Expert opinion sought

[Tabitha]

Hi Guys,

I need some expert advice on floor tiling please.

We need to get someone to tile our kitchen floor. At the moment it has old vinyl tiles that are stuck fast. The floor is not all level and there is an area about 18 inches x 3 foot that is bare concrete and below the level of the rest of the floor by about half an inch max.
We have had differing opinions from tilers-some of which haven't come out to look at the job and have gone by our description of it over the phone.
Two tilers have said that it needs to have latex down first and two have said that we don't need latex but we may need a special adhesive.
The tiles that we have bought are 1 foot square and are porcelain.

What do you recommend. We want to make sure that our expensive tiles are not going to be coming loose in a couple of months.

Your opinions would be valued-thanks

 

[lancenotalot]

It would be best to get up as much of the vinyl tiling as poss.

If you really can't remove the tiles then you can tile over them if well fixed but need either a powdered flexi or porcelain adhesive.

The floor is not all level and there is an area about 18 inches x 3 foot that is bare concrete and below the level of the rest of the floor by about half an inch max.

Screed the concrete bit in using some slc,febflor or similar.

You won't need a latex screed if you use the above adhesives.They are wanting to use latex to ensure a bond to the old vinyl tiles,flexi and porcelain adhesive will bond to them fine.

 

[Tabitha]

Thanks for your reply lancenotalot.

We have decided to take up the layers of old tiles now (3 in total). Was a hell of a job but done now. Got another guy to look at the job, but was a little worried that he wanted to tile from the edge of the room and not start in the middle
I want to avoid having unequal amounts of tile showing at the plinth area of the kitchen units, is this possible if we are tiling the whole room first as opposed to tiling once the kitchen is fitted?

 

[lancenotalot]

Got another guy to look at the job, but was a little worried that he wanted to tile from the edge of the room and not start in the middle

It's ok to start at the edge provided time has been spent setting out to see that there are going to be even cuts at each side,depending on room size I use a spirit level or string to keep the first row straight.

I want to avoid having unequal amounts of tile showing at the plinth area of the kitchen units, is this possible if we are tiling the whole room first as opposed to tiling once the kitchen is fitted?

It would take some planning but could be done,just a case of marking out on the floor where the units are going.Might save you some sq meters if you don't tile under them.