My bathroom floor project

[zannej]

Do you have a link to the 1/4" x 1/4" trowels? I get all sorts of extra bs when I search for the trowels. I just looked at the Mapei stuff & it says it takes 24 hours to dry & 2 to 3 days to be ready for flooring installation. While I was worried that 15min was too little, I would like to be able to do the flooring within the same day. So about 2 hour dry time is OK. Plus, it's still 50lbs.
My local Lowes has the 25lb Henry 547 which has to be spread but dries in 1 to 2 hours. It also has Henry 565 self-leveler in 40lbs & the primer is also in stock.

I'm really hoping to get this done tomorrow so I'll have to make the purchase tomorrow & my friend won't be available to help until the following Tuesday. But, I want to get the right thing so I can postpone to make sure it is done right. What do you guys think of the 565? (I just saw the primer is ready in 3 hours- so I will be unlikely to get it done in one day, but if I can manage a 40lb bag by myself I may be able to do it without my friend's help & just use smaller portions).

I'm also trying to figure out what size bucket to use for mixing if I try to mix in smaller batches.

 

[Ernesto]

Those trowels are everywhere, a basic trowel.
As far as set time and install time its all up to the Rh and temp. Usually 12 hours here.
Dont rush it.

 

[highup]

Those trowels are everywhere, a basic trowel.
As far as set time and install time its all up to the Rh and temp. Usually 12 hours here.
Dont rush it.

No, I mean will a 1/4 by 1/4 work for her situation?

 

[Ernesto]

Towel size makes zero difference when pouring SLC. So i don't understand tge question.

 

[highup]

As far as bag weight, rest it on tailgate and cut open a corner of the bag and pour it out into two buckets 10 lbs each. That's 1/2 a bag. They recommend one full bag at a time, but..........
maybe you can do 1/2 bag at a time. Weigh the stuff exactly and add the exact amount of water for 1/2 bag. Don't spill any when transferring into smaller containers Over watering messes up the chemistry and it will take a lot longer to dry.

 

[highup]

Towel size makes zero difference when pouring SLC. So i don't understand tge question.

Will it flow out properly?

 

[zannej]

If the bag is 50lbs it would be 25lbs for half & a 40lb bag would be 20lbs. I don't have any working scales to weigh stuff at the house. If they had it by amount (per cup or something) rather than weight it would be easier to deal with.
Conceivably I could put it in a big bucket & use a smaller bucket as a scoop to pour it out in smaller amounts. But, I dont' want to use the whole mix all at once for the larger sizes bc I don't need that much. I wonder if I should just try the 7lb thing and spread it out to fill in the craters and stuff first & see how it turns out & then use a self-leveler if I'm not happy with it. But then, that would be more time & $.

The 547 in a 10lb portion is in stock in Lake Charles & I will be there tomorrow. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Henry-H-547-Indoor-Floor-Patch-and-Leveler/50396516

LOL. I'm just all over the place on this one.

 

[Nick]

I spread it without teeth ..

 

[DarisMulkin]

Yes, but don't pour it into the hole. The **** flows really good.

That happened in my sisters shower. The tile guy used leveler for the base in the shower. It ran down into the drains and she had to pay like 5 grand to replace all the drain tile to the septic tank from the house.

 

[highup]

I spread it without teeth ..

..........but you've done it before.

 

[zannej]

Daris, that sounds awful!

I think I'm going to try the 10lb bag of the 547 bc it seems small enough to manage & I know it can be sanded. I'll use the technique Highup suggested with creating the ridges & spreading. Worst case, I can sand it down & try again. I'll be sure to check on it during the drying period & flatten down any ridges. The previous stuff dried so fast I didn't have time.

I think I now know what sort of trowel you're talking about for scooping-- it's triangular, right? Something like what is used for scooping out mortar?

I'm nauseous for some reason today. Forgot to take my allergy meds so I think the post nasal drip is getting to me. I'm going to take some allergy meds & pepto & hit the sack.

Thank you guys very much for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[highup]

If the bag is 50lbs it would be 25lbs for half & a 40lb bag would be 20lbs. I don't have any working scales to weigh stuff at the house. If they had it by amount (per cup or something) rather than weight it would be easier to deal with.
Conceivably I could put it in a big bucket & use a smaller bucket as a scoop to pour it out in smaller amounts. But, I dont' want to use the whole mix all at once for the larger sizes bc I don't need that much. I wonder if I should just try the 7lb thing and spread it out to fill in the craters and stuff first & see how it turns out & then use a self-leveler if I'm not happy with it. But then, that would be more time & $.

The 547 in a 10lb portion is in stock in Lake Charles & I will be there tomorrow. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Henry-H-547-Indoor-Floor-Patch-and-Leveler/50396516

LOL. I'm just all over the place on this one.

