Tiling on an uneven floor

[ripkord]

Hi all, hope you can help the newbie!

My girlfriend's flat has a lovely bathroom that is ruined by a load of broken floor tiles, by the looks of things the previous owner has stuck down right onto (what I can only presume is) uneven floorboards (if its the same as the rest of the flat!).

What I planned to do was:

Lift the existing tiles,
Screw down any floorboards that have any play in them (as much as I can)
Cut some plywood (does this need to be treated?) to shape - screw that down.
Tile - with spacers and adhesive
Grout


Does that sound about right?

Thanks for any help!

 

[david campbell]

your on the right tracks,use minimum 15mm wbp ply and a good flexible adhesive and grout!

screw ply at 200mm centres

 

[ripkord]

Nice, thanks for the help!

 

[Daz]

You're deffo on the right track.

1. Lift existing tiling and clean away any adhesive residues.
2. Screw down any loose floorboards.
3. If there is no deflection (bounce) then glue and screw 6mm cement boards. If there is still deflection, then screw down ply (18mm preferred). Prime underside and edges of ply, before fixing, with an acrylic primer.
4. Tile with a (bagged) flexible adhesive.
5. Grout with a flexible grout.

Good luck .

BTW, welcome to the forums

 

[White Room]

I would consider hardie backer 6mm

 

[hunters tiling]

if you have the time maybe consider lifting the floor boadrs aswell and fitting 18mm wbp ply onyo the joists this stops any movement from having floor boards and also keeps the floor hight to a minimum. pva bond it aswell.

 

[davy_G]

Hi RK,
You sound like your on the right track.
Screw down the floor boards with extra noggings and supports where required. Removing as much movement as possible.
Then plying for the DIYer is probably the best way to go. However Im not sure if you intend to remove the toilet and sink as you mention cutting to 'shape'. Remove them if you can prior to doing this work and tiling as it is much easier, stronger and looks much better than cuts.
The ply needs to be at least 12mm thick, preferably exterior grade and screwed at 200mm centres with screws that are not longer than the 12mm ply and the depth of the floorbloards.
If the 12mm ply is too deep you could use 6mm cement reinforced board ie hardybacker so there is not a 'step' into thebathroom.
Once that is all done, tile away using flexible addy, possibly 2 part, and flexi grout, at least a 3mm spacer. Speak to your tile supplier for more info on what adhesive they have. Dont go to any of the big DIY shops as they are not fully qualified in everything they sell, how can they be experts in so many things!

Any more questions fire away and im sure more folk will follow with more advice and tips.

Good luck

 

[ripkord]

thanks everyone thats really really helpful!

 

[doug boardley]

I'm with Hunters on this apart from using PVA:yikes: and I'd probably use 25mm wbp plywood and a two part flexible powder adhesive
like the nane RipKord, used to do a bit of skydiving myself

 

[ripkord]

However Im not sure if you intend to remove the toilet and sink as you mention cutting to 'shape'. Remove them if you can prior to doing this work and tiling as it is much easier, stronger and looks much better than cuts.

This sounds ok for the toilet, but I'm not sure I can do this for the sink, the pedestal is already fairly flush with the bottom of the sink. Once I have removed the tiles and had assessed the situation I'll know more!

Adding 15mm to the height of the floor seems a lot, maybe the hardibacker stuff would be better - again will have a better idea once I actually see whats going on under there!!

Thanks

like the nane RipKord, used to do a bit of skydiving myself

Heh, wish thats why I picked that name, its from a radiohead song!

 

[DHTiling]

if you have the time maybe consider lifting the floor boadrs aswell and fitting 18mm wbp ply onyo the joists this stops any movement from having floor boards and also keeps the floor hight to a minimum. pva bond it aswell.

Are you sure..?:smilewinkgrin:

 

[tfs]

be carefull when screwing through the floor boards (there may be water/ gas pipes under the floor). Also, you may not have something to screw into beneath every tile. If this is the case then consider removing a few tiles to allow you to get a fix into the joists.

An even better idea might be to lift all the tiles, sheet over the floor and fix new tiles in accordance with the adhesive and grout instructions. At the end of the day if these tiles are breaking up now, there is a very good chance that the rest of the tiles will start to break also.

 

[hillhead]

you need to be certain of the floorboard depth before screwing the hardiebacker or ply down! i was accused once of punturing a water pipe but i know my screws and timber well and had deliberatly used 25mm,which were 2mm short of going through the ply and floorboard.:incazzato:

 

[Colour Republic]

Ripkord, It might be an idea for you to post some pictures on here after you have taken up the old tiles, just in case some of the members here spot a problem that might need sorting before you start tiling. You want to stay in the girlfriends good books right?:smilewinkgrin:

Good luck

 

[ripkord]

Haha, yeah will post some pics. Hopefully I'll be getting started week after next