Floor Levelling

corum_uk67

I'm looking to lay some laminate in the living room, which I thought to be quite flat, however this has turned out to be a bit more problematic.

Firstly there is a raised section, about three feet across, which goes the entire width of the room. As the lamintate went up and over this and then down the other side it managed to snap off a bit of the tongue on one plank.

Secondly, where the french doors are is another raised section. This is going to be a high traffic area so not good.

I guess my options are:

Self levelling compound across the entire room (which is 8.5 x 3.2m).

Bring the high points down to the level of the rest of the floor, which is pretty level already.

I've had a plasterer take a look who has done some good skimming work for me in the past and he has offered to dig out the high points with a big hammer drill and level them off to the same level as the rest of the floor for about £300. When I mentioned the self levelling compound he seemed to think this could only be used to a depth of a couple of mm (googling around suggests it can be used quite a bit thicker than that though) and probably wouldn't stick to the existing floor tiles, so if I were to go down that route the existing tiles would all have to come up as well.

Does that seem like a good price to other forum members, or should I be looking to get the whole floor re-screeded/latexed? If, so, what sort of price would I be looking at for that?

Some pics of the floor can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18sJfS1GS4xzVi5iPjwaRJSGv1LL9Pj9c?usp=sharing

Thanks.

andyhop

You can’t lay self leveller over the vinyl floor tiles . They need to be lifted , primed and then screeded

phill99

andyhop wrote: »

You can’t lay self leveller over the vinyl floor tiles . They need to be lifted , primed and then screeded

These aren't vinyl. They are Marley Thermoplastic tiles. I've levelled over these on many occasions. Loose ones need to be removed and then the whole area primed. Not had any comebacks.


OP levelling compound can go to quite a thick depth. There are certain brands which have added fibre and can go up to 30mm or more. So your plasterer is probably not the best man to do this job.

corum_uk67

Thanks for the comments so far.

I spoke to a local flooring fitter and he indicated that they can level over the top of these no problem. He indicated they use premixed leveller at around £30 a tub, which can cover 5 square metres to a depth of 3mm. Each tub comes with a £20 labour charge.

Given that we have around 25 square metres that could need 10mm or so of levelling and suddenly we are looking at costs in the region of £800 to £1,000, plus having to get all the skirting boards removed and replaced (concrete walls so potential damage to the walls in removing the old ones).

Although he originally thought they might be able to go with the cheaper option of hammer drilling out the high points, when the floor fitter saw the photos of the room he didn't think it would possible to chisel out the rise near the back door to bring it down to the level of the rest of the floor, although the plasterer in my original post didn't think that would be a problem.

Probably best to get a couple more quotes at this point and weigh up the options.

FreeBear

https://www.mapei.com/nz/en/products-and-solutions/products/detail/2-ultraplan-renovation-screed-3240 - Suitable for depths of between 3mm and 40mm. Coverage is 6m² at a depth of 3mm. You'd need about 15 or 16 bags, which if you shop around, would cost around £15 each.

In the deeper areas, I'd bulk out the screed with up to 50% of sharp sand, and build it up in layers.

phill99 wrote: »

These aren't vinyl. They are Marley Thermoplastic tiles. I've levelled over these on many occasions. Loose ones need to be removed and then the whole area primed.

Depending on when the tiles were originally purchased, they may well contain asbestos. Screeding over the top will seal in any asbestos. Removing them is a right royal pain in the @rse and involves copious use of hot air guns & scrapers. If the tiles do contain asbestos, then additional measures need to be taken during removal and disposal.