DIY SELF LEVELING CONCRETE FLOORS!! $1 per square foot 

I've installed more than 1 million sq ft of Ardex K-15 self leveling underlayment in New York city rehab projects. Hat's off to you for thinking of a new way to dispense the mix, although it has some bugs to work out. On big projects we used a concrete pump and gauge rakes set to 1/4 inch to guide the mix where it needs to go. We then went over it lightly with a long handled type of float to break the surface tension and allow it to flow better. Once it cures you are always going to get tiny hairline cracks that are actually mostly a cosmetic issue, and not a structural problem. It should be sealed with a clear water based matte urethane because it will continuously dust off and you will always have it on your feet if you don't. These materials were designed to go under finished flooring, and not to be the actual floor.

That slurry will form fine cracks overtime, despite having been protected with a sealer. It might not do anything to the floor structurally considering it's a single storey house but it will be visible. Now, if you want to prevent that, lay down a layer of fine mesh (preferably a fibre mesh instead of a metal one as the latter would expand when the concrete sets, creating uneven waves) before pouring in the self-leveler slurry. The mesh will provide tensile strength, preventing any cracks from forming on the floor...

This works great as a floor underlayment, but it is going to crack. Cementitious products will lose moisture over the next few weeks and continue to harden and shrink and creep. It's just the properties of products themselves. This is why sidewalks have joints in them and why slab on grades have saw cuts typically 20-25 feet on center to allow cracks to form along that joint. Over the next few weeks you'll likely see spider cracking. It doesn't mean that it is falling apart, Mike may make it a feature. Hopefully it doesn't delaminate and start popping off, but the bonding agent that Mike laid down should help with that. Like I said, it's primary application is an underlayment for floor so you don't care if it cracks because a wood floor or tile is the main surface. I'd love to see a 1 year follow up on this floor and especially the countertops since I have less faith in those holding up over time. I can consider myself an expert with knowing concrete, I am a structural engineer so I know a whole lot about concrete. I also sometimes get asked questions about cementitious products like this to help architects spec floor underlayments that will work with their finishes.

This isn't what this product is designed for, there are cold joins everywhere which will fracture and crack and there are no expansion joins anywhere. He should really do a update video in a year to see if it has cracked through the doorways, cold joins and see what damage the floor has received from general use

Nice job guys! It looks great. I have a 70,000 sq foot 1927 five story office building. The floors are cement, but poured in small sections which are not level nor flat. Fine for carpet, but we wanted to change to wood (laminate planks). I am just a DIY, not a contractor, but I have done a LOT of these pours (200 to 2000 feet). The first step is we grind down the high spots at the corners and edges of each original pour. Then I like to use this self leveling stuff. It is SIX TIMES the cost of regular cement, but it flows like thick soup. It does NOT in fact self level all that well. Especially if you do it like these guys did, in large pours. The thing is, it sets in a flat amount of TIME, not by drying out (it is a chemical reaction), and that time is just a few minutes. You do not really have time to fuss with it, and if your next bucket is not ready pretty quick, the earlier pour will set before your next pour, and it will not be homogenous (you will end up with dry seams instead of a continuous pour). So, there are a couple of tools we use. One is the beveled cement float (like a push broom for shoving around cement)(A gage rake probably works too). This is used right after you pour a bucket to get it into the corners and edges quickly (time is of the essence). The second tool is the spiked roller (think pinhead on a 18 inch wide paint roller). This is used to QUICKLY smooth it all out and blend the different pours and pop any bubbles (careful not to push it too fast or it will spray cement all over your walls and pants), and do not overdo it, once the cement starts to set, it is game over. The shoes with spikes are cool if you need to walk into it and hit a corner and not ruin your sneakers. Also the cement dust while you are pouring the bags and mixing is very irritating. If doing it outside is not practical (limited time before it sets), set up a place inside (with a heavy drop cloth, it will make a serious mess A CEMENT MESS). I usually have 3-5 people to do it. Have a big trash can of water and a 10 quart bucket with a slot cut horizontally at the 6 quart level so you can quickly grab exactly the right amount of water (the water added needs to be precise). So I have 1 guy on the half inch mixing drill at the bucket, another guy pouring the dry bag into the bucket, and a 3rd guy holding the vacuum with a cyclonic dust extractor (DustDeputy). After the bucket is mixed, a 4th guy will bring it to active room, and pour it out. The final guy then uses the float and pin roller to blend it into the ongoing pour. Have 2 or more buckets in circulation so you can do it assembly line fashion. Note that it sets up and coats the buckets as you go (I can only imagine his trash can thing and spout getting clogged), so having a few extra is nice so you don't get hardened clumps in your pour. Do be sure to wet mop the floor and then put on the primer (like he says, 1 time 50% diluted and then 1 time full strength). The directions say to use a soft push broom to apply, but a cheap paint roller seems to work just as well for me (make it thick, a 3rd coat is not wrong). If you are sloppy with the primer step on an old floor, it will wick out the moisture too fast and in the morning you have a cracked useless mess to chip up and redo. f you don't tape the edges, it will flow right under baseboards or drywall (or cabinets or doors). DO not skimp on taping and sealing where you to NOT want the liquid cement to flow. Caulk cracks in the floor or it may flow through (to the floor below you). Also I can say from experience, this self leveling stuff is rather soft so do not expect it to be a walkable top coat. In fact the manufacturer's website is very clear NOT to leave it as the final surface, it is UNDERLAYMENT, although it is pretty, it is NOT durable, and a thin urethane coating will not make it suddenly durable (note however that there are professional self leveling mixes that ARE certified as a topcoat, but the ones I have found require an authorized installer to buy it).

