Tiling on to chipboard flooring

[richardbell81]

hey fellas,

Thanks very much for all your help, i really do appreciate it.

Regarding the sink height... I completely agree about removing sanitary ware before tiling but the sink is wall hung with no pedestal. The fixing screws are already in place as I wanted to make sure the rag bolts were securely bedded in the brick (and not the tiles) so I secured these in place before tiling the wall. Basically, the sink height cannot be changed. I suppose I could fit a flexible connector to the wc pan but I have already bought a fixed straight one and wanted to avoid a flexible connector if possible. There is a bit of give on the current soil pipe but not much!

I realise it isn't ideal, and like any job I would probably do things slightly differently if I started over! I've attached a picture of where i'm at with it but I really want to try and avoid raising the height of the floor as much as possible so i'm just going to have to make the best of it.

I think I will definitely go with the BAL Fastflex adhesive and BAL superflex wide joint. If I was to overboard with a single layer of 6mm board, would you recommend cement board, hardiebacker or aquaboard for the floor? Also, do i need to prime the chipboard and /or overboard and what would I best be using for this? APD or SBR primer?

Thanks again, Rich

 

[jwatson]

sbr and yes prime the chipboard before you install the tile backing boards; with single part flexible adhesive and screws. aqua panel is what i have available to me but hardi does have a good rep too.
if bal is your adhesive choice then it is great stuff, if you can afford the prices, they are the industry leaders in this country and have good tech advice and is guaranteed for 25 years.
from what you have done already looks good from what i can see, hope you will put some photos up of the finished job.
put some real thought into removing the sink before installation, as it would benefit the overall look of your project. ask yourself the question? on completion 6 month down the line are you gonna wish you had taken it off? if not then leave it on.
hope you have got all the advice you need to tackle this project and again dont forget to put pics up of the finished job.

 

[richardbell81]

Ok, thanks very much for all your help, it really is appreciated. I appear to have 2 options...


1. Prime the chipboard, buy BAL Fastflex adhesive and BAL super flexible grout. Tile directly onto the current chipboard floor and hopefully this would do the job, although no guarantee but it would not raise the floor any higher.


OR...


2. Prime the chipbaord, overboard with a 6mm tile backing board (hardiebacker or cement board), then buy BAL Fastflex adhesive and BAL super flexible grout. Again, no guarantee, but i'm getting close. One question with this method. Would the Fastflex adhesive be suitable with the hardi/cement backing board or would a cement based adhesive such as 'bal supercover rapid flex' be more suitable? I already have a 15kg bag of the rapid flex which I was prepared to discard if the fastflex would make a better job.


Rich

 

[swanman]

Hi
And welcome to the forum

6mm Hardi board is best glued and screwed

Good Luck

 

[AliGage]

I have a third option for your Richard but it does solve issues over height and concerns over the chipboard. Does mean more work and cost however but not excessive.

Have you considered replacing the chipboard with 18mm or 25mm ply and then laying the hardi backer? It would add a bit more cost to your project. I'd estimate £80 to £100 for your materials and a days labour for a DIYer.
Honestly not trying to give you more work to do but i really would get rid of the chipboard if you can or go bigger than 6mm. The bathroom is looking great so far, i guess i'm just trying to get you to consider life expectancy as well as finish.

It's another option anyway, but looking good so far.

 

[richardbell81]

I have a third option for your Richard but it does solve issues over height and concerns over the chipboard. Does mean more work and cost however but not excessive.

Have you considered replacing the chipboard with 18mm or 25mm ply and then laying the hardi backer? It would add a bit more cost to your project. I'd estimate £80 to £100 for your materials and a days labour for a DIYer.
Honestly not trying to give you more work to do but i really would get rid of the chipboard if you can or go bigger than 6mm. The bathroom is looking great so far, i guess i'm just trying to get you to consider life expectancy as well as finish.

It's another option anyway, but looking good so far.

Thanks for your suggestion but at this stage, removing the chipboard flooring just isn't an option... it's not due to laziness or cost but the bath has been secured, plumbed and sealed in place. And add to that that I had to glue and screw the chipboard flooring down in places as it is covering up the old concrete hearth for the fire that was upstairs... so to take it up really would be a major job.

As this room is so small, and the tiled area is even smaller at just 2.2 m2 (and doesn't go across the full width of the room), I am considering just priming the chipboard flooring and fixing the tiles with BAL fast flex and grout with the superflex wide joint.

If I did do this, and i realise this is not going to a popular decision so just humour me, would I be best priming the chipboard with BAL APD, or BAL SBR? I'm not quite sure of the difference between the 2?

 

[TheTiler]

I'd give BAL a call on their technical helpline as adding GT1 with Superflex is what they told me to do. They said Superflex is not as flexible as Fastflex single part adhesive until you add further elastomericity to it in the form of GT1. Only telling you I was told..[FONT=arial, sans-serif]...[/FONT]

 

[kilty55]

add it to non flexi grout also for your grout if your going this route ,gt1 that is

 

[richardbell81]

I'd give BAL a call on their technical helpline as adding GT1 with Superflex is what they told me to do. They said Superflex is not as flexible as Fastflex single part adhesive until you add further elastomericity to it in the form of GT1. Only telling you I was told.....

ok cheers, were you tiling onto a woodchip floor or did you back it first? If you did tile straight on to a floating floor, hows it looking now?

 

[kilty55]

richard,why take the risk? the cost of a failed job does not weight up to simply over boarding and having peice of mind...

also because one floor lasts doesnt mean yours will