Floor Tiles or Kardean for KItchen / Diner

[jp1*]

Hi,

We are replacing our floor in the kitchen / diner due to a flood and are wanted to have floor tiles (ceramic / porcelain). However we are worried our suspended floor isn't suitable. I've been advised that I could lay 18mm or 25 mm plywood before tiling but there is still a risk of movement / cracking in the future with the tiles.I'm now thinking of just going down the route of Kardean or something similar. Thought?

Any advice is really appreciated!

 

[L95]

You could go down the laminate route. Ring BAL or Ardex for some tiling guidance also if tiles are your personal preference.

 

[Gteuk]

If you went down the Karndean route you would have more floor preparation to do as it is very unforgiving to uneven surfaces, usually a latex level compound would be used to make the floor flat and smooth.

There is no problems tiling on a suspended floor but again floor preparation must be carried out.

if you have the old style floor boards in place.

1) Secure all boards with screw, the existing nails would have allowed movement by now.
2) Use a 6mm ply and secure that also using screws, main reason for the ply is to give a flat surface with no gaps for adhesive to fall down, this allows for better adhesion.
3) Coat the ply board with acrylic bond "this is not PVA and PVA should never be used", Acrylic bond can be used straight or diluted up to 1 part to 4 parts water,, for a ply board I would recommend neat or 1 part to 2 parts water.
4) Use a flexible or ultra flexible tile adhesive, flexible should work fine but if you wanted to be belt and braces ultra flex is better.

This may be more costly than standard tile adhesive installation but I guarantee it will work out cheaper than Karndean or Amtico installation.

Alternatively you could go for laminate or a Polyfloor Click Vinyl system which is a bit more forgiving.

 

[L95]

If you went down the Karndean route you would have more floor preparation to do as it is very unforgiving to uneven surfaces, usually a latex level compound would be used to make the floor flat and smooth.

There is no problems tiling on a suspended floor but again floor preparation must be carried out.

if you have the old style floor boards in place.

1) Secure all boards with screw, the existing nails would have allowed movement by now.
2) Use a 6mm ply and secure that also using screws, main reason for the ply is to give a flat surface with no gaps for adhesive to fall down, this allows for better adhesion.
3) Coat the ply board with acrylic bond "this is not PVA and PVA should never be used", Acrylic bond can be used straight or diluted up to 1 part to 4 parts water,, for a ply board I would recommend neat or 1 part to 2 parts water.
4) Use a flexible or ultra flexible tile adhesive, flexible should work fine but if you wanted to be belt and braces ultra flex is better.

This may be more costly than standard tile adhesive installation but I guarantee it will work out cheaper than Karndean or Amtico installation.

Alternatively you could go for laminate or a Polyfloor Click Vinyl system which is a bit more forgiving.

When someone knows acrylic is better than PVA then listen to their advice as they understand what they are doing. He is very correct indeed.