Bad Self Levelling Compound job

[jacoscar]

So I contracted someone to level my first floor (timber floor).
I just laid the 6mm plywood and applied the proper primer (Mapei Eco Prim); he did the screeding using Mapei Ultraplan Renovation.
He came one day and placed dropsheets all around the walls and filled the biggest gaps using expanding foam.
He came back the day after to do the actual screeding, he used 5 bag for 36 sqm.
After letting everything drying for 24 hours I've gone upstairs to have a look and the result is bad, really bad.
It's basically the same as before, just "painted" with self levelling compound; I still have the same dips where they were before
I saw him using the trowel and the spiked roller, it looked like he was just trowelling the SLC, without actually flooding everything like a swimming pool (which he couldn't have done as he left some important gaps around the perimeter).

 

[oldbutnotdead]

SLC on timber floors? Why would you do that? If you've got dips and humps its because timber is flexible and moves. SLC is neither so will crack and fail very quickly. Plus good luck if you ever need to get under the floorboards.....

 

[jacoscar]

It’s obviously the latex flexible self levelling compound made for timber floors

Why would I use it? Because otherwise I cannot install my engineered wood floor

If I have to access the services it would be less disruptive to do it from below anyway (no finished floor needing to be lifted)

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Oh well, fair enough. Sounds as if he's bodged it- can't get to the technical sheets at the mo (Mapei's site is offline) but you're right, the self levelling bit only comes if you mix the stuff properly and then flood the area. Best ether get him back to do it properly (assuming you've not paid him) or hack it up and get someone else in to do it properly.

 

[jacoscar]

Unfortunately I paid him when he left and then we left it 24hours to dry before realising the mess

He kept saying he was going to save me money on slc and get a flat surface anyway

I don’t care if I have to buy 20 more bags, I just want it done correctly

Currently trying to contact him, but he’s not the easiest person to get hold of (even before he did the job)

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Unfortunately I paid him when he left and then we left it 24hours to dry before realising the mess

He kept saying he was going to save me money on slc and get a flat surface anyway

I don’t care if I have to buy 20 more bags, I just want it done correctly

Currently trying to contact him, but he’s not the easiest person to get hold of (even before he did the job)

Oops. Suspect you'll have trouble getting hold of him, what makes you think he's capable of doing the job properly?

 

[jacoscar]

Oops. Suspect you'll have trouble getting hold of him, what makes you think he's capable of doing the job properly?

He knows how to use a trowel and a spiked roller and knows how to mix the compound (although I have no way to check if he mixed at the right proportions); it doesn’t look like a job that requires many skills once you’ve created a proper perimeter

I still have to leave a rating on Rated People (which is how I find him)

 

[oldbutnotdead]

He knows how to use a trowel and a spiked roller and knows how to mix the compound (although I have no way to check if he mixed at the right proportions); it doesn’t look like a job that requires many skills once you’ve created a proper perimeter

I still have to leave a rating on Rated People (which is how I find him)

If you think its that easy have a go yourself. Me being an amateur with SLC I'd be dividing the area down a bit (use a level from the highest point to the doorway and stick a batten of the right thickness at the doorway. Getting the mix proportions and consistency right is critical- if the consistency is wrong the stuff doesn't flow properly, if the mix isn't right then you get strong and weak patches. How did he mix it- big stick in a bucket?

Rated People- most of those sites are about as reliable as a yellow pages advert (as you've just discovered)

 

[jacoscar]

No, he used a whisk
But I bet he used less water than normal to make it less runny and more workable using the trowel

 

[catlad]

I,m struggling to understand this idea of putting a slc on a timber floor!

 

[jacoscar]

I,m struggling to understand this idea of putting a slc on a timber floor!

timber floors tend to not be flat, so it's necessary to overboard with plywood and lay a flexible self levelling compound like the one that was used in this occasion

 

[catlad]

If you have managed to screw 6mm ply to the floor surly you have a flat enough surface to lay underlay and laminate flooring?

 

[jacoscar]

If you have managed to screw 6mm ply to the floor surly you have a flat enough surface to lay underlay and laminate flooring?

no, the plywood just follows the shape of the floorboards, there are still dips and humps

the flooring need a flatness of maximum 1 mm over 2 m

 

[catlad]

Good luck I think you have been advised badly.

 

[dazlight]

3mm over 2m would be ok
He’s just done a wash coat all over it and not thought about the levels.
We tend to use plywood strips to work out levels and a laser line.
then screed in sections.