I swore those self-leveling compound pouches were a gimmick but after fighting with a bag mix that set up in 15 minutes on a 60 year old sloped kitchen floor in my rental last week I'm never going back to the bucket method

Anyone got tips for getting the air bubbles out without a spike roller or should I just accept a few pinholes?

2 comments

2 Comments

Oh man, that 15 minute set time nightmare. I feel your pain. I had a bag mix start going off mid pour on a hot day once, ended up with a frozen wave of concrete I had to grind down for hours. For bubbles without a spike roller, I've had decent luck dragging a heavy putty knife across the surface real slow, kind of popping them as they surface. You'll probably still get a few pinholes, but it beats fighting a flash set.

jade4725d ago

That putty knife trick is solid, I've done that too on a few smaller pours. What really saved me once was I took a heat gun and gently waved it over the surface right after pouring. It thins out the top layer just enough for the bubbles to rise and pop on their own. You gotta be careful not to cook it though, keep it moving or you'll dry out the top too fast. Worked better than I expected for getting a smooth finish without pinholes.