Self Leveling

[mark1324]

I hear there is a self leveling compound or something that basically self levels .. was just wondering a bit about it is there any educational bits anybody knows of or just the name of what it is ... Trying to learn tiling from home

Thanks.

[Sir Ramic]

Self levelling compound or SLC as you will see it called is a little misleading.
While it will self level to an extent, it does need a bit of help by pushing it around with a flat trowel .

[Ken Bruty]

Hi Mark,

Lots of products claim to be self levelling, but you'll find they still need to be trowelled slightly to give a flat surface. I would recommend visiting the websites of:- Ardex, Weber, Laybond, F Ball, Tilemaster to find out details about their differing screed products. That should keep you busy for a few hours. Practise is the key thing if that's possible for you.

[mark1324]

Thankyou.
Is SLC the best thing to use or is there any substitues that are better ?

[Ken Bruty]

It all depends on what the substrate is, as to what you are able to use.

[Sir Ramic]

Thankyou.
Is SLC the best thing to use or is there any substitues that are better ?

It depends on what you need to do, not every floor needs it and some may be better screeded with sand and cement.

[mark1324]

Hi Mark,

Lots of products claim to be self levelling, but you'll find they still need to be trowelled slightly to give a flat surface. I would recommend visiting the websites of:- Ardex, Weber, Laybond, F Ball, Tilemaster to find out details about their differing screed products. That should keep you busy for a few hours. Practise is the key thing if that's possible for you.

I will be doing a lot of research and going to get some cheap B&Q tiles , some adhesive and some plasterboard to do some practice on i have a pool shed that need tiling so just going to screw the plasterboard to the wall and keep practicing until im confident to do the shed... not that it has to be the best job in the shed but it can add to the portfolio i will be creating when i go into the tiling industry.

[Sir Ramic]

Whats a pool shed ?

[Ken Bruty]

You can't beat experience Mike.

[mark1324]

i have seen screeding has popped up a lot on the forums so im going to be doing some research into that aswell ... Im thinking that researching at home would be more beneficial than doing a course in the long run i only joined the forums the other day and i know a lot more now than i did before i joined

[Sir Ramic]

I will be doing a lot of research and going to get some cheap B&Q tiles , some adhesive and some plasterboard to do some practice on i have a pool shed that need tiling so just going to screw the plasterboard to the wall and keep practicing until im confident to do the shed... not that it has to be the best job in the shed but it can add to the portfolio i will be creating when i go into the tiling industry.

Self levelling compound is for floors not walls !

[mark1324]

You can't beat experience Mike.

who is mike ?

[mark1324]

Whats a pool shed ?

we have a swimming pool ... "Pool Shed" where all the boiler is kept etc ... even though the room stays dry and the same temperature. So its basically just a building.

[mark1324]

Self levelling compound is for floors not walls !

I know that i just wanted to know what it done and how effective it was ... im not going to be using it when im practicing .. I just wanted to know a little more about it. Plaster is used for walls ?

[Sir Ramic]

For walls, Plaster, render, plasterboard, Tile backer board and some even use ply but its not a good idea.

[mark1324]

i watched "OnlineTiler" or is it "TilerOnline" and seen some of the jobs that people have done with ply ... They looked terrible so i dont think im ever going to use it ...

[Ken Bruty]

who is mike ?

Sorry Mark, just had a call from my mate Mike

[Sir Ramic]

Ply or any wood is subject to warping and shrinkage in different situations so why put your self in a position where jobs can go bad. There are better products out on the market now.

[mark1324]

Easy mistake

[mark1324]

My skills with woodwork , Not blowing my own trumpet ... Really good due to me doing various college courses in carpentry but they still do not have a tiling course at the college which isnt good. All of the other products which are good ill start getting to grips with when i start learning a lot more ... But i should really make sure i know how to tile onto plasterboard as people have it in some random locations ...

[Mike]

if you,ve got a solid wall in your pool shed you may be better practicing on that as you can knock the tiles off when you finish and start again whereas the plasterboard will prob just break up once tiled on. still no luck with helping/learning with anyone? i'd let you come with me for experience but i'm in north wales

[Ajax123]

The standards covering what are commonly referred to as self levelling screeds is actually termed self smoothing screeds. There is no such thing as a self levelling compound due the necessary rheology and viscosity of such products. Even water does not self level as it has a miniscus and a surface tension which prevents it from doing so. To demonstrate this put a few drops of water onto a kitchen work top and it will sit there as a "hump" of water.

Some thin oils e.g. paraffin are much better at levelling because they have a much lower viscosity and surface tension.

[andy allen]

when you said pool shed i thought you had a shed with a pool table in it

[Rich]

Mapei: Levelling compound info...

Have a look at the link above, little bit of info on Mapei's range of SLCs

[mark1324]

if you,ve got a solid wall in your pool shed you may be better practicing on that as you can knock the tiles off when you finish and start again whereas the plasterboard will prob just break up once tiled on. still no luck with helping/learning with anyone? i'd let you come with me for experience but i'm in north wales

Well my dad built the wall so its all over the place ... Plasterboard is cheap anyway so should be ok just to use for practice also everyone from the forums seems to be really far away from me that's the only problem with trying to get experience