Self levelling compound or take floor up and screed?

[williamraff]

Hi folks, I am after some advice regarding my kitchen floor. The kitchen and hall used to be comprised of kitchen, 2 x brick pantries, separate WC and the adjacent hall.
I have removed the pantries and WC and made the kitchen and hall an interconnecting space. I now have five slightly different levels which I have patched in roughly for the time being.
The exposed area now has high spots and run offs which deviate by up to 2cm over the whole floor area.
I believe the floor is made up of a substance which used to be called "granno" it is a cement mixture incorporating small dark granite chippings.
My question is - prior to tiling - would a professional tiler true up the floor with self levelling as best he could and make up for any further variations with the adhesive or is a completely flat screeded floor the order of the day?
I only ask as the latter would be significantly more disruptive and expensive than the former but if needs must then this is the route I will go.
Thanks, Will.

[whitebeam]

That granno floor will be harder that concrete, I would self level the whole floor personnally

[williamraff]

That granno floor will be harder that concrete, I would self level the whole floor personnally

Thanks whitebeam - you are not wrong, I bought a concrete grinding disc to take the tops off the high spots - lots of noise and dust but not much else.
Any thoughts on type of self levelling compound - should the floor be sealed/primered first?

Nice work in your album by the way and that is one bl**dy big wolf

[Rich]

As above, I would SLC the entire floor. Do you have a Tile Giant near you? If so pop in to the store and they will be able to give you the correct leveling compound, all the instructions regarding priming and application will be on the bag, be sure to follow them to the letter.

Will you be doing the tiling yourself of getting a tiler in to carry out the work?

[williamraff]

Thanks Rich, yes I have a Tile Giant quite close by. I had considered having a go at the job myself but I am afraid my back and knees have got other ideas.

I have done my bathroom and will be posting pics shortly - an amateur job with plenty of errors but all the better for the input I have had from the forum.

I want to make sure the kitchen floor is error free so yes I am considering having a professional tiler come in. I will be offering the job on the forum once we have decided on the type of tile.

[whitebeam]

I would use a thin sbr to seal the granno floor it's very dense material.

[doug boardley]

as above posts, slc for me

[Dave]

Make sure the choice of SLC will cope with the thickness required.

[williamraff]

Make sure the choice of SLC will cope with the thickness required.

Will do, as I say it is almost 2cm out so it is a fair bit to make up.

[jay]

have you got 5 different substrates (areas which have been done at different times)

[williamraff]

Hi Jay, no they were all done at the same time, it is the original floor from the original layout of the house.
The dividing walls were built first and then the floor was laid so there are slight deviations from one area to another.
I have just floated a little cement in to bridge the gaps where the walls were.

[jay]

Then the slc is your best option providing you use one thats suited