Have a bathroom in 100 yr old house with a vintage Victoria design floor. The floor itself is in great shape but the owners want to update the design to match a renovation in the rest of the bathroom. After doing some investigating I have the following specs on the floor: 6†thick concrete mud-job with a high amount of quartz in the mix. The floor tile appears not to be ceramic but concrete themselves that were imbedded in the concrete mud-job base. After 100 yrs of curing the concrete has the consistency of granite. This is all sitting on 2 1/8†x 14 1/8†14 O.C. oak joist. Therefore, I think that the current floor would make a good base over which to lay new tiles. The problem is that the concrete tiles started with a smooth surface (original surface under radiator) and over the past 100 yrs of cleaning has ended up with a polished surface. Great for naked feet bad for adhering tile, so my question is how should I adhere tile to 100 yr old concrete?
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Thanks for your replies.
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Baldwin
Replies
Only my opinion, mind you but this response should also bump your question up so more people can see it & hopefully respond.
Are they NUTS?!?! This is one hundred years old! sigh Now to address your question. I would keep in mind that decorating fashion will change. Some day someone is gonna KILL for that old floor & if you put a "base" over the floor that will be easy to remove & THEN put on the tile that someone will kiss you later.
Maybe a single sheet of plywood or concrete backerboard?
PlantLust is going to have a piffy attitude until a decent dentist is found.
Are they NUTS?!?!
2nd vote for that!.
Well maybe not just nuts, but DUMBNUTS???
scuff it up and use modified thinset.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
....what Jeff Buck said!
Dave
"....what Jeff Buck said!"
that's what I keep telling my wife!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Yes, but you have to post it here first. That way you can point to the screen and say "Look honey, even the internet says I'm right!"Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
I have a memo recorded on my cell phone from over 2 years ago ...
forget what happened ... remember we were in the car and she was driving ...
made her say it again so I could record it ..
which ... she didn't think I'd actually do.
"Yes Honey ... U are a genius!"
she wasn't exactly sincere the second time around ...
but I'll take what I can get!
still play it every now and then.
Jeff
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Once had to stop a "discussion" I was having with a girlfriend so I could write down here words while they were fresh in the air. Here was the gist:
Me: "Can you come up with a concrete example of what you are talking about?"
Her: "It's in my head, so it's concrete"Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
she had Rock Solid ideas, huh?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
LOL
Look at this foam tile backer called Wedi:
http://www.wedi.de/usa/products/building_panel/system.php
You glue down a 1/4" lightweight panel with regular polyurathane glue, then tile normally over that. Raises the floor less, and will likely preserve it better too.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Oh, good Lord, no. But I can give him two dollars and an assault rifle.
When I tiled over the glossy tiles on my kitchen floor, I went to a local flooring company and bought something called Keralastic. It's a kind of glue that mixes with thinset, as opposed to mixing the thinset with water.
It cost about $200 for 130 square feet, which was a steal in comparison to tearing up the old floor.
Scuff the surface to get rid of goo and use a modified thinset as others mentioned. There are also bonding agents that can be brushed on prior to the thinset, but if the surface is clean any of the better thinsets will bond quit well to the old concrete.
Keep in mind that putting down a scratch coat of thinset is always a good idea on questionable surfaces since the trowel grinds the sand and other goodies into the surface for a good bond. The harder the scratch the better the bond is likely to be. Typically the new thinset will pull the top of the concrete surface off instead of breaking at the bond if you give it a few weeks to set up completely, which is pretty darn tough.
Good tiling.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.