Look at a 1920’s house last night. Current owners have been there 10 yrs…sometime beofre that someone attempted to “modernize” the place with a limited budget. All the plaster walls ahve been overlaid with 3/8″ sheetrock…floors were sanded and refinished, without too many gouges…lovely turquoise tiles around the tub, etc.
All the bathrooms have sheet vinyl flooring. HO has selected some neat tiles she wants installed. I noticed that the bath floors are a little higher than the adjacent hallways, so I convinced her to let me pull the metal transition strip and see if anything was visible. Discovered a layer of ?? … might be tempered hardboard, couldn’t tell from the small area visible (didn’t want to tear the vinyl). Under that is the original ceramic tile. There is a sun room downstairs that has what appears to be matching tile. It is 3/4″ tiles, square edges, thin grout lines, a set of 5×5 quarry red tiles then a set of 5×5 black tiles ina checkerboard pattern. Looks like they might have had a matte finish.
Once I remove the vinyl and hardboard, what’s the best way to clean the crud off the tiles? I suspect there is some type of adhesive holding the hardboard in place. If they are in good condition…no missing tiles…she wants to leave them in place. Otherwise we will remove the tiles and replace with new.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell’em “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Replies
i'd shut off all the pilot lights ,open windows, put on a paint mask and get me 5 gals. lacquer thinner and a red scotch bright and have fun!!!! when ever i'm looking at a fixer upper with a nasty bathtub and tile this is what i tackle it with.works good but sure smells the place up. larry
I wouldn't jump to any one method at this point.
I would try first water and a scotchbrite pad.
Then a mild abrasive and a scotchbrite pad, like barkeepers friend.
I might want to try a vinegar solution.
Then elevate to commercial tile cleaners.
Lacquer thinner for safety reasons would be at the bottom of my list, along with acidic solutions like myriatic acid.
This would trial and error.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Me ...
I'd find a modern version of the "original" ...
and tell everyone involved to come to their senses!
Two words ...
tear out.
ok .. two more ...
re do
ok .. maybe that really wasn't two more .....
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Whadda ya mean...come to your senses? Lady bought the house in it's present condition 10 yrs ago. Now she has a few bucks to spend on personalizing it, and she wants tile in the baths. She doesn't know enough about construction to realize that the bath floor is 1/4" higher than the wood floor for a reason. So the firsat choice is to demo the vinyl and masonite and see if the old tile is worth keeping. We have alrerady discussed the possibility that there may be missing or broken tiles, and renovation won't be a cost effective option.
So, in anticipation of finding all the tiles in place but coated with goo, I thought I'd ask about options for getting the tiles clean. It appears that the upstairs tile is on a 1 inch mortar bed. Cleaning the tiles has to be way cheaper than taking out the tile, along with parts of the setting bed that stick to the tile, making repairs, setiing tile, grouting, etc.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Cleaning the tiles has to be way cheaper than taking out the tile, along with parts of the setting bed that stick to the tile, making repairs, setiing tile, grouting, etc.
Has to be cheaper! ... ah ha ha....
seldom cheaper in the real world unless the labor is free ...
and even then ... what's the gaurantee?
and since I'm not free ....
my customer would here ... I'm a remodeling contractor ... not a cleaning service.
You wanna pay me $50/hr/man to scrub ... w/o a gaurantee you'll be happy ...
Fine ... I'll call labor ready and supervise.
OR ... we can all come to our senses.
Tale a step back ... look at the job in Q .... an unknown adhesive .... many years old ... over what is already a questionable tile job .... as it's possible flaws can't be seen .... plus .... get that tile perfect .... now what to do with the grout?
Have fun. Better work by the hour and hope they got money .... sounds like a great way to save some money ......
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Ha!
The voice...
of experience.
Striking the balance of idealism and reality
Sometimes it seems like I work for free...
You might be right...emphasis on might...but I would never admit it...
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Sometimes it seems like I work under debt ...
working for free would be a nice change of pace at those times .....
I hate those times!
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Hey Jeffy...I was in a rush and a foul mood when I posted that last one. Sorry. I'm sure you have considerably more experience in the tile business than I do, and you've probably made more mistakes than I've done jobs. Of course you're right. But...I think you and I agreed on something about a year ago...we are prostitutes and we do what we get paid for...and in this case the lady wants to try to retain the original tile. The key is to price it accordingly and try to cover all possibilities.
There's a little more to the story...she is almost certain that there are leaks in the old cast iron waste lines, and somehow they need to be exposed for repairs. If the bathroom floors are not salvageable, then they will be torn up to get to the pipes. However, if the floor tile is in good condition, then the ceilings of the first floor will be removed for access. So the first step is to see if the floors say or go, and that's a function of the tile condition.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt