Garage floor levelling

[bp122]

My garage floor had more ridges than a planet sized McCoy's crisp. It was making life impossible in there, despite putting the effort of putting every major tool I have on large castors.

So recently I came across another thread where I made an acquaintance of the ever so helpful @Jaydee and he told me how he used self levelling compound to smooth out the floor in his garage and explained the pitfalls, tools and supplies.

That started the worm and the endless thoughts of possibilities. This time, for once, I didn't procrastinate too long and gathered the supplies and tools. And here it is: (I know, I need to sort out this bomb site!)

I cleared the garage leaving the washing machine, tumble dryer and the standing freezer. Taking the bandsaw out was close. Only after pouring the compound I realized it will now be higher and may not go back through! I blocked most of the drive with my wife's car, so "travelers" cannot turn up in a van and load everything easily (we have had a few things going missing from people's drives recently in our area)
Then cleaned the floor, applied three coats of recommended primer and finally poured the compound.


I first bought 6 X 20kg bags of Secrete universal from BC profiles. It never turned up and no answer to emails for three days. The last email instructed tgem to refund the money which they finally did.
ThenI picked Mapei from Screwfix, which is a 25 kg bag as opposed to 20 kgs on other brands. But still bought 6 bags, just in case. But this morning I picked up three bags more, after I saw how deep one side of the floor was. Thank god I did, as I was left with 1.3 bags in the end, which will be used to level the last bit of the floor with the washing machine etcat a later date.

All materials and tools cost just over £220.

Only mistake I made was in the third bucket I prepared, when I was pouring the bag little bit at a time into the bucket with the (pre measured) water, I forgot the last third of the bag, so the mixture was really runny and I only realized after I had poured it. So it was too late. Hoping for the best the. Fortunately it was on one side of the room next to the wall.

Waiting for it to dry now!

 

[thetyreman]

nice job, I've been thinking about doing the same thing in my garage over the uneven concrete floor as it's a nightmare at times, looks good.

 

[bp122]

nice job, I've been thinking about doing the same thing in my garage over the uneven concrete floor as it's a nightmare at times, looks good.

I hadn't even contemplated anything like this until I heard from @Jaydee where he explained what he did. It seemed like the next thing I needed to do and did it. So glad I did it though. It's not so much the ease of moving things around that pleases me endlessly but how ridiculously easy it is too clean and keep clean! I have a smile whenever I enter the garage now.


Ad the wife is really pleased because any laundry bits that fall from the machine while emptying falls on a nice clean floor!

 

[Lorenzl]

Did your mistake turn out OK?

 

[bp122]

Did your mistake turn out OK?

Surprisingly, yes. I can't really tell unless I look really closely, the mistake area looks just a touch smoother than the rest. Not sure about the durability aspect as I haven't tested for it, nor do I intend to.

Since it is about 8% of the area, fortunately near the wall in the middle, it won't see too much foot traffic, but might see some abuse with a wheeled machine dolly or a workbench.

Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[bp122]

However, I did see just the peaks of the highest points in three very small spots (about 2mm proud), but giving this meant lot more compound so I decided I like the 2mm as a reminder of what it was before!

The other wheels glide over it anyway

 

[graham88]

Very nice work. What did you use to dam up the doorway? I'd really love to get this done for myself but I'd need to add something stupid like 4 inches at the door end. Also how clean does the floor need to be and how did you go about doing it?

 

[bp122]

Very nice work. What did you use to dam up the doorway? I'd really love to get this done for myself but I'd need to add something stupid like 4 inches at the door end. Also how clean does the floor need to be and how did you go about doing it?

Hi Graham. Thank you.

I searched a lot and also thought of a few DIY ideas to use as a sealing dam, but ended up ordering four of these instead.

https://pureadhesion.co.uk/mira-plan-stop-self-adhesive-levelling-compound-divider-2-metre/
I am glad I did it. This is quite thick at around 30mm, has a really high tack adhesive and forms around obstacles really well and contains the compound very well.
It was around £20 including shipping and vat, but well worth it considering I didn't have to worry about anything.

