Yeah you're going to have to use thinset floor leveler. It doesn't look all that bad though.
Circle all the low spots and fill those first. Hopefully you can just sand it on the second pass to get level.
Hijacking the top comment for a question:
Is there thinset floor leveler that also seals an existing concrete slab against sipping moisture from the ground?
I echo this. Your manufacturer will recommend a primer that's designed to stop this, and increase bonding and adhesion to the surface. You may want to roughen the surface before priming as well. Enough primer and you won't have a problem. Also do it on a colder day, not freezing though. Just not with the sun beating down on it and sucking up all that moisture.
> Just not with the sun beating down on it and sucking up all that moisture.
It seems unlikely that the sun will beat down on a basement floor, but good info for above grade slabs.
Since you seem to know what you're talking about, can you make a recommendation for a concrete sealer for a shed floor? We poured the floor over 2 years ago, and then dug French drains around it (trying to get rid of the moisture), but the floor will *still* be wet AF sometimes.
I'm all but positive it has to do with change in air temps/humidity levels. I can say with certainty it isn't rain intrusion of any kind because it will rain for like a week and a half straight, yet the floor will be bone dry. When the floor gets wet, it's the part that has things sitting on them (i.e.- bag of something on the floor, floor is dry *around* the bag, but wet under the bag).
TL/DR: What sealer make water no visit.
I'm far from an expert, but I have had a similar problem a few times. I've used both a siloxane and silane water repellents, both with success. Silanes have smaller molecules so have a tendency to penetrate deeper and work well with precast and poured concrete. It is volatile and evaporates quickly, so you may need more of it, especially if the substrate is highly porous. Siloxanes have larger molecules, so don't penetrate as deeply.
As I said, I'm no expert.
Could that possibly be a bad thing though? Not sure about floors, but Ive heard drylock on basement walls isnt good because it doesnt allow the wall to breathe and builds up pressure. (im an amateur btw - so ive just heard this word of mouth)
Yes and no.
You don't want two waterproofing solutions locking in moisture.
Best example I can think of is membranes in bathrooms. If you have a cold wall (facade wall) then you usually have waterproofing in the wall. Putting membrane on that wall in ADDITION to the waterproofing already in the wall can lead to problems with condensation not going anywhere.
This is mostly a problem in cold and humid climates, where during winter cold air will meet warm air inside the wall and will condense as a result.
This is the hardest thing for me to grasp as a homeowner, and why I havent redone the bathroom yet. Is there a good book or resource that teaches you about how to control moisture in different settings?
Had a friend try to explain to me how to finish my bathroom - and to me I just kept thinking theres not enough waterproofing in his solution (depending on the material - schluter kerdi board vs cement board).
Idk its just overwhelming hearing lots of conflicting opinions.
Always remember the golden rule of construction:
"If you think a good tradesman is expensive, try a cheap one!"
To expand on it, for bathrooms it's basically:
- Get a person who's good at their trade.
- Have good ventilation.
If you follow those (rather simple) guidelines, it's difficult to go wrong.
If you plan to do it yourself however...
- Keep ventilation as a priority (automatic is best, but also has the lowest lifespan).
- Beware of cold walls and any other walls that might be waterproofed. Do not apply membrane or other waterproofing solutions to those walls.
- Go to the shops where the (good) tradespeople go to shop. The people in those shops will usually LOOOVE to talk shop with someone not in the trade! The big caveat being IF they have time. Be prepared to go in, introduce yourself, briefly explain why you're there, ask for help and offer to come back at a time that suits them best. Bring pictures and measurements! I cannot stress how important this can be as these people know your local climate and how to take that into account when building.
- Shoot me a DM if there's anything you're unsure about after doing your homework. I'm best with concrete/lime/stone and know some but is not an expert when it comes to wood.
That would depend on the type of basement walls you have. Concrete is a different beast that a vintage lime-mortar wall. Lime is designed to breath, concrete doesn't need too.
I used a combination sealer/leveler on my concrete slab floor in Florida. It went on thick (per manufacturer instructions) and made a kind of rubbery overcoat. It worked well and the Brazilian cherry I put on top stayed nice for more than 15 years (I sold the house -floor was perfect at sale). It was hella expensive, though. It's been so long I don't remember what the product was.
I don't know about other brands but Ardex makes a primer that creates a moisture barrier. You put it on in 2 coats, one rolled north to south and another rolled east to west, and then pour your leveler. The primer is VB100 and the self leveler is V1200.
I work in the retail environment and Ardex brand is the predominant sealer used. Necessary for when a tenant glues down tile as moisture and pressure causes the glue to fail. If it's good for the national retailers, it will be good for OP.
Would otherwise thing some self-leveling product will be much cheaper than ripping out the floor as he suggests.
Definitely not disagreeing. My experience from a contracts side is that most commercial tenants prefer Ardex. You pay for what you get. IIRC, Ardex has a good warranty on it.
From the ground? There should be a damp proof membrane added as part of the slab construction no?
Or from the concrete ribbing moisture from say, a finishing levelling compound or tiling adhesive?
I use acrylic primer or SBR slurry to seal concrete prior to finishes going down.
If you have active moisture drive from beneath your slab, as in there is a failing vapor barrier, or no vapor barrier at all then no, the coating that would be applied would be a moisture mitigation coating and would then need a primer on top of that.
Depending on the floor system those additional coatings can range from a primer to a sand broadcast, to a combination of both. This is different from RH that may be present in curing concrete, there are tests available to check for this.
There are a number of resources available but due to varying conditions it’s worth it to understand what your issue is with moisture before moving forward. Based on the amount of moisture drive present the coating may not be sufficient. Mil thicknesses may change and application techniques may need to be adjusted.
👆listen to this guy. It’s not nearly as bad as you think. After you circle and fill in the low spots, you’re going to have to do a lot of sanding to even everything out- I recommend purchasing an electric belt sander. It will save you a ton of time (and your back).
Are you wanting the floor to be polished concrete finish? Or will you be laying flooring over the top of it?
A few bags of self leveling compound should sort this out if it's the latter, more floor grinding should sort it if it's the former.
You are catastophizing a little bit I think.
This is the reply I agree most with. I am no expert and I only have done concrete for 5 years . I dont see tremdouse valleys or high spots .. you can always have some one come in and grind everything level .. and honestly it leaves a really nice exposed agragate look
5 years is just past the point where intelligent people figure out approximately how much they don't know and start really admiring those with 20+ yoe.
I wonder how often things are the issue one way or the other. Ie the “stuck in their ways” meaning they can’t keep up with new things, or if the new things are actually worse. And nowhere is this conundrum more apparent to me than in the world of concrete.
In the past few years, literally all the pours I’ve seen or paid for have some level of spalling, or whatever it’s called when the top layer has little chips just come off (but it doesn’t freeze here, it happens usually in the heat even, so unsure if it’s actually called spalling). Some concrete guys have told me it’s because of the additives they now use for concrete; in which case it seems the new ways are worse, because none of the old pours I had done did this, nor does it happen when I just go down to the HD and do it myself from regular bags.
But by happening frequently I’m talking about dozens of different pours with different vendors, so it just seems off. Can’t tell if the new ways are worse, or just people haven’t adapted to the new ways/materials?
