I recently pulled up an old vinyl floor, and had the floor skim coated
to level it before putting down something new, but the guy who did the
skim coat didn't inspire confidence.

I expected it would take one pass with self-levelling cement to get a
level floor, but he was here all day, and went over the floor three or
four times with the trowel and more self-levelling cement to take care
of low spots. Now when I lay a 1x6 pine board on the floor, I can see
where the floor has shallow low spots. The floor was like that before I
had it levelled (although there were also pitted areas which have now
been filled in).

So my question is, how level is level? If I take a 5 foot board and see
a 24 inch diameter low spot with a maximum depth of about 1/8 inch, is
that normal, or is that a shoddy job that needs to be fixed?

Thanks in advance.

So my question is, how level is level? If I take a 5 foot board and see a
24 inch diameter low spot with a maximum depth of about 1/8 inch, is that
normal, or is that a shoddy job that needs to be fixed?


If it is a concrete floor, I would say it is only going to be as level as
the exactness of tools they use to level the concrete when pouring. Or if
you get a worker / crew which takes unusual care to see that it is exactly
level.

I have seen many concrete floors which are far from level. And if they were
all level, refrigerators and ranges would not have adjustable legs!

With smaller slabs (house) and hand held concrete tools, you're not going to
get it exactly level. But for large slabs (industry / roads), they have big
machines which do a pretty good job.

For something like this I would say if you want it done right, better do it
yourself.

On Aug 21, 6:28 pm, BZ wrote:
So my question is, how level is level? If I take a 5 foot board and see
a 24 inch diameter low spot with a maximum depth of about 1/8 inch, is
that normal, or is that a shoddy job that needs to be fixed?

I think the more important question is how straight is the board
you're using? In my experience, lumber is not the best judge of what
is or is not level, straight, plumb, etc.

I would suggest going back over the floor with a professional-grade 4-
foot level. If you don't own or can't borrow one, your local tool
rental place might have one available for a few bucks. Go back over
those suspected low spots and see just how off they are or are not.

Another question is in what sort of room is this floor? Are you going
to have to be concerned with water pooling? Or are you just concerned
about the floor pulling up from the low spots?

Bill is absolutely spot-on: it's incredibly difficult to get a floor
perfectly smooth with no low spots...at least without either spending
a lot of time and money. You may very well never notice the low spots
once the new flooring is down.

Thanks, Bill and Kyle.

I probably won't notice and deviations when the floor is down -- it's a
1/4 inch fiber floor, not hardwood or tile which might be more
susceptible to dips in the floor.

The wood I'm testing with is very straight, but not perfect. I tested
it for warp by comparing it against other surfaces before laying it down
here. But I may get a 4 foot level just to be sure.

And I would have done it myself, but I had no confidence in my ability
to do it right. As it turns out, this guy did no better of a job than I
would have. I think my expectations were just too high.

Thanks!


Kyle wrote:

On Aug 21, 6:28 pm, BZ wrote:

So my question is, how level is level? If I take a 5 foot board and see
a 24 inch diameter low spot with a maximum depth of about 1/8 inch, is
that normal, or is that a shoddy job that needs to be fixed?


I think the more important question is how straight is the board
you're using? In my experience, lumber is not the best judge of what
is or is not level, straight, plumb, etc.

I would suggest going back over the floor with a professional-grade 4-
foot level. If you don't own or can't borrow one, your local tool
rental place might have one available for a few bucks. Go back over
those suspected low spots and see just how off they are or are not.

Another question is in what sort of room is this floor? Are you going
to have to be concerned with water pooling? Or are you just concerned
about the floor pulling up from the low spots?

Bill is absolutely spot-on: it's incredibly difficult to get a floor
perfectly smooth with no low spots...at least without either spending
a lot of time and money. You may very well never notice the low spots
once the new flooring is down.

Manufacturers of finished flooring have specs for floor level in their
installation instructions.


"BZ" wrote in message
...
I recently pulled up an old vinyl floor, and had the floor skim coated to
level it before putting down something new, but the guy who did the skim
coat didn't inspire confidence.

I expected it would take one pass with self-levelling cement to get a
level floor, but he was here all day, and went over the floor three or
four times with the trowel and more self-levelling cement to take care of
low spots. Now when I lay a 1x6 pine board on the floor, I can see where
the floor has shallow low spots. The floor was like that before I had it
levelled (although there were also pitted areas which have now been filled
in).

So my question is, how level is level? If I take a 5 foot board and see a
24 inch diameter low spot with a maximum depth of about 1/8 inch, is that
normal, or is that a shoddy job that needs to be fixed?

Thanks in advance.