This video is gonna share tips on how to self level bathroom floors.
We’re going to show you how to properly prep the bathroom floor, and also how to pour
the self leveler to get great results.
After removing a tile floor I was left with thin-set mortar residue on the surface.
And I often get asked how to remove this.
I recommend using an angle grinder and diamond cup wheel along with some gloves and a dust
shroud to cut down on the dust when we remove the thin-set.
Also, sweep the floor so that you don’t have any debris that’ll be kicked up by
the grinder.
Then dampen the wood subfloor with a sponge.
Also, use the handle that comes along with the grinder to control the grinder.
As you can see here, it’s a really great tool combination to remove thin-set off the
wood subfloor.
I also used a joint compound knife to take any of the excess residue off the wood.
Then just simply used a sponge to clean off the rest.
If you want to take this process to the next level and keep it safe, you can plug your
grinder into a HEPA vac, turn the HEPA on, it’ll also turn the grinder on at the same
time.
And the dust shroud combined with the HEPA vac, really does a great job of cutting down
on the dust in the room.
You can also still dampen the wood subfloor and I do recommend that because it does help
keep the environment nice and safe.
But this is a critical step in prepping your floor for self leveler.
I then used a shop vac to pull up any of the dust on the wood subfloor and make sure it
was ready for the next step, which was to apply feather finish to it, I’ll explain
why in a moment.
So you want to mix up one part water, use a measuring bucket for this.
Pour the water into another bucket, then add two parts Feather Finish to the water.
So two parts Feather Finish, one part water.
Then use a standard drill and a mixing paddle to mix the Feather Finish up to the right
consistency.
That’s really important.
Then you can use a steel trowel to apply the Feather Finish in between the seams of the
plywood panels.
We’re doing this because this is going to ensure the self leveler doesn’t go into
any adjacent rooms.
So just apply the Feather Finish in between panels and over top any screws or nails that
are penetrating through the wood subfloor.
These are the directions that Ardex recommends for using their self leveler.
So we’re going to get into that a little bit later on.
But as you can see here, I filled in all the seams, all the screws with the Feather Finish.
And the nice thing is, this takes about a half-hour to hour to cure.
So it doesn’t take that long to use.
I then Great Stuff in between the bottom plate and wood subfloor to seal any gaps.
This is really important because what it does is seal the bathroom floor and ensure that
the self leveler is going to be contained in just this space and not any adjacent rooms.
So simply just go along the perimeter between the wood subfloor and bottom plate.
And then you can also use around any drain holes in the floor or toilet flanges.
And this is oddly satisfying.
Once the Great Stuff Cures, you want to mix up Ardex P51 primer and pour this over the
subfloor and the Ardex Feather Finish.
You can use a stiff bristle brush to work this into the subfloor, this is a critical
step because if you don’t use primer over a wood subfloor or even a concrete floor,
it’s possible that your self leveler won’t bond properly to the substrate.
So make sure you don’t skip this step and use a stiff bristle brush.
You can use a broom like this or even a cement brush and allow the P51 primer to cure.
These next several steps are really important.
I used a Newborn Caulking gun to apply silicone between the subfloor and Great Stuff.
This is an insurance policy that 1) the self leveler will be contained to the bathroom
floor, it also ensures that the sill seal will bond to the silicone.
Sill seal is the pink stuff I’m applying to the bottom plate and the drywall.
This is about an 1/8 inch thick, I’m just stapling it every 16 inches.
And what’s nice about this is it provides you with the necessary expansion and contraction
joint along the perimeter.
Then what I did was place a level on the wood subfloor and found all the uneven spots.
You can then add some screws into the wood subfloor as height indicators for the self
leveler.
This will help you determine if you added enough self leveler to the floor.
So you need to do this around the bathroom floor.
Then once again, shop vac the entire bathroom floor.
We’re going to be using Ardex K22.
I also used the Collomix AQIX, it’s a really awesome device that automatically adds the
necessary amount of water to the bucket, in this case 4.5 quarts of water for one bag
of K22F.
So you want to add the water first.
And then I used the dust extractor from Collomix as well as their mixer.
These are two awesome things that cut down on the dust.
I added the K22F to a bucket, so you want to mix up your first bucket here.
As you can see, that dust extractor is awesome.
And then mix it up per the instructions.
You’re shooting for a nice creamy consistency.
And having a dedicated mortar mixer for this really helps out.
So you want to mix up your first bucket, let it sit there for about two minutes.
And then mix up your second bucket.
You should be mixing up multiple buckets because this is going to help you with all of your
pours.
So at least mix up two buckets at a time.
And then I started in the shower area and poured the self leveler around the shower
drain.
And then worked my way out of the bathroom.
As you can see here, the process goes pretty quick.
And then you want to agitate the self leveler either with a spiked roller or squeegee.
This is really important and sometimes people skip it.
They just think a self level is going to level itself, and it will to a certain extent.
But you still need to agitate it.
So I used the spiked roller first and then I also used the squeegee to help out with
that process.
So hopefully these tips help you self level your bathroom floor.
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Take care and have a great day.