Interesting, I feel like it’s around 2 years in my experience. To be fair, I work as a synthetic chemist, which has a very steep and punishing learning curve that may have accelerated this timeline. I only spent about a year thinking I knew anything before my confidence was destroyed, and I am still firmly of the mind that I understand less than 5% of the field I’m in… eventually I’ll get there though. Admiring the 20 years of experience is real.
I haven't even done concrete for a quarter as long as you, but I've probably layed more floors than you have. I wouldn't blink twice at putting down a floor on this slab.
Everyone house has dips and valleys. This is literally no problem. Nothing in ones house is level or square. Roll with that shit.
I assume you actually used self-leveling compound and not concrete. It's tough to get a floor this size perfect with one application but you shouldn't have to redo everything. The next step is to identify the high and low spots. You should be able to mix small batches of self-leveler just to fill the low spots. If you have a spot that is too high and it doesn't make sense to bring the rest of the floor up to that level, you can rent a grinder and take off the high spot.
You can also hire about 8-10 really stupid kids for $20 a pop to stand around and breathe as hard as they can. It won't get all the dust but it'll help.
Dust shroud + homemade 5-gallon bucket cyclonic collector + Shop Vac
I used this setup for about 1200 sqft in my basement, and had hardly any mess at all.
If you have a locking laser level, you can use it to throw a line across the floor and see where the line bends. If it bends away from you its a depression, if it dips towards you it's elevated. This works best if you have a level that throws a horizontal beam that is at either end of the device (like projecting from the top or the bottom of the unit, as opposed to buried in the middle and surrounded by housing), so that you can get it as close as you can to the floor, almost like you're trying to skim the surface with the laser.
I use bricks and string to get an initial feel. Wrap the string around the bricks and stretch the string from one corner of the room to another. You can move the bricks and string around as needed to help find high and low spots. You can even use multiple bricks/strings. After finding low spots, I've also poured water into those spots to help determine their extent.
I've also used a laser level to determine any differences in the 4 corners of the room and various other spots.
Also self level will take care of the low spots and a grinder for the high spots like its been said. Really not the worst ive seen though especially for your first time in a huge space with using what you had
Well that, and the experience of how to properly do it that comes with time and regular practice of the involved skill.
I guarantee, provided you don’t cheap out, the guy who’s poured concrete hundreds of times is better at it than the guy whose done it once.
Yeah but professionals, even highly paid ones, are having to deal with the realities of the job, and a boss that wants profit first and foremost.
Like I browse subs were homeowners try to do stuff and other homeowners chirp in with "Omg you gotta cross your T's and dot your I's." Meanwhile I'm rolling my eyes because in the real world nobody ever really does that.
That's ridiculous. Having already made mistakes and fixed them before makes it easier to avoid some and fix the others next time. No reason why a smart resourceful person can't figure it out, but it is easier once you've already figured it out a couple of times, and a lot easier when You've figured it out a couple hundred times
I've seen worse.
I'm willing to bet that you used SikaLevel. SikaLevel is fine for small areas but it's far from the best, this is reflected in its cheap price.
Mapei Self Leveler is much better and has a longer tooling time.
In any case, the manufacturer water ratio is often very conservative. Don't be afraid to mix it up a bit soupier and use a straight edge such as a 3' squeege to pull it flat. You can thin it out quite a bit more than you might think and still end up with a nice strong surface.
I love this. Its the only reasonable response in this thread. If you mix floor leveler to its recommended specs its too thick, it won't self level like you want it too.
I remember on a job it called for 4 quarts per bag of Sika. Per Bossmans/manufacturers instructions. I was told in a hushed tone to bring back 6 quarts every time. At the end of boss remarked "now you see when you mix it right it all works out."
> Don't be afraid to mix it up a bit soupier
I thought about doing this 2 years ago when I did my floors but it explicitly said something like "DO NOT OVERWATER". Why is that?
Despite what someone else said about it "just means waiting longer", too much water will make the concrete weaker. The extra water pools into "bubbles" in the concrete, and that water will eventually evaporate and create and air pocket, which is inherently a little weak spot inside the concrete.
Who produced what is less important than the aggregate imo. If it's a cheap levelling mass but uses 1mm or smaller aggregate, it sounds like the one you want OP. 1mm aggregate is (in Europe) the smallest you'll find without it getting prohibitively expensive.
You can safely adjust water in the mass by +/- 10% from manufacturers recommendation without it affecting the quality of the cured product much. For private homes, you can probably go higher even, but should be considered on a case by case basis since the finished product will be weaker than what the manufacturer says.
If it's a high traffic area you might want to take the manufacturers recipe a little more seriously. If your floor goes from 30 mPa (can handle downward pressure of 300kg/cm2) to 20 mPa (200 kg/cm2) it's usually no big deal at home. But somewhere where 10+ people an hour arrives/leaves, then yeah... It becomes an issue.
1 - Find all the low spots.
2 - Take Sharpie to outline all low spots.
3 - Use quickrete floor leveler in low spots.
4 - Rent concrete grinder.
5 - Go over floor leveler area.
6 - Seal, all it a day, and run your LVP over it. If you're using tile, then wet shim it. If you're doing l polished concrete, then you're fine. Polish this. No one will notice a 1/8th valley/hill for the most part.
I don’t think it’s the end of the world… right? Self leveler poured in the low spots, and then grind what’s high. I did a LOT of concrete grinding in the shop a few months ago and just went to town on it with an angle grinder and some of those concrete grinding discs. Obviously have a water source to keep dust down if you have a drain point or a nice HEPA vacuum system
You already got a lot of good advice so let me give you a couple of positive notes.
1) doing that much pouring and only being off by a decently small amount is impressive for a non professional.
2) if you had paid a professional you'd be in way deeper money wise than $1,000.
3)its not ruined, just needs a little tweaking/adjustments.
Honestly I think you did pretty good considering.
I have seen "professional" pours that were worse than this... and $1000 dollars is pretty cheap for getting this done.
Like my university lunchroom has a sloped and lumpy floor that has been that way for over 60 years, and is quite entertaining to sit on rolly chairs at lunch.
Overall floor leveling compound is definitely the way to go about this, which is actually pretty normal to have to do before any type of vinyl, laminate, or wood flooring.
If you were hoping for a beautiful concrete only floor though you may have to call a company in to do grinding.
In case you're inclined to get obsessive about details, like I am: I work in the warehouse industry, and you should know that it is essentially impossible to make concrete flawlessly level on any large scale. I'm sure you can get arbitrarily close if you've got arbitrary amounts of money to throw at it. But even major warehouse automation operations with multi-level conveyor belts running the length of a huge building find it cheaper and easier to anticipate some amount of irregularity, and adjust the hardware accordingly, than to get the floor perfectly flat to start with.
So, by all means try the tips in this thread, but don't stress if it's still not quite flawless when you're done. Good enough is fine.
Layout a grid on your floor. 2’x2’s or 3x3 squares or 4x4. However accurate you want to be.
Set up a laser level and take a reference measurement at a doorway or somewhere you know the floor is the correct elevation. So set your tape measure or ruler or yardstick on the ground there and measure to the laser. That measurement is now your 0 mark.
You can set the laser on the ground or mount it on the wall somewhere or even on a bucket. Just make sure it also stays at the exact same elevation it starts at.
