Advice Needed?

[HardTarget]

Hope someone can advise me on the best way to go about two tiling jobs I need to do at home. First I want to tile over an old 1930's quarry tiled kitchen floor. I don’t want to remove it, which I know would be the proper way to guarantee a perfect job; instead I am hoping I can tile over it? I have read various ways, but confused even more. The floor is solid and dry and if I'm honest a shame to tile over, but the wife wants a modern porcelain tile. I have read a lot about using an uncoupling membrane called Schluter Ditra. Would this be overkill? If I was to use this what adhesives would I need to fix the ditra to the quarry tile and also the porcelain on top of the ditra? Do I need to prime the quarry tiles before laying the tiles?


The second job I need to tile the bathroom, which I have already taken up all the old floorboards and have replace with 18mm marine ply, which I had left over from another job. Basically the same questions as the quarry tiled floor. Do I need to use anything between the ply floor and tiles and if so what would you guys recommend including adhesives and any primers? Really appreciate any advice guys as I have posted a similar post elsewhere and not a single reply L


Jimmy

 

[Dan]

Hope someone can advise me on the best way to go about two tiling jobs I need to do at home. First I want to tile over an old 1930's quarry tiled kitchen floor. I don’t want to remove it, which I know would be the proper way to guarantee a perfect job; instead I am hoping I can tile over it? I have read various ways, but confused even more. The floor is solid and dry and if I'm honest a shame to tile over, but the wife wants a modern porcelain tile. I have read a lot about using an uncoupling membrane called Schluter Ditra. Would this be overkill? If I was to use this what adhesives would I need to fix the ditra to the quarry tile and also the porcelain on top of the ditra? Do I need to prime the quarry tiles before laying the tiles?


The second job I need to tile the bathroom, which I have already taken up all the old floorboards and have replace with 18mm marine ply, which I had left over from another job. Basically the same questions as the quarry tiled floor. Do I need to use anything between the ply floor and tiles and if so what would you guys recommend including adhesives and any primers? Really appreciate any advice guys as I have posted a similar post elsewhere and not a single reply L


Jimmy

If your quarries are fine and have no cracks then perhaps tile as is.

Have you pulled up the odd one to test how they're fixed?

The bathroom I'd perhaps use a tile backer board. Lads might correct me.

 

[HardTarget]

If your quarries are fine and have no cracks then perhaps tile as is.

Have you pulled up the odd one to test how they're fixed?

The bathroom I'd perhaps use a tile backer board. Lads might correct me.

Hi Dan, there is one corner that the plumber drilled to get his pipes through and it lifted a tile and from what I could see it was some sort of black morta. The other tiles seem solid when tapped no hollow sounds and no cracks. Shame really to tile over

 

[Dan]

Personally I'd refurb and restore them but if the mrs is involved it's not happening we may as well all give up that one.

Got any pictures?

 

[HardTarget]

Personally I'd refurb and restore them but if the mrs is involved it's not happening we may as well all give up that one.

Got any pictures?

Not sure if I have done the pictures right?

 

[White Room]

There's been a few changes there with pebble dashing on the inside...

 

[Dan]

They don't look half bad.
Appears to have been a repair. What's that darker tile?

 

[HardTarget]

Hope someone can advise me on the best way to go about two tiling jobs I need to do at home. First I want to tile over an old 1930's quarry tiled kitchen floor. I don’t want to remove it, which I know would be the proper way to guarantee a perfect job; instead I am hoping I can tile over it? I have read various ways, but confused even more. The floor is solid and dry and if I'm honest a shame to tile over, but the wife wants a modern porcelain tile. I have read a lot about using an uncoupling membrane called Schluter Ditra. Would this be overkill? If I was to use this what adhesives would I need to fix the ditra to the quarry tile and also the porcelain on top of the ditra? Do I need to prime the quarry tiles before laying the tiles?


The second job I need to tile the bathroom, which I have already taken up all the old floorboards and have replace with 18mm marine ply, which I had left over from another job. Basically the same questions as the quarry tiled floor. Do I need to use anything between the ply floor and tiles and if so what would you guys recommend including adhesives and any primers? Really appreciate any advice guys as I have posted a similar post elsewhere and not a single reply L


Jimmy

 

[Dan]

Spotted that. Looks like a crack to the right too. Seems to go through two tiles which mean perhaps the substrate has caused it. It might be worth investigating that.

 

[Dan]

There's been a few changes there with pebble dashing on the inside...

I clocked that. I guess a lean-to come out-house attachment. Slabbed floor too.

