Oddly enough I do the same as Perry/

Like I mentioned, I use a straight edge. I mark out the low spots, and float with an 18" trowell,( just the way I was brought up). To me with a screed , I would have mud all over the place, and couldnt get into awkard & small areas .

Rolling it is the whole idea here I use a straight black gas pipe to find any problem areas.

Screeding....go watch some concrete guys some time. It's impossible to get it flat with a trowel unless its a very small area. Ok not impossible, but time consuming when you can simply drag a line of patch across a low spot and your done in one fell SWOOP11

Yep, Mix a bucket. Pour it out at the start of the low spot, and drag the screed across it.

Sometimes it fills it all and your scooping up and putting some back in the bucket, and other times a full 5 gallon bucket doesn't get it all. That's when I mix more and drag it back the opposite way.

I just did 900sq.ft. of laminate, and I used 325# of mud to prep the concrete, with my screed. I would have had it all out of whack worse than it was, if all I had was a flat trowel.

Thin flexible straight edges or 1x4's, can and do bend trying to drag. It ends up scooping instead of dragging flat.

You guys havent seen me in action with a trowell IV'e had a trowell in my hand for over 35 years . I eat dinner with a trowell

Stephen .... Dont you r&r base???

Besides mixing and cleaning buckets, picture 3 is less than 1 minutes worth of work, just pouring and dragging. I've been at this since 1976 and didn't resist change, when I saw the advantage. I saw how much faster and better dragging a screed then troweling, was and made the change.

400 feet of of floor prep @$1 a foot + 125# @$1 a pound and done in 30 minutes.
You lay the wood and I'll do the prep all day long!!

And you use the 18" trowell to eat with right?

I always try and R&R base, some ppl don't listen. Last lady had five bids...all the other guys wanted to just throw quarter round on. Luckily she hired me cus I found termites behind the baseboard when I pulled it.

I'm sorry Stephen, that base question, was directed at Perry. I see we are on the same thinking when it comes to base ! I'm set on that too.


So Perry ! Dont you r&r base??? ( The pictures brought that on, sorry it's off topic ).

And on the screed issue. I give you that one. I guess I'll have to admit for some reason , somewhere down the road, I wasnt willing to accept change on that issue, never to late ! ( I guess I'll have to get a longer truck ! ) 30 minutes ! Dont you think that's exaggerating just a little ?

The original question is what we use to find floor flatness. That is what I use the pipe for. To spread my leveler I either use a trowel or some sort of screed depending on the area. With the self leveler if mixed properly a trowel works perfect I used a screed to speed things up in a larger area but I find the end result is of the same quality.

Just get the 8 ft version, and it will fit in a longbed.

I suggest R&R base where it works out. That was a new home that they had cheap carpet installed to close, and before they moved in, I came in and installed the wood.
Notice how the base wraps and ties into other areas. Making the base step up, where the wood was installed, would look terrible. If there was a doorcasing to terminate, instead of wrapping around openings, it would work.

Most existing homes getting new floors, in random areas, are like that. It would look funny, or your ripping down the existing base, to match.

I have on one job, before I removed the base, I set my undercut saw up and ripped it down on the wall, then removed it and reused it, already cut down.


It is all about the bottom dollar to most clients. It comes out a little less cost to buy and install shoe or quarter round, and they don't have to recaulk and paint the whole baseboard.

I'm a strong believer in removing and reseting base. IMO it's a lot cleaner, professional look, shoe or quarter round looks o.k. on cabinets.
Also like mentioned...I have found termites behind base. Not to mention mold. And solved moisture problems that were not visible with the base on.
Out here, removing base is something the customer prefers, and it seperates me from the other bids that are afraid to do that, and will just slap on shoe, or quarter round.

I will remove the base, clean it up, and run it through the table saw,( that way it's a clean rip), to match up with the rest of the house. At the areas where it continues into tile, I will undercut that, and slide the wood under.

I can r&r base, caulked in( top,bottom,corners,& holes) ready for touch up for the same price, or less, than installers that install shoe or quarter round. Considering the price of prefin. quarter round ( & 7' lengths ),installation, or painting shoe,installation, caulking, and touchup.

A lot of homes out here have round outside corners. Mitred shoe looks like c_ap. Not to mention what shoe or quarter round does to the height and profile of the base. It looks like a weekend warrior installed the job. Can you tell I'm pationate on this subject ?

Who would have thought that such a simple question would elicit such a conversation. All of it is good information.

Well, I spoke with my floor leveling guy. The main guy had to go out of town to bid another job and he had his crew there doing the work. They did a good job but when he came by and looked at it he agreed that there were still a couple of spots that needed to be worked on. They are coming back next week to finish tweaking the floor. I'll see what I end up with after that.

Thanks for the replies.

Jeff

Are we talking concrete or wood substrate? Wood is easy unless it's structural, concrete is a pain. But I have a dustless diamond cup grinder that eats eat up.

Wood. 1x8's diagonal across 2x8 joists 16" OC. I am considering laying 1/2" plywood to help even out the subfloor. Some of the 1x8's are cupped.

A lot of it was structural. I have had a foundation/leveling company working on the place for a little while. They did quite a bit of "moving" things around about 6 weeks ago and we've been letting it settle out since then. They came back a week ago and added some more supports and it still needs a little bit of tweaking. They are supposed to be out this week to do that.

Jeff