fionam11•21d agoMost Upvoted

I tried that expensive 'self-leveling' concrete and it was a disaster

Bought the $50 bag of Ardex from Lowe's expecting a smooth finish, but it set so fast I had ridges everywhere. Ended up grinding it down for 4 hours with a cup wheel. Has anyone else had better luck with the cheaper bags?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonk9821d ago

3 bags of Ardex in and I can say the exact opposite actually... the SD-F came out fine for me but the Liquid Backer Board stuff was a nightmare. It kicked off on me in like 8 minutes flat and I had a big puddle of cement in the bottom of my bucket. What temp was your slab when you poured? Cause I swear mine was around 60 degrees and that's what killed it. The cheap bags from Home Depot like Mapei are way slower in my experience but they also don't self level as good... you gotta work them more with a spiked roller. Are you using a gauge rake to spread it out first or just dumping it and hoping for the best?

carr.abby21d ago

Ardex definitely sets faster than I expected too.

blair_chen8121d ago

Wait, am I the only one who thought it was actually slower than other self-levelers? I've used a few different brands and Ardex felt like I had way more working time than some of the others. Maybe it's because I mixed it a little thinner than the bag says, but I didn't feel rushed at all. I've had bags of other stuff turn into a brick in like 5 minutes, but Ardex gave me a solid 10-15 before it started getting thick. Just my experience though, could be a batch thing.