My bathroom floor project

[zannej]

Nick, I have the drill bit attachment. I have no idea where my household mixer went. My mother thought that I could stir the mix with a whisk. She has no idea how thick it gets. LOL. As an aside, my mother also thought that I could cut through a fallen oak branch (varied from 10" to 30" diameter) with a handheld coping saw.

So, what I have so far:
*the 547 mix x2 (just in case)
*gloves
*mask for fumes
*trowel/float thingy for spreading
*putty knives for scooping
*drywall tape knife for wider spreading/pulling
*painter's tape (if needed to block off areas)
*50 grit sandpaper (also more sandpapers if I look for them)
*stirring attachment for power drill
*power drill/screwdriver
*shopvac
*level & straight edge
*buckets
*measuring cups
*eye protection in case of splatter
*shop towels
*angle grinder w/ diamond cup wheel just in case things go pearshaped
*Boxcutter/knife (if anything needs cutting)
*motivation to get this done :-D

 

[highup]

You're mixing it too thick if you need to scoop it out. When I do a skim coat, I tip the bucket on its side and it almost pours out. Use the additive instead of water. The additive is designed for these thin skim coats. The additive makes the skim coat less absorbent so that the adhesive doesn't get the moisture sucked out of it.
Mix a Dixie cup amount for practice. Mix it up thin, I mean really thin, and mix it well, then spread it on a scrap of plywood about 1/16'th of an inch thick and let it dry for a couple of hours. Now scrape it with your fingernail and a drywall taping knife............. test it to see how tough it is.
Better yet, spread it over the dried floor patch that you already ground down. Do NOT build the patch up further (thicker), just fill in the voids.
Do this test using the 6" drywall spreader and fill in as much of the low spots as you can with this small test amount. Let it dry for a couple of hours, then scratch it scrape it............... to see how tough this thin mix gets. I use the word thin quite a bit because skim coats are not fills.

 

[zannej]

I wish I could find the additive locally but it just isn't available. Only way I could get it would be to ship-to-store to HD & hope they don't lose it the way Lowes did. I am not quite sure what size of it to use though. There's a larger one & a smaller one. But, since you are suggesting it so strongly, I can see about ordering it through HD & hoping there are no problems. Any idea which size container I would use of the Henry 456? It comes in 1qt and 1gallon. The last time I got the mix I believe I got 2 of the qt sizes and mixed both, but I'm not certain if that was the right ratio. It says "• Mix 2-1/2 parts Henry 547 to 1 part of Henry 546". (The answer on the HD page had an error bc the 1/ didn't transfer with copy+paste from the pdf).

To make sure I understand (I know I've brought this up before, but my brain keeps not wanting to cooperate): I could put 2-1/2" cups of powder in a dry measuring cup & 1 cup of additive in a liquid measuring cup. That means 5 cups of powder would go with 2 cups of additive. 1 US cup = 1/4" quart. So I could get 4 cups of additive out of 1 quart.

Does that sound about right?

To clarify: This is the mix- it's a patch & level rather than feather finish.

And this is the gallon size additive.

 

[highup]

Be nice to see what the floor actually looks like so a recommendation could be made as far as how much to mix, and I'm talking container size.
You probably don't need the additive for the first floats of filler to get the toilet area flat...... Assume you are still going to do that?
Once you get the lumpy part of the floor smooth as you can, the next finish coats need the additive. Those coats will be thin. It's OK to finish smoothing this out in a number of small coats if you have to.

Get the areas alongside the flange flat first. You don't need to screed it out really far this time, just concentrate on making those two sides flat. You might get away with 1/4 or 1/3 of a 5 quart mixing pail to do this part.
If your satisfied with those flat areas, then float out from there like in my diagrams. Do not try to build up any filler on those flat areas...... they're flat and you want to keep them that way.