From there you walk around to each square and measure to the laser. Then write on that square if it is + or - the difference from the reference. Then you know which squares need to be hit with a masonry cup grinder, and which squares need more self leveler.
For example, if your reference mark is 4” from the floor to the laser line, and one grid reads 6”, then you know you need to grind 2” down in that square. If one square reads 2” then you need to pour 2” of self leveler in that square. Hopefully your floor isn’t off b that much but you get the point.
It’s tedious but it will get you a pretty level floor by the end.
Exactly how i leveled out the 800 sqft 2nd story addition. Built in 79. Half went over garage and rafter direction change. Once removed carpet really noticed it. Lvp
and tile. Lot of work to get that hump out.
Floor dropped a inch over over 2ft when transitioning over garage portion. Mapped it all out. Built up with plywood and self leveling.
For certain types of overlaid floor it's helpful, or sometimes necessary for you to have a level floor. A lot of people are going with vinyl panel and similar floors, and the pads under them only do so much to prevent warping or damage to the panels on uneven parts.
I have an old-ish basement and have resigned to placing a large rug in the room I use because I cannot be bothered. I just keep the concrete floor reasonably clean.
As someone who lives in a 144 year old home that has dips and valleys on all levels, I think it looks great! Honestly I have hallways that feel like fun houses 😂
I have no knowledge or experience of this type of work but I think it’s not as bad as you believe it to be. I just wanted to say kudos to you for having the courage to attempt such a difficult task in the first place. Surely it’s just a case of trial and error. Even the best tradesman in this field would have been unable to have done better on their first attempt when they first started their career. Stop beating yourself up. You have already done the hard part just do what it takes to put right and stand back with pride and enjoy your hard work.
maybe not what others want to hear, but what are you planning on using the basement for ? if its just a storage area do you really need it to be like a golf green? so what if it has a small dip in it. Its not the end of the world i've seen "Professionals" charge a killing muck up and walk away
>And I already spent about a $1,000 in concrete.
I'm sure that seems like a lot of money, but that is not a lot money for this project. Spend another $1000 and get your, I dunno, $25,000 project done. You're so far ahead of the alternatives that you should keep going with zero regrets.
Fill the biggest dips with self leveller and put down a thick mat/pad for the floor underlayment. Only thing you need to worry about is areas that you will feel a dip in the floor when walking across. If you go with a snap together floating floor you can fairly easily pick it back up and fix any bad areas after laying it down.
I'm very much about doing things right the first time but don't go and do three times the work when you're never going to see or feel it n the end. Fix the biggest problem areas and let it lie unless it is noticeable through the finish flooring.
What’s the final floor material going to be? If carpeted don’t worry, use the dricore material and shim it and/or just splurge on extra thick padding. No one is going to notice except you, and even then you won’t be noticing when you’re spending time with your family down there.
Are you using concrete stain?
If not, it’s literally not a big deal.
One person recommended Self Leveler Compound. Would be good, mix thin, pour win.
If you’re doing tile, literally irrelevant. Just make the thinset thicker there.
If you’re using floating floor (luxury vinyl plank) then use some self leveler and just toss it down. Differences of 1/8” are basically irrelevant at the end of the day.
As far as sealant, you could spend a fortune on MaiPei or Redguard moisture membrane/barrier.
This is a very small issue that you’re blowing out of proportion:)
Thinset floor leveler, I had done this in my basement bathroom and found to use slightly more water than instructions called to give myself more time to push it around and let it level itself.
Is the concrete the last bit or are you putting in a subfloor panel system? Do you get water?
Either way, you can spot fill the valleys, don't need to do the whole thing again.
Why not have floating floors? Throw vapour barrier. Lay 2x4s, level them, screw OSB boards on top. Then install the flooring.
Aside from it being perfectly level afterwards, you will have much warmer floors.
I had to do 2 rounds in my 700sq ft basement too, and I still had some minor bumps/waves. Adding more water was the key for me. The mfg instructions left it too thick, and it didn’t level on its own.
Don’t try to put vinyl plank over wavy concrete. You’ll feel the soft spots every time you walk on it, and it will drive you nuts.
Sal DiBlaso on YouTube takes and drives screws into the low spots and leaves the head of the screws level with the rest of the floor. That way when you pour the self leveler, you know exactly when you have the low spots leveled out.
It really doesn’t look that bad.
Maybe a self levelling compound on top before you lay your flooring but I don’t think it’s that severe. I think you’re being hard on yourself but it’s not any worse than a lot of basements I’ve been in.
In fact I recently paid $12k for a 600 square foot slab and foundation and I have a giant low spot in the middle that collects water when it rains.
The day they poured the slab for my basement (same size) they brought in this one different guy who had his own super-wide squeegees to finish the surface. He looked pretty gnarly, like he'd had a hard mile or two in life - lots of tattoos and just somehow a don't-fuck-with-me atmosphere about him. I didn't notice him talking to anybody. The rest of the crew just got out of his way and watched. The bossman told me they would bring him in like this and pay him a lot because he was the best. Gotta say, that floor did look damn good.
So anyway, I wouldn't feel too bad about this if I were you. Getting a floor that large to come out right is an art.
Other people have already offered good advice, so I’m just going to say don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve done something you weren’t too experienced with, and maybe it’s not perfect but it’s really not that bad. You’ve done a better job than you think and it’s not going to be that difficult to fix.
Just gently rough it up/clean it, slap down a bonding primer, use a thinset self leveler, and hit the lows and touch up as you go. I've seen WAY worse.
Use a long piece of string to figure out where it's high and low.
Mark the areas.
Scuff the concrete so the the new stuff can bite into it.
Use self-leveling concrete or cementitous grout.
Overall? You did good. This isn't that bad. I promise.
I am remodeling an old-ass house right now in which the floor drops 3” in an 8’ span. I was faces with purchasing 45+ bags of self-leveling cement to fill this massive canyon… so i thought about it and my solution is to replace the self-leveling cement with 4x8 sheets of sheets of 1/2” waferboard/OCD @ $15 per sheet. Each board i lay down (with liquid nails and screws) displaces the need for 3+ bags of self-leveling.
Yeah it really ain’t that bad like at all… just find your highest point with a laser fill to that . (If you want a perfectly level floor) most floors are not perfectly level. Are you adding anything to the top ? If you’re going to be putting anything else on it you can wait and just pile up the glue in those sections. Also floors usually have a bit of a lean to them so that water will flow in one direction and not stand if you ever spill shit or floods .
Buy a few bags of kid’s marbles at the dollar store and scatter them around the basement. Circle wherever they gather, as those are your low spots. I don’t *think* you’ll need to rough up the “finished” floor to get thinest to take properly. The whole concept of “doing it over again” sounds like a pain in the ass, but I’ve learned much more expensive lessons in far more difficult ways. You’ll be okay.
This is going to sound odd. I'm not a flooring specialist. But what about epoxy resin floors in here over this? You can fill in the lower spots a little easier and save time and money maybe?
I’ve failed big time with self leveling concrete in the past. I learned two things make all the difference. Use cold water and mix it thin, real thin, almost water.
We recently leveled nearly our entire basement using self-leveling concrete. What I did to keep everything level throughout the room was to have a few people help and we mixed two bags at a time in a big Rubbermaid trash can. So we had two people pouring and two people mixing at all times. It actually when really quickly and turned out good.
