S
scotster
Dear Tilers.
I had a kitchen floor laid by a building contractor in a rear extension which they built last year and it is one of the many things they have bodged. We kicked them offsite but that is another topic entirely.
About 3 months after the tiles were put down they started to lift and some have cracked.
They are porcelain on a mixed substrate floor. I say mixed, 3/4 of the room is a new timber suspended floor and the rest is an old concrete substrate.
The substrate floor level ran out by about 15mm from the front of the room to the back. Again really not great but given that it is a very long room this wasn't a disaster an dit was the least of my worries at the time. I asked the guys at the time to either level it somehow or not worry about it at all and leave it running out and I would work around it as it really wasn't noticeable and I wasnt planning to play snooker on it. In their wisdom they appear to have decided to attempt to not level the substrate in any way but use tons of adhesive instead to level the tiles.....
See the photo below.
That doesn't seem to me to be the right approach..... I have tiled a few rooms and I would never have done it like this. Even as an amateur it doesnt smack of being the right thing to do!
I now need to fix this and need some advice please.
1) Can I assume that the approach of laying tons of adhesive is not valid......? :lol:
2) Can I use self levelling compound across a mixed concrete/wood substrate?
3) I suspect that the suspended floor may not be as good as it could be and there may be some movement in it. How can I test the adhesive they used is flexible? How can I assess the floors movement (professionally or otherwise) to see if I can lay tiles on it or to see if the floor itself needs remedial work.
4) Finally... the best way to get the adehesive up?? Any tips?? There us UFH cabling under the adhesive which I am almost resigned to loosing anyway.
Understandably I'm not too happy about having to do this work so no antagonising posts please!
Thanks for any help.
Cheers, Scott.
I had a kitchen floor laid by a building contractor in a rear extension which they built last year and it is one of the many things they have bodged. We kicked them offsite but that is another topic entirely.
About 3 months after the tiles were put down they started to lift and some have cracked.
They are porcelain on a mixed substrate floor. I say mixed, 3/4 of the room is a new timber suspended floor and the rest is an old concrete substrate.
The substrate floor level ran out by about 15mm from the front of the room to the back. Again really not great but given that it is a very long room this wasn't a disaster an dit was the least of my worries at the time. I asked the guys at the time to either level it somehow or not worry about it at all and leave it running out and I would work around it as it really wasn't noticeable and I wasnt planning to play snooker on it. In their wisdom they appear to have decided to attempt to not level the substrate in any way but use tons of adhesive instead to level the tiles.....
See the photo below.
That doesn't seem to me to be the right approach..... I have tiled a few rooms and I would never have done it like this. Even as an amateur it doesnt smack of being the right thing to do!
I now need to fix this and need some advice please.
1) Can I assume that the approach of laying tons of adhesive is not valid......? :lol:
2) Can I use self levelling compound across a mixed concrete/wood substrate?
3) I suspect that the suspended floor may not be as good as it could be and there may be some movement in it. How can I test the adhesive they used is flexible? How can I assess the floors movement (professionally or otherwise) to see if I can lay tiles on it or to see if the floor itself needs remedial work.
4) Finally... the best way to get the adehesive up?? Any tips?? There us UFH cabling under the adhesive which I am almost resigned to loosing anyway.
Understandably I'm not too happy about having to do this work so no antagonising posts please!
Thanks for any help.
Cheers, Scott.