Three Simple Steps to Level Floor Nirvana

Step 1: Do this. 

(I think I forgot to mention that I had problems with the two-by-four I was using so I grabbed a handle-less hoe I had around and used it as a trowel. I am just like MacGyver!)

Step 2: Put a gallon of adhesive/primer on your floor where you will apply the self-leveling concrete and spread it around until you realize that you are just a little bit short, then run to home depot and buy something that looks similar and hope it works the same as the stuff you bought from the professionals. Oh, and don't forget to tape a box to the wall where water and ceiling parts are falling on the floor because of your leaky roof!

Step 3: Have your friend, Ramsey, do all the skill work while you hand him buckets of concrete mix until you feel like you are going to die.

That's it!

Step 4 (optional): make it more difficult by taking Andrew to work in the middle of the job and by breaking the cord of the mixer by turning it on while the stirrer is submerged in concrete mix that is too thick to churn. 

I repaired the cord with wire connectors and electrical tape, similar to the way it had been repaired previously, when someone else had made the same mistake. Ramsey didn't seem upset that I was destroying his equipment.

This photo was taken after we spread the adhesive around. I labeled all the little things I had to do, in case you are curious!

The floor isn't perfect. It sets fast, and you ("you" means "Ramsey") have to kind of keep it in place while it sets. Even after I added the bottom layer, the lowest part was in the middle, so everything tended to flow to the middle of the floor. It think it would have been easier if the high point would have been in the middle.

Also, as you may be able to tell from the photo above, the floor is deceptively uneven. The Lowest point where the drain was placed is in the middle East to West, but only a couple of feet South of the main room. And the lowest area is also shaped more like a trough than a circle, roughly going from the door across about three-fourths of the floor. And, overall East to West, it waves like the letter "W", with two mini-troughs running North and South next to each other. I fixed a bright string where I thought the concrete should end up on the far wall at each valley of the "W", and then could pull the string over to the main floor and see how level it looked. I was glad I did. Ramsey thought he had it very level but the string showed us that we were off, and Ramsey had to push and pull material to get it closer.

By the end, I was very impressed with how well Ramsey did.

Ramsey was already two-thirds of the way done before I realized I hadn't taken any photos of us pouring the cement around. By the time I did, the concrete to the East was already firm enough to walk on, and Ramsey was spraying it down regularly with a water bottle.

We mixed the Novoplan thicker than the thinnest recommendation, which allowed Ramsey to use a trowel. He was accustomed to using one. But, the Novoplan can be mixed so that all you have to do is move it around with a squeegee. That is what I wanted to do, but I think it would have made the floor more uneven, as I have no idea how I could have possibly mixed the concrete fast enough to just pour it and then push it around.

In the end, I used 23 and a half bags of Novoplan, typically mixing a little more than half a bag of concrete mix and water in a bucket at a time. We used two buckets, trying to keep the mix flowing. Each bag has 45 lbs of concrete mix. I used six bags of the other concrete mix before the self-leveling concrete to get the deepest trench filled in so the Novoplan wouldn't have to be more than an inch and a half deep.

Andrew mixed a couple of buckets of Novoplan, as did Gideon. I did the rest. I point this out in attempt to get the reader to both feel sorry for me as well as think that I am really, really tough. I am so tough that I developed a nasty blister and popped it before I had the presence of mind to put my gloves on. (It is important to remember that this anecdote shows how tough I am, not how stupid I am.)

This photo was taken almost exactly an hour after the one before. As you can see, it doesn't take long for the concrete to cure enough to be very, very firm. 

The highest spots of the floor seemed to be in the Southeast and Southwest corners. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would probably instruct Ramsey to push the self-leveling concrete mix to all the edges and corners. We didn't do that, which little ... shorelines, for lack of a better term ... about an eighth of an inch up from the original concrete.

So, I bought a little corner trowel (ignoring my hoe blade) along with some Rapid Set Cement All. The Cement All said it could be feathered. I went around where I thought there would be little bumps in the carpet or where it would be difficult to lay down the tack board, and feathered out from the shorelines. I filled in some holes from the previous tack board, too.

Its too bad we don't live in Timbuktu, so I could say "In Timbuktu I did tack board, too." That would be really corny and really cool.

It seemed to work really well. I mixed the mortar in a discarded milk jug I had cut in half. I want to clean anything but the trowel.

Fixing the edges with Cement All.

I did the Concrete feathering Saturday evening. All that morning and afternoon, Susan and I worked to finish patching and sanding and painting and do some of the little things to get ready for carpet. I had to get the add-on room completed before I could do the finish concrete work. We also had people to drive around.

I was very grumpy. I felt stressed that I couldn't get it all done. I publicly apologize to Susie.

We bought more paint and were able to get it all done after a tough but successful day. Andrew again helped out after work, which also helped a great deal. At the end of the long day, I drove to SLC and picked up Miriam and some neighbors after their final two performances of The Little Mermaid.

And, I think it has all been worth it. Yesterday, the carpet dudes came by for the last time!

Flat. Fluffy. Beautiful. Like a Kansas wheat field.

Last night, after Joshua's basketball game, I started moving furniture back. Here is what I pulled out of one of the little love seats we have in the basement:

I don't know how long the carpet will last. I've already found blue candy stuck in the carpet. But, I will enjoy it for now! 

Many of us take our shoes off in the house now, and I like that. Marcus refuses to take his feet off when he comes in from the outside, though.