How to Self Level a Floor

[Music] just recently I converted my porch to this Four Seasons room I insulated the walls put in the state-of-the-art windows so that I could use this room year-round now it's time to deal with the floors I want to put in something that will blend with the rest of the house and insulate the room from the coal that's coming through the existing floor not too long ago I installed a prefinished oak floor and my kitchen I love the way it turned out and I want to use the same product out here here's my game plan first I want to level the existing concrete then lay down a subfloor and finally install the prefinished oak on top the existing floor is made of precast concrete pavers laid out a concrete slab now the existing surface is very uneven and before I can lay anything on top I'll need to flatten it out I decided to try a self-leveling underlayment a sort of concrete slurry that I'll pour on top to make sure the underlayment will bond properly I'm going to use a latex primer or bonding agent I apply it first around the edges with a wide paintbrush [Music] then mop it on the rest of the floor I've asked Matt Brandon Eddie product specialist with custom building products to drop by and give me a few tips on how to get the best results he suggested I set up a production line for mixing so I've pressed a few friends in the service water is poured into a five-gallon bucket then the dry underlayment is added and mixed using an electric drill [Music] if you need to add a precise amount of water to mix a dry material you can create a self measuring bucket by simply boring a couple of holes on the side when the water reaches the prescribed level the excess simply runs out guaranteeing a consistent quantity each time since this material sets up in about 20 minutes it's important to mix and pour in a more or less continuous operation Scott keeps blending the ingredients while Charles carries the buckets into the room by itself it's nice about this product is it's very non labor-intensive it does all the work for you I start at the lowest point the material is sort of like a thick milkshake and it naturally seeks its own level each bucketful flows into and blends with the one before creating in effect one continuous pouring that can be as flat as the surface of a pond [Music] now I suppose it's obvious but there's one bit of advanced planning that's crucial I need to finish up near a doorway a few strokes from a garden rake gets rid of any lumps or voids well this turned out great and as you can see it was really simple to do I've got a flat and level floor now just a couple of little problems got a hole right here I think that's caused by the material flowing into a hole or a break in the grout underneath and then a little Ridge line running down here I think this began to set up by the time we poured this so I'm gonna fix those right now this is another type of underlayment used to smooth and prepare floors for a variety of floor coverings instead of water I'll mix it up using an acrylic additive again with a drill [Music] the material is trialed on and can be feathered out to a very thin edge without the risk of chipping or cracking [Music] [Applause] [Music] well the floor is flat and level now I could put a floating floor system out here right on top of what I've got but I want as much insulation value as possible and the product that I'm going to finish with is a nail down wood strip so I'm going to install a subfloor and I'm going to use this material right here it's called dry core it's chipboard with a moisture barrier on the back comes in two by two foot squares it's got an interlocking tongue and groove edge and as you'll see it goes down very easily I start by placing a spacer strip along the wall and setting the first panel in place few taps with a hammer and block of wood interlocks the tongue and groove edges at the end of the first row I measure to the wall deduct three-eighths of an inch for an expansion gap then cut the panel on the table saw [Music] this tool called a pull bar drops into the gap between the flooring and the wall by hammering on the striking surface I can drive the joint together when putting down individual panels or planks like this it's important to stagger the joints so I begin the second row with a half panel [Applause] with no nails glue or mastic to slow me down I'm almost finished in practically no time at all [Music] once the subflooring is down I remove the spacer strips leaving an expansion gap all the way around the room [Music] the subfloors down now I'm ready to install the hardwood flooring I'm going to use this product right here it's called echo strip it's solid red oak pre finished and it's only five sixteenths of an inch thick now in a room where I'd be putting this on top of existing flooring that could be really important because it could allow for a very subtle transition from the new floor to an adjacent room but what I really like about this product is the finish it's guaranteed for 20 years and I'm going to have quite a bit of traffic in this room so wearability is really important to me I brought all of the falling into this room about two days ago because they wanted it to acclimate to both temperature and humidity well I think I'm just about ready to get started since most walls are somewhat irregular I'm creating a straight reference line along which I'll lay the first row of Florrie after measuring out an equal distance at both ends driving in a couple of nails and stretching the chalk line I snapped the mark now even though I've never had a problem with deafness I'm putting down a plastic vapor barrier to make certainly underside of the new flooring will stay dry I run it up the wall about three inches overlap the seams and seal the wood duct tape [Music] now this might look a bit messy but by emptying a full box of flooring I can sort through and layout planks that give me the color grain pattern and lengths that I want I place the edge of the first plank along the line I made earlier the lines visible through the plastic vapor barrier then nail through the face of the board tongue-and-groove joinery locks the ends of the planks together and helps anchor them in place to finish off the first row I measure the remaining distance then trim the last plank to length I cut the piece a bit short so there'll be an expansion gap between the floor and the wall the groove along the edge of the second plank engages the tongue on the edge of the first from now on the fasteners will be invisible this special gun drives staples through the base of the tongue at an angle the staple heads themselves will then be concealed by the next plank [Music] in this demonstration you can see how the stapler works a fastener driven in this way also has much more holding power than one driven in straight [Music] this plastic tapping block helps me close up the joints before stapling the [Music] pull bar that I used on the subflooring also it works well here as I'm finishing up the room I use the pull bar in a somewhat different way by placing blocking against the wall and inserting the bar between the blocks and flooring it works as a lever to close up any open joints [Music] finally I install baseboard to conceal the expansion gap between the edge of the flooring and the wall you know I really like this not only is this floor good-looking but it's going to help insulate this room from that concrete underneath and hey what's not to like about a finish that's guaranteed for two decades

Channel: Ron Hazelton

Views: 884,844

Rating: 4.7474766 out of 5

Keywords: level a floor, floor leveler, how to level a floor, level, floor, ron hazelton, DIY

Id: OzqJKpBwXwg

Length: 11min 42sec (702 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 19 2020