LA3222 Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 (edited) How 'polished' should the slab be? Contractor is saying that it doesn't want to be too polished if tiling etc direct onto it? I know that powerfloated slabs are difficult to bond to, but wheres the happy medium? Edited March 28, 2020 by LA3222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 Bull floated should be fine if you are tiling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 1 minute ago, Mr Punter said: Bull floated should be fine if you are tiling. Rog ?they're out there now doing it and asking me if I'm happy?♂️ In my mind, the powerfloat was to iron out any bumps/uneven spots and to 'seal' it as such so dont get concrete dust coming off it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 I had a good finish on my slab but I wouldn't have described it as dust free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 (edited) This is where it stands at the minute - I have no idea if it's good or not other than to trust the contractors! Edited March 28, 2020 by LA3222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 14 minutes ago, vivienz said: I had a good finish on my slab but I wouldn't have described it as dust free. Same here. I sealed our slab with diluted PVA, made it a great deal easier to sweep up dust, shavings etc. Ours was powerfloated pretty much dead flat, and we have a mix of large format travertine tiles and bonded bamboo flooring (the latter stuck down with Sikabond 95) fixed directly to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 Strange that it looks a lot worse in the picture than when stood outside looking at?♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 If you are tiling it needs to be flat, so check it with a long level and some packers to see. If you can easily slide a 5mm packer under in lots of places then it may need a fair bit of levelling compound. Localised bits the tiler will get over. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 35 minutes ago, LA3222 said: How 'polished' should the slab be? Contractor is saying that it doesn't want to be too polished if tiling etc direct onto it? I know that powerfloated slabs are difficult to bond to, but wheres the happy medium? It doesn’t make any difference for tiles Though most commercial jobs that I price are including Ditra matting in the spec 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 Remember you will have lots of internal walls, so your big area you are looking at now will be broken up into smaller bits just remember this when putting a straight edge on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 At least you got it done congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 The tiler that laid our 600mm x 400mm honed and filled travertine spent half an hour going around with his laser level to try and find the highest spot, apparently so he could work from there to get the level right. He gave up after faffing around for that time, saying that he couldn't find the highest spot as the whole slab was within a couple of mm of being dead flat. Made his life a lot easier, apparently, although it did mean that I had loads of tile adhesive left over, as he ended up using a lot less than he though he'd need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 Our slab was power floated and it was out of level quite a bit which created a lot more work for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted March 29, 2020 Share Posted March 29, 2020 Finished pics today @LA3222 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Oz07 said: Finished pics today @LA3222 It's all covered over at the minute, they didn't finish till late evening when it started getting dark and out of concern for frost I covered it asap with frost blankets while had a bit of light left (it was a rubbish job - windy as hell and I had to deploy the head torch!) Weather here is it's own beast and seems contrary to general forecasts?♂️ Its crap weather for next couple of days so I'm just gonna leave it covered for now, will pull it all off when the sun comes out next week and get some photos up. Seemed ok to me but then trying to judge things like 'level' is nigh on impossible with the naked eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 Standard wind for round here - absolute PITA at times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 Great weather for a kite if not for getting any building done. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 Ahhhhh....here I am searching for the same answers you asked a year ago @LA3222. ???. Did you end up ok in the end? What mix did you use by the way? Hoping to do this next week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted January 26, 2021 Author Share Posted January 26, 2021 (edited) Yeah slab was fine bud. If I remember rightly it was C28/35 mix. How are you getting on? Edited January 26, 2021 by LA3222 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 25 minutes ago, LA3222 said: Yeah slab was fine bud. If I remember rightly it was C28/35 mix. How are you getting on? We have cut level now, so stoning up today then surveyor tomorrow to set out profile boards and then cut drainage and ducts in. Hoping to have the profiles down and all sorted by early next week. You'll likely see a flurry of questions come your way. ? Did you line up the profiles get it all right then take them out 1 by 1 and spray the soudal low extension foam between all mating faces? