James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:
"Joel Racicot" wrote in message
.. .

I poured 6 bags of this stuff onto a concrete basement slab in a new
bathroom. Seemed to do the job relatively well, but recently started
cracking. These aren't hairline cracks, but up to 1/8".

The instructions on the bag made no mention of paint on the concrete slab
(pro or con). I have paint on the floor.

Any ideas on what to do with this? I'm guessing that I'll have to rip it
out. What I really want to know is what to do next time to avoid this
painful and expensive mistake.

Thanks in advance.

Joel


First off, I've used self levelling before with varying results but never
cracking. Did you use the proper bonding agent (ie. it appears
to be some sort of epoxy binder that you paint onto the floor)? I also seem
to remember that you have to clean the slab of paint and such
for this to bond properly.
Cheers,
cc


Thanks for the responses. First, no I didn't use a bonding
agent/primer, since, reading the instructions on the bag, they made
reference to the fact that it was sueful in avoiding pinholes in the
finished surface, not that it was necessary to prevent cracks. Having
read a bunch of stuff last night, I realize that was a mistake
(expensive too). They also don't make any reference anywhere (website,
instructions on bag, etc. ) to paint being an issue (ouch again). I was
thinking of laying down a layer of kerdi or embedding a plastic or wire
mesh into any new layer. Any thoughts on that?