Levelling concrete floor

2/3/2012 at 1:31:43 PM

Good Morning Kirston;

If you were doing the floor in a chicken coop, that is one thing, but to do it in your home, HIRE a pro!

The chances of you getting the floor uneven are 98%. If it is uneven, then it is an ungodly mess, and EXPENSIVE to fix. I have been building for over 10 years, and that is one thing I will not try.

Believe it. Unless you are extremely lucky, it will cost you lots more.

It's your choice.

Chuck

Meadowood Homes

2/3/2012 at 1:37:09 PM

Thanks for the advice Chuck.

I had a feeling that would be the answer, and I'll take your advice! Anyone you can suggest in the Gatineau region (I've contacted a couple of companies in ON, but none of them are able to come to QC).

2/3/2012 at 6:25:57 PM

Have you considered self leveling concrete? The floor must be clean of any oils etc. but you just mix it according to the directions and pour it out and your basiclly done. As the name implies it self levels. You just have to be able to mix everything you need in set amount of time.

The material is not cheap, but if your realatively handy it's way cheaper than a pro team that really don't like small jobs like yours (not all of course).

2/4/2012 at 4:15:45 PM

Thanks James.

Yes, I did consider self-levelling concrete, but apparently it's not that simple. I am pretty handy, but I have read horror stories about people spending a lot of $ on self-levelling concrete products only to hire someone to come deal with the resulting mess. If it was just a small area (e.g., 2' x 2') I'd attempt to do this myself. But I'm dealing with a much larger area that would probably require a fair amount of skill to trowel etc.

From what I understand, despite what the self-levelling concrete packages may say, the concrete does not actually get all that level.

I should probably note that I am not installing tile (where the adhesive can accomodate a floor that is slightly uneven) nor a floating floor. We are putting in synthetic ice, so apparently the subfloor has to be very smooth. Sigh.