Leveling a basement floor
Hello. Is it complicated/expensive to level a basement floor — to prepare it for laying down a wood floor on top? Ours has a bulge in the middle that needs remedying.
Hello. Is it complicated/expensive to level a basement floor — to prepare it for laying down a wood floor on top? Ours has a bulge in the middle that needs remedying.
To scribe the furring strips means you have to rip each of the furring strips so that the top of them are level on the top, but vary in their thickness against the existing concrete floor. It is tedious work. You may want to consider breaking up the bulging area and re-pouring the concrete so it is level to the rest of the floor — but that all depends on how big of an area is bulging. However, as others noted, you should be mindful of the flooding issues, so you don’t end up with a bigger issue in the future.
It is enclosed in the sense that there are four walls, and I had thought that I would be putting down a self levelling compound, yes. But now I’m uncertain — not sure how impermeable those walls are at the point where they meet the floor. Some places have definite gaps where the sheetrock of the wall doesn’t meet the floor. In that case, would I need to do as you say and build a containing box along the perimeter of the room to form the self leveling compound?
What does it mean to scribe furring strips to the irregular floor surface? What are furring strips? What is it to scribe?
If it is an enclosed area you can put down self leveling compound.
Otherwise you need to build a form to contain the compound or put down furring strips scribed to the irregular floor surface and level on top to guide a concrete float.
You can use the furring strip method to create a sloped floor for drainage as well.
Yeah, mine’s raised about 4″ in total above the concrete. Cuts down the headroom but I had a couple of floods over the winter and the floor wasn’t damaged. One thing I learned from prior owner’s mistake – install whatever drainage is necessary BEFORE installing the floor. Sessa plumbing was a big help in fixing the mistake.
May I suggest that you lay 2x4s on the concrete, and put a subfloor of 3/4″ plywood to avoid the possible flooding problem.
Not as difficult as it is to make sure it never floods and ruins that wood floor. You got a sump pump, or whatever it is that assures this kind of thing?