My 1950 house clearly has a layer of something about 13 mm thick over the concrete as I could see the edge when I took a partition wall down. It is hard to dig into but a shiny finish. I want to lay ceramic floor tiles. I've read some good tips on some forums about cleaning, primer and adhesives but how would I know if it is bitumen or asphalt<
How do you know if it is bitumen?
- Thread starter tofo
- Start date
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Smell it....... You will know if it's bitumin/asphalt by the smell. It's probably bitumin. It was used a lot in the past, both on flat concrete roofs and on floors/ concrete oversites. It would still be used a lot today as well. Scrape into it a little with an old chisel/screwdriver and have a good old sniff. You can even chew it as a substitute for chewing gum. Any colour you like as long as it's black. 
Roughcaster.
Roughcaster.
If you have an asphalt floor, it's made with bitumen so it's not a case of it being one or the other. Either way, so long as it's clean, you can tile onto it with no problem. Check out the sticky for tiling onto asphalt.
OK thank you guys; what a brilliant site, I need never suffer my DIY problems alone again
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It's only the tiling section that's anything like - the rest is pretty ropey.
JohnD wrote,
I'll could "post" them down to you John for closer inspection.
Roughcaster.
I'll could "post" them down to you John for closer inspection.
Roughcaster.
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