Levelling compound prices
per m².

In our quotations, levelling compound is never buried in the price of the floor covering: it has its own line, priced per square metre. Two price levels emerge from them, which answer two different situations, plus a line that often accompanies them on timber floors.

On most of our 2024 quotations, the thin levelling line was at €21 excl. VAT/m². Those of 2025 and 2026 range from €21 to €30, depending on the planned average thickness (4 or 5 mm) and the condition of the substrate. Only one quotation provided for an average thickness of 10 mm, at €38 excl. VAT/m².

Thick make-up appears on five quotations from 2025 and 2026, at €40 to €75 excl. VAT/m²; four of them are at €70 or €75. One of our quotations priced one area as a lump sum, €150 excl. VAT, rather than per square metre.

The supply and application of the mortar, poured then drawn with a smoothing trowel. Our line descriptions state the planned average thickness: it is the first point to compare between two quotations, because 4 mm and 20 mm do not cost the same.

The bonding primer, chosen according to the substrate (concrete, old tiles, timber). It makes the levelling compound adhere and prevents an overly porous substrate from soaking up the water in the mix.

The perimeter strip and the stops. A compressible strip along the walls decouples the levelling compound from the walls; timber strips delimit the levelled areas. On our thick levelling work, filling the holes and gaps in the floor is included.

What is not included: removal of the old floor covering, priced separately at €15 to €35 excl. VAT/m² in our guide to redoing your floors, and of course the floor covering laid afterwards.

The thickness is decided after removal, with a straightedge laid on the substrate. An old flat tile floor whose joints merely need hiding is fine with a thin levelling layer. A floor that undulates, a sloping room or offset levels between two rooms call for a thick fibre-reinforced levelling compound, able, depending on the product, to compensate 20 to 30 mm.

Another limit counts as much as the substrate: the available height. The added thickness raises the finished floor: interior doors can be planed down, but the threshold of a French window or the first step of a staircase do not move. One of our quotations notes it room by room: the total thickness of the floor there is limited by the external joinery. This is checked before choosing the product.

Beyond the thicknesses the product allows, or to embed insulation or underfloor heating, it is no longer levelling compound but a screed. The price of a screed will be the subject of a separate guide in this series.

On old tiles, levelling compound is the most economical solution when the tiles are holding. Those that sound hollow must be removed and the area filled before the primer. For what follows, our guide to the price of laying tiles gives the cost of the floor covering itself.

On a timber floor, common in the old houses and chalets of our two départements, you need a fibre-reinforced levelling compound designed for timber substrates. The boards are first screwed down again if necessary, and the product's data sheet imposes a minimum thickness, 5 mm on a parquet floor for the product we consulted. Under tiles, we add a decoupling mat so that the movement of the timber does not reach the joints.

On a concrete slab that is flat and sound, levelling compound is not always useful. Our quotations state it in black and white: on a flat, stable floor, only a bonding primer is applied before tiling. A recent slab must, however, have reached the moisture level required by the laying rules before being covered.

Levelling compound can be walked on quickly, but it cannot be covered straight away. For a standard P3 fibre-reinforced levelling compound, the manufacturer's data sheet indicates 2 to 4 hours before it can be walked on, 8 hours before tiling and 24 hours before glued parquet or a PVC covering. It also asks for it to be covered within 8 days, once dry.

These values are measured in the laboratory at 23 °C. The same product is applied between +5 and +35 °C: in a Savoie house closed up in winter and not yet heated, drying takes longer than on the data sheet. Before parquet, we check the moisture of the substrate rather than rely on the calendar.

Levelling compounds carry a letter P followed by a number, which indicates the loading they withstand: P2 for lightly loaded premises, P3 for moderate loading, according to the manufacturers' data sheets. The product must be at least of the classification of the room. For houses and apartments, the descriptions of our thick levelling work specify “fibre-reinforced P3”.

Application follows the CSTB technical specifications for smoothing screeds on interior floors, one for new work, the other for renovation, as well as the data sheet of the product selected.

A 25 m² living room over old flat tiles, before laminate: thin levelling compound at €20 to €30, that is €500 to €750 excl. VAT, or €550 to €825 incl. VAT.

A 12 m² bedroom over an old uneven timber floor, before tiling: thick levelling compound at €40 to €75 (€480 to €900) and decoupling mat at €25 to €35 (€300 to €420), that is €780 to €1,320 excl. VAT, or €858 to €1,452 incl. VAT.

These two budgets exclude removal of the old floor and the floor covering. Above all, they show the gap between a sound substrate and one that has to be reworked: it is the visit, not the area, that sets the right price.

In a home completed more than two years ago, levelling compound follows the rate of the work it prepares: 10% for a floor covering, and 5.5% if it is essential to eligible insulation work, such as insulating a lowest floor. Special cases are detailed in our guide to VAT on renovation work.