screeds the day before and let them harden, and then the next day we'll fill in the rest of the floor and bond the fresh mud to the mud screeds with thinset.

Another thing we've done for floors that were way out of whack is to set pieces of tile, usually 6X6's (that's in inches ) in small bases of mud and using the laser to level these. And then we use those as reference points to bridge the straitedges .

We don't have the fancy machinery like in the video, just a big mud box and a hoe and a lot of buckets.

Originally Posted by Rob Z

Nice one Ed!

Phil, when you were mudding floors here in the US, did you ever use float strips to ride the straightedge?

We use float strips for smaller floors, and for larger floors sometimes we'll build mud screeds the day before and let them harden, and then the next day we'll fill in the rest of the floor and bond the fresh mud to the mud screeds with thinset.

Another thing we've done for floors that were way out of whack is to set pieces of tile, usually 6X6's (that's in inches ) in small bases of mud and using the laser to level these. And then we use those as reference points to bridge the straitedges .

We don't have the fancy machinery like in the video, just a big mud box and a hoe and a lot of buckets.

If the room is big enough Rob, I use straight aluminium scaffold tubes. I find my straight slides really easily over them

Ah the easiest type of screed to do.
Gets alot harder if doing multiple waste falls at differant levels (handicaped bathroom) or a large room/balcony that falls to a waste in 1 corner.


Trev

Originally Posted by Rob Z

Nice one Ed!

Phil, when you were mudding floors here in the US, did you ever use float strips to ride the straightedge?

We use float strips for smaller floors, and for larger floors sometimes we'll build mud screeds the day before and let them harden, and then the next day we'll fill in the rest of the floor and bond the fresh mud to the mud screeds with thinset.








Another thing we've done for floors that were way out of whack is to set pieces of tile, usually 6X6's (that's in inches ) in small bases of mud and using the laser to level these. And then we use those as reference points to bridge the straitedges .

We don't have the fancy machinery like in the video, just a big mud box and a hoe and a lot of buckets.

Hi Rob, just seen this, I have used every method over the years. I have done as you say with tile dots to set levels, used the screed pumps etc. but mostly the same as Eds video. On large areas I compact the runners ( guides) and use a 3m (9' 10" aluminium straight edge

same as me phil, i have just bought a BRAND NEW STRAIGHT EDGE aly one!! can't wait to try it ,my old aly straight edge i have had for 25 year's from rapina &the new one is from them as well but it's not as wide,in the box section a mate of mine he is a full time screeder 25 ton's a day man recomended them he said they are so much easyer to use!! so ill give anything a go if it make's life easyer me!!

Originally Posted by gooner59

same as me phil, i have just bought a BRAND NEW STRAIGHT EDGE aly one!! can't wait to try it ,my old aly straight edge i have had for 25 year's from rapina &the new one is from them as well but it's not as wide,in the box section a mate of mine he is a full time screeder 25 ton's a day man recomended them he said they are so much easyer to use!! so ill give anything a go if it make's life easyer me!!

Hi Dave, I have mine made by Bensons ( Yorkshire firm I think) my latest is a 4.5m long cracker. A bit big for screeding, but handy for big floors. Ed came for a visit today (always a pleasure seeing Ed). We were chatting about screeding and such, good to meet kindred spirits

Originally Posted by Phil Hobson

Hi Dave, I have mine made by Bensons ( Yorkshire firm I think) my latest is a 4.5m long cracker. A bit big for screeding, but handy for big floors. Ed came for a visit today (always a pleasure seeing Ed). We were chatting about screeding and such, good to meet kindred spirits

how are your hips after all that screeding phil? I still use wooden laths to set my levels ,tried the dot method a few times but always seem to over rub the dots with the straight edge and end up going out of level , using the laths I always seem to get a more compact accurate finish but I only screed 5-6 floors a year these days, I would like to get more practice with the dot method

Originally Posted by garythetiler

how are your hips after all that screeding phil? I still use wooden laths to set my levels ,tried the dot method a few times but always seem to over rub the dots with the straight edge and end up going out of level , using the laths I always seem to get a more compact accurate finish but I only screed 5-6 floors a year these days, I would like to get more practice with the dot method

Hi Gary, my hips are wooden, they didn't have plastic in my day. Seriously though, screeding is just a knack. Once you get the hang of compacting runners in sand and cement, it is just a matter of practice. We used to use 25ton of readymix every day.

