At some point, you may need to know how to level an uneven basement floor. Whether it’s for a vinyl installation that’s going to go over a moisture barrier or simply a tile installation that’s going to go directly on your concrete slab, if it’s not even you will likely have some headaches down the line. So before you go putting down that new floor, make sure your slab is level first.

As your home ages, your concrete basement floors will have a natural tendency to cure and settle/shift a tad simply due to the nature of the materials. These slight changes will likely cause your concrete to either crack or roll slightly leaving you with an unsightly surface to deal with. Lucky for you, it’s a fairly easy process to level the concrete surface making your project much easier to manage as well as add longevity to the life of the new flooring material. Just follow these 6 simple steps.

Step 1 – Get Materials To Level Your Floor

Unfortunately, this job really isn’t one where you are going to be running out in the middle of it to pick up something you forgot on your list. It’s best to make sure you have everything up front prior to starting this task. Here’s what you are going to need:

• Self-leveling compound
• 5 Gallon Bucket
• Stirring rod (even better if you’ve got a cordless drill and rod to mix with)
• Concrete trowel
• Concrete caulk
• Caulking gun
• Expansion tape
• Broom and dustpan

Now, I can already hear the questions formulating about “how much self leveling compound am I going to need” or “how much concrete caulk do I buy”. And my straight forward answer to you is this, I don’t know. It’s all going to depend on how many cracks you are going to need to fill and how big your concrete floor is that you are going to cover. If you take your measurements to one of your local home improvement stores, they will be able to give you a better estimation based on the compound you purchase to cover the square footage you’ve got. As far as the concrete caulk goes, you are going to need enough to fill the cracks in your concrete whatever that amount may be.

Step 2 – Clean Out Your Basement

If you’ve accumulated anything down in your basement, now’s the time to get it out. Old storage boxes that have been thrown in the corners, discarded furniture that used to hold a treasured place in your living room, maybe even a toy or two that’s been dropped down the stairs. Bottom line is if it’s on the floor, it needs to get out now. Find a new home for all these objects for the time being so that you can get started. Once everything’s been removed, use that broom and dustpan from the list and get it all swept up so that you are looking at a clean, dust and dirt free floor.

Step 3 – Repair The Concrete Cracks

Now that you can see your concrete floor again, it’s time to repair and chips or cracks that you may have in the concrete. Load up your caulking gun with the concrete caulk and then simply follow the manufacturers instructions. The only thing you need to pay particular mind to other than that is to get rid of the excess caulk that will extrude from the filled surfaces. Use your trowel and scrape it down like you would mudding tile. Before moving to the next step though, make sure that there has been proper time allotted for the caulk to dry.

Step 4 – Build Your Expansion Tape Perimeter

If you are going to use a lot of leveling compound and expect it to touch some walls or possibly even go wall-to-wall, you are going to want to build out a perimeter around your floor. Basically, all you do is take the expansion tape and cover up the 90 degree angle where your concrete floor meets the wall. Half of the tape should be on the concrete while the other half should be on the wall. This provides for a means of keeping your compound in a contained area as well as give the compound an ability to start self-leveling instead of running everywhere.

Step 5 – Level The Basement Floor

Now comes the part of the project where you are likely to get a little dirty. Take that 5 gallon bucket and start mixing out the self leveling compound as per the directions. This is where that variable speed cordless drill with mixing attachment will come in handy and save your back and arms a bit. If you’ve got one, I definitely suggest using it or you’ll simply need to use that manual labor to get the job done. Just be careful and don’t splash it everywhere so mix slow and steady. Once the compound is mixed to the right consistency, simply pour it in straight even lines along the surface of your concrete floor. You’ll likely be mixing and pouring for a little while. Once you’ve got the floor covered correctly, you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Step 6 – Finishing The Newly Poured Leveling Compound

Here’s where you get to work the self-leveling part of the compound. Take your concrete trowel and start spreading the mixture around a bit. As you do this, be sure to work out any little inconsistencies that may be part of the mixture. The reason we are spreading it around a bit now is to help the compound a little in gaining that level surface. By spreading it around, the level compound will work itself back into a nice flat surface with a little help by gravity pulling it back into the uneven spots.

Special Note:

Here’s one thing to keep in mind when you do this. Most all self-leveling compounds take a long time to dry and cure properly when you are leveling the basement floor. Make sure you have planned for this and by all means, keep the kids, dogs and cats away while it’s curing or else you will likely end up with little footprints that you really didn’t want in the first place.