 

[HardTarget]

It’s the original floor I think? They have done some sort of alteration to the kitchen side door entrance step in the past.

I have done a total refurb on the house and would love to keep the tiles, but she who must be obeyed wants new porcelain tiles she has seen at topps tiles.

The lads at work reckon I can just go over them using a flexible adhesive, but I’m worried about problems with movement or possibly damp and don’t mind going the extra if it helps, but so many ways and adhesives it’s confusing to say the least.

 

[Dave]

The black underneath could be a bitumen DPM.
As for the tiles , I'd personalall clean them to remove any old sealer and cleaning products that have built up over the yrs.

Then I'd fix the likes of Ditra over the floor , this prevents stress from the old floor transferring to the new floor and the old tiles will expand at a different rate and could cause issues.

But only you can decide if the old floor is suitable to tile over as we cannot see what you do.

 

[HardTarget]

I clocked that. I guess a lean-to come out-house attachment. Slabbed floor too.

Yeah spot on It's a lean-to garage to the side of the house.

 

[Dan]

You need to be 100% sure they're fixed well so try get a few up. Doesn't matter if you make a mess if you're tiling it anyway.

I'd then soapy-water them. Dry them. Prime them. And tile them with a single-part flexible adhesive with no ditra. There's not going to be movement in those. They're very well settled I'd have thought.

Using a flexible adhesive means you'll take into account any lateral expansion and retraction differences in the two tiles. Which I'd assume wouldn't be much. Porcelain wont move much. And decades old quarries wouldn't either. Even fired at thousands of degrees quarries don't expand much.

 

[Dan]

Sorry was writing as Ditra Dave was writing then lol

He's got shares in that stuff I think.

 

[Dan]

I'd seriously try and smash a few up with a SDS though in various places to really see how well they're fixed before tiling. I've seen streams under houses that old. And when the floor came up the substrate slowly washed away.

 

[HardTarget]

I've seen streams under houses that old. And when the floor came up the substrate slowly washed away.

Streams!

I know from putting in the new water mains in with the plumber that the ground was rock hard clay down to 40" (main road to side of the house). The tile that came away when the plumber placed his pipes through I dug down through the black mortar and it was a light sand colour and quite easy to dig up. What adhesives/primers would you recommend? What about the bathroom Dan, would I be better with Ditra or similar or should I prime the ply and tile straight on top?

 

[Dan]

With so much cost at stake I'll let the professional wall and floor tilers recommend what they'd use.

I'm a mere web developer after all. ;-)

 

[Old Mod]

Streams!

I know from putting in the new water mains in with the plumber that the ground was rock hard clay down to 40" (main road to side of the house). The tile that came away when the plumber placed his pipes through I dug down through the black mortar and it was a light sand colour and quite easy to dig up. What adhesives/primers would you recommend? What about the bathroom Dan, would I be better with Ditra or similar or should I prime the ply and tile straight on top?

Prime ply as per adhesive reccomendations and install Ditra and tile.
Any timber substrate is subject to deformation due to expansion and contraction due to temperature change and/or moisture.

 

[Dan]

The quarries, would you Ditra those @3_fall? like Dave would? Just for assurance?

And the "black stuff with soft brown stuff" - think that needs some samples taking? Rather than winging it?

 

[White Room]

The brown stuff could be type 1....

 

[Dan]

Ooooooo - Don't get a sample then! Get a specialist in! Or just tile over it and never touch it. Never thought of that!

 

[Dan]

So quarries: Advice Needed?
Bathroom: Advice Needed? | Page 2

Looks like you could do with a decent Ditra supplier.

But I'm worried now about the brown stuff. If you don't touch it or mess with it and none of it is showing, and the plumber is alive still (I shouldn't joke!) then perhaps tile over it and just don't disturb it just in case. Warn the owners perhaps. See what they'd like to do about it.

Ask the lads at work see what they'd do haha

 

[Dan]

Do you have any pictures of your previous tiling work by chance?

 

[Just Rizzle]

if the tiles have been down since the house was built then taking them up could open a can of worms and cost u a lot of money lay a decoupling membrain over the tiles ditra is the best but others are available make sure the membrin is water proof as some times these tiles are the dpm. as dave said the membrain eleviates any lateral stresses from the floor benieth but I wouldn't worry about expansion as theres no ufh to stick the membrain to the floor I would use a S2 addy such as tilemasters ultimate I would also recommend it for adhearing the tiles to the membrain prime first with tile masters primer. iwould also do the same for the bathroom floor same addys prime 1st good luck