Im tiling directly to a concrete floor, I have dry laid the tiles but I noticed one or two are sitting slightly proud of the others or are rocking if I press them either side. Will a normal bed of tile adhesive allow much tolerance to account for this or should I just self level the whole floor. Or I heard using a larger notched trowel gives you more play to level them in?
Floor prep before tiling
- Thread starter kevinsmbuk
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If its rocking by more than a few mm, then you might want to lay a 6mm backer board. But a concrete floor should be fine to tile directly on to and the backer may introduce its own problems if you don't stick it down properly.
D
Deleted member 292770
get a mtr straight egde or spirit level to get a more overall feel for ups and downs .
It really isn't by much, but enough to make me nervous. I'm concerned about creating a run, then getting to that point and it's sitting proud of the other tiles once level!
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I did run a level on the floor and it's dead level all the way across, I think this is just a high spot. I did dig out the floor for radiator pipework and filled the channel in, maybe it's this that has unlevelled the floor slightly. But to be honest I scraped the floor either side of the chanel when i filled it and also cemented just below the height of the original floor level so it wasn't sitting proud.
Just done a floor with a 20x10mm trowel due to the floor being a mess. It’s a hard way of going about it.
I would have preferred the floor to be self levelled first and use a 6/10mm notched trowel, as you also use more adhesive, that said it was riven slate, varying in thicknesses from 6mm to 12mm.
I also sealed the floor with pva, before I started.
How large is the floor?
I would have preferred the floor to be self levelled first and use a 6/10mm notched trowel, as you also use more adhesive, that said it was riven slate, varying in thicknesses from 6mm to 12mm.
I also sealed the floor with pva, before I started.
How large is the floor?
The floor drops to one side by about 5mm across the run, would more adhesive level this out?
D
Deleted member 292770
yes easily.
If you're sealing the floor before tiling, don't use pva, use apd from BAL.
I have used it for many years and worked perfectly.
I have used it for many years and worked perfectly.
I have a 10mm notched trowel for this job, my tiles are flat so need to be pretty dead on. I did PVA then realised that PVA isn't a very good thing to use before tiling after research!
I have already PVA'd and wished that I hadn't after reading it's not the right thing to use. Is the purpose similar to plastering? slow down suction and maybe seal the surface? will the fact Ive used PVA already matter?
Sorry, can't say.
I never used pva in any of my projects although I know that it's used correctly in plastering (I don't plaster).
I don't know how you could remove the pva now, but it gets soft when wet, so maybe it's time to get a sponge or a steamer and a scraper...
D
Deleted member 292770
There’s not much chance of getting it up . I spent years tiling pva’d walls and floors . And I know of loads of tilers who have done the same in the past. Just make sure you use a top quality flexible adhesive. It’ll be fine.
Sneak peak, its dry laid just need to fix down.
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