The son of an interior designer, Rob was already painting walls and hanging wallpaper at 14. After assisting the family interior design business and building two homes of his own, Rob has been working as a freelance writer since 2010, specializing in flooring, remodeling, and HVAC systems. Rob is also a pastor, serves on the Church Board and continues to give sermons. He is married to Diane, and they have 3 kids and 2 grandkids.
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Floor leveling compound is a versatile product that has many applications for leveling and finishing concrete floors. There are two types of products given this name, and while they are very similar and the names are often used interchangeably, there is a minor difference:
There’s more detail below in the discussion of the Types of Floor Leveling Compound that you may use in a kitchen or main living area.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover what these materials are, how to use them and the best floor-leveling compound to buy from your local home improvement stores.
This material combines strength for permanency with the level of liquidity necessary to be finished with minimal tooling or none at all.
While each floor-leveling compound Home Depot and other sellers offer has a unique mix, there are two ingredients they share, Portland cement and polymers/plasticizers. The combination gives concrete the compressive strength of thicker traditional concrete and the ability to hold together even when poured in a thin layer of material and used in the following situations:
Any bag of leveling concrete you purchase will include clear instructions. To prepare you to gather or purchase what you’ll need, here is a list of tools and supplies:
You can find a floor leveling kit at most home improvement stores or online. The 7-piece Kraft Tool self-leveling tool kit with 15-gallon barrel is just one popular kit. It is currently available at Home Depot for $149. It does not include the drill.
The amount of floor-leveling compound you will need depends on the size and depth of the dips you’ll be filling or the thickness of the topping you plan to install. This is a rough guide based on leveling 100 square feet to various depths:
This calculator features TEC brands only, but brands of leveling compound are very similar in their coverages.
Always buy more bags of mix than you need, so that you can finish the job while the compound is still wet. Most DIY installers are surprised at how thin the material seems to be when mixed in proper ratio to water. This is common. You’ll be equally surprised at how tough and durable it is as it thickens and cures.
There are many good video tutorials online for pouring, spreading and finishing floor-leveling compound.
Read the directions from start to finish and follow them carefully. Most include these basic steps for how to use floor-leveling compound that requires the use of tools:
If you’re using self leveling compound on your floor, then your biggest concern should be to not pour out more compound than is required to fill the space. If you do, excess can be scooped up with a flat shovel or dust pan and deposited in a pail.
As noted above, we’re discussing two products, one a subset of the other:
Floor-leveling compound is any mix used to fill low areas and imperfections or add as a topcoat to existing flooring. Unless the product is labeled as self-leveling, it will need to be worked with tools as outlined above. Consider these pros and cons of a leveling compound that must be finished with tools:
Self leveling floor compound is much easier to use because it does not require tooling when installed as underlayment and only minor tooling when it is the finished floor. This material is also commonly called self leveling concrete and self leveling underlayment.
Here are some of the best-selling floor leveling products, their cost and common places you can find them:
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