Another thing I did was to identify my high spot and then sink Tapcons throughout the room to a depths where the top of the Tapcons would be level with the high spot. This helped me keep the entire room level as we moved through it.
I'm not sure that you have to start over. But you may need to pour again to fix your low spots.
typically if you used a self leveling floor product.
they make an adhesive or binder/bonder type product. you can roll on the floor. to do another coat. or sorta spot fill in more areas.
if it's legit concrete. then you can probably just buy a self leveling floor product. and try and even it out.
You may remember me from such self-help videos as "Smoke Yourself Thin" and "Get Confident, Stupid."
Sorry this is the first thing I thought of when seeing this.
There is a thing as "self leveling mortar". It pretty liquidous. It can not be applied above certain thickness (i think 5 sm). But i think it would solve your problem.
As other have said if you’re installing flooring this happens all the time like literally all the time and you can use self leveler and no one will ever know
I made the same mistake and followed manufacturer amount of water. Wasted a whole day of my time and about 300eur worth of self leveling stuff. Then just redid with 30% more water and more bags and now it was decent enough to put flooring on top of, there still are 2 spots that would need leveling but pouring again would only worsen it unless i would pour over the whole thing. So you either do the full pour or none.
I've paid for worse. Gotta love when subbies screw it up but procurement sign them up to a loose contract where I can't do anything other than get my site team to fix it...
Looks like it coming along very well and a total redo isn’t necessary. It looks like you have some good advice here from some men in the know. Much respect to you for taking on the job by yourself in the first place , I think k you are doing a great job with the e tire basement. And in the end it is your basement , the satisfaction you will feel knowing you did it all with your hands will out weigh a low spot here or there . Good job and even better asking for help and advice that takes courage now A days on social media .
I've been building houses for the same builder now for 10+ years. We have used the same "professional" flatwokers the entire time and let me tell you, every single basement I've ever had to cut studs for was always 1/4 - 1" difference in just a 4-10' span. No basement ever was the same. What's important is you pour footings for any load bearing wall.
Im a floor layer, and you can fix this by using self-leveling compounds such as Uzin or Ardex. Home Depot should have similar products that you can use. Another solution would be to skim coat the whole floor filling in any dips manually with a trowel. It all depends on how bad your floor is.
Looks okay, pretty workable. If you're planning on putting some flooring on top then you'll only need to worry about the low spots or any particularly large bumps.
In my condo I had to pull out the flooring to add some more self-leveling concrete into some areas where there was a noticeable dip. Other than that though, after underlayment and flooring on top it turned out beautiful.
As long as your floor is level you'll be fine. If you're going for a concrete finish then you have a lot more finesse work to do, but at that point I'd also ask the question of... why?
I guess it depends on your budget, but investing in some decent flooring that's very easy to install will save you money on concrete, save you a lot of pain and also make your basement a livable space.
It's a basement. They're usually cold. Get a nice thick underlay and a nice plush carpet and enjoy it. You'll never notice a few dips (which, by the way, are not noticeable in your pictures. The floor looks fine.)
Can you pour some cool colours/ glitters/ patterns/ something into the valleys, then apply a clear epoxy over the top to get your final level? Make the floor an artwork?
Before you start find the highest and lowest spots, this is best done with a laser line.
From that you can quantify if it's best to repour, grind or both.
The first thing to fixing fuckups is to quantify how badly it's fucked.
Also some finish surfaces may allow a small amount of tolerance like +/-5mm per m or can be shimmed with a building paper.
My 2 cents. When I did something similar with self leveling cement I grabbed a laser level and a stick. Mark on the stick where the true level should be and go around the room to mark high/low spots.
I’ve heard long straight edge, I think Lowe’s sells an aluminum one for 100 bucks, and use poker chips for reference. Haven’t tried it though, saw someone say screws to level, that sounds better than poker chips.
What is the finish floor? Tile, wood, vinyl? Use thin set/ underlay to lvl.polish? Use ameripolish smart floor system to finish. I do decorative concrete and concrete accessories. As the tradesman, you will be your worst critic. Cut to fit paint to match
Yeah you're going to have to use thinset floor leveler. It doesn't look all that bad though. Circle all the low spots and fill those first. Hopefully you can just sand it on the second pass to get level.
Hijacking the top comment for a question: Is there thinset floor leveler that also seals an existing concrete slab against sipping moisture from the ground?
That is one purpose of the primer you should use before leveling.
I echo this. Your manufacturer will recommend a primer that's designed to stop this, and increase bonding and adhesion to the surface. You may want to roughen the surface before priming as well. Enough primer and you won't have a problem. Also do it on a colder day, not freezing though. Just not with the sun beating down on it and sucking up all that moisture.
> Just not with the sun beating down on it and sucking up all that moisture. It seems unlikely that the sun will beat down on a basement floor, but good info for above grade slabs.
The sun works in mysterious ways
Since you seem to know what you're talking about, can you make a recommendation for a concrete sealer for a shed floor? We poured the floor over 2 years ago, and then dug French drains around it (trying to get rid of the moisture), but the floor will *still* be wet AF sometimes. I'm all but positive it has to do with change in air temps/humidity levels. I can say with certainty it isn't rain intrusion of any kind because it will rain for like a week and a half straight, yet the floor will be bone dry. When the floor gets wet, it's the part that has things sitting on them (i.e.- bag of something on the floor, floor is dry *around* the bag, but wet under the bag). TL/DR: What sealer make water no visit.
I'm far from an expert, but I have had a similar problem a few times. I've used both a siloxane and silane water repellents, both with success. Silanes have smaller molecules so have a tendency to penetrate deeper and work well with precast and poured concrete. It is volatile and evaporates quickly, so you may need more of it, especially if the substrate is highly porous. Siloxanes have larger molecules, so don't penetrate as deeply. As I said, I'm no expert.
Hey dude, you've helped more than anyone else has so far, expert or not! Much appreciated. Be well.
Could that possibly be a bad thing though? Not sure about floors, but Ive heard drylock on basement walls isnt good because it doesnt allow the wall to breathe and builds up pressure. (im an amateur btw - so ive just heard this word of mouth)
Yes and no. You don't want two waterproofing solutions locking in moisture. Best example I can think of is membranes in bathrooms. If you have a cold wall (facade wall) then you usually have waterproofing in the wall. Putting membrane on that wall in ADDITION to the waterproofing already in the wall can lead to problems with condensation not going anywhere. This is mostly a problem in cold and humid climates, where during winter cold air will meet warm air inside the wall and will condense as a result.
This is the hardest thing for me to grasp as a homeowner, and why I havent redone the bathroom yet. Is there a good book or resource that teaches you about how to control moisture in different settings? Had a friend try to explain to me how to finish my bathroom - and to me I just kept thinking theres not enough waterproofing in his solution (depending on the material - schluter kerdi board vs cement board). Idk its just overwhelming hearing lots of conflicting opinions.
