How To Level A Cement Floor In The Basement

Happily enough leveling uneven concrete slabs has an easy fix that won t sacrifice your headroom.

How to level a cement floor in the basement.

Step 4 mix and pour the self leveling material. Place a healthy amount of concrete leveling compound into a container and mix it to a thin consistency that you can work with. Use only a inch layer of the compound to level. To level concrete floors start by cleaning the floor and filling in any cracks or holes with concrete filler and sealer.

Then mix a self leveling agent with water in a large bucket and pour it over the surface of the floor. Use expansion tape to lay a perimeter around the basement floor. Pour it into the hole or snaking crack and smooth it out with a putty knife so that it is level with the rest of the floor. The tape should lie at the edges of the concrete floor where the ground meets the wall at a right angle.

This tape is helpful both at leveling the compound in the next step and at strengthening the new surface of the floor. With larger tiles the acceptable differential is a mere 1 8 inch per 10 feet. Then go over any particularly high spots with a concrete grinder so they re level with the rest of the floor. When you re finished spread some concrete leveler primer over the floor and let it dry until it has a tacky finish.

With small tiles the maximum differential between the lowest and highest point on the floor is 1 4 inch per 10 feet. Use a squeegee or trowel to spread the self leveling agent around until the whole floor is covered. The material flows out like thick syrup then hardens into a smooth perfectly level surface sometimes in less than an hour. To level a basement floor start by removing any furniture and appliances on it and then thoroughly cleaning it.

Let this dry thoroughly before you apply a stain sealant or paint. Thinning it in a bucket made it easy to just pour some on the floor and roll it out with a 9 rough nap rollerto spread it aiming for a nice even coat. This stuff is a little tricky it s dry and ready to go in a few hours but you want to lay the concrete within 24 hours of priming or they recommend re priming. If an engineer found no structural issues you may be able to level the floor by applying a cement based self leveling floor product such as henry level pro self leveling underlayment available.

The easiest way is to use a self leveling compound also called liquid floor underlayment or floor resurfacer within sections of level cut rails.