Self-levelling compound to level a floor slope

confused30000

Hi all - hoping someone can help, as I am trying to assist my parents but it's a little like the blind leading the blind!

They are looking to get some new flooring in their kitchen/dining area, which in total is about 25 sq. m. The old flooring (put down before they owned the house) is now up and it seems there is a slight slope in the floor - on one half it slopes down to the wall about the width of a finger. It was only really noticeable when a fridge/freezer was placed there as part of a kitchen refit and the tallness of it showed off the slope!

Someone from a local flooring company came out to measure up and we pointed out the slope. The floor will need screeding because there are a couple of grooves and holes in the floor which were previously padded with some underlay (and in one case, newspaper!). They said the screed would level those out but wouldn't really sort the slope - they said even though it is called self-levelling compound, it will just follow the slope.

I just wondered, is that entirely true - very basic and probably silly question here but can one 'build up' the level of the compound on the side with the slope and 'feather it' so it eventually levels out with the rest?

They were originally looking at sheet vinyl but due to the shape and size of the room, the flooring person advised whichever way they did it, the join between the rolls which would be needed would end up in a place with lots of foot traffic, so would be more likely to start becoming more obvious and prone to taking on water etc.

Laminate is an option (with the caveats of getting rid of any water spilled quickly) that could level out the slope with underlay etc but the issue there is it would raise the floor level around 13mm - and the freestanding washing machine under the worktop in the kitchen only has 10mm of clearance above it, so would become stuck. So LVT is the other option, which is more expensive of course - they did say that also wouldn't level out any slope, it follows the floor.

The slope isn't totally obvious when you walk on it, as mentioned, it was only when something tall was put on it that it was ever noticed. But anyway, back to my original question, can self-levelling compound ever level out a slope of about a finger height over the area of maybe 2m wide or so?

Sorry if any of that doesn't make sense!

stuart45

A floor can be levelled.

Mutton_Geoff

Self levelling compound will fill anything from 1mm to 10mm so if it's more, a screed might be better but that won't work over thin areas. Maybe a combination. 

stuart45

Mapei Ultraplan will go to 40mm

confused30000

Thank you both. I think the chap who came from the flooring company was more of just an estimator rather than the person who would do any floor prep, so sounds like one to discuss with the people who come along to do it. Just wanted to check that a slope can be fairly straight forward to sort!

plumb1_2

Self leveller will do it. But you will need to allow time for it to set before anyone comes to fit the new flooring.
Lvt I’ve seen it get cracked/damaged with a jar/tin has been dropped on it, better with glued down flooring planks etc

stuart45

Getting a floor dead level is harder than getting the surface smooth enough for LVT etc.

plumb1_2

stuart45 said:

Getting a floor dead level is harder than getting the surface smooth enough for LVT etc.

Very true 

EssexExile

Self levelling compound isn't actually self levelling, it needs help! I wouldn't bother with the slope you are talking about.

MikeJXE

I agree and neither would I bother. 

I would use Latex self levelling to smooth the surface 

confused30000

Thank you all, this is all very useful.

EssexExile said:

Self levelling compound isn't actually self levelling, it needs help! I wouldn't bother with the slope you are talking about.

Sorry, just to clarify, do you mean you would just leave it as is and focus on making sure the floor is smooth, rather than level?