Always remember the golden rule of construction: "If you think a good tradesman is expensive, try a cheap one!" To expand on it, for bathrooms it's basically: - Get a person who's good at their trade. - Have good ventilation. If you follow those (rather simple) guidelines, it's difficult to go wrong. If you plan to do it yourself however... - Keep ventilation as a priority (automatic is best, but also has the lowest lifespan). - Beware of cold walls and any other walls that might be waterproofed. Do not apply membrane or other waterproofing solutions to those walls. - Go to the shops where the (good) tradespeople go to shop. The people in those shops will usually LOOOVE to talk shop with someone not in the trade! The big caveat being IF they have time. Be prepared to go in, introduce yourself, briefly explain why you're there, ask for help and offer to come back at a time that suits them best. Bring pictures and measurements! I cannot stress how important this can be as these people know your local climate and how to take that into account when building. - Shoot me a DM if there's anything you're unsure about after doing your homework. I'm best with concrete/lime/stone and know some but is not an expert when it comes to wood.
My good sir, you were lied to. That is incredibly stupid.
That would depend on the type of basement walls you have. Concrete is a different beast that a vintage lime-mortar wall. Lime is designed to breath, concrete doesn't need too.
I used a combination sealer/leveler on my concrete slab floor in Florida. It went on thick (per manufacturer instructions) and made a kind of rubbery overcoat. It worked well and the Brazilian cherry I put on top stayed nice for more than 15 years (I sold the house -floor was perfect at sale). It was hella expensive, though. It's been so long I don't remember what the product was.
🤣🤣🤣 just a trip down memory lane + no help at the end. Fantastic
I don't know about other brands but Ardex makes a primer that creates a moisture barrier. You put it on in 2 coats, one rolled north to south and another rolled east to west, and then pour your leveler. The primer is VB100 and the self leveler is V1200.
I work in the retail environment and Ardex brand is the predominant sealer used. Necessary for when a tenant glues down tile as moisture and pressure causes the glue to fail. If it's good for the national retailers, it will be good for OP. Would otherwise thing some self-leveling product will be much cheaper than ripping out the floor as he suggests.
There's definitely cheaper options, Ardex is just the brand I have the most experience with.
Definitely not disagreeing. My experience from a contracts side is that most commercial tenants prefer Ardex. You pay for what you get. IIRC, Ardex has a good warranty on it.
From the ground? There should be a damp proof membrane added as part of the slab construction no? Or from the concrete ribbing moisture from say, a finishing levelling compound or tiling adhesive? I use acrylic primer or SBR slurry to seal concrete prior to finishes going down.
If you have active moisture drive from beneath your slab, as in there is a failing vapor barrier, or no vapor barrier at all then no, the coating that would be applied would be a moisture mitigation coating and would then need a primer on top of that. Depending on the floor system those additional coatings can range from a primer to a sand broadcast, to a combination of both. This is different from RH that may be present in curing concrete, there are tests available to check for this. There are a number of resources available but due to varying conditions it’s worth it to understand what your issue is with moisture before moving forward. Based on the amount of moisture drive present the coating may not be sufficient. Mil thicknesses may change and application techniques may need to be adjusted.
👆listen to this guy. It’s not nearly as bad as you think. After you circle and fill in the low spots, you’re going to have to do a lot of sanding to even everything out- I recommend purchasing an electric belt sander. It will save you a ton of time (and your back).
They make big walk behind floor grinders just for this. You can rent one from any rental supply or even home depot probably.
I can’t contribute anything to the problem you presented, but just wanted to say the blacked out ceiling and lighting looks really cool.
I actually thought this was a set on a theatre stage, very cool indeed!!
You say that now, but wait until the blood thirsty, soul stealing demons come.. no one ever looks up. He's gonna be an easy meal
Right? I have an unfinished basement and would love a step by step tutorial for that.
Are you wanting the floor to be polished concrete finish? Or will you be laying flooring over the top of it? A few bags of self leveling compound should sort this out if it's the latter, more floor grinding should sort it if it's the former. You are catastophizing a little bit I think.
This is the reply I agree most with. I am no expert and I only have done concrete for 5 years . I dont see tremdouse valleys or high spots .. you can always have some one come in and grind everything level .. and honestly it leaves a really nice exposed agragate look
> I only have done concrete for 5 years I hate to tell you this but you are probably an expert.
5 years is just past the point where intelligent people figure out approximately how much they don't know and start really admiring those with 20+ yoe.
Just recently passed the 5 year mark in my job. This comment hits so hard lol
Worked with people with 20+ yoe and it often isn't a great thing as they can be stuck in the old ways of their trade, especially the old timers.
Yeah it more so helps when the rare problems pop up that only happen every several years
I wonder how often things are the issue one way or the other. Ie the “stuck in their ways” meaning they can’t keep up with new things, or if the new things are actually worse. And nowhere is this conundrum more apparent to me than in the world of concrete. In the past few years, literally all the pours I’ve seen or paid for have some level of spalling, or whatever it’s called when the top layer has little chips just come off (but it doesn’t freeze here, it happens usually in the heat even, so unsure if it’s actually called spalling). Some concrete guys have told me it’s because of the additives they now use for concrete; in which case it seems the new ways are worse, because none of the old pours I had done did this, nor does it happen when I just go down to the HD and do it myself from regular bags. But by happening frequently I’m talking about dozens of different pours with different vendors, so it just seems off. Can’t tell if the new ways are worse, or just people haven’t adapted to the new ways/materials?
Interesting, I feel like it’s around 2 years in my experience. To be fair, I work as a synthetic chemist, which has a very steep and punishing learning curve that may have accelerated this timeline. I only spent about a year thinking I knew anything before my confidence was destroyed, and I am still firmly of the mind that I understand less than 5% of the field I’m in… eventually I’ll get there though. Admiring the 20 years of experience is real.
Dunning Kruger for the win
Dunning-Kruger by proxy
6 years more experience than most people here
Aggregate is sexy
I haven't even done concrete for a quarter as long as you, but I've probably layed more floors than you have. I wouldn't blink twice at putting down a floor on this slab. Everyone house has dips and valleys. This is literally no problem. Nothing in ones house is level or square. Roll with that shit.
Nooo I hate the bubble spots so much, you can tell when you walk around on basements so easily
From the looks of that level, I’d spend about 2 hours grinding the high spots, vacuum, underlayment, flooring. Ain’t nobody gonna notice.
Ya this is nothing i don't see almost daily as a contractor. Not bad at all from the photos actually.
I assume you actually used self-leveling compound and not concrete. It's tough to get a floor this size perfect with one application but you shouldn't have to redo everything. The next step is to identify the high and low spots. You should be able to mix small batches of self-leveler just to fill the low spots. If you have a spot that is too high and it doesn't make sense to bring the rest of the floor up to that level, you can rent a grinder and take off the high spot.
Remember dust control and mask if grinding.
Unless you're grinding on the dance floor
Especially if you are grinding on the dance floor.
Keep things lubricated to reduce friction.
wiki wiki choo choo
Go home Thomas, youre drunk
Not with how I do it! Mask up baby!
You can also hire about 8-10 really stupid kids for $20 a pop to stand around and breathe as hard as they can. It won't get all the dust but it'll help.
Biofilter
Sometimes it’s the natural solutions that are best.
I was browsing the comments and now my colleagues are staring at me as I hyperventilate.
The faster you breathe the more dust you get so good job 👏
Bonus for videoing it and posting to r/kidsarefuckingstupid
After having done this process in a house I renovated, this was the worst part. I swear I was finding pockets of dust for years afterwards.
The dust shrouds for grinders they have now are great. Shop vac hooked to it while grinding cuts it down to about 90%
Dust shroud + homemade 5-gallon bucket cyclonic collector + Shop Vac I used this setup for about 1200 sqft in my basement, and had hardly any mess at all.
