A long story short..

I'm putting down laminate flooring across a living and dining room. The
transition from the living room to the dining room there is a
difference in height from about 1/8" in some areas to 1/4" in others.

I decided after talking to several people that using Portland-based
cement self-leveling underlayment may be the best approach to this.
However after starting I realized my skills were not the greatest at
this and now I am regretting this as the end results aren't the
greatest.

After thinking some more, I think the best corse of action for someone
of my skill level would be to attempt to remove the underlayment, run
the laminate to the transition and then place a transition piece down,
thus seperating the living from the dining room. While not the most
aesthetically appealing, it'd be able to do the purpose.

So now I'm asking, if there is even a way to remove the cement based
self-leveling underlayment without damaging the plywood that is my
base.

Thank you in advance.

wrote in message
ups.com...
A long story short..

I'm putting down laminate flooring across a living and dining room. The
transition from the living room to the dining room there is a
difference in height from about 1/8" in some areas to 1/4" in others.

I decided after talking to several people that using Portland-based
cement self-leveling underlayment may be the best approach to this.
However after starting I realized my skills were not the greatest at
this and now I am regretting this as the end results aren't the
greatest.

After thinking some more, I think the best corse of action for someone
of my skill level would be to attempt to remove the underlayment, run
the laminate to the transition and then place a transition piece down,
thus seperating the living from the dining room. While not the most
aesthetically appealing, it'd be able to do the purpose.

So now I'm asking, if there is even a way to remove the cement based
self-leveling underlayment without damaging the plywood that is my
base.

Thank you in advance.


What skill was that, not mixing enough water so it did not self level. You
should not have had to trowel it.

In any case, it won't be easy to get it up, its going to want to rip off the
face of the plywood if you try to chip it.. Your best bet is make what you
did work. What is the problem? Maybe a little hand grinding with a
concrete brick will smooth it enough for your needs, a brick can be used
like sandpaper on cement surfaces.

If I had to remove all or most of it, I might try a drum sander with a very
corse grit (60 or corser). If it were thick, you can rent a concrete
grinder but that sounds to be overkill for what you describe. A belt sander
with similarly corse and strong belt can be used to touch up an otherwise
uneven trowling job. An orbital pad sander (large used for refinishing
floors) might pass depending on the condition you have and need.

wrote in message
ups.com...
A long story short..

I'm putting down laminate flooring across a living and dining room. The
transition from the living room to the dining room there is a
difference in height from about 1/8" in some areas to 1/4" in others.

I decided after talking to several people that using Portland-based
cement self-leveling underlayment may be the best approach to this.
However after starting I realized my skills were not the greatest at
this and now I am regretting this as the end results aren't the
greatest.

After thinking some more, I think the best corse of action for someone
of my skill level would be to attempt to remove the underlayment, run
the laminate to the transition and then place a transition piece down,
thus seperating the living from the dining room. While not the most
aesthetically appealing, it'd be able to do the purpose.

So now I'm asking, if there is even a way to remove the cement based
self-leveling underlayment without damaging the plywood that is my
base.

Thank you in advance.


I had the same problem. Smart ass comments aside, that stuff's a pain to
put down. I mixed it as the bag stated, spread it out as the bag stated,
etc... what I got was a total mess. The stuff sets up so darn fast that it
doesn't allow itself time to "self level". Now, I live in a very dry part
of the country so maybe that was my problem. In any case, I was able to
apply it again in a different room with a little better results but I added
more water than they recommended. Anyway, there's really no easy way to
remove it. Can you float another coat over it to give you what you want?
If not, I ended up chipping it out using an air scraper
(http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...mnumber=37073).
It worked pretty well but created a ton of dust. I was taking it off
concrete so you may have better luck given it's over ply. If it's still
pretty green, you can even go at it with a hand scraper. It took awhile
but ultimately I got it all off. Good luck with it!

What skill was that, not mixing enough water so it did not self level. You
should not have had to trowel it.

In any case, it won't be easy to get it up, its going to want to rip off the
face of the plywood if you try to chip it.. Your best bet is make what you
did work. What is the problem? Maybe a little hand grinding with a
concrete brick will smooth it enough for your needs, a brick can be used
like sandpaper on cement surfaces.

If I had to remove all or most of it, I might try a drum sander with a very
corse grit (60 or corser). If it were thick, you can rent a concrete
grinder but that sounds to be overkill for what you describe. A belt sander
with similarly corse and strong belt can be used to touch up an otherwise
uneven trowling job. An orbital pad sander (large used for refinishing
floors) might pass depending on the condition you have and need.

I followed the directions to a T... 2 parts cement, 1 part water. A
colleague who suggested this to begin with stated not to make a lot at
one time as it will harden up rather quickly. I followed his directions
by doing just that, taking a roughly 20 oz. can and put in a bucket,
two of those and one of water.

I spoke with him this morning and he noted that I may be able to use a
brick to sand it down smooth and perhaps use another mix that is
premade to even out other areas.

We shall see.

Thank you all for your suggestions so far.

I saw a TV contractor who recommended painting the subfloor with acrylic
latex admixture before pouring self levelling underlayment. His comments
were that it reduces the floors absorption of the water out of the
underlayment which would cause problems when trying to get it to self level
particularly at thin edges.

wrote in message
ups.com...
A long story short..

I'm putting down laminate flooring across a living and dining room. The
transition from the living room to the dining room there is a
difference in height from about 1/8" in some areas to 1/4" in others.

I decided after talking to several people that using Portland-based
cement self-leveling underlayment may be the best approach to this.
However after starting I realized my skills were not the greatest at
this and now I am regretting this as the end results aren't the
greatest.

After thinking some more, I think the best corse of action for someone
of my skill level would be to attempt to remove the underlayment, run
the laminate to the transition and then place a transition piece down,
thus seperating the living from the dining room. While not the most
aesthetically appealing, it'd be able to do the purpose.

So now I'm asking, if there is even a way to remove the cement based
self-leveling underlayment without damaging the plywood that is my
base.

Thank you in advance.

replying to James "Cubby" Culbertson, Brett wrote:
When I leveled the floor on a 2br. condo, I would pour one bucket of leveler
out and then vibrate the floor with a small roto hammer set in chip mode with
the bit placed on a piece of 2x6. The vibration made the leveler flow out to
almost a feather edge. You don't need a huge roto hammer, just one about the
size of a 1/2" drill, and set the mode to "chip" not drill.


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