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA3222 Posted January 26, 2021 Author Share Posted January 26, 2021 Get the corners where they need to be and then fill in from there. I assume you've got low expansion foam, I tended to use as little foam as possible, just enough to securely grab the adjacent blocks. The pins are crap. My biggest issue was the lengths of my long walls are nearly 20m that was alot of blocks. If the gap between blocks is 1 or 2mm by the time you get to the end you're out by 20 to 30mm. I had to fill in from the corners and then trim a block to suit the last gap as you go. I glued as I went. If you make a mistake its easy enough to re seperate the blocks by cutting through the join with an insulation saw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 Power floating even dead smooth won't entirely prevent dust coming off it...and dead smooth will make it harder to use a penetrating sealer (impossible if its also waterproof concrete), and a topical sealer will struggle to bond well....you'll need a specialist powerfloat sealer like Watco (https://www.watco.co.uk/products/watco-powerfloat-sealer). I'd think the advice with a dead smooth powerfloat would be to scarify it to get a bond to it so unless you want the powerfloat as your finished floor why aim for dead smooth. Regarding dead flat, I believe on-the-day conditions will always be a factor in what can be achieved powerfloating, particularly for large areas. One observation from mine; pump out any significant rainfall thats trapped in there....1cm deep water across the area will be much deeper when pushed by the concrete all up to the last corner where the last concrete gets dumped, so that concrete's consistency will be significantly affected and its readiness time for power floating. Powerfloating doesn't really redistribute significant amounts of concrete as it can only start once the concrete is hard enough, so if it hasnt already been tamped and levelled well powerfloating won't then solve levelling issues. I'm no expert, especially re' tiling but i'd think if anything it's better to put tiling adhesive onto a bull floated surface than a smooth powerfloat. (I repeat, i'm no expert) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 14 hours ago, LA3222 said: Get the corners where they need to be and then fill in from there. I assume you've got low expansion foam, I tended to use as little foam as possible, just enough to securely grab the adjacent blocks. The pins are crap. My biggest issue was the lengths of my long walls are nearly 20m that was alot of blocks. If the gap between blocks is 1 or 2mm by the time you get to the end you're out by 20 to 30mm. I had to fill in from the corners and then trim a block to suit the last gap as you go. I glued as I went. If you make a mistake its easy enough to re seperate the blocks by cutting through the join with an insulation saw. Thanks @LA3222 I keep looking to buy a trade pack (as per previosu advice) of the soudal low expansion foam but just cant seem to find it quickly on a google search - even struggling to see just soudal low expansion foam, lots of other types from them but not that, albeit it mentions it specifically on there website. My walls are also 20m long (I only have 6m width on main house) so good info at this stage! Need to add an insulation saw to my list! 12 hours ago, mvincentd said: Regarding dead flat, I believe on-the-day conditions will always be a factor in what can be achieved powerfloating, particularly for large areas. One observation from mine; pump out any significant rainfall thats trapped in there....1cm deep water across the area will be much deeper when pushed by the concrete all up to the last corner where the last concrete gets dumped, so that concrete's consistency will be significantly affected and its readiness time for power floating. this is helpful for sure, as dead flat is my aim, not so bothered about dead smooth as it's not the finished floor. The water is a good wee bit of info - I'll make sure it is as dry as can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 https://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-soudafoam-expanding-foam-gun-grade-750ml/5026D?tc=QB7&ds_kid=92700058176434284&ds_rl=1249416&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmL-ABhDFARIsAKywVacK71IQn6iPOYVtNhzHe6Wdskv2v7pb0Z5RXE9kJt_DDYVrCBn6hpwaAnnREALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 6 minutes ago, mvincentd said: https://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-soudafoam-expanding-foam-gun-grade-750ml/5026D?tc=QB7&ds_kid=92700058176434284&ds_rl=1249416&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmL-ABhDFARIsAKywVacK71IQn6iPOYVtNhzHe6Wdskv2v7pb0Z5RXE9kJt_DDYVrCBn6hpwaAnnREALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Thanks - just can't seem to find a trade pack of this? all the other types but not this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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