Self levelling polished concrete floors.

Self Levelling concrete overlays provides a brand new skin to an existing concrete or wood floor. They can be applied over just about any substrate and offer a diverse array of aesthetics.  Stone Design has been working with self levelling concrete products such as Ardex, Mapei and Rapid Set for over 18 years. 

In the last 5 years most manufacturers have changed formulas to use less polymer, resulting in a product that can be machined and manipulated like conventional concrete. 

Self-leveling overlays are excellent at levelling existing concrete floors. Sometimes things go sideways during a concrete pour, in these cases self levellers can correct mistakes. In addition, even well-placed concrete poured without the assistance of a laser screed typically has a variation in flatness of ?”, and sometimes ?”, over a 10’ or 12’ expanse. Self-leveling overlays can eliminate this deviation, whatever the cause, without tearing out and re-pouring the existing concrete slab. What this means is much less noise, debris, disruption and expense for a flooring project, as well as a final floor that doesn't have visible low-lying areas, known as “bird baths”.

Self-leveling overlays are an ideal way to establish a uniform, new, smooth surface for rough, pitted or damaged concrete floors, and bring into conformity different sections of concrete either in adjacent rooms of the same building, or that have been created by large plumbing, electrical or structural repairs made to the existing concrete. This situation is commonly encountered in basements of old homes, and on ground floors of old buildings in metropolitan areas, that are undergoing renovation or remodeling for new residents, owners or tenants.

Self levelling concrete overlays come in white or grey bases and have no aggregate. This means that more uniform, minimalist surfaces can be easily obtained much easier than with conventional concrete. It can often be more cost effective to install white concrete floors with self levelling than traditional concrete installations.

Decorative options

Like terrazzo floor installations, brass and zinc strips can be used to control pour size and provide decorative detail with self levelling floors. Integral colour can be added into the batched concrete to make any colour desired. Aggregates can be broadcast into the wet surface to create further dimension and variation. Check out our floor at Farmacy

Self levelling concrete overlays can be heated by integrating Nuheat or similar systems into them. Often during a renovation, clients will want to heat specific areas of a home. Utilizing self levelling concretes with heating systems means that total thickness can be less than 3/4". Anti fracture membranes can be used to control cracking when floors are installed over wood substrates. Check out this article on heated polished concrete floors.