The floor needs to be very clean for the primer to adhere and for the damv foam tape to stick.

After I rolled out all my tools. I swept the floor with a patio brush (I have the wolfgarten multi attachment one) and collected as much loose bits as possible.

Then I used my chip extractor on the floor to suck up everything else. Only later I realized that my bag was full and had a rupture and was coughing saw dust back on to the floor. When I discovered it, I patched it up and did it all over again. Main areas to concentrate with this are the places where the floor meets the walls as the was saw dust which was stuck, loose sand from the mortar, cobwebs etc.

Then I ran my shop vac with the floor cleaning attachment. No matter what you do, you can't get it squeaky clean, especially if you have a particular form of concrete which wasn't set very well in the past as this will keep feeding you loose dust when you brush over it.

Then I mixed the SBR primer with 1:2.5 ratio with water (1:1 to 1:3 recommended) and used a paint roller and an extension pole to quickly and liberally cover the entire floor. This is milky white to begin with but dries a darker colour (as if the floor is wet). I applied 4 coats in 90 mins. Used a paint brush to get into corners and also applied the primer on the bottom bricks on the wall for about a couple of inches from the floor - also 4 coats.

It was a lovely dry and warm day, plus I opened the main garage door and the door into the house which has another door into the garden directly in front of it. This created a nice through draft which dried everything very well.

After that I applied the dam foam strip to the primed surface, so it stuck solid and was convinced it works do its job.

 

[graham88]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Might have to save that for future reference should I ever feel like doing my floor properly. Seriosuly regretting why it never occurred to me to use my chip extractor to clean mine when I replaced the carpet with rubber matting. Wasted hours of my life with a brush and a respirator.
Again, excellent work.

 

[robgul]

What's the forecast on durability of the new surface?

 

[Jaydee]

Hi Graham. Thank you.

I searched a lot and also thought of a few DIY ideas to use as a sealing dam, but ended up ordering four of these instead.

https://pureadhesion.co.uk/mira-plan-stop-self-adhesive-levelling-compound-divider-2-metre/
I am glad I did it. This is quite thick at around 30mm, has a really high tack adhesive and forms around obstacles really well and contains the compound very well.
It was around £20 including shipping and vat, but well worth it considering I didn't have to worry about anything.

The floor needs to be very clean for the primer to adhere and for the damv foam tape to stick.

After I rolled out all my tools. I swept the floor with a patio brush (I have the wolfgarten multi attachment one) and collected as much loose bits as possible.

Then I used my chip extractor on the floor to suck up everything else. Only later I realized that my bag was full and had a rupture and was coughing saw dust back on to the floor. When I discovered it, I patched it up and did it all over again. Main areas to concentrate with this are the places where the floor meets the walls as the was saw dust which was stuck, loose sand from the mortar, cobwebs etc.

Then I ran my shop vac with the floor cleaning attachment. No matter what you do, you can't get it squeaky clean, especially if you have a particular form of concrete which wasn't set very well in the past as this will keep feeding you loose dust when you brush over it.

Then I mixed the SBR primer with 1:2.5 ratio with water (1:1 to 1:3 recommended) and used a paint roller and an extension pole to quickly and liberally cover the entire floor. This is milky white to begin with but dries a darker colour (as if the floor is wet). I applied 4 coats in 90 mins. Used a paint brush to get into corners and also applied the primer on the bottom bricks on the wall for about a couple of inches from the floor - also 4 coats.

It was a lovely dry and warm day, plus I opened the main garage door and the door into the house which has another door into the garden directly in front of it. This created a nice through draft which dried everything very well.

After that I applied the dam foam strip to the primed surface, so it stuck solid and was convinced it works do its job.

Excellent job. Thats a really nice finish. The foam dam was a good find. Wish I’d had that when I did my floor. The little bits sticking up could be ground off using a diamond disk in an angle grinder. You’ll be surprised how hard the self levelling is, so you can just do a light skim and flatten out any imperfections Without damaging to new surface. I’m glad I was of help.