This is excellent. I've donethis to a floor with 5 gallon buckets and it was extremely tedious. This set-up is fantastic. I made the mistake of letting part of it dry too much before the next pour, like he did. Really imperative to have the next batch ready to go. Definitely best to have someone mixing while you pour.

You could just… pour it on the floor from the buckets…

I just called the company that makes this stuff & they said it is only to be used as an underlayment & not for an exposed concrete floor. They said because of pressure points it will crack. I also called a concrete specialist about doing this & he said you need at least 3" of concrete to get to the necessary PSI. 1/4" or co will crack & possibly shatter like glass. I'll be curious to see how yours holds up over time.

We in the UK use a large spiked roller like a paint roller but with spikes, it gets the floor level and breaks any lumps up. Funny video good job

I used the Sika brand stuff as an underfloor for my office corner. The floor was really uneven and this helped to even my floor, but its not perfectly self-leveling on really uneven flooring. You're better off troweling it and spreading it manually to get a flat surface. I can see the transition from each pour so you won't get a consistent color. I found several uneven areas once it was done and filled the low areas with some floor patch in the flooring aisle at Home Depot. I put some vinyl planks over the floor and it looks okay. If I wanted a perfectly flat floor I should have put plywood under the vinyl planks. My only regret is not insulating my floor because it gets really cold in the winter since its directly on a slab of concrete.

used the same sealer and yes, freaky slippery. after about 3 months of walking carefully use and multiple vinegar and mrs meyers mops, it's normal smooth. rugs still slip around and need rubber pads tho.

This is interesting but what is the plan when someone drops something heavy on it and cracks it in a spot? Chip up a square of it and re-pour? Just use filler in the chip/crack?

I dont understand all the hate. For a two person job I really don’t see the suggested comments where they say it should just be “directly poured on floor” working out. Too many seams with walking back and forth and opening bags etc. I think this was an excellent way to build a tool that saved your back, your time, and a lot of headaches running around trying to prevent a seam from each bag. Great job

Just when I think you can't do anything better you go and outdo yourself. Well done my friend.

His actual project cost of the level quik rs is $1440 from home depot at $36 per bag. The extra bucket and mixing tools add more to the total. He could have bought regular thinset for $12 dollars a bag and spent the remainder on italian carrera marble tile if he knew what he was doing.