When you’ve successfully leveled the floor, you’ll see that it really is a fairly simple task to accomplish. Problem is, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean that it won’t take quite a bit of time to do from cleaning out the space to being patient and letting it dry. If you’ve done this particular job before, please feel free to chime in below and tell us how it went for you, send us a pic and show us what you did, or give your tip(s) for what you found to be the easiest way to level a basement floor.

There’s no guarantee that your basement will stay dry no matter what waterproofing strategies you may have in place and the only real thing that works is solid basement flooring preparation. Not only that, all basement floors tend to hold condensation coming from the cold concrete and ground underneath. Even new homes aren’t resistant to this. Most of the time people will just lay down an underpad to cover the concrete before installing a basement floor and don’t even realize that they’ve just created a big problem in their basement.

Concrete is porous. It needs to breathe. Temperatures tend to fluctuate quite dramatically in basements which leads to prime conditions for moisture accumulation in a pad just thrown down on top of the concrete subfloor. You want to protect your basement flooring as best as possible and this simply ain’t doing it.

A good basement flooring preparation alternative is the DRIcore Subfloor System. DRIcore was made for cold, damp environments like basements. The panels are manufactured with a high density polyethylene moisture barrier. This raises the subfloor basement flooring 1/4 inch away from the cold concrete. The panels are also topped with a 5/8 inch random wafer board. Because the panels are raised from the surface, it allow the concrete to breathe and allow for moisture seepage to channel freely under the subfloor. The panels come in 7/8″X2′X2′ squares and carry a 25 year manufacturer warranty.

In fact, this basement flooring preparation method is so easy it’s definitely a do it yourself project. It installs via a simple tongue and groove edge just like putting a puzzle together. The panels are easily trimmed and cut via either a circular saw or jigsaw. The system is made to “float” on your concrete floor so there is no gluing and typically its not even necessary to seal the concrete before installation. DRIcore even boasts that it will take on average 50%-60% less time to install than other conventional methods.

In basement flooring preparation, you want assurance that the time and money involved is going to be a worthwhile investment so it’s best to protect what you want to do. DRIcore is an excellent basement flooring preparation product that will do this, and I definitely like that the company has a 25 year warranty on the materials they produce. There are other “tiled” basement flooring preparation systems on the market today, but I prefer DRIcore.

Basements need to be dry or at least not accumulating water before you ever start any basement flooring project you need to first do some basement flooring preparation. I wouldn’t even think about it without knowing first whether I have a “leaky” problem that needs to be looked into. The trick is, sometimes you can’t even really tell if you have a moisture problem. It is absolutely essential that you fix any problems with dampness or resolve any problems with leaks before you start with basement flooring. After you have done this, wait a while and ensure that the problems have disappeared.

An upfront basement flooring preparation strategy is critical even if you feel like you don’t have wet basement. Humid weather can run rampant and destroy valuable basement flooring. Not only that, who’d want to put the effort and work into something only to see it be destroyed a little more everyday. Humidity a killer, because it causes condensation that forms from the cool floor surface temperatures. A good basement flooring preparation strategy will help you in resolving that musty basement smell.

A method that’s gaining quite a lot of attention for basement flooring preparation is the use of a rigid extruded polystyrene foam board as a basement foam board for quite a few different reasons. First, their extruded skin and closed cell structure provides for outstanding moisture resistance. They are strong because the foam board has been compacted producing very high compressive strength. Extruded polystyrene foam board makes for an excellent polystyrene foam subfloor, is relatively easy to work with, and it provides for excellent thermal performance that offers maximum insulating value. This makes it highly suitable for most common residential and commercial applications as well as for basement flooring preparation.

To begin with this basement flooring preparation method, you will need to start with 1.5 or 2 inch thick extruded polystyrene foam board. Get enough to cover your entire basement floor. They come in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets and depending on the brand and rating you get can range anywhere from $15-$30 a piece with an average floating around the $20 range. Shape that in over your concrete into your basement flooring. You want a good tight fit or else you will probably need to tuck tape all the seams. Then you can recreate your subfloor over the top of this foam board with a minimum of 5/8 inch plywood. Lay the plywood down directly on top of the foam board. Now go back and pre-drill some holes through it all into the concrete so you will be able to secure the entire basement flooring. Next, go back to the holes and secure the subfloor basement flooring to the concrete using some good concrete screws and viola, you’ve just installed an envious and dry subfloor ready to tackle all your basement flooring needs. This subfloor will be able to handle anything from carpet flooring to hardwoods to pretty much anything you can throw at it.

This is one basement flooring preparation project that any do-it-yourself handy person can tackle. Stay tuned as Basement Flooring Guide will present another alternative method to subfloor your basement if this one didn’t suit your fancy.