DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi, I'm going to be using some self levelling compound soon, before I lay some porcelain floor tiles, but have found two sorts. One has latex added and the other doesn't. What does the latex do and is it necessary, as its alot more expensive

Hi AndyB,
Depending on what surface you intend to level it may make a difference, Latex will both strengthen the mix and provides a limited degree of movement capability in the sub floor. Ideal for use when covering sound timber floors. If it's concrete use the other stuff.
Hope helpfull
KB

Hi, thanks for reply. the self levelling is to level the concrete floor from a new extension to the original floor of the house. The new concrete floor isn't that far out but it is quite rough in places. A problem I might encounter is that the original floor was covered in tiles which were stuck down with a bitumen paint.This paint is still on the surface of the floor, so would the self leveller stick to this. Another point is that the latex self leveller is around £20 a bag whereas the plain leveller is around £7 for same size bag. Quite a big difference in price really

Hope this thread is not totally dead as I have the very same problem! Though there is already water based self leveling compound filling in the gaps created by tiles lifting when removing the vinyl sheet flooring that was laid over the tiles.

What did you use in the end?

Cheers
Ste

Hi my daughter has asked me to lay a new tile floor over an existing quarry tile floor. It seems a sound floor. We are unable to remove the old tiles as the Kitchen units are standig on them. Is self leveler a good start after Pva do i need to add PVA to the self leveler. I have not laid a floor for 20yrs but it is still good.

Terry

why on earth would you want to lay tiles over quarry stones?!? cuh, some people ;-)

if the tiles are sound and level then you could tile straight on top, no need for an intermediate.

if not, then levelling compound. and i'd be inclined to use a latex primer rather than pva. you can buy admix for the self leveller, which i believe will make it into a latex self leveller anyway.

best advice is to follow the instructions on the packet for the levelling compound, all the information you need should be there. always best to follow manufacturer's guidelines.

If you type the key words of your question into our search box to the left of the site you may find the answer is already posted or is in the DIY projects section of the website. Every post goes through a monitoring process and using the search box may speed up your answer.