What smoothing compound do you use and why? reading a few posts on here of late and it seems a lot of you like a certain product simply because its the product you have been using for the last 15 years or the maybe the product your teacher showed you how to use. Some others use a product because they was 'told' it can do what it does.. So no bull crap! What do you use and WHY?
I was using screed master 2 then black magic for years due to place I go stocks it. Now I use f.ball green bag or hd300 due to people on here saying how much they love 300. Then when I went on f.ball course used it an love it. not used others cause the 2 places I buy from don't use them. But I would change if good gear.
always used to use green bag Then i started using 200 Then 300hd came out Not looked back since, magic stuff, great for spreading out, levels beautifully like glass with the spikey roller :mrgreen:
Have you used level flex Lads. Used it other week on bathroom floor , found it better then wood smooth.
Ive got a couple bags coming from my supplier. Good price too, nearly half that of 700. Only a 20kg bag opposed to 700's 25kg
Dont be fooled by bag weight !!!!!!! Bag weight means nothing, i could give you a bag of screed with fine particles of lead in it and it would weigh more than a bag filled with dry sand etc. Always look at the coverage of the product. As it happens, E.U laws are changing soon and we will all soon see bags of compound weighing in at 20kg and less. But the clever boys and girls at Mapie have developed a light weight screed that still gives the same coverage but in a lighter weight bag. (im not sure if im allowed to tell you lot that yet? :roll: )
I'm a Stopgap user and I just get better and better with it and I know it's characteristics so well the finish gets better every time I use it. I suppose it's a case of if it aint broke .......
We used this last week to get a more level floor over ceramic tiles, works quite well and value for money (on advice of KFS, 20 kg bags indeed - due to EU regulations on weight per bag, tub etc). We also use Uzin's L3 Gold for simple leveling when needed. Good stuff
For under engineered wood floor Ive always used ardex na and stopgap 1 coat dpm, for lvt I only really use stopgap 300 as I find it the easiest to get a good finish as said before put a spike roller through it and it comes out pukka. I started using 200 when it first came out instead of green bag and 55 and I really liked it, get a nice finish. 200 cant go under a dpm can it as you need to use a primer with it and probly other reasons?
There is no longer any product that can go under a surface DPM if the subfloor has no actual DPM. You can only use surface DPM's on subfloors to lower the moister content. So yes you can use 200 underneath.
i was wondering that matt, was nosing around f balls website and noticed that 900 is missing from the list..
I don't think I have a favourite except for 700 for over wood, otherwise I just use whats delivered or whats been ordered. Back in the day when I was just a wee lad starting out I loved Renda Floor who remembers that one, use to come in white bags with either black writing, blue writing, or red writing.
It was crap because they told you not to use a primer. Other than that it was the same as 200. The reason they said not to use a primer was because Fball dont have a primer you can use on a wet floor (wet floor as in no dpm under it or very high RH) However, Mapie does have primers you can use on wet floors and they have compounds you can use also
I dont remember that one. Must be before my time. I remember my first screeds was Yellow and Black bag Ardex. Used to stink!
Ok, I always used to use Laybonds Screedmaster Ultimate, cheap, flows nicely, levels beautifully with spikey roller. I saw that a few people were using latexplan trade most seemed to like it and most seemed to knock the Laybond stuff so I got some in. Am I doing something wrong because the stuff seems much worse than Ultimate. Doesn't flow as well, seems to cover less area and doesn't give me the smooth finish I was getting with Ultimate. I've done three small domestic jobs now and I can't say I'll bother with it again unless I'm missing something. I'm using P131 as a primer and I'm at a loss as to why I'm not getting good results.
Vito have you tried stopgap green bag? I used laybond new Screedmaster trade a while ago, flowed well but went off to quick so each mix didn't flow into the last mix so had trowel marks.
