Preparing a concrete & floorboards space for Tiling

[ldownes24]

Hi guys,

I've recently ordered my new kitchen and have purchased the Henley tills from Topps; a ceramic floor tile.

The area I intend to tile is 9m2 and consists of a solid, level and flat concrete base which is ajoined to floorboards in the dining room. The floorboards sit roughly 10mm below the level of the concrete.

Should I purchase hardiebacker board and screw this firmly into the floorboards or remove the floorboards entirely and opt for another solution?

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Luke

 

[Richard C]

You will obviously need to make up the height difference with something but how you do it depends on the construction of the suspended floor. It must be rigid with no perceivable flex or the tiles will fail, this is particularly important in high use/load areas such as a dinning room. What type of floor is it, proper timber floor boards or crappy T&G chipboard? Do you know what size/pitch/span the floor joists are?

You also have another problem with two dissimilar floor types. You cannot tile continuously over them; the different floor types will expand & contract at different rates, you will need an expansion joint in the tiles where the two meet or it will crack.

 

[ldownes24]

Hi Richard C,

The suspended floor has been in place for a good number of years and indeed are timber floor boards. The joists are roughly 400mm apart and span c3m.

A brick wall used to be the partition between the dining room (floorboards) and kitchen (concrete floor) and thus the differing floor types and level. At present, a course of bricks just below the level of the floorboards.

Thanks,

Luke

 

[Richard C]

The joists are roughly 400mm apart and span c3m.

But what size are they?

At present, a course of bricks just below the level of the floorboards.

Don’t really understand this bit, can you explain please?

 

[ldownes24]

They are standard 2x4 joists.

A course of bricks currently lays between the join (between the concrete floor and the boards) and descends into the foundations. This is where I've removed a partition wall and now want to tile over.

Hope that helps.

 

[Richard C]

They are standard 2x4 joists.

4 x 2 joists won’t be spanning 3m, are they also supported on intermediate dwarf brick walls below the floor? Maximum span for that size is around 1.8m but that would be insufficiently rigid for a tiled floor, it would be like trampoline.