Newbie floor tiling question

[Fred27]

Hi. Ive been browsing for a bit and found lots of very helpful stuff on this forum. Thanks already! Being more enthusiastic than experienced or skilled, I've got a couple of newbie question on floor tiling.

My project: I'm putting down some expensive 12mm think porcelain floor tiles in one continuous awkwardly shaped run from a conservatory through a kitchen, hallway and toilet. Nothing like starting with something simple. Most of it is floorboards underneath so I've got the the 12mm WBP ply ready.

My questions:

1. The BAL singlepart flexible adhesive recommend sealing the back and edges of the ply. I just wanted to check that i should be sealing the underside of the ply that's screwed up against the floor and leaving the top unsealed so the adhesive goes directly onto the unsealed wood. Sounds odd to me.

2. The bulk of the existing floor is 16mm solid (but veneered) wood flooring over 2mm of foam which I assume is for deadening sound. Just before I rip it all up and replace with the 12mm WBP I wanted to check this is the right thing to do and I'm not wasting a huge amount of effort.

3. The conservatory has some crappy skirting board which I've taken off. Tile then replace? I'm thinking about tidying the wall and having no skirting at all. Any strong opinion on this?

Thanks in advance for looking at my huge rambling first post. I have checked the sticky and searched, but my apologies if I'm asking something that's been done 1000 times before. Any newbie kitesurfers here, please feel free to head over to kiteboarder.co.uk and I can return the favour and provide some answers.

 

[Goldberg]

Have a look at this:
http://www.schluter.co.uk/produkt.aspx?doc=6-1-ditra.xml&pg=funktion

 

[tictic]

defo look into the ditra here mate.

if not i would do this job..
1. lift exsisting floor screw 18mm wbp ply to joists.
2.overboard with 6mm backerboards.(glued an screwed)
3.check layout of floor for cuts i.e..rakes/slivers..at any walls etc
4.if all ok tile away
5.maybe look into exspansion joints at door threholds also.(depends how the layout of the b/boards)

as for materials for a job like this an with these tiles.
bal spf and bal flex wide grout.

as for skirting why not cut tiles at 75mm-100mm in size for use as skirting?

 

[tictic]

ment to say the sealer bal recomend is sbr .
http://www.bal-adhesives.co.uk/

just click PRODUCTS for more info mate.

 

[jctilingservices]

you are correct mate, seal the edges and back of the WPB with BAL SBR ( the side thats fitted towards the joists)

as mentioned before, check the run of your tiles and plan for any cuts or slivvers so you can adjust your plan to have better sized cuts, we all know rooms are never square.
i prefer the use of a 2 part flexible adhesive such as Bal fast flex, others prefer to use SPF adhesive

 

[tictic]

agree jc about addy but he is a newbie at tiling, so spf for him imo, as its cheaper an by the time he has finished fixing it will have set 16hrs before grouting, as it sounds a large area he is tiling.

 

[jctilingservices]

agree jc about addy but he is a newbie at tiling, so spf for him imo, as its cheaper an by the time he has finished fixing it will have set 16hrs before grouting, as it sounds a large area he is tiling.

good point tictic,cheers

 

[Fred27]

Thanks guys. Your tips seem to have filled the gaps.

That Ditra stuff look interesting. I'd go for it if I could use it directly over the current floor - 22mm floorboards for most then 18mm ply for the newer conservatory. However if I have to do the 12mm WBP ply and then the Ditra too... then the time, expense and height of the floor really start adding up.

Would I need WBP and Ditra? My floor boards are fairly flat with a few slight high spots that a sander should take care of. The join between house and conservatory is level but has a slight gap I'd need to fill.

 

[Fred27]

Sounds like I've got the right adhesive (BAL Singlepart Flexible) and sealant (BAL Bond SBR) thanks to the sticky and searching. I already guessed I'd be too slow for rapid adhesive.

 

[jctilingservices]

Thanks guys. Your tips seem to have filled the gaps.

That Ditra stuff look interesting. I'd go for it if I could use it directly over the current floor - 22mm floorboards for most then 18mm ply for the newer conservatory. However if I have to do the 12mm WBP ply and then the Ditra too... then the time, expense and height of the floor really start adding up.

Would I need WBP and Ditra? My floor boards are fairly flat with a few slight high spots that a sander should take care of. The join between house and conservatory is level but has a slight gap I'd need to fill.

Fred,
am i correct in thinking that when you mention floor height using WPB and Ditra that you are talking about screwing the WPB to the fllorboards?
remove the floorboards, fit the WPB then tile, therefore that eliminates the discrepency between floor heights, also the gap you refer to needing filled, is this not an expansion joint?

 

[kevd]

12mm WBP ply sounds too thin to me. I would go for 18mm min.

Plus Ditra matting really is good. For your size area it wouldn't be that cheap, but would stop any cracks etc you might get from movement in the floor, unless your joist spacings really are close.

Its only a couple of mm thick.

 

[Fred27]

Thanks for all the advice.

Ripping up and replacing the floorboards really isn't an option - or at least it's beyond what I'm prepared to do myself.

Like I said, at the moment it's 22mm floorboards (with joist spacing of 19cm) for the hallway, kitchen and downstairs toilet and 18mm ply (with joist spacing of 34cm) for the conservatory. This is all solid and level. There's currently no difference between the two levels. Nothing seems to move when I walk or even jump on it. Would 12mm WBP on top of this really not be enough?

 

[tictic]

fred27
its sounds a big job mate so my advise would be to lift flooring lay 18mm-25mm wbp ply then ditra or backerboards you will only get one chance to do it properly mate or there could be probs?

get ALL flooring subtrates level and secure "no deflection" what so ever is the first thing you will have to do.
as for 12 wbp ply over the exsisting floor... sorry its a no.. no.. from me..

 

[kevd]

its a tough one really. It might seem all nice and level and non moving, but you have obviously spent a lot of money on the tiles so a tad more on the floor will pay dividends.

Without "seeing" the actual flooring, I wouldn't like to say, but then I don't have the experience of some of the pros on here.

But, from a DIY'r point of view, it would be a risk, but you might get away with it, but then I would recommend Ditra as it will take out some of the problems you might get from expansion etc with different types of flooring being down.

 

[tictic]

just read my post, were says "ALL flooring" i mean the 18-25mm ply mate not ur exsisting floor..oops