Leveling compound

Seeking level is a daily ritual when building a structure. Every part must do two things, conform to the rules of physics, specifically the part about gravity, we’re not building rockets here, and aesthetics. We want lines that are equal, surfaces that are parallel to other surfaces, and any angle that isn’t 90 degrees should be on purpose. We have eyes watching the progress—the customer is worried that we will not do our job; that they messed up somehow—ordered the wrong cabinets, stove, roofing, color, tile border or sink faucet. The customer is our source of work but simultaneously a source of problems. The customer never understands the inner workings of the product whether it be a new car, a computer, or a new bathroom.
We must manage this—could you imagine going to a car dealership then watching them make the car in the back, not in a controlled factory, and every time you have a question about your car the process is stopped and explained. They stop the production to tell you why your car seat has 5 bolts, or maybe they would explain to you the mechanics of your air conditioning system. You might never get your car.
So it takes a certain panache and diplomacy to actually get the job done. But all in all, the customer can be the easiest part of the job, one just needs to do exactly what the customer wants.
The real demon of any job is the inner turmoil of perfection, reality, and the ability to bridge the twain. Thus, the leveling compound, any way you take it is a necessary part of the contractor’s life. In its current form it’s a dark powdery substance composed of silica (powdered sand), Portland cement, limestone, and gypsum, and it costs about 50 cents a pound. It is mixed with six quarts of water into a thin pea soupy consistency, and then poured out over a surface, usually a floor, to make it flat. Most commonly it is poured over a floor before it is tiled so that the surface isn’t like a rolling farm landscape.
So the process is to first gather the materials, Fifteen bags of leveling compound @ 50 lbs each, and a water source (preferably a hose). Second, is to collect the necessary tools and other implements. Some five gallon spackle buckets, a gallon jug, a trowel or other type of wide flat blade, electrical cord, a half inch drill, a mixing paddle.
Read directions carefully, even if you’ve done this before, read the directions—this is important, we never remember exactly and chances are we were distracted last time or the application wasn’t important enough to warrant reading directions.
Read direction again—there is something we missed. Make sure water is on, how much water again? What viscosity will that be like? We ask if it is going to pour well or will it be too thick and maintain a blob mound on the floor and cost us thousands of dollars in damages because the particular application today is to imbed an electrical radiant floor heating filament. It took 2 days to install and 1600 in materials. Representing almost $1200 in labor charges if we billed out the job correctly- not to mention that the leveling compound also costs $25 a bag. And the floor needs 15 bags. A very expensive installation. Look at the directions will this product do what we want? We did buy it so we must trust in its ability to mix to a thin pourable consistency and dry hard.
Get bucket pour six quarts of water, 1.5 gallons then as one person holds the bucket between their legs while standing over it drill positioned so that mixing paddle is centered in bucket turning paddle slowly, hold on drill handle trigger steadily but slowly turning the paddle the other person opens a bag of dusty leveling compound breathing as little as possible and thinking of how fucked up their lungs will be but still it is not enough impetus to put on a breathing mask—the restrict air flow and are hot and uncomfortable, and slowly picks up bag carries it’s 50 pounds over to the bucket secured between the other’s legs and slowly pours the mass of dust creating lung destroying leveling compound into the water while the mixer observes breathes a bit of dust and maintains a steady mixing speed so that all goes well and chaos does not ensue. Once the bag is poured into the bucket the water soaks it in and it becomes this dark grey soupy consistency. It must be mixed for one more minute.
Exit bag pourer, enter mixer. One minute-observe that the bucket is almost full. The leveler is 3 ½ inches from the top of the bucket. If I maintain the same slow speed will all the chunks of dry leveler dissipate in a minute—must be done in that minute only have 10 minutes to pour it out before it stets.
What if I squeeze my index finger just a little more? Oops. . . to much. . . fine trigger, just overreached the oscillation limit of the drill set by my ability to hold the axis perfectly straight with minimal oscillation. I now have spilled concrete leveling compound all over my legs& boots. Too bad, must continue mixing. 45 seconds left
Wow this is really cool. The faster the drill turns the larger the vortex