My Basement floor rehab - low budget job

[Gasifier]

Craig. The floor looks great! Outstanding job!

I have a concrete floor in my basement that I eventually will be refinishing in the future. I have a large crack down through it. When I say large I mean about 1/4" across by 20 feet or so long. Should be able to fill that easily. But there is also some places where a leveling compound was used. Unfortunately it was not self leveling, and it was not done by a professional. So I have uneven places all over the floor. So, I am looking for advice on how I can do this. A few questions for you. How did you level everything first? Did you have to fill any cracks? How did you clean or scrape your concrete floor for preparation? Did you use a self leveler like some of the others suggested?

 

[webbie]

My house is relatively new .....so the biggest hassle was dealing with the stuff I had installed there already. I had to remove the old carpet adhesive - a real PITA.
I used a large razor scraper and a special removal solvent for most of this.
When I pulled up the carpet stripping there were about 50 small craters from the masonry nails I had to fill. I only had a very few small cracks.

Any coating is only going to be as good as what you put in on!

I didn't have to do any leveling.

So, you have a job there....probably most important to make a decision as to the best way to cover it (if that is what you are gonna do). I've seen really bad floors fixed by putting pressure treated little joists down and then plywood.

Leveling can be almost impossible - it's more like getting it to some relatively decent condition.
You might be best skipping paint or epoxy and just putting some of the interlocking mats down. They have everything from foam ones to heavy rubber.....I'm putting some on top of about 40% of my painted area....just to set instruments on and be easier on the feet.