I am about to lay some laminate flooring in the basement
The current floor is nice level concrete, but with a few bits of
damage(?)
these are shallow 'puddles'(i.e. holes where water would form puddles,
if there were any water) - no more than 1 cm deep, but one is about 4
cm across.

I would like to 'patch' these holes somehow, before laying the
underlay and flooring on top.

1)should I use ordinary cement? I am worried this might not stick, and
as a result come loose and cause bumps under the floor.

2) Should I use something else? Some kind of hard, adhesive filler?
Recommendations?


Neal

In message , Jan Wysocki
writes
In article , Neal
Harwood wrote:
I am about to lay some laminate flooring in the basement
The current floor is nice level concrete, but with a few bits of
damage(?)
these are shallow 'puddles'(i.e. holes where water would form puddles,
if there were any water) - no more than 1 cm deep, but one is about 4
cm across.

I would like to 'patch' these holes somehow, before laying the
underlay and flooring on top.

1)should I use ordinary cement? I am worried this might not stick, and
as a result come loose and cause bumps under the floor.

Yes, use cement with sand to make a render:
snip

2) Should I use something else? Some kind of hard, adhesive filler?
Recommendations?

Well, for a small hole "Plastic Padding", exterior Polyfilla or anything
that sets hard, sticks to concrete and resists damp should do.

for shallower depressions I would use self levelling compound - which is
just a cement based mixture that can be used in quite thin layers.
--
Chris French, Leeds

In article , Neal Harwood wrote:
I am about to lay some laminate flooring in the basement
The current floor is nice level concrete, but with a few bits of
damage(?)
these are shallow 'puddles'(i.e. holes where water would form puddles,
if there were any water) - no more than 1 cm deep, but one is about 4
cm across.

I would like to 'patch' these holes somehow, before laying the
underlay and flooring on top.

1)should I use ordinary cement? I am worried this might not stick, and
as a result come loose and cause bumps under the floor.

Yes, use cement with sand to make a render:
Spray the depression with diluted PVA adhesive to ensure a good bond.
(Add enough water to make the PVA flow easily, or you could just brush it onto
a small hole.)
Mix 1 part cement to 4 parts builders sand by volume, then add enough water
to make it thoroughly damp, but without excess water. If you squeeze the mix,
there should be no excess water if there is, then mix in more cement and sand.
trowel it into the hole and press and wipe with plenty of pressure to make it smooth and level. Cover with plastic sheeting for 24 hours to allow it to set
without drying out.

2) Should I use something else? Some kind of hard, adhesive filler?
Recommendations?

Well, for a small hole "Plastic Padding", exterior Polyfilla or anything
that sets hard, sticks to concrete and resists damp should do.

--
Jan

chris French wrote in message ...
for shallower depressions I would use self levelling compound - which is
just a cement based mixture that can be used in quite thin layers.
A PVA mortar works just as well if there are no damp problems and saves you
buying 20kgs of the stuff.

stuart noble wrote:

A PVA mortar works just as well if there are no damp problems and saves you
buying 20kgs of the stuff.

PVA mortar is great, but the only thing you can't do with it is feather
it really thin, because you're limited by the sand grain size. Cement
based self levelling uses much finer dust than soft sand, so allows you
to feather it down to almost nothing.


--
Grunff

Grunff wrote in message ...
stuart noble wrote:

A PVA mortar works just as well if there are no damp problems and saves
you
buying 20kgs of the stuff.

PVA mortar is great, but the only thing you can't do with it is feather
it really thin, because you're limited by the sand grain size. Cement
based self levelling uses much finer dust than soft sand, so allows you
to feather it down to almost nothing.

I don't think the self-levelling stuff is cement based. Cement coloured
certainly, but some strange kind of mineral that IIRC doesn't set without
the latex binder.

I don't think the self-levelling stuff is cement based. Cement coloured
certainly, but some strange kind of mineral that IIRC doesn't set without
the latex binder.

It is based on cement, sometimes a blend of OPC and HAC, the material is
a concoction of water reducers, super plasticers, accelerators, polymers
and (done correctly!) will far out perform a latex screed, show me a
latex screed that will go down at 3mm thick and take forklift traffic
without failing and I'll bare me bum in Burtons window
But the self-levelling products I've seen and used ARE latex screed. What
product(s) are you referring to?

stuart noble wrote:

But the self-levelling products I've seen and used ARE latex screed. What
product(s) are you referring to?

The one I used wasn't. It was just cement based with a fine filler. I
can't remember who makes it - came from local builders merchant. It was
definitely non-latex, I've seen those, and they have a very different
texture.

--
Grunff

A latex screed is a sand/cement with a liquid added as well as water to
give a workable screed to be trowelled on.
The self levelling screeds I've used contain no sand, and no cement
although, as I've said, they are similar to the colour of cement. The dry
ingredients
did not set when mixed with water alone.
Self levellers are not latex
These were based on a styrene butadene coploymer, which is what we in the UK
call latex.

In message , stuart noble
writes

A latex screed is a sand/cement with a liquid added as well as water to
give a workable screed to be trowelled on.
The self levelling screeds I've used contain no sand, and no cement
although, as I've said, they are similar to the colour of cement. The dry
ingredients
did not set when mixed with water alone.
Self levellers are not latex
These were based on a styrene butadene coploymer, which is what we in the UK
call latex.

The stuff I used most recently was Evostick Self Levelling Floor
Compound - it certainly was cement based (+ whatever else goes in them)
and I certainly did just mix it with water, and it certainly did set :-)

Obviously different types of products here.
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French wrote in message ...
In message , stuart noble
writes

A latex screed is a sand/cement with a liquid added as well as water to
give a workable screed to be trowelled on.
The self levelling screeds I've used contain no sand, and no cement
although, as I've said, they are similar to the colour of cement. The dry
ingredients
did not set when mixed with water alone.
Self levellers are not latex
These were based on a styrene butadene coploymer, which is what we in the
UK
call latex.

The stuff I used most recently was Evostick Self Levelling Floor
Compound - it certainly was cement based (+ whatever else goes in them)
and I certainly did just mix it with water, and it certainly did set :-)

Obviously different types of products here.

Last time I bought some, Builder Center did two types of self levelling
screed. One was a powder with no liquid additive (I guess incorporating a
dry PVA), and the other came with 5L of the above polymer (aka SBR).

The "just add water" types do indeed have a powder polymer in them of
which there are many, when formulating there are so many different ways
to go and chemist would tend to have their favourite suppliers or type
of polymer and would use that as a starting point.
By its price I would guess that SBR gives the best performance but cannot be
incorporated in a dry form.