Resurfacing Concrete Floors with a Self-Leveling Skim Coat 

I have been installing concrete microcement overlays for about 20 years and I can tell you that self levelers are without a doubt the one that takes the most experience and skill to pull off properly. Everyone thinks you can just dump and leave it like in this video. If for yourself and you dont care, then fine but for a paying customer this will never fly. Those pour lines end up being ridges and youll get discoloration from pour to pour especially if your water content isnt the exact same from mix to mix. You HAVE to use a gauge rake to pull it all even and then quickly smooth out with a trowel or magic trowel/squeegee to tie in your pour line and have to work FAST. Every load must be mixed the exact same amount of water or youll get color shifts from each bucket. Self levelers will also develop a bunch of tiny micro-cracks, no matter how well you prime and even if you use low water content.

its great to watch your videos, as you explain things. You may not get the results all watchers would like, but the process is key. Way to go! Doing a overlay is not a easy job for one person, yet you somehow managed to pull it off. 2-3 people needed..One mix, one to use a magic trowel/squeegee to mix the line patterns you are getting, and if you want to color it, someone to sprinkle the color powder. There are so many companies making overlays from super cheap to stupid expensive. I have tried about 6 brands to make samples, and they vary in 3 groups...some are just like this, one color putty mix, and some are more like a gray concrete that dries with some concrete characteristics in shades.

this video should honestly be titled "how to mess up every single step of self levelling concrete"

Good that you showed problems that emerge when pouring by yourself. There are too much vids when you see perfectly done things in ideal scenarios

Super excited to see all of the changes to this house as this series progresses! That floor pattern is so organic. Really surprised by how much I like that! 🤩

Great video. I really appreciate you showing the mistakes as well as the victory.

Thanks for sharing your learnings so that some of us can avoid the same mistakes. The two bucket tip is ace.

Great tips about the mixing, dry spots, and lumps.

Nice video, very informative. It's important to learn from mistakes, thank you for sharing!

Nice job and that’s exactly what it looks when a wave washes up and the sand joins together we’ll put and a little extra water makes a big difference and that’s a great idea pour into another bucket to check mix thanks

Great video. Thank you for showing us your mistakes and workarounds.

Nice video. I used LevelQuik RS and the matching primer. It was my first time and I had a similar experience. After 12 bags I learned quite a lot: The recipe on the bag makes a dry mix that doesn't flow enough to actually level. Especially in dry California. I talked to a pro tile-layer who uses the same everyday and he uses a way way wetter consistency (like 20% more water), and no problems. I'm usually skeptical of people who say "I never read the bag, always done it this way, my daddy taught me, blah blah", but he was right, even just a little more water made everything better. I could take my time mixing without worrying about it being too dry by the time I poured. And the lower viscosity made it flow so so so much better. I'm not one to deviate from manufacturer instructions, but since you had success with a wetter mix, I wanted to back your video up with my similar experience. Last thing people should know is that it doesn't fair-out like caulk or wall compound does. You can only spread it so thin before it looses its cohesiveness and you're just rolling tiny balls of grit around. It's best if you put it on thick, all the way up to vertical walls. It's not so great for skimming over a shallow low spot. If you're covering it afterward you might not care about surface finish, but it will tend to break up and turn to dust where it's very thin. Your mileage may vary! If someone disagrees with my method, that's fine, mix how you would like to! I'm just sharing what worked for me. That's what DIY RU-vid is all about!

I'd love to see more progress on your remodel :). Also, I like that you show where you failed, but then took what you learned to make something really cool.

I've made the same messy mistake while helping some friends w their new house haha I freaked out instead and we tried to rent a concrete grinder 😆 thanks for this video! It made me feel better about the mistake and giving the product another shot on my own floors.

thanks for sharing the 'fail' portion.. that is the best lesson :D

Learning is a frustrating process!! Good job! Great idea with the two buckets verification part...

For future furniture components give high strength grout a try. Its considerably stronger, may cost you far less & once you get the timing down you get a sense of when you can remove pieces from forms yet stil work the surfaces for say burnishing, carving, detailing etc. A very experienced boss told me about that when explaining how he cast all of these specialized pcs for a winery's venting system using custom cast pcs, it was very trick.

No spiked roller or spiked shoes?

Have you ever thought about consulting a pro, or even the manufacturer before putting out bad info like this? You could have had such a better time and better results by having a 5 minute call with someone who does this everyday. For anyone watching this: 1. NEVER alter the water amount, just change products based on your environment. 2. Spending $100 on the right barrel, mixing drill, spreader, and smoother will result in better installation and results. 3. Although it’s self leveling, it needs to be smoothed or agitated using a spike roller to break the surface tension. This is a must. 4. This product is not meant as a wear layer, there are other products that can hold up to surface wear. Also, applying a penetrating sealer will not change the look, and protect against staining.

