Question re taking on a job....

[RDTiling]

Hi all.

I have been asked to tile a floor in a bowling club toilet that I am a member of. In total the area comes to about 10 sqm.

The substrate is concrete however has been painted (several times) and then had some kind of epoxy resin put on top of the paint - we have no idea why! (see attached picture).



I have seen the original building plans from 1967/68 and the contrete floor us made up as follows (I’ve also taken a picture of the plan drawing) :

Upfill
4” bottoming blended with ashes
Visqueen DPC
4” concrete
1” grano topping



My first question is that I’m assuming the top layer(s) of epoxy and paint will need to be removed and taken back to the grano topping before any tiling can commence? If so, is it a case of plenty elbow grease or is there some kind of product that can assist with the removal?

Secondly is this a job that a ‘domestic’ tiler like myself should be contemplating taking on (I’m thinking from a liability point of view) or is it best left up to a larger company to do? I'm thinking that this job probably border lines on commercial work.

I do have a couple of other questions regarding this job regarding tile sourcing etc, however I’ll leave them until I hear what the general consensus is with regards to taking this job on.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Mr Tiler]

if your not subbing I would say it should be fine insurance wise?

- - - Updated - - -

cant say anything else on the matter as I have no clue! haha

 

[steve187]

i think that you know if you are capable of tiling what is in fact only a small floor, a floor is a floor wherever it is, as to the prep required, how easy does the paint scrape off, maybe some sort of paint stripper will help, i think you will need to get down to the grano as you posted.

 

[afright]

Try a belt sander on it and get as much of as possible then finish with a sbr slurry coat before tiling.

 

[RDTiling]

I scraped a very small section with the end of a crow bar (was lying around from when they took out the existing fittings etc) and it came away with a bit of scraping back down to the grano. hopefully the rest of the floor will be the same. I would think a bit of a hoover and a prime will be in order after the paint layers have been removed.

There are joiners going in on Monday to fit new stud work and put up partition walls, change windows etc, so I'm not going in for a couple of a weeks.

 

[White Room]

You may find that the grano because how dense it is may not take primer very well....

 

[RDTiling]

Thanks for the advance warning. Would I be better to not prime the floor but just make sure it is well swept and hoovered, and perhaps a good wash with water before tiling? Or is there anything you could recommend to the adhesive to perhaps assist adhesion?

i was thinking of using weber rapid set adhesive.

 

[White Room]

You might want to rough up the surface slightly just kill off some of smoothness....

 

[charlie1]

Remove the paint with a grinder and cupped wheel (30mins) then apply slurry coat as previously advised. Then self level if required then tile. You will do it no problem mate!

 

[RDTiling]

Sorry, I missed the earlier reference to a slurry coat.

Am I right to say that if I mixed say 1 ltr of water, I'd use 1 ltr of sbr and then add a non flexible powder to the mix until it's combined but watery for easy spreading.

ive been caught on he back foot with this job as the first toilet area to be done was supposed to be in the newer extension onto a timber floor. I was hoping to leave this area until the end to allow me to build up more experience as I knew there would be more work involved, so apologies for all the questions.

 

[RDTiling]

I've done a bit of www searching on slurry coats and if what I read/watch is correct, it would appear as though the slurry coat should be applied with a stiff brush. Is this correct or can you trowel a slurry coat on with say a plasterers trowel?

Is there a certain kind of cementitious powder I should use (or someone could recommend using) for the slurry coat or can I simply use something like weber.set rapid (non flexible)?

Then it is 'simply' a matter of letting the slurry set and then tile (assuming I dont need to apply SLC) on top.

Apologies for the questions, I just want to make sure I get the preparation spot on.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Qwerty]

Personally I always pour, then roller on my slurry coats. I use a flexible rapid set (Mapei), water & SBR mix

 

[RDTiling]

Thanks Geoff. I take it the slurry coat is effectively a primer substitute? From what I've read the slurry coat only needs to be about 1mm thick so a good idea on rollering it on. It probably also applies a more even layer and takes away the need for SLC (the floor is pretty much level anyway).

 

[Qwerty]

Yes, instead of primer.

 

[RDTiling]

Thanks again Geoff. One final question for you regarding the preparation stage. Do you know roughly the proportions to mix for a 10 sqm room, particularly the water to sbr ratio so that I know how much I need to buy and quote for? What would be the rough amount of powder to add ( I know there won't be an exact amount but just so I know the rough consistency to mix to) Thanks again, Rich

 

[Qwerty]

Thanks again Geoff. One final question for you regarding the preparation stage. Do you know roughly the proportions to mix for a 10 sqm room, particularly the water to sbr ratio so that I know how much I need to buy and quote for? What would be the rough amount of powder to add ( I know there won't be an exact amount but just so I know the rough consistency to mix to) Thanks again, Rich

First of all, slurry mixes are really supposed to be only SBR & cement mix. I have over time messed around and found it flows & rolls out much better with water mixed in with the SBR. I started out as many do with a 50/50 cement/SBR mix but found it too thick and hard to roller out.

Start with adding a litre of water to 2 litres of SBR. Then add 5kg adhesive to the mix. Once all mixed together the mix should be fairly fluid but not too runny. Adjust the mix accordingly so it's loose enough to roller out. Use more SBR if needed, not water.

 

[RDTiling]

Thanks Geoff. Great advice and a detailed reply as always. I think I'm armed with everything now to properly prepare this floor as it is a new one for me.

Im just waiting in confirmation on the tiles they are looking for, but I understand they would like a curved edging on the tiles to make it easier for cleaning and to protect the aqua panel that is going on the walls. Many of the committee member would've preferred the walls tiled but a majority voted for aqua panel.

I'm hoping their decision isn't going to restrict the choice of anti slip tiles they can have for the floor, as I've never used the curved edging tiles before.