Tom
wibbled on Monday 21 September 2009 22:21
"Tim W" wrote in message
...
Tom
wibbled on Monday 21 September 2009 21:54
"Tim W" wrote lots!
I had to lay some SLC in the cloakroom last week and that was expensive.
This project must be costing you a fortune, do you have a cheap source
of levelling compound or just a large budget? I would be interested to
know as i have to do our kitchen floor in a few weeks and at £16 per bag
in Wickes it is going to cost more than the tiles!
Tom
I get mine from http://yorkflooringsupplies.co.uk/
Yes, it's costing. But it is by my calculation a lot cheaper than paying
someone else to do a full screed - coupled with the fact I no longer
trust builders(!). It would be cheaper to rescreed myself, using an SBR
mix, but having done a couple of little rooms I'd never manage it and I'd
have to level the result anyway.
Your price is pretty much the norm. How did you get on with the cloakroom
and how big is your kitchen? Only asked, because if you wanted a slightly
more fluid compound, I can highly recommend Stopgap 300 which flows like
water - though it's helped by having a primer paint but that's quick and
not expensive.
Cheers
Tim
--
Tim Watts
The ****artist formerly known as Tim S
I used Wickes High Performance Levelling Compound, i think it has latex
added. I found it surprisingly easy to use, but as with most jobs the
worst part is the prep. It flowed very easily and levelled with a quick
flick of
the trowel to guide it into place,
That sounds quite good.
but the room is only 2x1m. The kitchen
is 5x3m,
That will be harder, unless you do it in sections or can mix a few bags at
once (friend's help will make it easier). Any idea how much avergae depth
you need to apply? Most of that stuff does about 3mm depth over 4-5m2 for a
25kg bag so you'll probably need 4 bags at least.
lots of prep needed to remove laminate floor, then the old manky
vinyl tiles and the black ****e that is underneath them.
Dealing with that black ****e is critical IME. That's what caused the first
lot of crap the builders put down to fail. My black ****e, after further
investigation turned out to almost certainly be a bitumen/ashphaltic type
adhesive, bit like BlackJack.
Do you know if yours is something bituminous?
Do not under any circumstances pour stuff onto that unless you've had sound
advice that your stuff will stick. It shears the bond with heating/cooling
cycles so it may appear to stick, then fall off next week or next year.
When it falls off, large amounts of it go at once.
The plasterer who did some of my skimming told me he'd run into that problem
yonks back before he specialised on plastering on some bunker conversion
job in Germany. In the end, the manufacture prescribed some particular SLC
and instructed that holes must be drilled through the black ****e in a
particular spacing to allow the gunk to get some key. But that sort of
advice sounds highly dependant on the SLC being thick and of a certain
type.
I've heard alternative advice of laying more black ****e (bitumen usually
sticks to more bitumen) and binding with sand then pour onto that. Again,
would only do that on manufacturer's advice.
If you want to get it off, I used a drum scabbler (flail type). It was
fairly quick but it makes an anglegrinder look tame regarding the black
dust storm that will eminate from its bowells.
The other thing that worked for small patches was either a very sharp SDS
chisel or a scutch comb SDS chisel. Relatively little mess and at worst you
leave some black ****e on, but there at least 50% removal in closely spaces
grooves into the screed. I did this round the edges where the machine could
not go.
Sorry if you already have thought it through already - but just some
thoughts.
My only criticism
of the Wickes stuff is trapped air causing bubbles, i didn't have a spiked
roller so i just knocked the bad ones of with a scrapper prior to tilling
the floor. I'll take a look at stopgap though.
Many of the air bubbles are caused by a dry surface under the SLC. I wet any
pourous bist down with water (leaving no standing water) first. The roller
knocks a few bubbles out but I don't get many.
The on place I threw 1/4 bag of leftover down so as not to waste it has
bubbled like crazy due to no wetting. Not bothered, it's going to get
another load on top.
The P131 green neoprene primer that Stopgap 300 requires also helpds
alleviate this problem as it seals the surface.
Regarding your situation, F Ball tech support are very helpful. If you tell
them what you have they may recommend something specific. They are a
cautious bunch though, so they will probably say grind the black ****e off.
Thanks,
Tom
--
Tim Watts
The ****artist formerly known as Tim S