Oh man - I felt those stress levels at the start! End result looks great and will pocket that advice of pouring into a second bucket to test before pouring!!

It's always a good idea to make sure there's water in the bucket first...then poor the bag in thirds I to the bucket, while mixing and adding water. Round 2...you knocked it out of the PARK!! NICE!!

They make matte concrete sealers with no gloss that will prevent things from soaking in.

It is very important to read directions. I used this as a complete beginner and had no issues. It worked perfectly, with one pour. I could tell on your first pour that not enough water had been added. It's supposed to be runny so that it will seek its own level, like water does. Also, it's not meant to be the finished floor so it may not hold up over time.

Never empty an entire bag into the water because youll alwaysbhet dry clumps. Mix 2/3 of a big and ensure all of the edges are scraped in, then add the final 1/3 once youve got a wet mix. Same when mixing plaster..

Nice video. Glad you figured out the process after a hiccup. Mahalo for sharing! : )

On self leveling concrete, you do it backwards. Usually we pour concrete powder first before water. In self leveling we should put water in the bucket first then the concrete powder based on what it says in the packaging. In this way youll be able to eliminate the unmixed chunks in your bucket when you pour it down. But hey this is a really nice content. Kudos to you. You earned my subs. 4 thumbs up

You need to rake (special rake with 1/8" - 1/4" gap with floor) the surface while pouring. This would have gotten rid of both the bubbles as well as the color variation.

Previous scene. Oh cool he put shoes back on.... Next scene with no shoes and feet covered in concrete. Why???? Did you start mixing the bucket and decide to kick off your shoes?

Haha. Yeah everyone’s first concrete experience alone usually goes this way. The fear of “running out of time” and having your product set up on you. Key is remain calm, and be smooth. Everything is in the prep. Smooth is fast. At this point I can do all concrete projects but when I first started I felt like I needed to be the flash of concrete work. Gave me so much anxiety. Looks good brother

Curious. How is the floor holding out? Did it crack or flake like some of these commenters said it would?

Why would you want the concrete flooring flush with the tile instead of actually putting down tile, wood or carpet?

Been working with self levelling for 30 years clean buckets are essential if not more water is needed don’t try too do more than you can cover larger areas larger buckets are best even better have a hand mixing cleaning while you go 👍

I have installed more than 2 million sq. ft of self levelling cementitious underlayment for rehabbing commercial buildings and a few residential projects. We usually shot blasted the floors with a Blastrac machine to mechanically etch the floor and to remove surface contaminants. We applied a latex bonding agent to the concrete to adhere the topping to the concrete substrate. Temperature is very critical for these materials, and we used ice cold water on hot days to slow down the material from flash setting. Our most commonly installed product was Ardex K-15 in foot traffic areas and Ardex K-500 where there was wheeled traffic.

You were missing a very important tool , Its a roller that has spikes .That roller will take the bubbles out and blend the cement together.

I recently resurfaced my garage with this stuff. My findings were similar, where the mix needed more water and I ruined the first could of pours. I ended up misting the wet concrete with water to even out the swirls. It went OK. I need to do another coat with these lessons learned, though.

This surface will not wear nicely. SLC will not last uncovered. It just isn’t like real concrete, it will start to abrade and sand will come out of it. At that point it will wear very fast. Maybe if you’re always barefoot on it… I would look into at least a surface hardener which doesn’t change the look but might keep this together longer.

Thank you so much your video helped me alot

oh man had to chuckle when that first clump plopped out. The end result looks nice though

Nice job.

Great video and information 🙏🏽

Nice Save Ben, hope your feet are ok.

So satisfying 💪🏽🇺🇸

Run a 9 inch high speed angle grinder with a segmented diamond tool (floor grinder} over the leveler with the wave pattern, it semi polishes and burnishes the surface and leaves a unique circular pastern then apply a concrete sealer

Helpful advisr, thanks

This is crazy how the video showed up in my feed. I was talking to my wife about this and Viola

Thanks! 👍

I never imagined leaving self leveling cement uncovered.

Hey Ben. Have you had any issues with cracking issues since?

LOVE it.

You need to move it around as you pour it to break the surface tension for a more smooth even finish

It as a trial and error extravaganza. The end was expert result. Thank you for your articulated clear explanation. Now I can move on with trial and error in my journey.

