Home DIY

^^ They call it thinset for a reason: it's fairly stable even when troweled on in a diaphanous manner.

^^^ How big is the room? Is the 30x190cm area you mention heavily trafficed?
My experience of self levelling compound is that it rarely selfs levels itself so you probably would not have a problem with a slope if you mix it still enough. It has latex in it so can be laid to a bout 3mm thick.

^^ They call it thinset for a reason: it's fairly stable even when troweled on in a diaphanous manner.

That was my thinking, I've worked with BAL Mosaic Fix before and my impression was that it was very strong.

^^^ How big is the room? Is the 30x190cm area you mention heavily trafficed?
My experience of self levelling compound is that it rarely selfs levels itself so you probably would not have a problem with a slope if you mix it still enough. It has latex in it so can be laid to a bout 3mm thick.

The room is quite big, it was created by adding an extension (now the kitchen) and knocking through to make it all open plan. The area in question is a narrower (1.9m) point between the kitchen and living room (which are about 3.5m wide, so when you step from one room to the other you have to stride the new 30cm gap). Because the floor was laid without enough expansion room it bowed up at the weak point i.e., the narrower section.

I think they used latex self levelling compound before, and stuck the boards straight to it (perhaps to try to prevent them bowing up). The problem is that when the boards did bow up they dragged the latex up and it set into peaks which completely stuffs the levels. I'm now having to chisel it all off the floor. This has set me against it somewhat, but it may well be the right stuff for the job, so thanks for the advice.

Did they let the compound cure properly?

Self-levelling compound is something I know a lot about at the moment, unfortunately (not in a good way). If the drop is actually 5mm you can definitely pour at least some latex compounds that deep but from everything I've read the self-levelling ability of the latex compounds is somewhat overrated and this chimes with my experience. It's no magic bullet. That might help you though, you can also mix it with less water than recommended of course to make it thicker.

If you're worried about traffic/loading exerting on the surface you can get self-levelling compound which is heavy duty and designed to be used as a final surface:
http://www.wickes.co.uk/cementone-cempolay-ultra-s-25kg/invt/226521/

I should point out that I'm no expert and at all and listen to someone else, but just some thoughts.

Did they let the compound cure properly?

Probably not. Bunch of tosspots.

As far as the latex goes, I'm not worried about the depth (it will probably be 10mm in places) it's more the concern that I need it to set at a slight slope. I could mix it stiffer, as you say, but I'm still leaning towards tile adhesive, just because I'm more confident working with it and know that it will hold on a slope.

I have finally solved the mystery of 'why the fuck does my boiler never turn off'

we had to start turning it off completely overnight and keep the radiator heat setting at the minimum (20) when we wanted it on for hot water for months now and couldnt figure out why it was just turning itself on all the time

it has a remote thermostat thing and all the timer settings were input right, turns out that our landlord had a team of guys do all the house around ours exactly the same as ours with new boilers, and left all the pins to set the 'ID' of the control units as the default on all them, so when our unit was telling our boiler to turn off, someone else's would be telling it to turn on

idiots.

I need to fit a new double socket. There's currently a blanking plate in place and wiring behind that. However, whoever removed the previous socket must have snipped the wiring down a bit because it's annoyingly an inch or two too short. There doesn't seem to be any give in the wiring and I don't want to pull too hard as it disappears down behind the kitchen cabinets.

Any suggestions on the best way of extending it? I was thinking crimping a little more twin & earth on but that may make it too long. Anything else, cheers.

I need to fit a new double socket. There's currently a blanking plate in place and wiring behind that. However, whoever removed the previous socket must have snipped the wiring down a bit because it's annoyingly an inch or two too short. There doesn't seem to be any give in the wiring and I don't want to pull too hard as it disappears down behind the kitchen cabinets.

Any suggestions on the best way of extending it? I was thinking crimping a little more twin & earth on but that may make it too long. Anything else, cheers.

I had to do this recently (inside a cupboard, which was monstrously inconvenient). Crimping works just fine and you can cut the extra tails that you're adding to just the right length so they can be pushed back into the wall/backbox when you screw the new socket in place. I put heatshrink around the joints but you might want to double check whether this is actually required (since it's an accessible joint). I also had an electrician test the circuit, which is probably advisable.