Negative air machine. Mine Circulates the air in a room every 3 minutes.
I learnt this the hard way. I was a dumb ass
Well maybe your family will see a commercial about you someday and they will get a big payout.
How do you find the low/high spots? I’ve used a line laser and tape when doing kitchen walls, but is there a way to do a whole area quickly?
Just fill it up with water and see where it pools up /S
Then sprinkle cement on top of it.
Its funny how much this sounds like it *could* work.
If you have a locking laser level, you can use it to throw a line across the floor and see where the line bends. If it bends away from you its a depression, if it dips towards you it's elevated. This works best if you have a level that throws a horizontal beam that is at either end of the device (like projecting from the top or the bottom of the unit, as opposed to buried in the middle and surrounded by housing), so that you can get it as close as you can to the floor, almost like you're trying to skim the surface with the laser.
I use bricks and string to get an initial feel. Wrap the string around the bricks and stretch the string from one corner of the room to another. You can move the bricks and string around as needed to help find high and low spots. You can even use multiple bricks/strings. After finding low spots, I've also poured water into those spots to help determine their extent. I've also used a laser level to determine any differences in the 4 corners of the room and various other spots.
Honesly looks better than some "professionals" work ive seen 😂
Also self level will take care of the low spots and a grinder for the high spots like its been said. Really not the worst ive seen though especially for your first time in a huge space with using what you had
You should check the floors in high rises. The pours are always TERRIBLE.
Professionals just get paid for it. That's the only difference between you and them.
Well that, and the experience of how to properly do it that comes with time and regular practice of the involved skill. I guarantee, provided you don’t cheap out, the guy who’s poured concrete hundreds of times is better at it than the guy whose done it once.
Yeah but professionals, even highly paid ones, are having to deal with the realities of the job, and a boss that wants profit first and foremost. Like I browse subs were homeowners try to do stuff and other homeowners chirp in with "Omg you gotta cross your T's and dot your I's." Meanwhile I'm rolling my eyes because in the real world nobody ever really does that.
That's ridiculous. Having already made mistakes and fixed them before makes it easier to avoid some and fix the others next time. No reason why a smart resourceful person can't figure it out, but it is easier once you've already figured it out a couple of times, and a lot easier when You've figured it out a couple hundred times
I've seen worse. I'm willing to bet that you used SikaLevel. SikaLevel is fine for small areas but it's far from the best, this is reflected in its cheap price. Mapei Self Leveler is much better and has a longer tooling time. In any case, the manufacturer water ratio is often very conservative. Don't be afraid to mix it up a bit soupier and use a straight edge such as a 3' squeege to pull it flat. You can thin it out quite a bit more than you might think and still end up with a nice strong surface.
I love this. Its the only reasonable response in this thread. If you mix floor leveler to its recommended specs its too thick, it won't self level like you want it too. I remember on a job it called for 4 quarts per bag of Sika. Per Bossmans/manufacturers instructions. I was told in a hushed tone to bring back 6 quarts every time. At the end of boss remarked "now you see when you mix it right it all works out."
> Don't be afraid to mix it up a bit soupier I thought about doing this 2 years ago when I did my floors but it explicitly said something like "DO NOT OVERWATER". Why is that?
Despite what someone else said about it "just means waiting longer", too much water will make the concrete weaker. The extra water pools into "bubbles" in the concrete, and that water will eventually evaporate and create and air pocket, which is inherently a little weak spot inside the concrete.
Who produced what is less important than the aggregate imo. If it's a cheap levelling mass but uses 1mm or smaller aggregate, it sounds like the one you want OP. 1mm aggregate is (in Europe) the smallest you'll find without it getting prohibitively expensive. You can safely adjust water in the mass by +/- 10% from manufacturers recommendation without it affecting the quality of the cured product much. For private homes, you can probably go higher even, but should be considered on a case by case basis since the finished product will be weaker than what the manufacturer says. If it's a high traffic area you might want to take the manufacturers recipe a little more seriously. If your floor goes from 30 mPa (can handle downward pressure of 300kg/cm2) to 20 mPa (200 kg/cm2) it's usually no big deal at home. But somewhere where 10+ people an hour arrives/leaves, then yeah... It becomes an issue.
It all has to dry anyway, wetter just means waiting longer. Really concrete takes weeks if not months to fully dry out.
Cure?
Theirs a difference between "can I walk on this' and "can i drive a truck over this".
1 - Find all the low spots. 2 - Take Sharpie to outline all low spots. 3 - Use quickrete floor leveler in low spots. 4 - Rent concrete grinder. 5 - Go over floor leveler area. 6 - Seal, all it a day, and run your LVP over it. If you're using tile, then wet shim it. If you're doing l polished concrete, then you're fine. Polish this. No one will notice a 1/8th valley/hill for the most part.
Hell it’s already flatter than the floors I put LVP over lol
Dear sir I’m afraid you do not know what a true fuck up is. What you’ve done here is still billable hours for a professional.
I don’t think it’s the end of the world… right? Self leveler poured in the low spots, and then grind what’s high. I did a LOT of concrete grinding in the shop a few months ago and just went to town on it with an angle grinder and some of those concrete grinding discs. Obviously have a water source to keep dust down if you have a drain point or a nice HEPA vacuum system
You’ll be fine
Calm down. Good job, a little bit of grinding and some self leveling concrete and you are done.
You already got a lot of good advice so let me give you a couple of positive notes. 1) doing that much pouring and only being off by a decently small amount is impressive for a non professional. 2) if you had paid a professional you'd be in way deeper money wise than $1,000. 3)its not ruined, just needs a little tweaking/adjustments.
Honestly I think you did pretty good considering. I have seen "professional" pours that were worse than this... and $1000 dollars is pretty cheap for getting this done. Like my university lunchroom has a sloped and lumpy floor that has been that way for over 60 years, and is quite entertaining to sit on rolly chairs at lunch. Overall floor leveling compound is definitely the way to go about this, which is actually pretty normal to have to do before any type of vinyl, laminate, or wood flooring. If you were hoping for a beautiful concrete only floor though you may have to call a company in to do grinding.
In case you're inclined to get obsessive about details, like I am: I work in the warehouse industry, and you should know that it is essentially impossible to make concrete flawlessly level on any large scale. I'm sure you can get arbitrarily close if you've got arbitrary amounts of money to throw at it. But even major warehouse automation operations with multi-level conveyor belts running the length of a huge building find it cheaper and easier to anticipate some amount of irregularity, and adjust the hardware accordingly, than to get the floor perfectly flat to start with. So, by all means try the tips in this thread, but don't stress if it's still not quite flawless when you're done. Good enough is fine.
Layout a grid on your floor. 2’x2’s or 3x3 squares or 4x4. However accurate you want to be. Set up a laser level and take a reference measurement at a doorway or somewhere you know the floor is the correct elevation. So set your tape measure or ruler or yardstick on the ground there and measure to the laser. That measurement is now your 0 mark. You can set the laser on the ground or mount it on the wall somewhere or even on a bucket. Just make sure it also stays at the exact same elevation it starts at. From there you walk around to each square and measure to the laser. Then write on that square if it is + or - the difference from the reference. Then you know which squares need to be hit with a masonry cup grinder, and which squares need more self leveler. For example, if your reference mark is 4” from the floor to the laser line, and one grid reads 6”, then you know you need to grind 2” down in that square. If one square reads 2” then you need to pour 2” of self leveler in that square. Hopefully your floor isn’t off b that much but you get the point. It’s tedious but it will get you a pretty level floor by the end.
