Working on a tile floor project: Been stripping the old vinyl floor – it’s coming up in three layers. Top layer is the clear wearing surface, 2nd layer seems to be plasticised paper, bottom layer is thick paper, then followed by the original mastic, then the subfloor.
I plan to use 1/4″ hardibacker as the tile underlayment – my question is: how much of the bottom paper layer do I really need to remove? It seems to me the combination of the new mastic and the screws will hold the hardibacker down pretty well, even if I’m not binding directly to the subfloor.
how say you?
thanks,
TJ.
Replies
Make it smooth enought that the hardie will lay flat. I use a very small v-notch trowel to spreasd a layer of slightly thinned thinset between the floor and the hardie. I like the thinset to ooze enough to fill all the voids.
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
Thanks for the response, Ed.Wouldn't you know it - I got off all the loose paper, and cleaned out an area of rotted wood. This morning I was applying the wood hardener in preparation for filling the now low spot, when I notice that I'm working on a 1/4" plywood overlayment. So, the paper is going, by default, along with the old underlayment.thanks,
-TJ