Wow! I may never do this, even though I'd like to on my basement floor, but still...WOW! Super Cool

this looks like it worked a lot better than I would have thought. Use a spike roller next time, it would have made a huge difference

That is a great looking floor. I love the Granite look to the texture.

Personally I think the result looks rather great! Especially for the price and effort. I’m usually sensitive to messiness but I don’t view the different patterns as messy, they replicate stone to my mind and feel more natural than a perfectly uniform colour would

Cool effect. I definitely like it. Use a decoupling membrane and go into this with the understanding that it will crack. Either treat the cracks as a "design opportunity" or just leave them as character. If you're doing this over a slab you definitely need a decoupling membrane because the existing slab will pull the water out of the skim coat too fast and ruin the whole job. Once again, a decoupling membrane would mitigate this issue as well. They are like little waffles so they give the pour something to grip, which helps prevent cracking too. You could hose down the slab but who wants to do that in an existing house.

Wouldn't direct contact with porous material(wood shelves, wood kitchen cabinets, and drywall) cause moisture to be pulled out of the concrete? Or, future wicking of moisture between the two surfaces?

Hey just a thought. What do you think about adding a slanted platform at the bottom of the trash can so that it funnels into the pipe eliminating the waste at the bottle 👍🏾 great build tho looks like it made the process a lot easier great job looks fun too -bwash

I have been wanting to repave my recording studio and I might actually attempt this

Hi I have expansion gaps in the concrete in my basement. Do I need to fill those before doing the self level concrete? If so what would I fill it with?

Looks awesome man!

Ben and you killed this. The device is clever maybe just needs a few tweaks. One bag at a time will never come out as smooth. DIY should be inventive and fun. Things go wrong but that’s how you learn and improve. It’s just a floor if you don’t like it you can clever it and self leveling concrete is the perfect base.

Sliding in socks on floors is my #1 hobby!

Just asking to ask would sanding the bedroom fix the blending issue? Or were areas you sanded the bumps nourished with the sealer

How has this floor held up? Do you know if you did actually get a 1/4”? Or if it was thinner? Thank you! Great job btw..

The house I bought had 44' of drain line replace as a condition of purchase and the previous owners didn't level the floor in the kitchen and hallway when sections of the slab repoured. They then threw ceramic tiles down which began cracking right away. Temporarily used about 30 tubes of Fix a Floor and at least the tiles hold in place. Eventually all must come up; the slab underneath probably looks like the moon.

That came out really good! I wasn’t expecting that cool looking pattern

Nice job! It’s always a learning experience as you go and definitely would build a 2nd jig to fill and use when your first one is empty. If not putting flooring over the concrete applying an anti slip treatment is always an option. 👍

This was SUPER PRO mike! You're the OG for dope projects!

Hey! Love your content. I'd love to see your take on a diy murphy bed entertainment center for small spaces. Maybe an Idea for the future? Thanks!

Holy moly, this is a perfect video of exactly what not to do!! The seams, the using the wrong material that will end up cracking very soon! this floor will have to be completely redone in just a few years. If you take anything from this video its not to copy him at all.

Floors look awesome mike!!!!

I'd love to do this on a subfloor - meaning to say I have a crawl-space - that isn't already concrete and instead is plywood based floors with carpet on top. Wonder if this would work?

I really like the swirl pattern. Can you tell me how durable this floor is? How is Ben’s floor holding up? Interested to see future updates.

that looks amazing i love it!!!!

Do you replace the spout between uses, or are you able to wash it out in time?

Would you suggest doing this in a house that is out of level? I house that I just bought is structurally sound. However, foundation level it's not within "tolerance". I'm thinking about using this cement to level the flooring.

Disclaimer : don't try this at home. Especially not if you're thinking of putting down glue down vinyl. You will have so much extra prep work flattening out all those nice twirls he made _ and sorely regret each little lump you didn't fix or missed after a few months.

Hey Mike. It's been almost a year. Any issues with cracking?

