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folks,

I shall be putting in a cement base soon (for my porch) prior to laying quarry tiles. The issue I have is how can I tell that my freshly laid cement will be totally flat? As you can appreciate I don't want to start laying the tiles, only to find I have a high point and so that particular tile will stand out like a sore thumb.

Should I try my best at getting it level as possible, or should I lay a screed once the cement is dry? If it is indeed a screed, is there a maximum thickness a screed can be?

Many thanks, Sheff

I would advise that you lay a latex screed over the concrete.

When laying the concrete try to get it as flat as possible, then you only need a small amount of latex. When latexing a floor best results can be archived when laying at a thickness of 3mm.

Use a self levelling latex and it will be flat as a pancake. You can use a primer on the concrete to get a good bond, but if you want to save a few quid you can use a wet broom. As a dry floor or unprimed floor will result in air bubbles appearing in the screed. After latexing use a carborundum stone to key it and grind of any minute high spots. Although you may not need todo this if the floor is latexed correctly :)

Many thanks Crooksey,

when your laying/pouring your concrtete/screed.

dot the height you want to achieve by dotting the 4 corners.i.e 6x6 dots get your first one level(to the height you require) then using a straight edge or spirit level work of this dot and work to the other dots around the perimeter of the room(keep your dot about 2-3 inches from the walls then when all level put your screed in and using feather edge run it off your dots and you will have a level screed.
then fill in between walls and dots..float it...job done.