Fixing a low spot before tiling
Fixing a low spot before tiling
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LennyM1984

Original Poster:

1,130 posts

98 months

Wednesday 11th March
quotequote all
Slightly nuanced question but over the weekend I levelled our kitchen which is just over 30sqm. Overall it went really well and I now have a nice flat surface on which to tile.

There is however, an area of about 1 by 2m towards one of the edges where the floor falls away by about 10mm (the low spot existed before the self leveller but appears that I wasn't able to fully fix it).

What is the best way to fix this?

1. Make it up with tile adhesive
2. Skim it with some patching compound
3. Throw down some more SLC risking the fact that I may then end up with a lumpy transition

I'm not particularly keen on 3 as the rest of the surface is now lovely and smooth and trying to just level that low spot may leave me with ridges at the edge.

Any advice?





OutInTheShed

14,575 posts

56 months

Wednesday 11th March
quotequote all
You could consider either levelling or skimming aiming to under-fill slightly, maybe take up 8 of the 10mm.
Then any shrinkage will happen before you tile, no risk of ridges and no mucking about with awkwardly deep tile adhesive.

If you need an extra 1-2mm from the tile adhesive in that area, it's manageable, 10mm is less so, in my limited experience, a risk of tilting tiles and generally making it hard to get right.

I'm interested in other opinions, as I may have a similar problem soon!

mart 63

2,580 posts

274 months

Wednesday 11th March
quotequote all
Butter the back of the tiles as well as the adhesive on the floor, where the fall is. The get your level on the floor before taping down the tiles.

reggie747

295 posts

157 months

Wednesday 11th March
quotequote all
Add some more SLC and when it's dry, get a carborundum stone on what should be a fairly mild seam.

JoshSm

5,089 posts

67 months

Wednesday 11th March
quotequote all
If you're going over it with actual tiles not vinyl, then getting it flat and level is more important than getting it dead smooth. A little ridge really won't matter at it'll be lost in the adhesive.

Use an SLC that'll take a feather edge, ideally one that flows well without too much help.