I mix filler in 5 qt plastic pails pretty often, especially for thin skim coats. Skim coats don't take a lot of filler, so you don't want to mix a half a bucket of skim coat material. Since this is new to you, mix less than 1/4 of a pail the first time to get a feel for how far it will go, and how east it spreads.

2 quarts might cost as much as one gallon. You have to guess on that one. Too much is better than not enough.

 

[zannej]

Thanks, Highup. I've already posted pics of the floor. Do you mean you need the measurements of the area? Or better photos?

And yes, I intend to do just as you suggested & flatten the toilet areas first & then go from there. Just water for first layers: got it. That way I wouldn't have to wait for the additive to arrive and if it turns out nice enough w/o the additive I could save some time & $. I don't need it to be perfect, I just need it to not have any major lumps or divets to transfer through the sheet vinyl & I want to keep the toilet level/solid. If I really cared about the smoothness, I'd do a layer of feather-finish on top, but I don't care that much about floor that will be under sheet vinyl & underlayment. I'm going to keep the underlay to buffer any imperfections & cut it in spots where I use the acrylic double-sided tape to adhere the vinyl to the floor. I think I'll do a few little tack squares to hold it down at edges, but I'll do a continuous strip next to the tub & caulk along the edge. Then I'll have to put up a trim piece to hide the wood strip under the tub & caulk that.

I wonder if I could use a cheap handheld powered kitchen mixer thing for smaller batches (because the drill attachment I have is pretty damn large) or if I could make my own small attachment somehow. Like see if I could fit a beater attachment on my drill.

 

[highup]

The additive gives the mixture properties needed for the adhesive to work like it should. It says to use the additive for skim coating for that reason.
Your images are fine, but they aren't in 3D, so I can't tell how smooth it is or how deep the filler is or how shallow the low spots are spots are.
This is the mixer you want.

 

[Nick]

I have that one .. Works great and not that expensive ..

 

[highup]

Zan, look how this guy is doing it. He's got a wide open area to work in which is nice .........but you don't have that.
That said notice how thin he's putting it on.

 

[Ernesto]

You coulda flown me out there and that job woulda been done months ago. LOL

 

[Nick]

You coulda flown me out there and i would have played Golf ..

 

[zannej]

Highup, ah, yeah, it's hard to really gauge the topography. I'm not really sure how to even do that. I have terrible depth perception & I think it has gotten worse over the years. The good news is, I believe that is the mixer attachment I just picked up at the store (before seeing your post). It feels lightweight & isn't too large. The other one I have is heavy.

Man, that guy was spreading that stuff fast! I don't think I'll be that fast at it. LOL. But I will do my best to do thin layers. I've read that this works best in small batches & done in layers so I will start w/ maybe 2 cups water + 5 cups powder & see if that is enough to get mixed. I'll have to see what buckets I got to make sure I have one that is the right size for that amount. You said 5 quart would work? I believe I saw those in the store but need to check to see which ones I got.

I really really appreciate the advice. It helps me with my planning & also helps keep me motivated. Seeing the videos helps me to get an idea of how the stuff moves/spreads.

 

[highup]

Don't mix up that much yet. Just mix up a cup of material and use it to screed over the rough area so you can get a feel for spreading it out. Mix it by eye this time so it's soupy thin like in the video. Use a mixing cup and the handle of a spoon. Something this small, you don't need the drill.
Notice that even tho his trowel is wide, he overlaps each pass by 75% or so. First pass spreads out the material out and the next pass smooths it thin and evens it out. He's trying not to get ridges with each pass. The thicker you try to put it on the more ridges you will probably get.
I use 5 qt pails because it's a good size to work out of for small stuff.

 

[zannej]

Thanks!
I'm glad you pointed out the technique of going over 75% each pass because he was moving so fast I couldn't really track it. Let's see... 2.5 cups powder to 1 cup water is the ratio specified-- but you're saying I should dilute it more?

 

[highup]

I haven't used that particular product, so I'd to one that size like the recommend plus a couple teaspoons and see how it behaves. Mix it well. Use the additive for the final coat.