I still love screeding, you can switch off a bit

nearly every swimming pool i do i screed myselfe, with these days a labourer but iused to do it all on my own!! when i started it would take me all day , by the time i was in my mid-twentys it would take me 3-4 hours then i noticed it was taking me most of the day again!! 51 so now have labourer and i'am back to 3-4 hour's just laying!! happy -day's

Originally Posted by gooner59

same as me phil, i have just bought a BRAND NEW STRAIGHT EDGE aly one!! can't wait to try it ,my old aly straight edge i have had for 25 year's from rapina &the new one is from them as well but it's not as wide,in the box section a mate of mine he is a full time screeder 25 ton's a day man recomended them he said they are so much easyer to use!! so ill give anything a go if it make's life easyer me!!

Dave, I know what you mean about having a great straightedge. I'm still bitter about losing a nice 4' magnesium straightedge on a job 8+ years ago!

FYI , here's a tip in case it helps someone.

We've modified the "dot/tile" method for SLC over concrete slabs. We set pieces of small mosaic tile (1" X 1") in small blobs of Laticrete rapid setting epoxy, and level the upper surface of the mosaic with a laser. The epoxy sets up within minutes, and we can prime and prep the area as normal for SLC.

Then, when pouring the SLC, gauge your placement of the liquid so it just barely comes above the surface of the mosaic dot. If you do it correctly, the surface tension of the SLC will "bulge" around the mosaic dot and won't flow over the tile. Then, with your SLC rake, you can swoosh the liquid in that area a bit and the surface tension of the SLC will break and it will flow just barely across the tile.

We'll do 25-30 bag pours with just 3 of us, and as we say it's all "asses and elbows" while you're mixing and pouring and raking. There's no time at that point to worry about getting the levels right.

If someone hasn't already tried this method, I hope it helps on your next job.

Hi Rob this is the way I use runners for SLC, using rapid set polymer sand and cement runners, put in from small tile dots set by laser. Same idea really.

prep3.jpgprep2.jpg

Here's another slant on it to get floor level regardless of the thickness of slc needed, find the highest point in the floor drill a shallow hole plug it and set a screw head 3mm above the surface, repeat this every 50 - 100cm or whatever you feel comfortable with trowelling level. Use your spirit level from the first one and adjust screw until level, repeat over the whole area, pour your slc level with the screw heads and trowel where necessary, you will now have a flat level floor, if you can't drill into the floor, use some rapid tile adhesive to stick small plastic packing shims to the concrete of varying thicknesses to get your levels.

Wish i had seent this before i did the screed in my porch!

Originally Posted by Scottley

Wish i had seent this before i did the screed in my porch!

didnt go the way you wanted

Originally Posted by jay

didnt go the way you wanted

That is the understatement of the year, its truly awful. The only saving grace is its only about 2000x1300, i know what your thinking, how canit be that small and that bad?

I had to get it done in a hurry and didnt have enough time/material to do it in one hit and i think that was my down fall. Standing on a par of step fitting a light the step were rocking all over the place. It will be fine though as im going to tile it anyway.

Originally Posted by Scottley

That is the understatement of the year, its truly awful. The only saving grace is its only about 2000x1300, i know what your thinking, how canit be that small and that bad?

I had to get it done in a hurry and didnt have enough time/material to do it in one hit and i think that was my down fall. Standing on a par of step fitting a light the step were rocking all over the place. It will be fine though as im going to tile it anyway.

you could always remove and re do if you are not happy with it its a good skill to learn very handy at times

Originally Posted by jay

you could always remove and re do if you are not happy with it its a good skill to learn very handy at times

Its such a small area i cant be bothered and to be honest its such a pain as its the main entrance to the house. I will however earn from my mistakes

Ill post a pic on here when i refurb the downstairs to show you an out of level screed that you wouldnt believe

hand laying and hand compacting screeds won't be allowed before too many years I think. Good old health and safety.

The issue I find most people have with sand cement screeds is they use them much too dry.

Originally Posted by Ajax123

hand laying and hand compacting screeds won't be allowed before too many years I think. Good old health and safety.

The issue I find most people have with sand cement screeds is they use them much too dry.

that sucks next health and saftey will stop tiling
yes you are right people try to do rendering to dry comes down to a dieing trade

Originally Posted by jay

that sucks next health and saftey will stop tiling
yes you are right people try to do rendering to dry comes down to a dieing trade

Jay, I agree all trades are dying. Tiling is a prime example, I have witnessed over the years tiling skills being diluted. By that I mean people being trained by people who have little experience. Tiling is a very highly skilled profession if done correctly, preparation is essential, the ability to screed/ render etc. is paramount. This is just my opinion, and I do hope it doesn't offend anyone.