Thanks for the reply Richard.
I recently got the upstairs bathroom done and tiled by a pro. Looked a bit of work as it was a chipboard floor with ply on top. The grout lines are badly cracking 7 months on and one or two tiles feel a bit loose.
He wasn’t a very good “pro” then was he; unfortunately this is all too common & is due to insufficient or incorrect preparation & poor quality materials; I always take up crapboard given the choice but if forced to overboard, use 12mm; what did your pro use? Problem is 12mm ply creates a huge step at the threshold which is why I prefer to take it up & start again
Tiler said it was easier/cheaper for me to fit the ply for him and was happy for me to do so, think it was 9 or 12mm, screwed every 10cm. I told him the floor would still not be level after putting the ply down but said it was fine and he could pack it out with adhesive. The tiles are 600x500 and some are sitting on about an inch of adhesive, you should see the size of step in after ply,adhesive and tile! He did come back about three weeks ago after I complained, said the grout couldbe cracking due to the gaps underneath not holding it, still not arrange a time to fix,
For the downstairs bathroom(4m2)(chipboard again) I'm unsure to tile again or put in solid bamboo flooring. Total price for bamboo floor/skirts is around £170.
One solution, depends if you like bamboo; but I would say don’t be put off tiling by your bad experience, done properly it looks good & should last at least 10 years – 20 or even longer. [/quote]
Got some samples of the bamboo and it looks good, but more expensive than i thought, maybe worth the same extra ammount for tiles. Only plan on being in the house for another 2 years (5bed bachelor pad)
If I tile (diy) I will remove chipboard and put down 25mm ply (£120!!)
Good; in most cases you can get away with 18mm WBP but it depends on the span & section of the joists & each job has to be assessed independently. How big is the room, £120 seems rather a lot?[/quote]
25mm wbp looks to be arount £60 for a 2440x1220mm sheet, bathroom is 2.6x1.6m so require two, cheaper elsewhere?
Use Bal flexible adhesive (£30-50?) Bal grout (£15?) noggins (£15)
This works out around £200 before the tiles, and about £260 with tiles.
BAL are the only products I will use, they don’t come cheap but you tend to get what you pay for with this stuff. Shop around you can get it cheaper than that but you may have to bully for a discount; Topps are notorious for overpricing BAL products.
I'm a it weary of tiling as I've seen the problems upstairs, with the 25mm ply and Bal stuff get rid of any issues?
If done correctly, yes; 25mm should be fine but it’s impossible to guarantee without seeing the job; each one is different & some floors require more pre work than others in order to stiffen them up[/quote]
On what im reading 25mm ply plus extra noggins and supporting the joins should hopfully be enough.
Confused looking at the different types of BAL adhesive, what stuff do I want to put direct onto ply? I don't want rapidset as I would like some time as its my first major tiling job, and what's the difference between 2 part and one part?
Rapidset flexible is the best one to use, just don’t mix up more than you can use in ½ hour. For grouting use Superflex wide joint.
2 part is a latex based adhesive & will withstand more flexing & vibration; it's ideal for mosaics but it is rather expensive & overkill for your needs; the pot life is also less at 20 mins![/quote][/quote]
Rapidset flexible it is then.
I forgot to ask about tanking, all walls are solid, what sore of taking is required in shower?