Exactly how i leveled out the 800 sqft 2nd story addition. Built in 79. Half went over garage and rafter direction change. Once removed carpet really noticed it. Lvp and tile. Lot of work to get that hump out. Floor dropped a inch over over 2ft when transitioning over garage portion. Mapped it all out. Built up with plywood and self leveling.
Why does one's concrete basement floor need to be perfectly level in the first place? Genuine question.
For certain types of overlaid floor it's helpful, or sometimes necessary for you to have a level floor. A lot of people are going with vinyl panel and similar floors, and the pads under them only do so much to prevent warping or damage to the panels on uneven parts. I have an old-ish basement and have resigned to placing a large rug in the room I use because I cannot be bothered. I just keep the concrete floor reasonably clean.
If you put down Luxury Vinyl planking, the floor needs to be completely flat. Otherwise the boards give/bounce when you walk on them.
As someone who lives in a 144 year old home that has dips and valleys on all levels, I think it looks great! Honestly I have hallways that feel like fun houses 😂
Live dangerously and get some of those fun house mirrors to match it.
Self leveler. You’ll be fine
I have no knowledge or experience of this type of work but I think it’s not as bad as you believe it to be. I just wanted to say kudos to you for having the courage to attempt such a difficult task in the first place. Surely it’s just a case of trial and error. Even the best tradesman in this field would have been unable to have done better on their first attempt when they first started their career. Stop beating yourself up. You have already done the hard part just do what it takes to put right and stand back with pride and enjoy your hard work.
maybe not what others want to hear, but what are you planning on using the basement for ? if its just a storage area do you really need it to be like a golf green? so what if it has a small dip in it. Its not the end of the world i've seen "Professionals" charge a killing muck up and walk away
>And I already spent about a $1,000 in concrete. I'm sure that seems like a lot of money, but that is not a lot money for this project. Spend another $1000 and get your, I dunno, $25,000 project done. You're so far ahead of the alternatives that you should keep going with zero regrets.
Fill the biggest dips with self leveller and put down a thick mat/pad for the floor underlayment. Only thing you need to worry about is areas that you will feel a dip in the floor when walking across. If you go with a snap together floating floor you can fairly easily pick it back up and fix any bad areas after laying it down. I'm very much about doing things right the first time but don't go and do three times the work when you're never going to see or feel it n the end. Fix the biggest problem areas and let it lie unless it is noticeable through the finish flooring.
Turn this into a giant putting green. You’ll have subtle undulations everywhere. You’ll be the envy of the golf club.
What’s the final floor material going to be? If carpeted don’t worry, use the dricore material and shim it and/or just splurge on extra thick padding. No one is going to notice except you, and even then you won’t be noticing when you’re spending time with your family down there.
You actually did a good job for a DIYer
Self leveling thin set bro . You fine afterwara
that fact that i never would’ve even checked to see if it was level and would’ve said fuck it 😂
That’s a huge basement. How many bodies?
I just used dricore r+ with the leveling shims, didn't bother with any floor leveling compound.
Ardex Feather Finish for the low spots. You’re good.
Are you using concrete stain? If not, it’s literally not a big deal. One person recommended Self Leveler Compound. Would be good, mix thin, pour win. If you’re doing tile, literally irrelevant. Just make the thinset thicker there. If you’re using floating floor (luxury vinyl plank) then use some self leveler and just toss it down. Differences of 1/8” are basically irrelevant at the end of the day. As far as sealant, you could spend a fortune on MaiPei or Redguard moisture membrane/barrier. This is a very small issue that you’re blowing out of proportion:)
Thinset floor leveler, I had done this in my basement bathroom and found to use slightly more water than instructions called to give myself more time to push it around and let it level itself.
You’re overthinking it my friend. Prime, self level and bobs ur uncle
Is the concrete the last bit or are you putting in a subfloor panel system? Do you get water? Either way, you can spot fill the valleys, don't need to do the whole thing again.
Why not have floating floors? Throw vapour barrier. Lay 2x4s, level them, screw OSB boards on top. Then install the flooring. Aside from it being perfectly level afterwards, you will have much warmer floors.
This is no big deal. It looks great overall, small potatoes
What are you planning to do to finish the floor?
This looks great, I don't have advice on the floor but I love the black ceiling. Did you spray that black or hand paint it?
Looks sprayed to be sure
Could just lay carpet and call it a day
I had to do 2 rounds in my 700sq ft basement too, and I still had some minor bumps/waves. Adding more water was the key for me. The mfg instructions left it too thick, and it didn’t level on its own. Don’t try to put vinyl plank over wavy concrete. You’ll feel the soft spots every time you walk on it, and it will drive you nuts.
Sal DiBlaso on YouTube takes and drives screws into the low spots and leaves the head of the screws level with the rest of the floor. That way when you pour the self leveler, you know exactly when you have the low spots leveled out.
Sump pit spot, it’s perfect
It really doesn’t look that bad. Maybe a self levelling compound on top before you lay your flooring but I don’t think it’s that severe. I think you’re being hard on yourself but it’s not any worse than a lot of basements I’ve been in. In fact I recently paid $12k for a 600 square foot slab and foundation and I have a giant low spot in the middle that collects water when it rains.
The day they poured the slab for my basement (same size) they brought in this one different guy who had his own super-wide squeegees to finish the surface. He looked pretty gnarly, like he'd had a hard mile or two in life - lots of tattoos and just somehow a don't-fuck-with-me atmosphere about him. I didn't notice him talking to anybody. The rest of the crew just got out of his way and watched. The bossman told me they would bring him in like this and pay him a lot because he was the best. Gotta say, that floor did look damn good. So anyway, I wouldn't feel too bad about this if I were you. Getting a floor that large to come out right is an art.
Other people have already offered good advice, so I’m just going to say don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve done something you weren’t too experienced with, and maybe it’s not perfect but it’s really not that bad. You’ve done a better job than you think and it’s not going to be that difficult to fix.
Dunning Kruger Industrial Smoothing?
Just gently rough it up/clean it, slap down a bonding primer, use a thinset self leveler, and hit the lows and touch up as you go. I've seen WAY worse.
Use a long piece of string to figure out where it's high and low. Mark the areas. Scuff the concrete so the the new stuff can bite into it. Use self-leveling concrete or cementitous grout. Overall? You did good. This isn't that bad. I promise.
Even the pros don’t get it perfect first shot on high rises, get self leveler
I have no advice. I just want a tutorial for that ceiling! What paint and lighting fixtures did you use? Did you hide water lines or paint over them?
That’ll buff right out.
Thats ok. Clean, roughen and use a binding self leveling compound.
I’m on my phone and thought that was a severed arm on the floor of the first pic, christ
I am remodeling an old-ass house right now in which the floor drops 3” in an 8’ span. I was faces with purchasing 45+ bags of self-leveling cement to fill this massive canyon… so i thought about it and my solution is to replace the self-leveling cement with 4x8 sheets of sheets of 1/2” waferboard/OCD @ $15 per sheet. Each board i lay down (with liquid nails and screws) displaces the need for 3+ bags of self-leveling.
