Will floor leveling compound have any flexability at all once dried.?

Question

I'm wanting to put leveling compound over the plywood floors of my bathroom, the paint it with a heavy duty (tinted) industrial epoxy floor coating. The floors overall are snug but may slightly bow up and down in certain areas. Will the compound crack or does it have some tolerances? I thought about using an alternative such as plexicoat which is acyrlic base, but from what I have read it is only for concrete surfaces. Any suggestions or tips?

Answer 1

Hi Charles,

Most manufacturers of SLC's or concrete resurfacers likely have a deflection rating for the floor it is to be applied to.  Depending on what you use, I'd follow their parameters to the letter.  I read your other question as well, and you'd probably need to find a compound for your particular project rather than a typical SLC sold to be used as an underlayment (i.e. vinyl tile, ceramic tile, laminate wood) as most are not intended to be used as a wear surface.  I'll look to see if I can find more info for the preparation of epoxy coatings.

****email sent with response, Charles

Answer 2

Floor leveler does and does not flex.  It does however shrink on the ends a little.  I would not recommend it for what you want to use it for.

Answer 3

I dont think so. Its main use is to level a floor for ceramic tile which cant have any flexibility at all or the grout will crack. Another note--it dries really fast and its very expensive.

Answer 4

As long as the floor is completely dry I see no reason for the leveling compound to crack.

Answer 5

No, you can't just put concrete to plywood. It won't bond together right and it will crack and come up eventually.The right way to do it would be to use wire mesh, nail it down with  1 1/2in roof nails, spacing th nails no more than 6 inches over the entire floor. You said you have plywood already there, if all you have right now is 1/2" or 3/4" I would add another 1/2" then the wire mesh. Then you take your cement and float the whole floor covering all the wire mesh. If you plan on putting tile, the easier way would be to add the 1/2" to what you have and put down a cement board called WonderBoard(you can find this at any Home Depot/Lowes) and nail it once again with roof nails about 8-10" apart over the whole floor. That will add a lot of support and you should have no problems after that.