I am currently fishing my basement. I just started last week, I am installing a bathroom, I just got done breaking up the concrete and installing the infloor pluming and reconcreting. My question is, I need to level the floor, the high spot is in the middle of the room, is dosen't slope towards a drain, its just slopes down 1 1/2" from the center of the room to the wall. I know it will look horrible if I tile it "as is". What material should I use to level it with? It will need to be strong enough to support a whirlpool tub. I know regular redi-mix concrete whould not be strong enough, and will crack and possible cause tile damage. I also was told not to pour concrete over concrete, not sure if that's true but, that's what I heard. I was at home depot and saw a concrete made for high strength, would this product work? Or is there a better option, thanks for any input.

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Originally Posted by mjr0112

I am currently fishing my basement. I just started last week, I am installing a bathroom, I just got done breaking up the concrete and installing the infloor pluming and reconcreting. My question is, I need to level the floor, the high spot is in the middle of the room, is dosen't slope towards a drain, its just slopes down 1 1/2" from the center of the room to the wall. I know it will look horrible if I tile it "as is". What material should i use to level it with? It will need to be strong enough to support a whirlpool tub. I know regular redi-mix concrete whould not be strong enough, and will crack and possible cause tile damage. I also was told not to pour concrete over concrete, not sure if thats true but, thats what I heard. I was at home depot and saw a concrete made for high stregth, would this product work? Or is there a better option, thanks for any input.

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Wherever the drain is located, a slope needs to be leveled toward it. This can be done by using a drill roto hammer with a chisel tip to knock down the high area. If the area is so large such that it amounts to a lot of square footage, then a jack hammer with a chisel tip might be the best way to go. Renting a huge cement drum sander to finish out the rough surface can be done if there is a rental shop that has one. (Setup plastic sheet walls to contain the fine cement powder and use a respirator mask for your protection.)
Another alternative method is when the tile is going to be laid down, build up a thick mortar scratch coat to slope down to the drain area. A 1/4"thin scratch coat at the high areas will be adequate to hold the tile in place. A sanded mortar grouting is normally for wide spacing between tiles for flooring in general. Narrow grout lines of 1/8" are not typical for a floor unless the tile is a mesh backed configuration. Nm

I really don't want to remove more concrete, I would much rather add concrete to bring floor level. I would need to take 1 1/2" out of the center. I just got done taking up some concrete to install pluming. If I sanded down that far I would run into wire mesh in the floor at about the 1" mark. Also that would be a large amount to remove. The bathroom is going in a 7x15 room in the basement, there is no drain in this room in the floor, there is only 2 drains in the main part of the basement.

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Originally Posted by mjr0112

I really dont want to remove more concrete, I would much rather add concrete to bring floor level. I would need to take 1 1/2" out of the center. I just got done taking up some concrete to install pluming. If I sanded down that far I would run into wire mesh in the floor at about the 1" mark. Also that would be a large amount to remove. The bathroom is going in a 7x15 room in the basement, there is no drain in this room in the floor, there is only 2 drains in the main part of the basement.

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Hi mjr, So from what I understand, the bathroom is only going to be a part of the 7x15 basement floor. A fair size bath, WC and lav will fill a 5 x 8 room nicely. I take it the bathroom will be wall and door contained also. If this is the case then leveling would be less of a problem especially for having a tub and toilet that will cut down on needing tile in those areas. We are saving labor time and materials by doing just that and resolve the high spot leveling problem. Do you visualize what I am describing? A floor plan description would help. Nm

Just a little update, after doing a little research, I looked into self leveling underlayments. I went to a local masonary supply company, they had a product called Super flowcrete, it met all my requirement (6100psi after 28 days, can aply it up to 2" thick). I ended up using 5 bags, the product worked great, I would recommend it to anyone. It is a little exspensive, (23.00 a bag) but for the convience and function, it is well worth it. Thank you nmwirez for all you input.
Matt

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Originally Posted by mjr0112

It is a little exspensive, (23.00 a bag) but for the convience and function, it is well worth it. Thank you nmwirez for all you input.
Matt

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Hi Matt,
Great going. Maybe if I ever do flatwork again, ;) I will remember your answer. :D :D nm

We have an old basement floor. The concrete is thick in some areas and very thin in others. Recently we have had moisture come through the floor and we need to fix the floor. What is the best and cheapest way to do this? Along with that we need to redo the walls as they too are allowing moisture down them. We have black mold in our basement and had sick children from this. Please help

MammaT. Please don't piggyback your question onto another different question. You have many different issues to address.

My basement hallway is concrete and it is not level... All the other rooms are finished.
I would like to know how I would put in a false floor and put a type of board and then finish with a
Laminate floor... What do I need to do?

Thanks

John Stewart

Doing a raised hallway floor may not work well with existing other room levels adjoining the hall level. More detail description of how un-even the hallway height level is compared to other areas.