Over the weekend I levelled my kitchen floor using Wickes Latex Self Leveling Compound. I had a few issues although the floor is now level. I am concerned that I will have problems with cracking and would appreciate advice before I lay my expensive tiles.
Here is what I did:
1) Sub floor was 90% Rock Asphalt and 10% Wickes Deep Base Levelling Compound (used to level with the rock asphalt where I had moved the services around - PVA underneath this).
2) I poured SLC over subfloor, this in no way self levelled resulted in a very bumpy floor (caused by the pour lines).
3) After 1.5 hrs I used the a level and trowel to scrap off most of the high points.
4) After a further 1.5 hrs I thought I knew my mistake so poured another layer of SLC, this time using my trowel a lot more to spread the compound around.
5) Next day once the SLC dried I filled in a couple of remaining low spots and now have perfectly level floor.
6) Next door neighbour who is an apprentice builder came round and advised that I will probably have cracking problems due to the following.
A) I should have PVA'd the whole subfloor, and this is likely why the initial SLC pour did not work, therefore the SLC dried out too quickly which will in turn caused cracking.
B) I shouldn't have subsequently poured additional SLC layers without waiting for previous layer to fully cure plus I did not PVA in between.
The floor had currently been trying for 48 and is showing a couple of minor hairline cracks. Should I hack it up and start again? Lesson learnt....
Thanks for your advice.
Here is what I did:
1) Sub floor was 90% Rock Asphalt and 10% Wickes Deep Base Levelling Compound (used to level with the rock asphalt where I had moved the services around - PVA underneath this).
2) I poured SLC over subfloor, this in no way self levelled resulted in a very bumpy floor (caused by the pour lines).
3) After 1.5 hrs I used the a level and trowel to scrap off most of the high points.
4) After a further 1.5 hrs I thought I knew my mistake so poured another layer of SLC, this time using my trowel a lot more to spread the compound around.
5) Next day once the SLC dried I filled in a couple of remaining low spots and now have perfectly level floor.
6) Next door neighbour who is an apprentice builder came round and advised that I will probably have cracking problems due to the following.
A) I should have PVA'd the whole subfloor, and this is likely why the initial SLC pour did not work, therefore the SLC dried out too quickly which will in turn caused cracking.
B) I shouldn't have subsequently poured additional SLC layers without waiting for previous layer to fully cure plus I did not PVA in between.
The floor had currently been trying for 48 and is showing a couple of minor hairline cracks. Should I hack it up and start again? Lesson learnt....
Thanks for your advice.