Great finish 💯

Which do you think would be strongest and longest lasting option: RS Leveler, ReCap, or NewCrete?

I love this series to much 😎

That was really cool. I could see myself doing that some day.

What was your prep work to the walls / sheetrock? We're wanting to do something similar in a closet and bedroom.

I'm curious if I did this if it would be suitable to lay floor tile on, or if a better bet would be laminate planks. I would rather lay the tile honestly but I wouldn't want loose tile later. I know laminate floor will sit atop foam and won't be bothered by cracking or too-thin material

I think if/when I attempt to do this, I’d also use a spiked roller to blend the seams, as well as pouring into the wet cement instead of pouring onto dry cement

Could you get the same results by just pouring the buckets on the floor without building the trash can pourer?

hi I need to level out a basement floor but it looks like the corner where the concrete was originally poured is very high. I’d say it’s about 4-5 inches higher than the rest of the floor just in the one corner. Is grinding my best option or should I look into pouring self leveling concrete or both?

How long after completing the project did you apply the sealer?

Very cool idea to make short work of pouring and spreading! I have a question about expansion gaps. Did you leave any gaps for expansion? I understand that there will be some shrinkage as the concrete cures, but I wonder if leaving an extra gap is still necessary.

Biggest problem you made, is that the leveler you used isn’t rated as a wear surface. You need to use something like Mapei M20 plus or their Ultratop

The slide was impressive!!!

Hello my friend. I have a problem in my concrete works: I make concrete slabs, but these slabs curl (pend) when dried. Do you have a solution for this problem? Thank you

Interesting. I’ve never seen an overlay product last very long without heavy prep done prior to installation. Im sure with the minimal foot traffic you can get decent life out of this though. Im interested in seeing a follow up video. Also, look at penetrating sealers if you are looking for something that isn’t slippery. My floor is polished up to an 85 DOI and I can’t slide on it.

Thanks for the video! I have used this Self leveling product from Home Depot and I like it - Worked perfectly

would this work on partially outdoor slab? I have water intrusion issues with a slab that wasn't properly leveled, it mainly comes in at one corner of a 16' swinging door

this cannot be done on houses with basements right? the weight and the concrete might seep out?

I've been trying to figure out what was in our old house which had a thin concrete floor on the 2nd floor... I imagine it was similar to this, but over a beefier plywood subfloor than usual. It was manually textured and then sealed. For all the naysayers, house was built 2002 and as of 2023 there were only some small cracks where nail heads in the subfloor had popped up.

Put the strainer screen on the opening of the trash can for pouring. That way, you can avoid clumps clogging the pipe. Think of it like drinking a Slurpy through a straw: chunks would get stuck at the pipe, limiting the flow.

I like it, came out nice.

I’m curious if you considered adding as many bags u can to the hopper and then you have a longer pour? I’m seriously considering doing this in our house in south Florida.

I love the video. But can you say how much water you added to the concrete to get that consistency?

Did you add wax to it to extend the life of the sealer? There's a video out there that recommends 1 to 6 coats of wax.

I’ll admit, it came out really good 👍

That's why you're supposed to use a spike roller to adjatate the concrete to make sure it blends

Any suggestions on how to minimize the slickness of finished flooring for the indoor space?

Looks cool but is missing joints to prevent excess cracking. Another thing you can do on top of existing concrete is semco you don’t have to add joints and they have colors that look like concrete

Hello Mike, I just finished doing my Sunroom with my wife and her girlfriend. We had a lot of fun doing it. It came out awesome in my old house. My question to you is after you put the sealer on and lived with it were you happy with the sealer. I thought I'd wait several days before I put the sealer down. The contraption worked great I went with 11/2 inch pipe as Ben recommended.

In 1976 when I was 9, there was a thing called the immaculate contraption. I am now looking for the plans for that device!

Back in 2000 I did a 23,000 Sq ft floor with ardex K-15 and really could have used this. Two guys on mixers, two on squeegees and one using a floor dolly. It was a very long Sunday, 17 hours! But it was double time at $26/hr!

