Levelling Kitchen Floor (Floorboards and Concrete)

[grant89uk]

Long Story short, I knocked down a wall to extend my kitchen into what was an old adjacent pantry.

The floor in the original kitchen is a suspended timber floor, whereas the floor in the pantry was solid concrete.

I have had a kitchen fitter in as I was away working and gave him the remit which was to include leveling the floor with plywood in preparation for a laminate floor to be fitted later.

Having returned I now find that he has Ply'd over the suspended timber floor and left the concrete floor. However the plywood does not match the level of the concrete either. Pics attached.

Obviously I will not be able to fit laminate as it currently stands as it would just crack due to the differing levels.

I am looking to have the fitter rectify the issue but I sense an ongoing battle in that regard and would rather have it sorted sooner than later.

Does anyone have any advice on the easiest way to achieve a nice level. Should I just plywood over the existing plywood to bring the total level up again? or try and reduce the level of the concrete to match?

Will this make my kitchen look silly if I plywood over the existing ply as the Kitchen units are already in place.

Cheers.

[London mike 61]

If it were me I would use a flexible self levelling compound that has fibres in it to give strength and can go over timber and concrete floors. I am not a builder just DIY so I can’t recommend a particular brand but mapei do one as do topps tiles etc.

Mike

[Job and Knock]

If the difference in level is 6mm or less I'd opt for a flooring screed - probably Bal, F Ball or Ardex (the most commonly used brands I see on trade jobs, nothing wrong with Mapei, just it tends to be more what tilers use in my personal experience) - to bring the level up. TBH there really isn't anything such as a self-levelling screed; it all needs trowelling out and the degree to which it self-levels (or flows out) is really dependent upon the amount of water in it. If the difference is more than 6mm I'd probably go for an extra layer of plywood laid at right angles to the existing material and with the joints staggered from the first layer and then screed if required to build that last millimetre or two. FWIW the screws should be on something like 200 to 300mm centres. What I would do before installing the laminate is to give the whole floor a coat of liquid DPM (normally green or green.blue in colour) to ensure that no moisture can migrate through from the underside of the flooring (I know, belt and braces, but old habits, etc...). Are you using an underlay?

[grant89uk]

If the difference in level is 6mm or less I'd opt for a flooring screed - probably Bal, F Ball or Ardex (the most commonly used brands I see on trade jobs, nothing wrong with Mapei, just it tends to be more what tilers use in my personal experience) - to bring the level up. TBH there really isn't anything such as a self-levelling screed; it all needs trowelling out and the degree to which it self-levels (or flows out) is really dependent upon the amount of water in it. If the difference is more than 6mm I'd probably go for an extra layer of plywood laid at right angles to the existing material and with the joints staggered from the first layer and then screed if required to build that last millimetre or two. FWIW the screws should be on something like 200 to 300mm centres. What I would do before installing the laminate is to give the whole floor a coat of liquid DPM (normally green or green.blue in colour) to ensure that no moisture can migrate through from the underside of the flooring (I know, belt and braces, but old habits, etc...). Are you using an underlay?

The difference in levels is approximately 7mm. I have very little experience of using self leveling so not sure how easy it is to get a decent result.

The laminate will be going on top of an underlay that has some sort of backing to stop the concrete "sweat" getting to the underside of the laminate.

Just as a side note can anyone advise on a "fair" price to overboard approx 10m2 in plywood?

[darrenba]

Do you have any appliances in the kitchen which are affected by the increasing floor height?

[Job and Knock]

Do you have any appliances in the kitchen which are affected by the increasing floor height?

Good point

The difference in levels is approximately 7mm. I have very little experience of using self leveling so not sure how easy it is to get a decent result.

A lot of screeds will handle 7mm in one pass. It isn't that difficult to achieve a reasonable finish, but it requires an orderly approach (e.g. such as working backwards towards the room exit). One thing I woukd advise is the application of at least a liquid DPM to the surfaces before screeding/underlaying. That should reduce any tendency to sweat

Just as a side note can anyone advise on a "fair" price to overboard approx 10m2 in plywood?

That is a bit difficult, after all 10m2 is just over 3 sheets, so even with a lot of cutting out round stuff it still won't be a half day's work (the minimum "volume" any tradesman I know would want to consider). To get any sort of reasonable quote for that task alone would be difficult unless you can find somebody like a handyman with the relevant skills/tools who is willing to charge by the hour, or you had other tasks which would make up to at least a half a day (or better yet a full day which for many guys is a lot less than twice the price of a half day)

[grant89uk]

Hi again,

I have decided to go ahead and do this myself as there is a lack of joiners in my area who are willing to actually show up

Just a quick question regarding the laying of the plywood.

Does placing smaller sections of plywood as opposed to larger sections make any difference? Just asking as the delivery costs/times of the local suppliers isn't terribly great and id rather use the car to get it pretty much now. So was hoping to have the supplier cut the sections down into manageable pieces to fit in the car.

Cheers.