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How to fix uneven step down to timber floor?

Hi to all....

Before tiling my old hard wood kitchen floor which has a high spot, ive poured self levelling compound to level up the floor.

There is a walk through to the lounge which is original timber floor.

The problem i have caused, is where the tile will end and I will lay a trim, from the left side going across to the right side, it gets higher.

This results in the trim being floor level on the left side, going as high as 5mm as you span across to the right side of the walk through area.

The walkway to the lounge is approx 3 metres wide.

Logically I should just tile out throughout the lounge room.

I would prefer to retain the timber floor and rejuvenate it.

I am worried about attempting to remove the compound, which the one I got from bunnings I found out later was not designed to go down onto timber.

Lastly the floors were primed.

Any suggestions anyone, thanks Leigh

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JacobZ

Hi @Lethaleigh,

Unfortunately, removing the compound would be a massive amount of work, and there is no real guarantee that you will be able to save the surface beneath.

While mistakes may have been made, at this point, you should probably weigh up the cost to rip everything up and try again or simply accept them and work with what you have got.

My suggestion would be to just use a timber trim, such as this Porta 27x27mm 2.4m Quad Tasmanian Oak and sand or plane it down so that it sits flush with the top of the tiles and hides any lip that is created because of the unevenness in the floor.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

Lethaleigh

Yeah thats what I was tbinking to do, there's no uneven dipping going across the walk way where you would have a step up to tile.

But rather a gradual increase in height from timber floor, where there is no compound at all, being the high point of the hump on the floor.

Building up to a height of 5mm thickness at the other end.

I could plain the trim but it would be very noticeable seeing 15mm increasing to 20mm height, over a few metres lol

I thought about just removing the compound back about a metre in amd then feathering the tiles down to floorevel on the high end

JacobZ

Hi @Lethaleigh,

If you made a gradual slope in the levelling compound, you might be able to feather it out and hide the slight change in the grout lines of your tiles, but it would be tricky.

Whatever you do, you're going to have to hide some unevenness somewhere. I figure the trim is the simplest place, and I know from experience that you are always going to know it is there, but no one else will notice it until you point it out to them.

I reckon the trim is the way to go.

Jacob

Lethaleigh

Hey Jacob you know I think your right, we always zoom in on every project microscopically lol

Im a good tiler and done a lot of slowly working a fall over a tiled area and could probably pull it off.

BUT ill take your advise and use that trim, as the rolling edge will help hide the difference in height.

Bear in mind its only 5mm height by the far end.

So big thanks you know your stuff and youve just saved me from a lot of work, either ripping some of it up and feathering it down......

Or tiling all the way out through the entire lounge.

Thanks again Leigh

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