BAL levelling screed - 3mm granite chippings

[kenj]

Hi, I am trying to level a concrete floor that is out by up to 20mm.
I have considered a product called BAL Multibase, which says that it will level from 0 to 20mm. But, for depths of over 5mm, you need to mix it with 3mm granite chippings. I have only been able to locate these chippings in Scotland or Suffork.
I have contacted BAL, but they are no help at all. Does anyone know a stockist in the Surrey / South London area?

 

[Gazzer]

broken link removed

 

[kenj]

Thanks for that Sir Ramic,
I have had a look at this and am slightly confused by the instructions.

The mixed material should be poured directly onto the prepared substrate and
lightly trowelled to the required thickness with a solid bed trowel to achieve a
smooth surface texture. We also recommend the use of a spiked roller.

What is the spiked roller for, to release trapped air bubbles ?

Lastly I need to lay this in sections and achieve a fairly even finish to tile over.
Do I need to empty the bag and dry mix it all before I use part of the bag, as with many ready mix cements ?

 

[Gazzer]

As you say the roller is to release air bubbles and to give a nice smooth surface. It also eliminates trowel marks
When you say you need to do it in sections, do you mean as in half the room first and then the other half at a later stage?
i am not sure if the instructions say what the ratio of water is with the powder as i tend to mix so it looks and feels right.
Personally i would use about 5-7ltrs of water in a 15ltr bucket and add about half the bag to start with then add more to get the thickness right. But thats just my way.
My method of levelling would be to get a first layer down to get the floor up about 10-15mm then when that is dry i would finish off with a slightly thinner mix which will flow to find its own level and give a nice finish.
you do not have to use a roller but its important to mix the product well by using a paddle on a drill. These are easily available at your local B&Q and dont cost a lot.

 

[devonmark]

Ardex k15b is an excellent leveller and will go from 2-20mm without chippings and upto 35mm with chippings...Mark

broken link removed

 

[kenj]

Thanks Sir Ramic ( Just spotted the pun in your name - rather slow of me!)

The reason for laying it in sections is firstly the relatively fast setting time, and secondly awkard shape and layout of the room.

I have looked at the instructions for this and a similar product on the Instamac website.
Ultra Level ITone is a single part concrete floor leveller which contains a compound of specially graded fillers, fine cements and polymers for smoothing and levelling internal floors with irregular substrates, prior to the application of decorative surface flooring.

Ultra Level It Super 30. The product is an ultra rapid setting premium smoothing and levelling compound for internal floors with irregular surfaces, suitable as a base for the application of tiles or decorative surface flooring.

I am not exactly sure what is meant by Decorative Surface Flooring, but I note that only the Super 30 product mentions tiles. And if I use that I still need 3mm gravel to go deeper than 15mm !!

----
Thanks devonmark,

However, the weblink says this product is for depths of 7 to 20mm, or up to 35mm with gravel ??

ARDEX K15-B is an advanced and versatile base mix designed for applications from 7mm up to a maximum of 35mm.
​

 

[White Room]

Any good building merchants should have grano chipping's or similer

 

[Monsoon]

N&C do 25kg bags of granite chippings.
http://www.ncdirect.co.uk/index.php?p=sl&PHPSESSID=54fb76cd87faedffca9f2ab59422bfb4

SLC is sooooo expensive, so the filler really brings the cost per m2 per mm down quite a bit.

The small bagged stuff is still quite high compared to the bulk bag aggregate suppliers.

1 tonne of 3mm granite chippings £35 inclusive.

Worth phoning round a few places if you need a reasonable amount.

 

[kenj]

Hi Whitebeam - not as easy as you thing to find this stuff. Neither Travis Perkins nor Jewsons stock this and nor did the companies that Jewsons refered me to. The closest I found locally was granodust, which is 3mm to dust size.

The Tech Support guy at BAL may have been little help in locating these chippings, but he did warn me not to use anything that contained smaller chips or dust.
----
Thanks Monsoon,

We are getting nearer, but Romford in Essex is still a couple of hours drive from Surrey. I will give them a ring on Monday to see if they can deliver to me.

I am unsure what the SLC product you refer to is.
( just twigged Self Levelling Compund perhaps ?) duh!
The BAL multibase is almost £38 from Topps for a 25kG bag, and I suspect that the Instamac product that Sir Ramic recommended is not much cheaper retail. I can probably get away with one bag of Multibase and one bag of chippings for this job. The Instarmac solution would require two bags even if the stuff is suitable to tile over.

The distant suppliers who have 3mm chippings qouted me £6 to £7 for a 25 kG bag, which I think is quite reasonable, but they could not deliver to Surrey.

 

[Leatherface]

Mate, there are umpteen good quality self levellers that will level up to 50 mm without chippings. Mapei ultraplan maxi will go to 30mm. Mira x-plan will level up to 50mm without chippings

http://www.pureadhesion.co.uk/product/198/mira-x-plan-self-levelling-compound-25-kg

 

[kenj]

Well I did phone N&C and they do not stock 3mm granite chippings, and thay could not deliver to Surrey.
So back at square 1.

 

[DHTiling]

mapei do a leveller that will cope with that depth and no chippings required........

 

[kenj]

Have just looked at Mapei website. Can see nothing that can do from 2 - 20mm.
Closest I found was 5 - 20mm.

 

[guy1976]

well that should do for your job if you phone mapei they will tell you your local stockist

 

[kenj]

I would like to do this in one hit not two.
As in the original post the floor is out by 0 to 20mm.
The BAL product is the closest I have found to being able to do this.
Also by using the relatively inexpensive (yet elusive) 3mm chippings, I will not need to buy as much expensive floor levelling screed.