Uneven Concrete Floor
Information, help and solutions to many issues encountered when converting barns and older buildings

8 posts   •   Page 1 of 1
SheepLady
Labourer
Labourer
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 1:10 pm

Uneven Concrete Floor

by SheepLady » Mon May 11, 2009 3:13 pm

Hello, I've read a lot of the topics but I cant find the answer.

We had a new floor laid with all the insulation and everything about 2 years ago. This is a slow ongoing conversion!

Our new builder has mentioned that the floor is totally out - it goes up about 2 cm in the middle and wavers up and down across the rest of the main room - and also on this and the other 2 rooms there are swirls across left from when they tried to level it when laying. The rooms are approx 15'x15' and 18'x12' and 15'x12'. We intend to have a wooden floor (from thick old pine planks we've had for years), maybe carpet tiles and maybe stone tiles... so all floors need to be pretty level. We also do not have any spare height to play with really as our ceiling is 2.2 now, without any flooring finish. (Unless there is a screed we could use that could be very very thin. The highest point of the floor, therefore the least screed needed, is right in the busiest walk through area.)

I'm trying to find a company in Yorkshire that can do this for us - or our builder has offered to do it if we hire the equipment. I spoke to one company who does this work, but they and others only seem to do commercial properties. This man was very helpful though and told me we'd require a scabbler and a grinder.

Can anybody point me in the right direction as to what to do? It would be much appreciated...

Thanks a lot...[color=darkblue][/color]

bd3cc
Foreman
Foreman
Posts: 323
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:02 pm

by bd3cc » Mon May 11, 2009 10:01 pm

Self-levelling compound should bring the low points in your floor up to the same level as your existing high point.
A scrabbler would take your existing high point down to your lowest level. or a combibation of the two would be somewhere between.

SheepLady
Labourer
Labourer
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 1:10 pm

by SheepLady » Tue May 12, 2009 4:37 pm

[quote="bd3cc"]Self-levelling compound should bring the low points in your floor up to the same level as your existing high point.
A scrabbler would take your existing high point down to your lowest level. or a combibation of the two would be somewhere between.[/quote]

Thank you - just one other thing. I've found a company that hires scrabblers but dont know which to go for bearing in mind the high point is the centre of the 20'x20' (mistake before saing 15x15) so not that large an area. There's a "Multi-Head Scabbler - Air" which is very expensive to hire, but probably does the job very quickly and efficiently - but is it too big for what I want... or there's a "Low-Vib 1 Head Pole Scabbler" for a sixth of the daily price. Can you please tell me what each is good for? It's actually over 1" too high for 6'x6' tapering down.

I do really need this high point taking off.

Thank you very much

bd3cc
Foreman
Foreman
Posts: 323
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:02 pm

by bd3cc » Tue May 12, 2009 11:41 pm

If you have a high point in the middle, which I think you do from your description, I would level from 0mm at the edges, and see what you have left in the middle, then choose a machine.
You couldl ask advice from your hire company.
I would suggest that one machine would be more labour intensive, and the other less so.
So depending on who is doing the work, they may work out at roughly equivalent costs.
Ask your builder which machine he needs, and his costs for operating it.
Essentially I would get the floor as level as poss., from the room edges, working towards the centre and see what is high and deal with that later.
Maybe not much help, but without seeing and levelling it is diificult to offer exact instructions, but there are ways to overcome most building difficulties.
Would like to hear how you progress
HTH
bd3cc

acsimpson
Foreman
Foreman
Posts: 213
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:33 pm

by acsimpson » Wed May 13, 2009 1:06 pm

Good luck with your floor.

I wonder if some one could advise me what would be best to do with my garage floor?

My builders have done a fairly poor job laying it and it runs up slightly for the final 3 feet before the door. The came back and ground down the run off so that it now ends under the door but still outside the seal.

They have argued that as it is a garage floor it is good enough and that if I want a good finish I should do it myself. I have now given up arguing the point however I'm not sure what to use to screed the floor.

The highest point is at the back of the garage and I can't raise the height of the floor below the door by more than a couple of mm or the door won't shut. Is there a product which I can use to easily bring the bottom of the run inside the door up to the level of the door or ideally get a nice finish and gentle run all the way from the back of the garage to the front?

Thanks

Acsimpson

SheepLady
Labourer
Labourer
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 1:10 pm

by SheepLady » Wed May 13, 2009 6:55 pm

[quote="bd3cc"]If you have a high point in the middle, which I think you do from your description, I would level from 0mm at the edges, and see what you have left in the middle, then choose a machine.
You couldl ask advice from your hire company.
I would suggest that one machine would be more labour intensive, and the other less so.
So depending on who is doing the work, they may work out at roughly equivalent costs.
Ask your builder which machine he needs, and his costs for operating it.
Essentially I would get the floor as level as poss., from the room edges, working towards the centre and see what is high and deal with that later.
Maybe not much help, but without seeing and levelling it is diificult to offer exact instructions, but there are ways to overcome most building difficulties.
Would like to hear how you progress
HTH
bd3cc[/quote]


My builder doesnt have any experience of these machines - he's more your stone builder and I'd prefer really to keep him doing that - and although we'd feel perfectly happy letting him get on with it, I was going round in circles with what I had to hire. At last, I've found a company who will come out and do the job, so I've booked them for a day at the end of May. To be honest, my builder can do what he is best at - and this company will also do what they specialise in. We'll see then if we need a screed...

So, thank you bd3cc - hopefully others may benefit from this posting...

fencesllove
Apprentice
Apprentice
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:30 am

by fencesllove » Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:37 am

I suggest that one machine would be more labor intensive, and the other less so.

TheDoctor4
Project Manager
Project Manager
Posts: 16777203
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Somerset in the UK in Shepton mallet

Help from DIY Doctor!

by TheDoctor4 » Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:14 pm

If you would like to find a reliable, insured and vetted tradesman in your area why not click through to the Find a Tradesman area of DIY Doctor: https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/find_tradesmen/ , complete the form and receive up to 5 FREE quotes

8 posts   •   Page 1 of 1
It is currently Wed Mar 27, 2024 8:41 pm