Tiling Question - Bathroom Floor Prep

 

Hi All,
 
Project for the break is the bathroom.
 
I've done tiling before but it's generally been on a concrete slab.
 
I've just finished ripping up all the old tiles in the bathroom and as expected there was a cement / sand screed applied previously.
 
What I've now got though is a slightly pitted surface which really isnt the best surface for tiling.
 
What have people done in the past?
 
I considered a self leving compound just to even things out a bit?
 
Any other suggests?
 
Cheers
 
Craig

scotto's picture

Posts: 2470

Date Joined: 21/04/08

Nah

Sun, 2012-12-23 20:49

 Unless they're massive divets, just fill them with glue as you tile. There is a kick asre glue out now called dry mastic. 

 

Otherwise, just use a pretty dry 6:1 sand gp cement mix mate. You'll waste time and money with leveling compounds, and you need fall to your floor wastes anyway. Leveling will screw your falls.

Daryn's picture

Posts: 164

Date Joined: 01/05/12

 This was the same as mine.

Sun, 2012-12-23 22:51

 This was the same as mine. Mid 70's I think was the changover to solid pads in the bathroom areas.

Prior to this the bathrooms were left as sand. Good idea really, makes it easy to move piping around.

I removed all the scree, and put new down. Go at the floor with a sledge, it is really easy to break up.

Craggles's picture

Posts: 85

Date Joined: 19/05/07

  lol mid 70's eh, mine was

Mon, 2012-12-24 06:18

 

 

lol mid 70's eh, mine was built in 2001 so they were a bit behind then :P

 

Daryn's picture

Posts: 164

Date Joined: 01/05/12

If your house is that age

Mon, 2012-12-24 08:24

If your house is that age then my advice is rather useless!!! Good luck with the tiling.

scotto's picture

Posts: 2470

Date Joined: 21/04/08

Screed

Mon, 2012-12-24 06:56

 Is used in every wet area so the tilers can fall it to wastes. U won't get a grano that does it, so they step it down for the tilers to top it with screed. All the pipes are still in the concrete. 

 

Once you've screeded, you should waterproof it mate. Water ingress is the biggest problem in the whole industry. 

Craggles's picture

Posts: 85

Date Joined: 19/05/07

Yer I'll be doing that once

Mon, 2012-12-24 08:29

Yer I'll be doing that once I've got the surface to where I want it.

 

Spending plenty of time on the prep, thats the hard part I've seen lots of people miss out on, previous waterproofing was pretty pathetic

Scotte's picture

Posts: 1145

Date Joined: 07/12/06

As long as flat and even.for

Mon, 2012-12-24 15:28

As long as flat and even.for any chisel holes just fill out with glue the day before just in case you get a corner over it.if its just pitted that's a good thing as you'll get a real good key into it.
Hope that helps

Posts: 95

Date Joined: 04/06/12

 Yep that's the go. Vacuum

Mon, 2012-12-24 21:23

 Yep that's the go. Vacuum the surface thoroughly to rid of any dust, then apply some davco ultra prime. This is the best method of preping the floor. You can screed, but it will already have some existing fall so just follow it. Don't forget to waterproof it, davco k10's is what I'll recommend.