Q: I have recently started to renovate a house. I took the carpet up and found the floor had been self leveled. Some of the self leveler had come off and there are some nice red tiles underneath. Can you tell me how to remove the self leveler please?
Thanks
Adreiene
A: This is a fairly tricky situation. Typically when self-leveler is applied properly one of two things will occur. Either a latex based primer will be used and/or the tile surface is scored in order to help ensure the leveler will adhere properly. Since the portion you have found flaked up, it is likely that neither of these two were done, but its not likely that all of the tile remains in good shape. The acids in the Portland cement based used for self-leveling compounds will typically scored the surface of the tile, leaving a patchwork appearance or spotty appearance over the surface of the tile.
You can test this by taking a sledge hammer and dropping it, don’t swing just let the weight of the hammer do the work, from about a foot off the ground, then see how far the cracking itself goes. Do this in a few spots over a three foot area. If the cracking does not go through the tile and the leveler can be removed, then you could try this technique to break up and remove the leveler, but it is rather likely that you will see some discoloration to the tile from the leveling compound.