 

[zannej]

My friend was able to make it over to help. Used the red mixer & did 1 cup water (maybe a teeny bit over) & 2-1/2" cups powder. It mixed up nice & smooth this time. My friend spread on thin layers to fill in the holes & made sure to spread it smoothly & as flat as possible. There were still some parts where the old mix bumped up through, but it is much less bumpy now. I will need to check to see how level it is, but I'm sure there is a slope down to the right that will be taken care of later. I just want it to be flat enough for the toilet. Some of the stuff got on the toilet flange but it shouldn't be a problem with the wax ring. I tried to wipe it all off the trowel but when I checked later there was still some on it. Will have to see if I can scrub it off bc I want to re-use it. If not, it's not the end of the world. I'm going to try another batch & practice my trowel skills in an unimportant spot.
Hopefully I won't need more than 3 coats where the toilet goes, but we'll see. I'll post pictures later, but thus far I'm happy with the results. I'll grab the level later & see how off it is.

 

[Jon]

My friend was able to make it over to help. Used the red mixer & did 1 cup water (maybe a teeny bit over) & 2-1/2" cups powder. It mixed up nice & smooth this time. My friend spread on thin layers to fill in the holes & made sure to spread it smoothly & as flat as possible. There were still some parts where the old mix bumped up through, but it is much less bumpy now. I will need to check to see how level it is, but I'm sure there is a slope down to the right that will be taken care of later. I just want it to be flat enough for the toilet. Some of the stuff got on the toilet flange but it shouldn't be a problem with the wax ring. I tried to wipe it all off the trowel but when I checked later there was still some on it. Will have to see if I can scrub it off bc I want to re-use it. If not, it's not the end of the world. I'm going to try another batch & practice my trowel skills in an unimportant spot.
Hopefully I won't need more than 3 coats where the toilet goes, but we'll see. I'll post pictures later, but thus far I'm happy with the results. I'll grab the level later & see how off it is.

Try wetting it with a damp rag with water on the rag to get it off when its dry
Maybe try kerosene

 

[zannej]

Funny you mentioned kerosene bc I was going to post to ask how to remove kerosene from carpet. One of my cats got on top of a bookcase where we had a kerosene oil lamp. Cat started to fall, panicked, & grabbed on to anything & everything on top of it to try to stop himself from falling. Pulled down an indonesian puppet & the oil lamp. Landed on the carpet so it didn't break, but the kerosene spilled out onto the carpet.

I'm going to try to clean off the trowel in a few minutes-- really should have just sprayed it off w/ water outside while it was still fresh but didn't think about it.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Good chance the kerosene screwed up the glue in the backing. Funny you didn't see a bubble in it.

 

[zannej]

Good chance the kerosene screwed up the glue in the backing. Funny you didn't see a bubble in it.

It only spilled a small amount before I was able to pick it up, but I still don't like having a flammable oil on my carpet. Nobody in the house smokes, but I still don't like it there. I hope it evaporates & won't get on the pets if/when they walk over it.

 

[zannej]

Pictures- I didn't get around to doing another layer yet bc I'm a procrastinator. I really need to stop procrastinating. I downloaded a video on how to stop procrastinating but I haven't watched it yet... I think I downloaded it last year... LOL.

Anyway, this is what it currently looks like:

I'm thinking about putting painter's tape over the flange next time- hopefully the bit that spilled on it will come off. I will put painter's tape on the vanity & maybe some plastic up the side to protect it from splatter. Don't care about the wall bc it's getting covered in beadboard. I think I will next start in the right corner to build it up to almost the same height (after checking with a level to see how big the dip is) so it will be flatter. I can probably sand any major rough spots since I didn't use the additive & it's softer. I probably should get a better hole-cover than some random cap from something that I stuffed in the hole for the water supply, but that is not a major issue. Thus far I'm happy with the results.