Self-leveling floor installation tools

We wrote about the types of self-leveling floors, separately about concrete and polymer self-leveling floors, and now let’s talk specifically about the tools and devices that will be required by everyone who decides to make such a floor covering on their own. Of course, there is always the opportunity to contact the master, but many owners of houses and apartments prefer to cope on their own, saving money.

So, to make a self-leveling floor yourself, you will need:

• Capacityfor mixing a special dry mixture. It is usually sold in 25 kg bags and is diluted with water. With capacity, we are sure you will not have any problems. Any old bucket, tank, basin, trough with sufficiently high sides will do. It is convenient to use plastic containers from ready-made mortars or paint. Therefore, this part of the self-leveling floor kit is usually completely free;
• It is convenient to knead the mixture with a drill or a perforator with a special attachment. There is such mixer attachmentabout 150 rubles;

• When pouring the floor, you cannot do without a special roller. In shape, it is similar to the usual painting malik, but it has plastic or metal needles on the working surface. Thanks to such needles, the roller perfectly expels air bubbles, which are completely unnecessary in the mixture for the self-leveling floor. The roller helps to distribute the composition evenly over the surface. It is convenient if the handle is long so as not to bend over. The cost of one plastic roller is 150–600 rubles, depending on the width and type of the working surface. There are more expensive options – up to 2800 rubles.

Important!Needle rollers for self-leveling floors have their own varieties:

1. There are plastic and metal, the former are more popular and cheaper;
2. The width of the roller can vary from 20 to 60 cm. In a large room it will be convenient to work with wide rollers, but in places with a complex configuration, a narrow tool is needed;
3. The length of the needles, spikes, roller can be from 1 to 3.5 cm. Choose the length of the needles depending on how thick you will have the self-leveling floor.

Sometimes hard brushes with a long handle are used to get rid of bubbles from the self-leveling floor mixture, but the needle roller is much more convenient and easier to use..

• Notched trowel. Such a tool is used by tilers to evenly distribute the adhesive over the surface. A notched trowel is also useful for distributing and leveling the screed mix. It is better to take several spatulas of different widths, especially since this simple tool costs only about 50 rubles;

• Raklya (squeegee).In fact, this is the same paint spatula, just with a long handle and toothed nozzles that can be changed depending on the thickness of the self-leveling floor layer. The squeegee is convenient to work on large surfaces, but in the corners it is better to use a regular notched trowel. It is important to remember that there are squeegees for cement and gypsum mixtures, and there are for polymer ones. The handle of the squeegee must be strong enough to carry a heavy load. This tool with a working surface of 500-600 mm wide and removable serif inserts costs about 2800-3900 rubles. The most expensive tool for installing a self-leveling floor from the entire set;

• To make your self-leveling floor perfectly flat, you will also need beacons and buildinglevel, preferably 1.5–2 m long. Packing of reference beacons for a self-leveling floor (20 pieces) costs about 275 rubles. The building level will cost 500-1700 rubles, depending on the length and manufacturer.

As you can see, all tools for installing a self-leveling floor are hand-held, except for a drill or a perforator, which are used as a construction mixer for mixing the mixture. It is important that all tools used during the filling of the self-leveling floor are free of lubricants, therefore, they must be thoroughly washed before use.!