Well at least we got to see what not to do

Even after you added more water you still need more water and you must mix for 2 minutes. Also you do not need to prime when pouring over self leveler it will bond to itself.

Cement levelers don’t work on its own,you need to use the big throwell or a cement squiggy to spread it evenly and yes don’t need to mix more then you can handle

Do you have to do it bare feet when you apply the adhesive?

I have a small backyard with unevent brick blocks floor from the previous owner, can I put concrete blocks on the top of the brick floor without taking all the bricks out? I'm thinking to get the flooring molds then fill concrete in (or use your method)?

Nice job. The issue I always have with the self leveling is that you do add more water than you think. You really want it to flow.

THIS VIDEO WAS SO HELPFUL! THANK YOU!!!

You mentioned your video sponsor Extra. I am interested and wanted to check out but could not find the link in description field.. please provide.

In the end it looks alright.

what kind of clear coat would you have put on the concrete? And also make sure it stay on?

Why no skim coat roller rake? Handy. How many buckets did it take?

Hello there, I’m a new subscriber! Can you tell me how many self-leveling bags in total you’ve used in that area? Thank you

Can you use this method to fix cracked outdoor concrete patio?

Would it be better to use more water and just wait longer for the dry time?

hi can you share thename of the material you used thank you great video

1 year later, how is holding on ? did it flake or anything similar ?

First day today, please take care

Will the primer etch into painted concrete? Hydronic floor but the builder used a regular concrete instead of gypsum so the floor isn't super flat. They carpeted the floor but I'm thinking vinyl panels. If it wasn't painted then I'd go with regular ceramic or stone tile for faster heat transfer.

How come you don't use spike roller to spread and get rid off the bubble

You can't use self leveling this way as the final surface, it's just not strong enough. It will scratch, crumble and dust. You need something on top like boards, tiles, carpet or lino.

I wanna do this. But I worry if I don’t do it right and have to repeat. How heavy is that. Will I have to reinforce my joists

Would love to see the final result

I feel bad for the chump that you flip this house to, this looks like 🔥🗑️. Also the gypsum wall board probably soaked up a lot of moisture.

can you use a stamp roller over it once it almost dry

No agitation of the floor leveller after spreading it. That wouldve taken care of the bubbles + make it even more level.

I just had a total catastrophe doing self lever in my kitchen. You really need to be ready for anything and have all tools ready. Also don’t poor under your walls like this. Use spray foam to add a border. You need that space for expansion.

How thick should a concrete overlay over a wooden base be?

Can the self leveler concrete pour be used in outddor basketball court to make it smoother surface? Thanks for answer anyone? I have a basketball court and inwant to use it as tennis court as well

Did I see that right did he self level the concrete upto the tile in the hallway

How did a Self-Leveling mix end up uneven?

EXTRA is right... a minute and a half Ad Read in a video that's less than 10 min, they sure got their money's worth didn't they

A week later you returned to count how many cracks were visible right?

Shouldn't you remove the bottom inch or so of drywall too?

It’s best to have one person spinning the paddle as you slowly pour in the bag.

I have a garage floor would to do this to but am concerned about how well the finished floor will hold up to the weight of cars driving on it. Thinking of using a fiber-reinforced concrete mix or adding fiber-reinforced additive to self leveling mix. Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

Need to think this through as many basements, garage floors and even open bathroom designs are purposely not even to direct water.

How much water per bag did you use?

How thick can you pour self leveling

Great "How Not to Do It" video. Using a 10' alum screed to level floor after pouring.

Shouldn't there be some sort of border tape on the sides, that keeps the concrete from binding to the walls? That way sound transmission to the walls is prohibited.

I think this should be presented as one person's experience, and not as a tutorial. Saying he learned no skills was sadly correct. I love his DIY self esteem, but concrete is a serious skill, like any other trade. It takes an apprenticeship to learn. It's difficult, important work, and this video seems to not be aware of all the masters of the craft. Hopefully, that is just an abundance of enthusiasum and not a deliberate slight . I also hope the original poster never gets interested in doing electrical or plumbing. I fear for him.

Another thing I’ve seen are those spike shoes made to aerate your yard when you walk. Anyways you can wear them and walk on the concrete and the little holes they make will be filled back up.

What a disasters. I would cry if I saw my floors being done this way. Incredibly sloppy work. But thanks for sharing.

Will this work on a patio?

Nice

Do I have to also not wear shoes

How long before you can walk on it

Gotta love the weekend warriors 😂

After mixing pour into a second bucket and watch the consistency.