Is it possible to lower a concrete floor by a few mm?

[DIYNotIan]

Hi

We're hoping to re-tile our porch and WC. The existing tiles are a mere 7mm and were laid with minimal adhesive direct onto concrete. We're not finding anything we like that's that thin. We can't get thicker tiles without the upheaval and cost of replacing doors, lifting the toilet, etc. So, I wondered if there are any ways to lower the floor by a few mm so that the tiles we like would bring us back to the same height as things are now? Any special tools or techniques? Or is it an absolute ball ache?

Many thanks

 

[Celeronmanuk]

Diamond grinding cup with dust extraction ideally would do it, but not a very nice job.

Can you lay a thinner floor like LVT?

 

[Tigercubrider]

It will be very messy
All sorts of machinery would do it but you need a diy approach . Probably scoring loads of parallel lines in a grid at say, 15-25mm depth might work? You'd end up with a rough surface so go deeper to allow you to build it back

 

[bobasd]

OP,
dont even attempt to lower that concrete surface.
there are a number of variables in your proposition that will cause you grief.

go for a different finished material or take a tile to a professional tile suppliers and tell them your problem?

 

[Bill Door]

Hi

We're hoping to re-tile our porch and WC. The existing tiles are a mere 7mm and were laid with minimal adhesive direct onto concrete. We're not finding anything we like that's that thin. We can't get thicker tiles without the upheaval and cost of replacing doors, lifting the toilet, etc. So, I wondered if there are any ways to lower the floor by a few mm so that the tiles we like would bring us back to the same height as things are now? Any special tools or techniques? Or is it an absolute ball ache?

Many thanks

If you can live with a few mm difference in height across the threshold, all the other upheaval is actually fairly trivial. You can tile around the toilet, you can plane the bottom of the door. If you want to tile under the toilet, then the pan connector should easily cope with a few mm. Basin holes can be ground larger and a washer used. Etc. If for some reason you need to tile under skirting, you can use the same techniques as for laminate flooring.

I recently needed to DIY "shaving" an uneven pad of concrete allow a red brick run to be level. So about 1.5m long by 100mm wide, depth of cut varying 5mm to 20mm. Done by cutting slots with an angle grinder and then using an SDS chisel. I did need to be careful not to crack it and go slowly, but even then my estimated one hour job took 4.5 hours and the mess and noise was unbelievable. Doing a whole floor would be heartbreaking. I'd rather dig the floor up and repour concrete.

What about alternative finishes like resin?

 

[opps]

You can hire concrete grinders but they wont grind into the corners.

As suggested above, consider self levelling compound and laying something like Amtico.

 

[mattylad]

This is a simple task, just look in the corners where you will find depth adjustment screws - turn them anti clockwise about 7 turns and the floor will be lowered ROFLMAO

Search for pro tool shops for your tiles (not B&Q - although do look there too) as I have had floor tiles that thin before so they do exist.
Or find an alternative floor covering.