What to use to fill in trench in concrete kitchen floor

[nwrmartin]

Hi,

After a plumbing disaster with a water pipe buried under my tiled kitchen floor, I have been left with a trench about 1.1 meters long, 4cm deep and 12cm wide. As far as I can see, the floor is just a concrete slab. Photo attached.

I need to fill it in before the tiler comes to do final levelling and replace the damaged tiles (or I could ask him to handle all of this, I suppose; maybe the tiler would prefer to do that work? He’s not always easy to get a reply from...).

Can anyone advise on what I should do, please? Just pour in normal sand cement mix at 4:1? Or a screed mix? Or something else?

How long do I need to leave it to dry before I can tile?

Should I use pva on the sides of the trench, or another bonding agent?

And how close to the top of the trench should I go, in order to leave room for some self-levelling compound and tile adhesive (or whatever the tiler will need to put on top to get the new tiles level with the old)?

Many thanks.

 

[foxhole]

Remove damaged tiles and fill, sharps and cement mix, level easy to achieve with access either side using a straight edge. Do you really need a tiler for two tiles?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I can't see your tiler being happy about filling a hole with concrete, if only because it will need a few days to cure before he can start work. Of course, you might want to pay him for the day to come and do the repair, first, but I would check with him if it's OK

 

[nwrmartin]

Thanks to both of you for those replies. Good points.

How long do you think I’d need to leave the filled hole before it can be tiled?

And is a 4:1 mix about right?

 

[dazlight]

Use ardex a45 rapid repair. Perfect for that. Just mix with water. Will be dry to go over a hour later.

 

[nwrmartin]

Thanks Dazlight. I’ll look into that further- looks like a hole of the depth I have would need some aggregate adding to the a45, not that that’s a problem.

If I do use sand and cement, can anyone give me as steer as to how long would I need to leave it before it is cured and dried enough to be tiled?

thanks.