Question: My Contractor says "no" to a Self-Leveling Floor Base. Should I?

Ask The Contractors

Question: My Contractor says "no" to a Self-Leveling Floor Base. Should I?

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Here is the question from C.H.:

I have a contractor telling me that I do not need a floating cement system over an old concrete slab before installing tile on the floor.

Is this true?

Well, I haven’t seen your floor, but if it’s an older floor the best way to put tile over an older floor is, yes…

It’s Called Self-Leveling Concrete and It’s Easy to Use.

It’s very easy to use. And, you can also etch it a little bit so that when you put that tile down on its mortar base, the mortar has something to grab onto. Usually, say this as a cement floor in a garage. Well, that’s very smooth concrete. Whatever you put on that concrete, it’s only as strong as what’s grabbing it. In fact, most concrete floors are very smooth. That’s not a broom finish. It’s a very smooth finish.

So I would advise you to put the floating floor down. Again, it’s very easy to do. It almost works by itself. You may have to move it around with a trowel but it does level the low spots in that slab. It’s going to make your tile floor much better, and look much more professional.

Don’t Skip This Step

So, C.H., let me tell you what’s going to happen if you don’t use a self-leveling concrete. You’re going to put a beautiful tile floor down…

“In the summertime, your home heats up…
In the wintertime, it cools down…
Your flooring will expand and contract, and you’re going to have tiles popping up.”
Todd Bird, Host of AskTheContractors.com

…and then all that money you put into that floor will be wasted. And you’ve already paid your contractor, and he or she’s gone down the road. It’s going to upset you when the tiles start popping up.

You want as close to a perfectly level slab so you can get before you put tile, wood, or anything down on that slab. You don’t want a big dip on your floor. Okay? That’s not good.

That’s what I would do.

I Think Your Contractor’s Wrong On This One.

You do need a self-leveling, Floating cement system?

Thanks for the Question, C.H.

If you have a question for me, send it to me.

I want to be your source for information about your home and your home improvement projects. Request an estimate or just communicate with me. I will answer your questions and again, if I don’t know the answer, I’m going to ask someone who has the answers so we can figure out this together.

You’ve been listening to AskTheContractors.com. I’ve been your Host Todd Bird. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll catch you on the next one.