IS AN UNEVEN CONCRETE FLOOR BAD?

Is an Uneven Concrete Floor Bad?​

Uneven concrete floors create a lot of discrepancies and issues for people. When we talk about uneven concrete we are not only talking about the issues caused by contractors who haven’t done a very good job but also unevenness created as a result of time as well as natural disasters like earthquakes. If you’ve ever had to deal with such an issue then today I will guide you on how unevenness in concrete floor as a result of any of the above reasons can be bad for you and how you can remedy that before it starts to cause too many problems.

Essential Steps and Pointers:

Disproportion in a concrete floor can be a cause of mental and physical issues for you, which I will discuss further with you. You can also earn a few tips for a perfectly even floor.

• • When we talk about unevenness in a public area, on roads and sidewalks, it is a physical hazard. Cracks appear in roads as a result of earthquakes or when heavy machinery is being used somewhere close by. These bumps or cracks can cause cars to swerve resulting in serious accidents. Other than this they can cause flat tires and just issues which can lead to bigger much serious problems. Sidewalks are the same, as when there is a crack, someone can fall in to them and moreover irregularity can make the city look rough and unrefined.


• • In our homes, uneven flooring is a whole other issue. If concrete is not leveled and the contractor has not done a good job in making sure that the whole floor gets an equal layer of concrete, then it can create a slope. This will completely devastate the interior look of the house and the unevenness will cause problems in cleaning and maintaining the house as well.


• • Uneven flooring can also cause water to stay in the low points of the flooring, staining he tiles and also seeping water in the walls leading to serious issues of water logging and salinity.


• • Moreover, when concrete is left without any tiles, sealer or coating of any kind for a long time, it will start to demolish in itself and will expose all the things which we would prefer to keep hidden. This means all the pipes, plumbing, electrical wires and other components of the plaster.


• • Now moving on to how to fix it, if we have ridges and empty holes which have developed over time, you first have to clear the surroundings up and ten fill it with concrete.


• • For Slopes, it is great to have a proper leveler which I will discuss later on and form a perfect guide first to lay the concrete on top of. This is a very essential step and very few people will actually not level the floor but most professionals nowadays do get the job done right.


• • For cracks especially the ones which cause a difference in height between the two sides, you have to consult a professional for some power tools like angle grinder and a diamond cup wheel.

Leveling concrete:

A simple basic method that most people nowadays use is wooden rods the length and width of the floor as guides to judge the height of the cement. You will use two or three wooden rods and place them down as triangles or squares where you need to load cement. You will then place a leveler on top of the rods to check if they are even all the way through and glue them down to the floor. Pouring cement in the spaces between the rods will give you perfect symmetry and you can then install your flooring plan with a smooth bottom.

Fixing holes:

After picking up the stray rocks inside and surrounding the area, you can use a hammer at first to break the ridges present on the sides of the holes and level them a bit. You can also use some other power tool but you have to break it from the top. You will then use a vacuum cleaner to catch the concrete dust and little rocks to prepare a clean surface for the concrete to be laid on. You can then simply fill it with concrete and the basic goal here is to make sure the empty spaces are all filled up. You can then level it off.

Self-leveling Compound:

A bad concrete job, as signified by bumps, cracks and domes can be remedied by a self-leveling compound. When you have to put some form of flooring down like wood, tiles or marble, you need a perfectly smooth surface. Mostly the floor after laying the concrete needs some professional work so that it stays perfectly smooth and consistent as it dries.

Usually when building a whole house, workers don’t pay much attention to perfection. Similarly when you are planning to install a new type of flooring plan after a few years, you need a smooth surface. Self leveling compound is kind of like cement but it’s very liquid and it gives a much cleaner and leveled look. You need to place some bonding material between the cement and the self leveling compound to ensure perfect grip.

Questions:

What is the best way to level the concrete?
 Getting a feather finish is the goal to leveling concrete. You can use a scrapper to get rid of the chunky transition points. You can first scrape, let it dry a little and then smooth it down again before it dries completely. This will give you a very smooth finish.

Why does concrete disintegrate slowly over time?
A lot of factors cause a concrete to crumble or split over time. Atmospheric conditions including humidity as well as extreme cold can cause fragments of cement to come off giving an uneven look. Moreover free hydroxide ions in cement react with carbon dioxide which causes shrinking of cement leading to cracks. Use of acidic cleaners on the floor also breaks up the cement.

For Concrete Floor Leveling in Syracuse NY, call us today at 315-201-5795.