Quick n Dirty

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greenwoo
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Quick n Dirty

Postby greenwoo » Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:34 am

Nope, not me - but a different sort of DIY issue that would welcome sensible suggestions on.
I need to level ( to a degree ) a rough concrete floor in an outbuilding. It doesnt need to be billiard table smooth....
Currently it slopes a little front to back, and a lot across the sides, as a rough guesstimate, i'd say that the floor is 3.5m wide and from halfway across it 'loses' about 5 inches as an average.

Ultimately this floor will be covered in 50mm rubber matting which are approx 6x3ft. What i'm trying to avoid is having a noticeable dip in any of the mats. I think they're rigid enough to allow for the odd hollow.

I know the proper way is to do a sand/cement mix and get down on my hands n knees and screed it. But....is there a quick and dirty way, given that the matting will covered the entire floor?

For example....('could i ' below refers to is it likely to work/be ok)
could i....get away with just leveling with sand?
could i - get away with a dry cement/sand mix

My thought being if whatever was put down was tamped down to a 'level', the mats arent going to be shifting around so if its packed down sense enough surely that'd support the mats without creating divots?

Thoughts welcomed....(apart from 'don't be so bloody lazy' )

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b33fy
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Re: Quick n Dirty

Postby b33fy » Fri Oct 11, 2019 4:46 pm

I would imagine anything loose will shift about and have no durability as such. It’ll move under pressure as well as with movement if that makes sense.

Screed is probably the most sensible give the differences in height. The mix is usually made up pretty dry anyhow, with just enough moisture to compact and finish with a float.

The other option may be to battern the floor to take up the fall then cover with flooring grade chipboard, glued and screwed, otherwise it’ll creak and get on your tits. Either way, Considerable work and money are involved.
Power.. small nail, fast hammer, Torque.. small nail, big hammer.. I got a big hammer :P

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Rob E
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Re: Quick n Dirty

Postby Rob E » Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:56 pm

How bads the concrete ? If it’s not too bad you can use a latex self leveller, not the cheapest but very easy as it’s a mix and pour jobby
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Rexholme
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Re: Quick n Dirty

Postby Rexholme » Sun Oct 13, 2019 6:54 pm

Rob E wrote:How bads the concrete ? If it’s not too bad you can use a latex self leveller, not the cheapest but very easy as it’s a mix and pour jobby

Out of my own personal interest, do you think that could withstand a kit parked on it? I need to sort my garage.

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Re: Quick n Dirty

Postby greenwoo » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:31 am

@mike.....i gather from my research that the self levelling stuff is designed more to have a surface put over it, like tiles, laminate etc....not sure how strong it would be on its 'edges'.

Rob/Mike - ta.
I wanted to avoid the proper screed not just for effort but also drying time. Have looked into the self levelling stuff and have realised that with some its poss to add 25kg of sharp sand to bulk it out. So i imagine that doubles its volume/coverage. So that will likely be the way forward....what i nee dto do 1st is to lay some of the floor covering down and see how that sits on whats there....cos i dont think it need to be dead level, just level enough for those covering sheets to meet without a lip...


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