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I’m renovating a house from 1948. We installed underfloor heating on EPS 300 insulation boards.
The original floor was not level; especially in the corners, there were raised areas of up to around 4 cm. After laying the insulation boards, reinforcing mesh was embedded with tile adhesive, as specified by the board manufacturer. After that, a first layer of self-leveling compound was applied. There were already some cracks after this first layer, but at first they did not seem too serious.
Since we plan to install LVT/vinyl flooring later, and the corners were still slightly higher after the first layer, a second layer of self-leveling compound was applied. The product used was Weber self-leveling compound.
Two days after the second layer, I visited the house again and saw that the self-leveling compound had cracked all over. Most of the cracks are long and cross-shaped. I stepped/jumped firmly on several of these cross-shaped cracks, and in one spot I heard a clear cracking/breaking sound. That spot is shown in the last photo.
Afterwards, I tried to lift or remove the cracked areas, but they do not seem loose.
My questions:
Does the floor need to be completely redone before installing LVT/vinyl?
Or can the cracks be repaired with resin/epoxy so that the build-up remains stable long-term?
I’m worried that this could cause problems later under the vinyl flooring. I’d really appreciate opinions from screed/flooring specialists, or anyone with experience with underfloor heating, EPS insulation, and self-leveling compound.
Photos attached.