Floor prep problem.

[afright]

Have got a 30m2 kitchen floor to do in a couple of weeks,and the problem is at the moment the floor is solid oak flooring ,I have removed a small section to see whats underneath and it 12mm ply direct to the joist's ,the customer wants the cheapest way for the prep,I want to overboard with ply and use ditra or would backerboard suffice my concern is the 12mm ply to joist,I have not removed all the oak flooring as the customer wants to do this to keep the cost down and is not prepared to remove it until two days before I start.

 

[CJ]

If the customer is not prepared to do it properly........then walk away. Do it right or not at all.

 

[radim]

would you guarantee the job if not prepared properly.
.as CJ says - better giv it a miss...

 

[afright]

I am going to prepare the floor but as the customer does not want the oak taken up until two days before, the problem is once the oak flooring has been removed there might be to much bounce in the floor as its only 12mm ply to joist,I have never come across this before always been 18mm ,my question is will the floor be man enough if I overboard with ply and then ditra or go with backboard maybe 12 mm.

 

[Chalker]

Could you glue and screw another layer of 12mm ply the opposite direction to the first layer.

 

[afright]

I could, but would it be just as good if I used 12mm backer board ,the customer wants a good job but on a low budget

 

[radim]

12 mm hardie would do me thinks.

 

[afright]

Cheers I think that would be the answer, I get a good price at Ctd

 

[Stef]

I reckon that the ply will sag between the joists.
If he's adamant about keeping the 12mm then I would be lifting it & adding a lot of extra noggins to strengthen it up a bit, stick ply back down then overboard with Hardie 500.

 

[afright]

Will not know how the floor will behave until the oak is removed at the moment its feels ok but thats with the oak in place.

 

[High Peak Tiling]

He wants a proper job but on a cheap budget .. never a good combo

 

[afright]

What the customer is saying is the cheapest method either overboard with ply and ditra or backer as the ditra is roughly same price as backer it cuts out the ply ,there is no way that I would do a cheap job,once the oak is removed then I will decide which way to go and if the floor has deflection and he is not prepared to pay then I will walk,my main concern is the 12mm ply direct to the joist's.

 

[AliGage]

Ply and ditra for me.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

what centres are the joists? as Stef, it'll need plenty of dwangs if they want to keep the 12mm. Personally I'd be telling them that the cheapest option would be something like 22mm chipboard overlaid with hardie 250,,,but check those dwangs (noggins)

 

[Stef]

what centres are the joists? as Stef, it'll need plenty of dwangs if they want to keep the 12mm. Personally I'd be telling them that the cheapest option would be something like 22mm chipboard overlaid with hardie 250,,,but check those dwangs (noggins)

Like Doug. Your nearly Scottish anyway..
A Dwangs a Dwang!! [emoji1][emoji1]

 

[afright]

Going to tell them today that they must take the oak up before I order anything ,as I need to inspect whats underneath.

 

[Stef]

Going to tell them today that they must take the oak up before I order anything ,as I need to inspect whats underneath.

Think that's wise m8, you've been in the game long enough to know yourself.

 

[afright]

They had another tiler,and he reckons he could go straight onto the ply with ditra and that would be ok and thats without looking.

 

[AliGage]

There's oak flooring laid over this at the moment right? What's the condition of the floor at present. I take it if you've lifted some of it whilst there last time its not glued down, just floating.

 

[afright]

The customer only wanted me to remove a small section,yes its not glued and what I could see underneath was 12mm ply direct to the joist,I have had a word with them about taking it up but they do not want it removed until I start in a couple weeks because of there children,just cant get it thru to them that I need to look ,think they expect me to start tiling straight away,I have now left it with them to ring me after they make there mind up as they are removing the oak not me.

 

[AliGage]

The oak will be 18mm.
I'd state clearly that you can't know what prep will ve required until its exposed.

Personally speaking? I would anticipate "joists" to be close enough together to have unglued oak over it. Certainly if it us 12mm.
18mm ply cross bonded, glued (with a wood glue not tile cement) and screwed down at freqent, regular intervals would be plenty ample. What with it being 30mm ply in total.
Ditra and away you go.

 

[afright]

They are taking the oak up over the weekend going in on Monday to have a look, thanks for all your feedbacks ,have been doing my job for a long time now but still learning.

 

[nybor62]

some times its wise to walk away. this sounds like its time to walk with me , be carefull buddy

 

[afright]

Will not know until Tuesday but will be telling them,its my way or the highway,but if I do walk they have another tiler that is waiting to jump in.

 

[nybor62]

i here ya , and its close to crimbo , no one wants to turn down work, im sure u will do the right thing ,