Kitchen Floor - what adhesive should I use?

[Deleted member 9966]

Hi

I'm a novice (and female) and about to embark on my biggest diy challenge yet - laying porcelain ceramic floor tiles in my kitchen.

I have over the last couple of days taken up the shocking excuse for a laminate floor that was already down in my kitchen, torn up the horrific brown cord rubber-backed carpet that had been glued to the floor underneath, and I've now come across my next issue.

My house is only 5 years old, but underneath all the flooring I've removed, I've found a black plastic coating covering the concrete in the kitchen.

My first question is - is this normal?
And my second question is - how do I adhere ceramic floor tiles to the plastic coating?

Most adhesive suitable for concrete floors, I'm assuming, is designed to put straight onto the concrete and not on top of some plastic substance that has been sprayed over the top of the concrete.

Upon ringing the house builder (Barratt Homes) they have no idea what the black plastic coating is, claiming that it isn't something they would use. And they suggested I contact tiling experts for opinion, hence me being here.

Any ideas?

Thanks
:huh2:

 

[DHTiling]

Hard to say..sounds like bitumen..but why..?...no vinyl tiles laid and taken up.....can you post a pic for us to see.....?

 

[CJ]

:whatchutalkingabout silly question? Are you sure its not the foam backing from the carpet :whatchutalkingabout:whatchutalkingabout

 

[burncross]

porcelain ceramic tiles? what are they then?

 

[Fekin]

Once the substrat issue has been solved then yeah, find out wether the tiles are Porcelain or Ceramic

Welcome to the forums GirlRacerRed

 

[BDS]

Is it some sort of frost/damp protection????

 

[doug boardley]

I think BDS is right,it sounds like a bitumen damp proof membrane,not commonly used these days, is it like hard treacle toffee GRR (girl racer red, not me growling!!)

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Cheers all for thoughts and ideas. Somebody I spoke to at Barratt suggested it might be bitumen but confirmed it wasn't something they use anyway.

Having ripped up the vinyl floors tiles and vinyl cushion floor stuff in the downstairs loo and utility room, the same black plastic coating was under them too.

I can confirm that the black coating is not the rubber backing off the carpet. I spent all last night scraping the rubbing backing off the black stuff :yes:

Having just been to B&Q and taken a look at the adhesives they have in there, I think I could use adhesive that is designed to be used on vinyl, what does everybody else think?

 

[White Room]

I would'nt use any B&Q stuff personally, I would go to a trade shop and get there advise and adhesive

 

[theyomper]

Just reading back through your posts. As you had vynyl tiles in the cloakroom did you also have vynyl tiles in the kitchen underneath the laminate and carpet? The black stuff does sound like bitumen but as the property is only 5 years old I would think this strange as that was used years ago. I would have thought that if you primed the floor and then applied a self levelling compound that this would give you a suitable surface to tile upon. I realise that using Self levelling may be out of your comfort zone but you might find someone locally to do it for you.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

No, there was no vinyl tiles in the kitchen when I lifted the laminate and brown carpet. I will at some point in the near future lift the laminate in the dining room and lounge to see whether it's something that is all the way through the ground floor.

I've just been researching primer so that may be the next step and then self level as you suggest.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, ideas and suggestions, they've been most helpful.

 

[Daz]

Where in the country are you Girl Racer, there may be a tiler local to you that is prepared to come and give some pro advice?

 

[doug boardley]

if you give it a tap does it sound hollow GRR?:smile5:

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Give what a tap Doug? It's a bit early for me.... :lol:

Captain Slow, I'm in North Staffordshire so if anybody knows of a good local expert, let me know.

I'm still very keen on doing the floor myself as I've spent my whole life letting other people do the diy for me, and I want to know that I've achieved something myself for a change :hurray:

 

[grumpygrouter]

Hi Girl Racer, if it is bitumen residue, once you have scraped of as much as you can, you can skim over the top with a product called Ardex Feather Finish. As you only need a skim, it will dry quickly (within an hour or two) and be ready for tiling straight on to.

This of course assumes the floor is otherwise flat and ready for tiling apart from the bitumen residue already there.

You will need to use a cement based adhesive for floors tiling and ensure you have 100% coverage of the adhesive under the tiles.