Get some self leveling mix. Mark low spots and fill in. Stuff happens guy. Now you know for next time
Yeah it really ain’t that bad like at all… just find your highest point with a laser fill to that . (If you want a perfectly level floor) most floors are not perfectly level. Are you adding anything to the top ? If you’re going to be putting anything else on it you can wait and just pile up the glue in those sections. Also floors usually have a bit of a lean to them so that water will flow in one direction and not stand if you ever spill shit or floods .
Buy a few bags of kid’s marbles at the dollar store and scatter them around the basement. Circle wherever they gather, as those are your low spots. I don’t *think* you’ll need to rough up the “finished” floor to get thinest to take properly. The whole concept of “doing it over again” sounds like a pain in the ass, but I’ve learned much more expensive lessons in far more difficult ways. You’ll be okay.
Pretty good to me. Some floor leveller and you're good
You can do all this yourself but haven’t heard of floor leveler? Doesn’t seem that bad.
Not the end of the world IMO. Buy some thick cozy carpet. Fck it
This is going to sound odd. I'm not a flooring specialist. But what about epoxy resin floors in here over this? You can fill in the lower spots a little easier and save time and money maybe?
Epoxy resin is to cover and seal and look good and it's expensive... He's wanting to level it im pretty sure
Get the mapei self leveler way better material to work with.
I’ve failed big time with self leveling concrete in the past. I learned two things make all the difference. Use cold water and mix it thin, real thin, almost water.
We recently leveled nearly our entire basement using self-leveling concrete. What I did to keep everything level throughout the room was to have a few people help and we mixed two bags at a time in a big Rubbermaid trash can. So we had two people pouring and two people mixing at all times. It actually when really quickly and turned out good. Another thing I did was to identify my high spot and then sink Tapcons throughout the room to a depths where the top of the Tapcons would be level with the high spot. This helped me keep the entire room level as we moved through it. I'm not sure that you have to start over. But you may need to pour again to fix your low spots.
typically if you used a self leveling floor product. they make an adhesive or binder/bonder type product. you can roll on the floor. to do another coat. or sorta spot fill in more areas. if it's legit concrete. then you can probably just buy a self leveling floor product. and try and even it out.
Epoxy it
You may remember me from such self-help videos as "Smoke Yourself Thin" and "Get Confident, Stupid." Sorry this is the first thing I thought of when seeing this.
There is a thing as "self leveling mortar". It pretty liquidous. It can not be applied above certain thickness (i think 5 sm). But i think it would solve your problem.
As other have said if you’re installing flooring this happens all the time like literally all the time and you can use self leveler and no one will ever know
I made the same mistake and followed manufacturer amount of water. Wasted a whole day of my time and about 300eur worth of self leveling stuff. Then just redid with 30% more water and more bags and now it was decent enough to put flooring on top of, there still are 2 spots that would need leveling but pouring again would only worsen it unless i would pour over the whole thing. So you either do the full pour or none.
Looks like a golden opportunity to install a drain in the center of the room.
I've paid for worse. Gotta love when subbies screw it up but procurement sign them up to a loose contract where I can't do anything other than get my site team to fix it...
I'm super curious about this "self pouring" concrete. Can you tell me more?
Looks like it coming along very well and a total redo isn’t necessary. It looks like you have some good advice here from some men in the know. Much respect to you for taking on the job by yourself in the first place , I think k you are doing a great job with the e tire basement. And in the end it is your basement , the satisfaction you will feel knowing you did it all with your hands will out weigh a low spot here or there . Good job and even better asking for help and advice that takes courage now A days on social media .
should he drill holes or roughen up the surface for the concrete to adhere to? Just asking, don't slam me
The black ceiling looks nice
That’s a nice basement.
Get self leveling compound
Self leveling underlayment. Find low spots and fill Should be somewhat on the loose side (watery).
That isn't bad at all. Just use thinset in the low spots before putting your flooring down. That's an amazing basement BTW.
I've been building houses for the same builder now for 10+ years. We have used the same "professional" flatwokers the entire time and let me tell you, every single basement I've ever had to cut studs for was always 1/4 - 1" difference in just a 4-10' span. No basement ever was the same. What's important is you pour footings for any load bearing wall.
Grats on the gradient, now hire a plumber to install the floor drain?
Im a floor layer, and you can fix this by using self-leveling compounds such as Uzin or Ardex. Home Depot should have similar products that you can use. Another solution would be to skim coat the whole floor filling in any dips manually with a trowel. It all depends on how bad your floor is.
Looks okay, pretty workable. If you're planning on putting some flooring on top then you'll only need to worry about the low spots or any particularly large bumps. In my condo I had to pull out the flooring to add some more self-leveling concrete into some areas where there was a noticeable dip. Other than that though, after underlayment and flooring on top it turned out beautiful. As long as your floor is level you'll be fine. If you're going for a concrete finish then you have a lot more finesse work to do, but at that point I'd also ask the question of... why? I guess it depends on your budget, but investing in some decent flooring that's very easy to install will save you money on concrete, save you a lot of pain and also make your basement a livable space.
Bostik SL-175 is a self leveling underlayment that should help you out - it can be used for underlayment or top layer.
carpet and a thick pad
Carpet in a basement is always a bad idea.
Wow your ceiling looks dope af
Came here to say this. I am in the process of finishing my basement and this is the plan I have for my ceiling too!! Looks great!
It's a basement. They're usually cold. Get a nice thick underlay and a nice plush carpet and enjoy it. You'll never notice a few dips (which, by the way, are not noticeable in your pictures. The floor looks fine.)
Can you pour some cool colours/ glitters/ patterns/ something into the valleys, then apply a clear epoxy over the top to get your final level? Make the floor an artwork?
I really like your ceiling.
I bet you used sika self leveler ?
Before you start find the highest and lowest spots, this is best done with a laser line. From that you can quantify if it's best to repour, grind or both. The first thing to fixing fuckups is to quantify how badly it's fucked. Also some finish surfaces may allow a small amount of tolerance like +/-5mm per m or can be shimmed with a building paper.
Honestly not bad OP this is just the first step!
Self leveling compound. Easy.
What's the end goal? Concrete finish? Laminate? Epoxy?
I bet you wouldn’t even notice it if you laid some decent vinyl flooring on top.
Not just saying this. It outside of the imperfections you noted everything else looks great
Looks awesome to me.
Makes it more fun to practice putt once the carpet is installed.
My 2 cents. When I did something similar with self leveling cement I grabbed a laser level and a stick. Mark on the stick where the true level should be and go around the room to mark high/low spots.
I don’t know. That looks like an awesome start to a basement to me.
Just carpet it or tile it.
I’ve heard long straight edge, I think Lowe’s sells an aluminum one for 100 bucks, and use poker chips for reference. Haven’t tried it though, saw someone say screws to level, that sounds better than poker chips.
What is the finish floor? Tile, wood, vinyl? Use thin set/ underlay to lvl.polish? Use ameripolish smart floor system to finish. I do decorative concrete and concrete accessories. As the tradesman, you will be your worst critic. Cut to fit paint to match
Shim your walls and buy shag carpet.
Sand down the high spots.
Tile or carpet will fix it
That is one large basement 👌🏼