Advice DIY & Tiling / Tiling removal

[old.user4556]

Gents,

It's fair to say that some of you have been at the university of life longer than I have been (read: old ). I moved out from my folks' house just over 5 years ago and I made a few misjudgements when it came to getting things for the flat.

Long story short, my bathroom is fully tiled; but it's all white (floors, walls, bathroom suite and ceiling painted white). My mates think it looks like a padded cell. I've been slowly doing some remedial work around the place and it's now time to change the tiling on the bathroom floor for something that's a bit nicer and breaks up the white (thinking rectangular slate grey tiles on the floor. Given that tiles will be a fucker to remove (including the adhesive), I've seen that 'tile on top' tiles appear to be popular.

Has anyone used "tile on top" tiles and can recommend for / against using them?

Do I just suck it up and do it the messy / inconvenient way and remove the floor tiles? If so, how?

Any discussions / advice welcome.

 

[Raven]

If you want it to last, pull up the old tiles first.

Hammer, thick gloves and eye protection, a heavy duty scraper and probably a sander. Depending on the size you might get away with sand paper and elbow grease for any left over grout/filler

Also get some levelling compound to finish it off.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Where's Trem?

 

[old.user4556]

If you want it to last, pull up the old tiles first.

Hammer, thick gloves and eye protection, a heavy duty scraper and probably a sander. Depending on the size you might get away with sand paper and elbow grease for any left over grout/filler

Also get some levelling compound to finish it off.

Smashing, cheers. I had a quick look at a tutorial on Youtube and it does seem reasonably straightforward with the right equipment. I know this is wall tiling, but the method is likely to be similar?


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX3F7R4l3Gc

 

[Tom]

Remove the original tiles. It isn't difficult, just make sure you have a decent bolster chisel, a hammer, and protective eyewear. A flat pry bar would be very useful as well.

 

[Appollo]

I run a tile shop

If the tiles are sound and sturdy that are already laid then it is fine to tile on tile as long as the correct adhesive is used (i would suggest a S1 Flexible). The down side of tile on tile especially on the floor is you are raising the height and adding extra weight to the floor. It is best to pull up the existing tiles, reboard the floor over the floor boards (assuming its a wooden floor) and re lay the tiles. Again a S1 flexible adhesive is best incase of any flex in the floor aswell a flexible grout.

Any other questions ask away

 

[Appollo]

http://www.ebberns.co.uk/tile-centre

 

[old.Tohtori]

This ain't fancyboys, this is FH for f*cks sake.

 

[caLLous]

And when was the last time you saw an excavator in a bathroom?

(unless Trem is involved somehow ofc)

 

[russell]

Ed is a DIY genius. His bathroom is awesome- get him to come and do yours!

 

[Gwadien]

Fuck safety gear lob a hammer at it and run floor tiles are a fucking nightmare compared though x

 

[Scouse]

http://www.ebberns.co.uk/tile-centre

Fucking Hemel Hempstead. Why cant you live around my neck of the woods for some decent bargain-action?

 

[Appollo]

One shop is enough

 

[Moriath]

Deliver to Berkshire just down the road lol

 

[sayward]

Just had bathroom tiled. Over the ones on the wall, I was worried if we took them down the wall would follow. But took up the ones on the floor before laying the new ones. As it was had to take the bottom off the door. All looks good.

 

[TdC]

Ed is a DIY genius. His bathroom is awesome- get him to come and do yours!

I may need to speak with master Edbacon at some point this year.

 

[Zenith.UK]

I run a tile shop

<snip>

Any other questions ask away

I'll be in touch with you in the next few days about tiling in general. I've got the tiles to do my kitchen floor, but I need some advice and pointers about preparation, laying and how to make them water repellent/chemical-proof.

 

[MYstIC G]

I run a tile shop

If the tiles are sound and sturdy that are already laid then it is fine to tile on tile as long as the correct adhesive is used (i would suggest a S1 Flexible). The down side of tile on tile especially on the floor is you are raising the height and adding extra weight to the floor. It is best to pull up the existing tiles, reboard the floor over the floor boards (assuming its a wooden floor) and re lay the tiles. Again a S1 flexible adhesive is best incase of any flex in the floor aswell a flexible grout.

Any other questions ask away

Absolutely on the money. Now on to more serious business...

Which one is you?

 

[Raven]

He's sat on the shelf at the back.

 

[old.user4556]

http://www.ebberns.co.uk/tile-centre

Smashing thanks.

I need to give it some thought, ideally I would like to remove the tiles but that means disrupting things for an extended period of time as I would need to take the toilet and wash hand basin out as I don't like the look of "tiling around" the bottom. I've only got a single bathroom in the flat, so I would want to get it done quickly.

I suppose I could do most of the groundwork myself to remove the tiles and then pay someone to come in and tile it in a day, but ultimately I was going to get my dad to help as he's awesome at tiling (he did my kitchen floor) and it would save me a few bob.

 

[Tom]

You'd have to tile around your toilet and sink if you laid new tiles over the existing ones.

 

[caLLous]

Yeah, someone did that in my house and now I can't remove the pedestal under the basin when I want to unblock the pipe.

 

[old.user4556]

You'd have to tile around your toilet and sink if you laid new tiles over the existing ones.

Yeah, that thought has occured to me, but I could in theory raise the height of the toilet / basin by the thickness of the tile? Could be messy mind you in terms of re-sealing the back of the basin.

 

[Appollo]

In all cases it is best to remove wc/basin as the end finish will always be better. Removing them shouldn't be too difficult along as ballofix vales have been fitted so you can shut off hot and cold water. Just put a carrier bag over the soil pipe and tape it up so you don't inhale the stench pipe smells

 

[Appollo]

And none of those people are me as it was taken before we opened the tile division

 

[MYstIC G]

And none of those people are me as it was taken before we opened the tile division

Foiled. Well played!

 

[Gumbo]

Absolutely on the money. Now on to more serious business...

Which one is you?

There must be something in tile adhesive which leads to folicular challenge.

 

[Appollo]

To be fair, those are the bathroom, plumbing & heating people. We in tiles are a lot more photogenic IMHO!

 

[Trem]

Well, I was going to give some advice but after thinking about it I won't.

You see I have a fear of tiles since I once decided to stick my arm though a hole in a wall at work, it was a newly made hole and it had jagged tiles around the edge, anyway, I caught my arm on a tile and put a cut n my arm that went down to the bone, I could see my bone! Yes it was cool that I could see my skeleton but after showing everyone I then had to have 20 stitches in it and missed 2 weeks of work, funny thing was it didn't really bleed and it defintely looked like a 'gina on my arm.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Extra vagina and two weeks off work - I'd take his advice tbh.