It takes a minute to mix the filler, two minutes to walk away with the filler and pour it out in the bathroom and smooth it out with a notched trowel. Back with the bucket and mix a new batch, after two or three minutes you're back in the bathroom pouring the next round, and I promise you the first bucket is as wet as before.
As I said, self-levelling compound doesn't harden in two seconds!
As I said, self-levelling compound doesn't harden in two seconds!
If you are alone and need to mix four buckets sequentially, I think there's a risk that what you poured out first is stiffer than you'd like it to be when it's time to pour out the last one. You should probably mix each bucket for at least two to three minutes, and with "pouring in" and pouring out, the time will likely extend well beyond "two seconds."tank77 said:
One tip is to pre-measure the correct amount of water into four five-liter plastic containers that you keep in the fridge. It increases the setting time slightly, although I don't know by how much. In any case, you save a lot of time by not having to measure when you're ready to mix.
Then you must have mixed the filler too thick. You usually take half a liter less than what is used for surface leveling.nikstra said:
It's not a "science" to float, I think you're making it harder for yourselves than it really is!Alfredo said:
We probably are...tank77 said:
But isn't it often like that with tasks you're not familiar with? If you've done something a bunch of times, you know how it works and don't need to, at least consciously, plan so carefully.If you're inexperienced, you think more about the best way and try to prevent problems since you're not sure what to expect.
I agree that it's not a science, but it is quite frustrating to fail at it, and I believe I've seen quite a few threads here with less successful self-leveling attempts...:eek:
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It was leveling that I was doing. I recall that the putty I used had a working time of 20 minutes, and I was there dabbling with the putty after 20-25 minutes or so just because I thought it looked uneven. In hindsight, I guess it was just color variations I was trying to even outtank77 said:
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Now, I didn't specify what I was going to level when I asked the question in the first post. It's not a bathroom but an ordinary room that needs a flat floor.tank77 said:
If you're just going to cover underfloor heating or something similar in a small bathroom, I can imagine it works fine to mix in the same bucket. But to get a floor flat feels a bit uncertain.
I think I will go with the multi-bucket method this time anyway.
Don't forget that it's often better to ignore small errors during the leveling process and instead go in and scrape the surface smooth with a steel trowel (or maybe a screed?), once the consistency surpasses the modeling clay stage, when you can walk on the surface without your shoes sinking at all. And small dips can be fixed with a hand filler that can be applied to zero thickness.
It might be a bit easier for us amateurs to aim for a two-step job rather than trying to get a perfect surface right away.
But most importantly, level down high spots immediately while the filler is slightly soft; it becomes rock hard afterward. Applying a little more filler later is easy.
I personally regret not using an extra bag of leveling compound when I leveled the bathroom and scraping off the excess, because instead, it turned out too low in places. Which meant I had to hand fill a lot, in several rounds. I think I spent almost 2 extra days on this, so an extra bag of leveling compound feels cheap in comparison.
It might be a bit easier for us amateurs to aim for a two-step job rather than trying to get a perfect surface right away.
But most importantly, level down high spots immediately while the filler is slightly soft; it becomes rock hard afterward. Applying a little more filler later is easy.
I personally regret not using an extra bag of leveling compound when I leveled the bathroom and scraping off the excess, because instead, it turned out too low in places. Which meant I had to hand fill a lot, in several rounds. I think I spent almost 2 extra days on this, so an extra bag of leveling compound feels cheap in comparison.
Aha, much easier to level flat then, the leveling compound almost takes care of itself; just smooth out the transitions with a wide notched trowel, and feel free to add a little extra water (1-2 dl) so the compound becomes even thinner, the better it flows out.nikstra said:
I leveled 45 sqm a while ago divided into 3 different rooms, one of which had a floor drain. Took all the rooms at the same time since there weren't going to be any thresholds.
And all this by myself with one bucket at a time:wow:
I think just like you ...Alfredo said:Something tells me that tank77 has at least ten times the experience with levelling compound as the rest of us in the thread combined. Or maybe it's just that he is Skåning.
Or possibly both Skåning and over 10 times more jobs done ...
No, only Skåning, we are a little better than the rest of you, especially the fjollträskborna
Ridiculously big concern. Take it a little easier and tackle one bucket at a time. Patch it up a bit afterwards if it becomes uneven. Clearly the best approach. Also, one wonders what tolerance you are aiming for. Are you going to have parquet on top? Don't chase unnecessarily after things that won't be visible. A few mm up or down on a large floor is not noticeable. 👍