I have a old concrete basement floor that is very rough and thinking of
installing asphalt floor tiles (the kind in supermarkets). Can I install
something over the top of the concrete floor (like wonder board concrete
boardor exterior plywood to make the surface smooth??? I don't think
patching the existing concrete floor is a good idea (it's pretty old and
somewhat crumbly). If I can go over the top, what can I use to fasten it to
the concrete?

Thanks
Ed

On Sun, 02 Nov 2003 12:12:59 +0000, Ed Kaz wrote:

I have a old concrete basement floor that is very rough and thinking of
installing asphalt floor tiles (the kind in supermarkets). Can I install
something over the top of the concrete floor (like wonder board concrete
boardor exterior plywood to make the surface smooth??? I don't think
patching the existing concrete floor is a good idea (it's pretty old and
somewhat crumbly). If I can go over the top, what can I use to fasten it to
the concrete?

Thanks
Ed

If you clean up the surface well, including removing the crumbling
concrete, then there is no reason why you couldn't "patch" the surface.
You could then install whatever on top.

Carolyn

"Ed Kaz" wrote in message
...
I have a old concrete basement floor that is very rough and thinking
of
installing asphalt floor tiles (the kind in supermarkets). Can I
install
something over the top of the concrete floor (like wonder board
concrete
boardor exterior plywood to make the surface smooth??? I don't
think
patching the existing concrete floor is a good idea (it's pretty
old and
somewhat crumbly). If I can go over the top, what can I use to
fasten it to
the concrete?

Thanks
Ed

You can use Ardex (or any other cementatious based) self leveling
patch. Just make sure the floor is clean.

Willie

I am not an expert in this area. I had just leveled the basement floor
in my house.

You may want to make sure the floor is level before you make a
decision as of what to do with the floor. My basement was also rough
and not level. I made a mistake in thinking that the floor was
relatively level without checking it first. Turned out there are many
peaks and valleys in the basement floor. There were something like
1.5" difference between the high spots and the low spots. There are
probably different ways to fix the floor depending on whether the
floor is relatively level or not.

Jay Chan

(Jay Chan) wrote in message om...
There were something like 1.5" difference between the high spots and
the low spots.

Jay Chan

How did you level your floor? My basement floor is also about 1.5"
out of level between high and low spots? Did you use leveling
compound on the entire floor, or did you build a sub-floor using 2x4s
with shims and plywood? I was planning on building the subfloor, not
using self-leveling stuff. The 1.5" seemed way too much to use that
self-leveling compound.

How did you level your floor? My basement floor is also about 1.5"
out of level between high and low spots? Did you use leveling
compound on the entire floor, or did you build a sub-floor using 2x4s
with shims and plywood? I was planning on building the subfloor, not
using self-leveling stuff. The 1.5" seemed way too much to use that
self-leveling compound.

If your basement has enough head room, you may find that building up
the subfloor using 2x4 with shims and plywood to make the floor level
is a good idea. However, my basement room is really
"vertically-challenged". Therefore, I cannot use the 2x4 idea.
Instead, I pour concrete to build up the subfloor, and pour leveling
compound to smoothen the surface.

And yes, you are right to say that 1.5" of leveling compound would be
too much. That would not only cost too much, but also the leveling
compound would run all over the place before we could build it up to
the desired thickness. I built up the floor up to 1/8" or 1/4" below
the desired thickness, and poured leveling compound to reach the final
thickness. By the way, there was a lot of squeezing involved when I
put down the concrete and the leveling compound; that took a lot of
preparation and effort. Therefore, you are probably better off using
the 2x4 idea if your basement have the head room.

Again, I must point out that I am not an expert in this area. I am
just telling you what I did that may or may not be the best way. You
will have to decide yourself.

Hope this helps.

Jay Chan