Watch our full video with MAPEI’s Subfloor Prep Patches – Quickpatch and Planipatch.
The foundation of a successful floor installation is good subfloor prep. Skipping this step can cause headaches and more work later on. Get the subfloor as flat and smooth as you can before installing any type of flooring. A necessary tool to have is a subfloor patch.
Subfloor patch is meant for small areas of the subfloor that need to be filled in to bring to level. MAPEI has a wide range of products for underlayment prep, including PlaniPatch and Quickpatch.
An important thing to remember with these products is the pot life. The pot life is how long the patch is usable after mixing the product with water in the bucket. You don’t want to mix up the patch only to have it harden while you were looking for the spots to fill. The best method: look at the subfloor, decide what areas need to be patched, mark those areas, then mix up your patching product.
Subfloor prep with MAPEI PlaniPatch
PlaniPatch works with concrete, wood substrates, ceramic tile, and other types of floor covering. It’s a great all-around patch product for subfloor prep, but it is limited to a half inch in thickness.
Before using PlaniPatch, you’ll need to moisture test the subfloor to know whether this patch can be used. The patch has a limit of 5 lbs (CaCl) or 85% RH.
The pot life is generally 8-10 minutes, so you’ll want to do all your prep well in advance of mixing up PlaniPatch.
Using MAPEI Quickpatch over Concrete
Designed for unlimited moisture, Quickpatch can only be used during concrete subfloor prep. Because of this design, no moisture testing is required. Its pot life is about 15 minutes – again, make sure you know where you’re going to use it before mixing up.
How to Prep Subfloor with MAPEI’s Patches
After you’ve determined which product to use, decide what areas of the subfloor to patch. These subfloor patches do not need a primer, so apply these products directly to the substrate.
Once you mix the product, you’ll place a patch, which means applying the product and smoothing it out. The rule of thumb for coverage: for every eighth of an inch you cover, use about a pound of patch material.
The patch will usually dry between 30 to 90 minutes. After the patch dries, the subfloor is ready to install flooring over the top of it.
Are you prepping your subfloor correctly?
The best way to ensure a smooth flooring installation is to prep the subfloor correctly. We’ve broken down the steps in our subfloor guide – get the details here.