Old way vs new way for subfloor prep on heavy tile jobs

I used to just use self-leveler straight over old glue residue for years, but after a $3,000 bathroom floor cracked in 6 months I switched to full mechanical scraping and primer every single time. That change came when my supplier made me watch a video showing how leveler delaminates from contaminated slabs. Has anyone else had to completely rework their prep sequence after a big failure like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionat555h ago

Learned that lesson the hard way after my leveler turned into a giant jigsaw puzzle on me.

fionanguyen4h ago

A leveler is actually meant to come apart for cleaning, those pieces are supposed to slide off. If yours turned into a puzzle it probably wasn't snapped back together right. Next time check that the tabs line up straight before you click them into place.

beng511h ago

My first time using a leveler I pulled it apart to wash it and had 14 pieces scattered across my kitchen counter. Took me like 20 minutes to figure out which tab went where and I still ended up with one piece that just would not snap back no matter how hard I pushed. My buddy Tim laughed so hard when I showed him the photo he almost choked on his coffee.