How long do you have to wait to lay down the low luster sealer?

in theory could this be done and then laminate wood flooring be put down over top?

You know, they make a special type of mixer for this sort of application. It is basically a 55 gallon drum held in a steel frame with a gimbal and a heavy duty mixer built in. This way you can mix several bags at once and the entire drum rotates to pour out the cement as needed. It is sooo much easier and faster than mixing in five gallon buckets. The cheapest versions cost around $1500, but you can usually find a place to rent one for $30 - $40 dollars a day. In CA there is a company called CONCRETE RENTALS and they rent one called the "HIPPO - Mixer" $150 for three days or $300 for a week. There are far cheaper rental options but CA...

Every time a new modern builds video drops: 1. Click the thumbnail 2. Reduce volume by 50%

Also, seeing how incredibly talented you are, you should also modify the cement container once more, by creating a slanted bottom on the inside of it, so that the wet concrete naturally channels down into the spout, so you don't have to lift the container at the end. Amazing job!

I don't quite "get" Self Leveling mix because whenever I see it poured in a video, it flows to somewhat level, but not really level. It seems to easily retain many areas thicker than others, similar to trying to trowel icing smoothly onto a cake: about impossible. So my question remains: just how much variation and obvious layering appears when it's done and and dry? For example, could a linoleum floor really be added on and lay flat? Doesn't look like it to me.

What the load rating on this stuff ? I've got an uneven garage floor idea like to level. Will this hold up to a car driving on it too?

You could buy a long elastic slug maybe a bit wider in diameter not the average water hose and or you even could use a water hose too and later wash out with water bc this material was really fluid. The same big bucket, outside the house, 1 guy mixing the material one guy helping to handle the hose and 1 is pouring much precisely . You just have to put the bucket high enough that the material can leave.

I think a cement-look ceramic tile large format would have been the way to go, you also could have had floor heating

Will you be putting floors over this or is this the final look. It’s something super inexpensive & it looks great .

I like it. As a Contractor (but not a Concrete Contractor I must admit) I have issue with some of the comments in the thread. Self leveling products shouldn't crack due to just the curing process. Possibly spider cracks if you don't keep the top surface moist enough for the conditions. No control joints necessary and, with the thickness being so minimal, they would be almost impossible to install anyhow. BUT, the existing cracks/control joints (of the original slab) will transfer through over time. How soon is just dependent on the movement of the original slab. The self leveling product isn't flexible so there is virtually no way to keep this from happening. At least as far as I know. If I am wrong, please let me know how to correct this as I would love to have the answer. As far as delamination goes....a better connection between the original slab and the overlay would be to mechanically abrade the slab (grinding). A disclaimer - I have done that and it is a PITA if you don't have the professional equipment. Believe me, I know because I didn't when I did an Epoxy flake in my parents garage for a gift!

Would love some updates over time on these.

Someone help me understand: that thin layer over that really smooth surface wont result in the new concrete top to crack and break with as littke as walking on top of it? I trued this in my garage, with about 2 inches thickness. When it dried, i lift from the subfloor and walking on in immediately broke it. What am I doing wrong? Someone help please!

Keep making. God bless.

noticed that you didn't put a straight edge to demonstrate the flatness... how did you gauge that you hit your desired depth?

Question, would they crack or pit with heels 👠 foot traffic?

How did you make sure that you poured 1/4 in throughout the house?

you mentioned how slick the new floors were. Do you think you could sprinkle some kind of aggregate on top as they were curing?

How does the concrete not set up ln the spout and clog?

Watching you with that contraption gave me a good laugh. Why not use a squeegee or something to distribute the self leveler?

That slide! :D

i do self leveling for my job sometimes its super easy lol. but this could be interesting lol

How are the floors after a year? Any cracks?

You could add a light aggregate to the clear to limit slipping

Can you do this if your house has a plywood subfloor over a crawlspace?

I wonder if you could acid etch, stain, or die this stuff like normal concrete floors. I am about to remodel my old, dated, and janky basement into something more modern.