Cheapest Way to Level Large Concrete Floor Without Losing Height? Guide Step By Step For 2023

 If your house is under construction and you have uneven large concrete floors in your house that require good leveling, you must spend a big portion of your money on it.

You may not have that much budget to spend; what would you do? Of course, you should seek if there is any cheapest way. And I have found the cheapest way to level large concrete floor without losing height.

Generally, the equipment needed in this work costs a lot, and that takes out all your money. But if you know what the cheapest way to level a concrete floor is, that makes all things easy and saves your money.

But there is a fear of damaging the height while leveling. Don’t panic! I have everything in my bucket! So, to save your money, be with me till the end of the article!

What is the cheapest way to level a concrete floor

An uneven concrete floor is not something that anyone desires to be in their house. The bumpy floor is so uncomfortable to deal with!

Still, if anybody does not want to spend money on repairing or leveling a concrete floor, some ways are cheap yet effective.

Even if you don’t want to spend money, don’t just be tensed by calculating the cost. Rather listen to me and trust my findings so that you don’t have to spend a lot of money and your uneven concrete floor gets polished like magic!

As I said, there is the cheapest way to level a concrete floor which is the easiest as well. That is to use a self-leveling compound which is also known as self-leveling underlayment.

This is the material that makes the work easy by flowing like a liquid, and after that, it gets hardened, and you get an accurately leveled, even concrete floor. It gets hard in less than an hour sometimes, which is also great!

It is also the cheapest way to raise a floor height as well.

Since you require evening out the bumpy concrete floor but don’t want to decrease the height, this self-leveling concrete floor repair also helps to raise the floor height or not to reduce the height while leveling.

You have known about the self-leveling underlayment, but you still don’t know how it works. I must let you know how you can do it properly and without any mistakes. Let’s get that quickly!

Self-leveling underlayment

To gain a clean and even concrete floor, you have to start doing it in a process that I am describing below.

So, first thing first, you have to set up a big and long wooden rail all over across the floor which you are going to level. The one end position would be in the high point. Then, you have to ship slims to the entire floor, starting from the low end.

You have to keep doing that until it seems perfect and even. Then you have to take a scribing tool and use it on the layer so that you can transfer the uneven layers over the rail. For the bottom part that you have just scribed, try to match that with the floor surface.

Next, you have to cut the rail according to which you have just scribed to set it with the floor. Use a circular saw for this. After setting the rail back with the floor, check whether the level is right or not. If it isn’t right, then do cut it or scribe it accordingly.

Next, you have to squish the rail, scribed before, into the slab. Then set it for construction. To fix it with the concrete, you have to bore pilot holes through a hammer drill, though it would be good to pre-bore the rail.

Then after setting it, fasten the rail by using masonry nails and then peak a second rail and fix it with the other. You have to shim the second one as well accordingly.

Similar to the first rail, you have to scribe the second on as well and transfer it over to clear out the uneven layer. After that, the process is going to be similar to the above.

Now, you have to cut the third rail once after cutting the second rail as well. Just like the second rail, you have to draw a reference, and by using a scribing tool, you have to cut the third rail and install it with the rails.

Now, take a half-inch drill that would move with the leveling compound. Here, you have to keep in mind that the mixture should be thick in consistency.

Now the exciting part comes up. You have to put the compound inside the fixed rails. Remember, pour the excess amount of compound and then take out the excess amount. Doing this will even out the surface and smoothen it.

Now all you have to do is to wait and give it a generous amount of time to be cured. After that, you can go for the other surfaces. Don’t rush in! Always take your time and wait until it dries out totally before resurfacing it if necessary.

That’s it! That is the cheapest way you can level a large concrete floor without losing the height you have asked for. I have given you the easiest one as a bonus!

The self-leveling underlayment is something that would be tricky in some places, and the whole process would not cost much; rather, if you do it properly, you would get a nice surface in time!

Frequently asked questions

1. Can you self-level over concrete?

Answer: Yes, you can self-level over concrete. And it will be effective for the cracks since the cracks or damages cannot be fixed through normal concrete leveling.

You can self-level over concrete to smooth out the unevenness of the old finishing that can be fixed through it.

2. Can you put concrete on top of concrete?

Answer:  The answer would be yes if you want to put new concrete on top of the old concrete. But if you have any old concrete that is unresolved, then that can be put over the new concrete.

How you deal with the concrete covering an old one will depend on the circumstances. But in every case, you have to put at least 2-inch thick compound.

3. How thin can self-leveling concrete be?

Answer: Self-leveling underlayment can be approximately 1/16 inch thin. The thinness is different from normal leveling. The concrete has to be thick by a few inches. On the other hand, the self-leveling compound has to be 1/16 inch thin.

5. What can I do with rough concrete floors?

Answer: There are a few steps to follow to smoothen out the rough concrete, such as you have to brush off the surface first. Then you need to wash the surface. You have to wash the grime away with the help of a neutral cleaner and water, which has to be warm.

Now, you can identify the places where the cracks are so that they can be fixed.

5. What tool do you use to smooth concrete?

Answer: You have to use screeds to smooth concrete. There are a few reasons behind this you need to know. The screeds are used for their length. Again, it is straight, and it has stiff tubing that helps to smooth the concrete even if it is rough or wet while leveling.

The screeds come in different shapes and sizes because specific screeds are used in different jobs.

6. Is concrete overlay a good idea?

Answer: Yes, the concrete overlay can be a great idea because of its durability. The concrete has not had the higher tensile strength as the modern concrete resurfacers have.

It can be stated more specifically with epoxy that modern concrete has. The concrete overlaying is quite durable. Yet it has poor application techniques, and the preparation cause may not be correct.

Final Words

The cheapest ways can get tricky sometimes! But to save money, you can get along with tricks as well.

You want every corner of your house to be perfect. The same goes for the concrete floor. Anything uneven in the floor finishing would be so uncomfortable. But you may feel that leveling the floor will be so costly.

I think your impression has been changed after exploring these easiest and cheapest techniques of leveling concrete floors.