OK, then 25 lbs. Make up some balance scales they used for gold.
It needs to be weighed as accurately as possible. Even if that meant weighing 5 lbs five times. You'd also want to weigh the second half of the bag to be sure the remaining mix weighs the same.
That said, even #25 would require a decent drill because you will be running it steady and under a load for a few minutes.
I do recall one time filling plastic mixing buckets equally. I mean those graduated buckets.
Maybe you could use two clean 5 gallon buckets too divide it up.
You need to do this over some heavy plastic sheeting in case you spill any of it (you will)
OK, now using a 5 quart paint mixing bucket, fill one of them full to the top and do not pack or compress what you dumped in there.
Pour that into one of the 5 gallon buckets.
Fill the 5 qt pail again, and dump this one into the other 5 gallon bucket.
Go back and forth keeping tally of how many times you filled each one. Too easy to forget.
When you don't think there is enough left in the bag for two more full pails, then find something smaller, like a 2 cup Pyrex cooking cup. Finish measuring it with that.

Once you have the buckets filled, the powder should measure the same distance down from the top of each bucket. You will then know what 25 pounds looks like. You might be able to reduce that amount in half also? Water measurements get more tricky here. Everything is about being as exact as possible.
Mixing a full bag at a time as they recommend, reduces the chances of error and I suppose ensures the material in the bag has all it's components mixed together.
One way to find out.

 

[highup]

Daris, that sounds awful!

I think I'm going to try the 10lb bag of the 547 bc it seems small enough to manage & I know it can be sanded. I'll use the technique Highup suggested with creating the ridges & spreading. Worst case, I can sand it down & try again. I'll be sure to check on it during the drying period & flatten down any ridges. The previous stuff dried so fast I didn't have time.

I think I now know what sort of trowel you're talking about for scooping-- it's triangular, right? Something like what is used for scooping out mortar?

Thank you guys very much for the advice. I really appreciate it.

If you decide to go with self leveling, there will be no scooping. You will be pouring it out of the bucket and it will flow out on it's own. ..........but with a little bit of initial persuasion to control it's flow. You won't scoop it or spread it or scrape it later. It's like thick water. ....or pancake batter. The beauty is that it's made so you don't have to spread it around and level it by eye. The flow time ought to be plenty for a small area like you have.
It dries a lot harder than most fillers.

 

[zannej]

Couldn't get to sleep yet but stomach feels a little better. Hooray for Pepto Bismol.

If the patch level doesn't have good enough results I may go to the self-leveling. I think the 10lb 547 might be the easiest to work with for my skill level & luck. LOL. It's light enough weight to manage, not too much material. I can put the whole thing in the bucket & mix w/ the drill attachment I have and since it takes 1 to 2 hours to set I will have more time to work with it & smooth it out. I wonder what size bucket I would need for that... It might say on the mix when I look at instructions. I would ask at the store, but my luck with getting people who actually know wtf they are talking about hasn't been good. I will grab 2 boxes just in case things go pearshaped on the first-- I've seen people on Youtube going that route when they screwed things up. With full boxes of the stuff I don't have to worry about portioning out so long as I get the water amount correct.

When I go to level the floor for my laundry room & guest bathroom I may go with the self-leveling mix & look back here for the advice given on using it. It's a much larger area & getting things level for the tub & laundry will be more important.

I really do need to get some sort of scale for weighing stuff. All the ones we had disappeared or were broken.

 

[Nick]

Don't put a fan on it to dry it faster .. It weakens the product ..

 

[Nick]

..........but you've done it before.

My Teeth High ..

 

[Ernesto]

Will it flow out properly?

You've never used SLC?

 

[highup]

You aren't answering my question. I've done 3/4 and 1 1/2 in pours with it. It flows nice ........that thick. I don't know how it behaves at the 1/8 inch range because I've never done that. I know it will flow 1000 x better than Feather finish.
We're trying to help Zan.

 

[Ernesto]

I just push it around with a flat patching trowel or spatula. Most times i use a 6 ft to 2 ft screeds for large low spots but 1/8 inch is doable. Patch would be less expensive for just around a toilet flange. Unless you wanted to level the entire bathroom. The stuff wants to levelk itself, hence the name. So if you want flat you need to screed it out.

 

[zannej]

I appreciate it.
Got a bunch of stuff on sale for the bathroom reno- some wainscoting, polyurethane baseboard & trim stuff. some inner & outer corner blocks so I can be lazy & not have to miter cut.
I picked up a new bucket & lid. Got the 547 boxes in to my bathroom & saw the empty box from the botched job & realized it was the same damn stuff. For some reason I misread it (thought it was 457). Now I know why it went so badly. When I bought it, the salesperson told me it was self-leveling & would come out like pancake batter- and they told me to use some liquid additive instead of water (which I did). I feel like such a derp. But, this is fresh mix so it shouldn't have clumps. Downside is, my friend got called in to work while we were at Lowes. All the arcade machines stopped working & he has to go fix them so he can't come over. But, I have the bucket, I have the mix, I have the power drill, & I have the bit to stir the stuff.
I also got some tack cloths to make sure there is no dust on the surface before I start. I have to hit the Lowes in Alexandria tomorrow to pick something up that we had shipped to store, so I can pick up some stuff I forgot this trip (left rather quickly after my friend got the call). But, if I have time tomorrow I will see if I can try the fresh leveling mix & make sure I use the right amount of water.