 

[Jaydee]

What's the forecast on durability of the new surface?

Mines been down a good couple of years. It’s unpainted. In the non foot traffic areas it’s as it was laid. In the middle where I walk it’s lost it’s surface shine but otherwise good. I would like to paint it as I think it would make it look a bit smarter and resist the odd spill. Other than that I’m very happy with it.

 

[PhilipL]

Does this stuff act as dpc too?

 

[bp122]

Does this stuff act as dpc too?

I'm sorry, I don't know what that means.

 

[clogs]

it's brilliant stuff...also available in diff grades....high fill and theres one for constant fork lift traffic.....

PhilipL
I have never seen damp come thru anywhere I've used it....
I've even tiled over the stuff on a v'rough / crumbly conc patio with no probs....

as for painting if u only have a small place go for the expensive 2 pack paint system.....
The floor in my next workshop will get 2 pack in the high use areas and where I need to mop the floor... the rest will get done as I can afford it.....it can be £50 per gallon....it doesnt go so far ...

for those with holes in the floor, u must fill the holes first bfore u cover the whole floor....
depending on the make it can only be laid upto 6-8mm thick.....it's ok to fill the deep holes with 2 applications to get the level up.........
had one job where the floor was really crumbly in the holes (deep) I drilled and pluged the floor for some screws to act as locking pins.....that area had heavy traffic load...then filled in layers.....

we are so lucky with all these modern compounds and sealers.....

 

[PhilipL]

I'm sorry, I don't know what that means.

I have an underpavement cellar which I am about to line with tsnking plastic then frame with a false wall. Around the edge of the 2m square cellar there will be a plastic square section drainage gutter of 2" by 4". I need to do something with the floor to raise it 2" to the height of the gutter. I wndered if a self levelling complound (some work at 2") would act as damp proof course (dpc) and raise and level floor, all in one.

It's a flat in the new town of Edinburgh where these tiny cellars are common.

 

[bp122]

Perhaps I should have done a before and after shot of this, but here is the surface with my Veritas 60cm straight edge.

 

[bp122]

I have an underpavement cellar which I am about to line with tsnking plastic then frame with a false wall. Around the edge of the 2m square cellar there will be a plastic square section drainage gutter of 2" by 4". I need to do something with the floor to raise it 2" to the height of the gutter. I wndered if a self levelling complound (some work at 2") would act as damp proof course (dpc) and raise and level floor, all in one.

It's a flat in the new town of Edinburgh where these tiny cellars are common.

This is what I used:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/mapei-ul...8xXDMJ-0PRKSvKaDhghoCGS4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It says you can apply 3-40mm in a single application. Maybe you can look at its data sheet to see if it works as a damp proof course? Or ask Screwfix, sometimes they would know.

 

[ajsimmo]

Perhaps I should have done a before and after shot of this, but here is the surface with my Veritas 60cm straight edge.

View attachment 141516

Was it easy to get the floor level in all areas? Or did you have to push & spread the mixture around manually?

 

[bp122]

Was it easy to get the floor level in all areas? Or did you have to push & spread the mixture around manually?

Right after you pour, due to the nature of thick viscous liquids in general, they want to spread in a circular fashion. So they won't readily or quickly want to get into corners. That is why it is important to spread them around with a trowel. I bought one with a pointy end at the front, it helped a great deal. Get the biggest one you can find, mine was 450mm.

Trowel is also useful in blending two or three different pours into a seamless surface, as you don't want ridges there.

Once you are happy with the spread, use the spiky roller on a pole to remove any air bubbles. If you leave this step a touch too late, it leaves a few marks, but it doesn't bother me.

For mixing and pouring, I used these buckets. They are on offer from Toolstation.
https://www.toolstation.com/flexi-tub-40l/p79794
The quality is great and are nice and flexible to form a spout when you pour.