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Q.
I am renovating two rooms into one family room in our basement. When I removed
the wall separating the rooms I found that the floor in one room has about 1
3/4 inches of concrete and tile on top of that. The lower room is 8' x 12' and
the higher room is 10' x 12'. What is the best method to level my floor?
A.
The first thing I look
for in leveling a basement floor is just how out of level is the entire area.
Often in an older home, the basement floor is concrete that is sloped toward a
floor drain. Even if this is not the case in your home, the basement floor is
rarely nice and level. In some cases the entire house has settled and shifted
so that the floor above (the basement ceiling) is also out of level. You will
have to decide what is important to you; do the ceiling and floor need to be
completely level, or just in parallel planes?
To determine how your floor stacks up, use a builder’s level or rotating laser
level to mark a level line around the room. Measure down to the floor (and up
to the ceiling) to see if this dimension is the same all the way around the
room. If it is not, find the highest point (the shortest dimension from your
level line to the floor) and plan on bringing the entire floor to this point.
Make sure that doing this will not adversely impact doorways and ceiling
heights.
To do the actual leveling, you will need to build up the low areas with
concrete, mortar or leveling compound. In your case, to raise a large area 1
3/4 inches, I would use a pea gravel concrete mix. You will need to place some
temporary screed boards with level tops set to the correct elevation for the
final floor height. You can then pour the concrete and use a nice straight 2 x
4 to drag across the tops of the screed boards to bring it to level. After the
concrete has set, remove the screed boards and fill the gaps with more concrete
or mortar. Before placing any material, make sure the existing concrete is
clean and free of paint or old adhesive. Use a bonding agent over the entire
area.
Depending on how you will cover the floor… carpet, vinyl, tile or laminate
flooring, you may want to use a self-leveling compound over the entire floor
after bring it generally to the same height. This type of compound is mixed and
poured over the whole floor, and will add another 1/8 or 1/4 inch to the
floor’s elevation. If the tile you mention is irregular or loose in places, you
may want to remove it before you start the leveling.
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