Levelling concrete floor

[Pino79]

Hi all
I am planning to tile a concrete floor in the kitchen, however I noticed that the floor is not absolutely flat, therefore I was wondering what is the maximum difference in mm in floor height that can be accommodated for laying ceramic tile, as I would like to avoid levelling the floor if possible.

Thanks

[jape]

How far out is it? All in one direction, a slope, or just bumps and holes?

You can pick up a fair bit if using a mortar bed, less with normal trowelled on tile cement, recently did a slate one that was out by 10 to 15mm in many places and more in a couple of small areas.
Depends on the type of tile, the type of spacers, the 'slump' or consistency of your mix or mortar. The difficulty is keeping the tiles level and even, takes a bit of practise and levelling-kit spacers can help. I took ages with them but managed a good job.

My mate who is much more experienced did a bigger room next to it in half the time, twice as well without levelling spacers. A thick, solid bed and a few taps of his trowel ...

Best thing is to buy some self-levelling compound perhaps?

[Pino79]

I have not inspected the floor properly yet, as at the moment there is laminate and in order to check the floor properly I will have to remove the laminate first. I do not think it will be more than 5 mm gap and it is not just in one direction, but there places were the floor is slightly lower. I am using 600x200 mm ceramic tiles.

Did you put the spacers under the tile as you were laying them on the floor adhesive?

I know that using levelling compound would be the best solution, but since there are appliances in the kitchen I would like to avoid it if possible.

[jape]

I'm not a regular tiler but have done a fair bit previously and was apprehensive myself until I had a go recently. If it is just 5mm in odd places then tile adhesive using a comb trowel should get it as you go. The problems come if the faults are greater than a tile or two as they will then tend to follow the floor but good stiff mixes will avoid some of that.

Look at the levelling kits but you hopefully won't need them unless the levels fall away over a wide area or long distance. You won't really know until you see under the laminate and what type it is. Mine was laid on a mortar bed and the levellers were straps that sat under the tile edges but the tops clicked down to make the level across two tiles and were later broken off, by design. You can get new straps and re-use the rest. Difficult to explain without pics, do some googling and read the leaflets to decide if you will need. As I said you may not need these for just 5mm but it depends on what sort of uneven you mean. Too soon to be 100% sure.

[kingnewport]

Tbh if the floor is out by 5mm I wouldn't worry.
It's very hard the find a perfectly level floor .
If the floor has lumps and bumps and hole then I'd knock off the hight points and then SBR the floor and self level it

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Wes]

To say a floor is 5mm out with any degree of certainty with laminate over the top is impossible.

In my experience, when a client says the floor is a few mm out, I typically have the expectation of at least trebling their assessment prior to seeing it.

I've been crawling around floors for 18 years and I couldn't even make such an assessment.

Not having a pop or anything. Just get the facts before you decide on an approach. Lift the laminate and get a straight edge on it. You may just save yourself a lot of messing.

[steviejoiner74]

unless you have a straight edge on the floor once the coverings are up you're just guessing.
The floor doesn't necessarily have to be level either. It can be slightly off the level but it's important it's flat more than anything.