97m2 of porcelain to fix...products to use and advice on self levelling

[cam_low]

I have fsoa 100m2 to fix of 600x600 porcelain. The floor is weyroc and getting overboarded and ufh and self levelled.

The problem is I am not the best at screeding however I would like to become brilliant at it. I generally use a float and a straight edge to get it as perfect as possible however I know there are people out there who get it spot on ! Whats the score with rollers and hedgehog rollers etc?

I have also not been on here much due to forgetting my user name so am not up to date with any products that are new to the market ie adhesives etc

What are you all using these days? have been very happy with the Weber products as of late.

The bloke on this job is wanting to overboard weyroc and use ply @ 6mm with UFH. Should I be steering him towards cement boards? What size do they come in ?

This bloke rejected me at Christmas for my prices being to high and he got his fingers burned with a cheaper guy and his wet room now flows into his cupboard. I had a little giggle and he said he knows what I charge and just wants to me to crack on with the house floor whilst he is away on holiday. The bathroom can be fixed at a later date as his daughter is disabled in a wheelchair and i'm on strict deadlines.

Cheers troops.

Cameron

 

[Stef]

I started using a spiked roller at the end of last year courtesy of Dave @ Trade Tiler & to be honest im wishing i had bought 1 sooner, great buy.

We have been using Weber of late as CTD do it at a great price. It was always Bal we used but now i use whatevers on special at CTD & its usually Weber.

Steer clear of the 6mm ply & use a tile backer board in the same thickness.

Good to hear that wee story about the customer phoning you back as he got his fingers burned. Its just cost X amount extra instead of paying the proper rate to start with. :lol:

 

[cam_low]

so whats the crack with the spiked roller....do you just pour and roll her? :lol:

yeah thats the reason im using weber too !!!

Ive never actually used the backer boards. Can you tell me the pros and cons please ?

 

[Mike Mike]

so whats the crack with the spiked roller....do you just pour and roll her? :lol:

yeah thats the reason im using weber too !!!

Ive never actually used the backer boards. Can you tell me the pros and cons please ?

The spiked roller aerates the SLC and helps disperse air bubbles. If you want to get a floor that size flat and level then to be honest, you should be pumping the SLC in. SLC usually takes 1.6kg/mm/m2. So 100m2 and what do you need, 10mm if you want it level, is 1.6 TONNES of SLC, or 64 bags, LOL. Okay, so you might go for 5mm (you have got to cover the UFH, right. MUCH harder to get the floor flat at 5mm in my experience). That's still 800kgs, or 32 x 25kg sacks. You are going to struggle. But if you can't pump it, then you really need at least one helper with you when you do it, but maybe two.

Get a large, rigid, clean dustbin (NOT a wheelie bin, LOL) (gorilla tubs are no good, they are too flexible) and mix two, or even three, bags of SLC at one time. Have a helper mixing the same behind you. Pour the SLC all along the back wall. You want the next batch ASAP. Use the spiked roller once the SLC has stopped flowing. Don't try and use the roller to slosh the SLC around, and move it to corners be sweeping it along. Floor will end up unflat and unlevel.

The key to successful leveling is how you pour. If you are doing it on your own, and have to stop for 5 - 7 minutes to mix up a new batch, multiple times, then chances are you will end up with a less than perfect result. As I said, for a floor this size, pumping it is really the answer.

 

[cam_low]

Mike I love your replies. Ever so knowledgeable.
I forgot to mention I will have another tile and labourer with me and that the house is split so around 60m2 is the main area.
What I need to know is the cost of pumping it in and the procedure to levelling it at the right height. Should I get a team in ? I have actually already mentioned this to the guy ! !!

 

[doug boardley]

why not overboard with insulation boards? (assuming it's electric ufh)

 

[cam_low]

I think there was mention of this for the conservatory as it is concrete but that was just for below the ufh.

How is it fitted over the ufh ? addy ?

 

[doug boardley]

no lamarr, (that was your old username I'm sure) it doesn't go over ​ufh as then it'd stop heat getting to tiles.

 

[cam_low]

No it was Boosha.

Sorry I didnt mention that the conservatory is the area that is concrete which is getting insulation boards. The rest of the house is weyroc. The levels I have to match are the ones into the daughters bedroom...Where the crap tiler laid his bed so to speak, to be changed at a later date.

Im going up there tomorrow to get some options thrashed out and calcs taken.

Ps I thought you were suggesting ins boards on top of the ufh which would already have been down ! My bad. ha.

 

[Mike Mike]

Mike I love your replies. Ever so knowledgeable.
I forgot to mention I will have another tile and labourer with me and that the house is split so around 60m2 is the main area.
What I need to know is the cost of pumping it in and the procedure to levelling it at the right height. Should I get a team in ? I have actually already mentioned this to the guy ! !!

Sorry Cameron, I have no idea how much it would cost to have another team come in and pump it, or whether you can rent the pump yourself?? Maybe someone nearer to you can advise??

This is what a pump looks like, so not something the average tiler has in his van. [DLMURL="http://www.markham-sheffield.co.uk/floor-screed/m300-self-leveling-screed-mixer-pump-1.html"]M300+ Self Leveling Screed Mixer Pump[/DLMURL]

And this is how it looks in action (albeit a couple of not very dynamic Swedes at work here, no not me :lol.

[video=youtube;_7rKmWHQvMc]
60m2 @ 5mm = 480kg in the main room, which is 10 mixes @ 2 bags a time. And for 10mm, double that, LOL.

They sell little plastic products, which screw out to any height you want, and which have self adhesive bases. These can be stuck to the floor at regular intervals then you pour the SLC. If you can still see them then you're too low. You could achieve the same thing with metal screws screwed into the floor at the desired height, which would be cheaper.

It all depends on how confident you are in your own abilities to level 60m2 and how important it is that the end result is flat and level I suppose.

Oh yeah, one final point. There was a post on here the other day from someone who said that Weber didn't flow well (used 5.25 litres of water per sack). The larger the room the more important it is that you have good flowing SLC. I've said before and I'll say again, I use Uzin 170 LevelStar which takes 6.5 litres of water. Flows very well. Still not easy to get a flat and level floor, but easier than stuff that doesn't flow so well.

Best of luck with it!

 

[Alan.P]

Yep, as Swedish says, use something to gauge your heights, set these up with a level at intervals so you know that your on the mark.

 

[cam_low]

another quick question, with the tiles being light porcelain in colour, should I use white addy ?

 

[White Room]

If your using a light grout then yes...

 

[cam_low]

I am using grey, however my reason was from a tale from a friend who ended up with shadows in his kitchen floor, porc, apparently due to the dark adhesive !!

 

[White Room]

If you back skim the tiles then you won't get shadows/trowel lines....