Transition strips. Carpet to tile.

[bladerider]

Hi,
I am thinking of laying tiles in an en suite bathroom but the floor runs out by approx 18mm to the bathroom door. Not a problem providing I can acquire a transition strip to accomodate. Anyone know where decent priced ones can be obtained. I would prefer aluminium finish.

 

[Richard C]

No really sure what you mean by an 18mm run out Sorting a threshold transition strip is relatively easy & the price is insignificant; you should be more concerned about what you need to do to ensure your tiles stay stuck to the floor. If you want it to last, it's not just a question of a Sunday afternoon trip to BNQ, some tiles, adhesive, grout & away you go sticking them onto whatever floor you currently have.

 

[vv2806]

Any diy store has them, the price is several pounds depending on the finishing. Don't remember where I bought mine - either Wickes or B&Q, about £4, I beleive.

 

[bladerider]

Hi,
Just to make it clear, the 18mm run out I mention means simply that where the tiles are going to meet the carpet in the doorway , the finished floor level of the tiles is going to be approximately 18mm higher than the carpet if they are installed level. The 18mm is over a run of about 3m so maybe negligible as the floor is flat though not level.
I'll pay a visit to my local B&Q/Homebase & see what they offer.
Thanks Guys

 

[bladerider]

No really sure what you mean by an 18mm run out Sorting a threshold transition strip is relatively easy & the price is insignificant; you should be more concerned about what you need to do to ensure your tiles stay stuck to the floor. If you want it to last, it's not just a question of a Sunday afternoon trip to BNQ, some tiles, adhesive, grout & away you go sticking them onto whatever floor you currently have.

The floor is 18mm tongue & groove treated chipboard. What would you suggest I do to floor before applying adhesive, tiles & grout?

 

[Richard C]

How come the bathroom floor is already 18mm higher than the carpet at the threshold, has the floor already been overboarded?

I would never advise tiling straight onto chip (crap) board; it’s truly horrendous stuff, not much good as a flooring material IMO, let alone as a tile base. If you want your tile job to last, I would advise replacing it with 18-25mm WBP ply, depending on floor construction; if you don’t want to replace, overboard with at least 12mm WBP ply or tile backer boards. I prefer to replace as it maintains the threshold height at a reasonable level &, with additional support noggins as required, will prevent flexing & tile failure.

Take some time to read the tile sticky, read some of the many archive posts regarding floor preparation, flexible adhesive/grout types & only use quality trade products not cheap DIY stuff, it’s generally crap & doesn’t work particularly well.

 

[bladerider]

How come the bathroom floor is already 18mm higher than the carpet at the threshold, has the floor already been overboarded?

I would never advise tiling straight onto chip (crap) board; it’s truly horrendous stuff, not much good as a flooring material IMO, let alone as a tile base. If you want your tile job to last, I would advise replacing it with 18-25mm WBP ply, depending on floor construction; if you don’t want to replace, overboard with at least 12mm WBP ply or tile backer boards. I prefer to replace as it maintains the threshold height at a reasonable level &, with additional support noggins as required, will prevent flexing & tile failure.

Take some time to read the tile sticky, read some of the many archive posts regarding floor preparation, flexible adhesive/grout types & only use quality trade products not cheap DIY stuff, it’s generally crap & doesn’t work particularly well.

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.
The floor is 18mm lower at the door end than at the opposite wall (joists are not level). This would mean that if I installed the tiles level from the highest point (opposite wall), I would end up with them being 18mm(approx) higher by the time I reach the doorway. The floor levels out in the bedroom area. Hope this makes sense.

 

[tictic]

Hi,
Just to make it clear, the 18mm run out I mention means simply that where the tiles are going to meet the carpet in the doorway , the finished floor level of the tiles is going to be approximately 18mm higher than the carpet if they are installed level. The 18mm is over a run of about 3m so maybe negligible as the floor is flat though not level.
I'll pay a visit to my local B&Q/Homebase & see what they offer.
Thanks Guys

best of luck there mate...if thats were your going for tiles/materials..
b&pee/homebase..etc..

my phone will be busy in about 2-4weeks time..."can you come out and look at my tiling,seem to have a problem"..

"who done your tiling"...
hubby did it...
"ok were did you get your tiles/materials"..
b&pee..wickes..homebase..etc..
"its all going to have to be lifted and redone"....
shock/horror....but we paid all that money...

"you get what you pay for"...

only time you see UNIBOMD advertised on the tv ..holiday weekends..

 

[Richard C]

18mm out of level over 3m is a lot but are you proposing to lay the tiles level rather than leveling the joists/floor? How do you propose to do that?

 

[bladerider]

18mm out of level over 3m is a lot but are you proposing to lay the tiles level rather than leveling the joists/floor? How do you propose to do that?

This has happened due to a house refurbishment that led to the existing joists being kept with new floor boarding put on top. I was thinking of using the minimum amount of adhesive allowable at the highest point & then using thicker adhesive as I tile away from that point. I would probably have to allow a slight slope in the floor tiles to minimise the step down to the bedroom then use a beading (not sure which one yet) where the floor meets the walls to keep the eye away from noticing the slope which should be minimal. Only other option I can think of, apart from lifting the floor & levelling, would be to incorporate a small step inside the bathroom. May just be a trip hazard though.

 

[Richard C]

You cannot make up that sort of discrepancy with adhesive; it’s possible to make up small differences in leveling but no more than a couple of mm, to attempt to make up 18mm with adhesive is doomed to failure.

As you point out, the correct/only way to do it is to remove the existing floor, level the joists and then lay a complete new WBP ply floor (but I would do that anyway); were the original joists not level? The other problem you have is the low side being at the door won’t make for an elegant solution unless you start trimming the joists rather than fitting wedge packers or sister joists; you may have to compromise or live with the situation & accept an out of level floor.

 

[bladerider]

You cannot make up that sort of discrepancy with adhesive; it’s possible to make up small differences in leveling but no more than a couple of mm, to attempt to make up 18mm with adhesive is doomed to failure.

As you point out, the correct/only way to do it is to remove the existing floor, level the joists and then lay a complete new WBP ply floor (but I would do that anyway); were the original joists not level? The other problem you have is the low side being at the door won’t make for an elegant solution unless you start trimming the joists rather than fitting wedge packers or sister joists; you may have to compromise or live with the situation & accept an out of level floor.

Thanks Richard C, very helpful/useful advice.
Think I might have to live with an out of level floor as lifting the existing floor & levelling the joists would be quite a major job although it is the ideal way to sort the problem. The builder doing the refurbishment is still on site so I may be able to get him to assist me for a small fee!
The property is my parents who have dealt with the builder regarding costs & what existing parts of the property would or would not be changed. This does appear to be an oversight that has only come up due to me wanting to tile the floor. Experience is a wonderful thing!!!

 

[Richard C]

Sloping floor aside, remember what I said about tiling onto chipboard; the success of your tiling project will be very dependent on good preparation & using quality trade products correct for the application