Any thoughts on removing seized screws holding up a box shelf... Steel zinc screws. Completely seized. Screw head ruined.

I tried drilling into the screw to get a screw extractor in. 3mm Cobalt bits made no impression, and eventually broke.

So I tried drilling the screw head off with a larger cobalt bit... Barely touched the screw head, just got so hot that the surrounding wood started to burn.

Any ideas? Cheers

Extractor set
You tried this? These are all in one type.

You should be able to drill into normal steel screws relatively easily, were your bits in good condition? Drilling too fast? Sorry if these are obvious questions.

Are the screws some special type like hardened/tempered steel? Not sure why they would be...

We have parquet in the sitting room, and a neighbour is stripping hers out, so we have a load more.

Our hall is concrete, which for the majority of its length is the same level as the floor the sitting room parquet sits on.

My question is, how do I precisely cut back the short slope that goes from sub-parquet level to flush with the parquet?

In the following photographs you can hopefully see what I am talking about:

Could you just lay it as normal and use something like this

http://www.skirtingboardsdirect.com/prod5.asp?prod_id=281&id=281&grpid=281&msg=&offset=#prod_anchor

To hide the mismatched levels?

I'd prefer to have one level to be honest.

I was wondering about some very careful use of the angle grinder to make one long cut just before it starts to rise, then another by the start of the parquet, clear the rubble and then pour self levelling compound.

Wait for that to dry and then bang the parquet down.

Thoughts?

Maybe more along the lines of this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66EaApndk1c

Looks like a shitload of work.

Do the skirting boards run level or are they fitted parallel to the slope?

I need to take the floor down ~18mm at one edge, and almost nothing at the other- not sure that grinder would be that much fun.

Do the skirting boards run level or are they fitted parallel to the slope?

I'll pull them off and put new ones on.

If the time and effort are worth it then I think you're plan sounds solid.

http://www.hss.com/g/30618/Multi-Head-Floor-Scabbler.html

is the type of thing I have use commercially,
but,
the cost suggests angle grinder + time + dust (lots of dust)
is the way to go.

I would suggest a series of longitudinal angle ground grooves approx inch apart
a bit (4-5mm) deeper than needed,
then,
biggest sds you've got, or can borrow, on 'chisel only' mode,
laterally to remove the unwanted concrete,
leaving a really good keying surface for your chosen self leveller.

Next question- what to use to bond the parquet to the concrete?

I was going to use a table saw to take the bottom 1mm off the parquet blocks to remove the bitumin that was used originally.

scabbler, plus remove 12" margin of existing parquet to give reference level (mark the existing blocks so you have a reference for re-laying)

remove a bit extra and use slc to give an even surface (mapei ultraplan is good) that matches the existing parquet sub-base level and slope

for the blocks, a linbide tungsten scraper is a better bet than taking a few mm off the blocks.

sort out your blocks and lay a trial pattern, this can help prevent too large gaps, as more scraping or use of a belt sander and sharp chisel can give good even-ness for joints prior to the messy part

you might want to use a primer and adhesive combo; the lecol pu280 and 5500 adhesive are decent products.

once primed (2 coats), vacuumed and adhesive trowelled down, lay the existing blocks a row at a time and gently tap home, build up a row at a time and work along the hall at a reasonable pace.

there will be gaps, and high and low spots, can all be filled and sanded once the floor is fully dried off (24+ hr). for filling, a mixture of fine block sanding dust and lecol duo-fill can be used

these activities and materials create a lot of nasty dusts and vapours, consider having somewhere else to sleep for the weekend

it is a bit of a faff, but once done, sanded and polished, a parquet looks and feels great

Extractor set
You tried this? These are all in one type.

Yeah - was trying to drill a hole into the screw for the extractor to go into.

You should be able to drill into normal steel screws relatively easily, were your bits in good condition? Drilling too fast? Sorry if these are obvious questions.

Are the screws some special type like hardened/tempered steel? Not sure why they would be...

Bits were brand new. Screws normal steel. Probably drilling too fast - drill has only one speed. Hadn't thought of that. Cheers.

That set I linked to has hardened drill bits; either way good luck with the project.

I imagine using a scrabbler, it would be a good idea to notify the downstairs neighbours lest they think the apocalypse has arrived.