I am having bamboo installed next week and on Tuesday will be removing about 1100 SQF of carpet and tile under carpet.

It is not until then we will know if we need to do leveling but the installer believes that the concrete should be ok.

If it is not fine our installer does not do levelling and I wanted to ask if anyone can recommend a levelling person in S Cal? Alternatively I might purcahse some Ardex if it is not too bad and do it myself? Has anyone tried that themselves?

I have yet to meet a concrete slab, that didn't need some sort of scraping, or filling a low spot ot two.

Do you have something long and straight as an arrow?
Your going to need it to check for high and low areas, that are in exccess of 1/8" in 6 feet. or 3/16" in 10 feet for bigger areas.


Here is a substrate that the homeowners thought was flat, until I showed them the specifications, and exactly just how out of spec it really was.

This isn't all of it either. I still have a lot more to fill in that room before it is ready.

The installer says he has all of the tools for scraping and checking if it is level. He said though that if it is not level we will need to get someone to do it. It seems to me that with some Ardex it would not be difficult to patch up the small bits but anything significant would be different and I'd need to get someone in?

thanks,

Nathan

Floorguy's a leveling/patching artist. He makes it look easy and it ain't. Takes lots of practice and skill. I know because I have to do it from time to time and I always get frustrated with it. You need to KNOW the product and what it's going to do BEFORE it does it. That's my problem. I'll monkey with it too much before it's dry enough or mix too much and waste some. I can understand some installers not wanting to deal with it but I wouldn't lose a job over it. Fortunately, I got a buffer, edger and hardplate to sand my screw ups and make it just so, which is what I usually need to do.

If it is just a small amount isn't Ardex ready to go? It seemed Ardex would be better to apply in smaller amounts becuase of the quicker drying capabilities?

I guess my main question is what sort of company shuold I try and find in the yellow pages to do floor levelling?

Thanks,

Nathan

ARDEX is great stuff, but SD-F Feather Finish comes in small 10-lb bags, One 10-lb bag cost me $16, now.

I started using Mapei PlaniPatch, which comes in 25-lb bags for the same price(less if I buy it in bulk from my local distributor). If I have to just skimcoat and not really fill, I'll use ARDEX, but for filling, it is PlaniPatch, which you can walk on in about 20 minutes, even poured thick. This lets me get more done and not standing around waiting for it to dry, so I don't mess it up, pulling my next drag across wet patch, digging it out.

They have the plani patch in plastic buckets here floorguy .. lot better then the bags . i use a 20" cement trial , and throw a fan on it .. i use a 10 ' board like you do to , and mark the low spots with a crayon..