Hello all,
I'm putting in a new kitchen on the bank holiday weekend. The job for next week is tearing out the old kitchen (which I think will be easy); and re-laying the floor (which I think will be hard!).
I've read up and done as much research as possible on how to do the floor and I think I know what I'm doing, but just want to check my approach before I start:
Current floor
I live in a Victorian terrace. There is no door between the kitchen and dining room. There are floorboards in both rooms (exactly the same level), but there is a concrete screed, approx. 30mm thick, on the floorboards in the kitchen, with ceramic tiles on top. I have a photo showing this and will try to upload it soon. In the dining room we are walking on the floorboards.
There is no ventilation to the floor in the kitchen or the dining room: a previous owner seems to have laid a new patio which is slightly higher than the floor level inside. There is no springiness in the floorboards in the dining room yet but I'm not sure how to fix this, but I don't want to make the issue any worse in my upcoming project.
What I want
I want to put a tiled floor down in the kitchen (10mm thick tiles). These things cost a fortune so I only want them where I can see them. I'm undecided on what to put down under the units (see questions below).
I will be putting in a new floor (engineered wood flooring).
What I propose to do
1. Take up the tiles and the concrete slab in the kitchen.
QUESTIONS: I plan to use a 5kg SDS drill for this - is this suitable? Do I risk damaging the floorboards underneath?
2. Screw down loose/moving floorboards in the kitchen as best I can. Obviously I have no idea what sort of state they will be in- I'm hoping they are in reasonable shape!
3. check that the floor is level, and fill in any dips with a levelling compound.
QUESTION: Do I actually need to do this? I won't be tiling directly on to the old floorboards (see below)
4. Give the floor a good clean and a sweep.
5. Put down no-more-ply backerboard in the kitchen.
QUESTIONS:
- Do I need to cover the joints between the boards with anything?
- Do I need to put down a 12mm plywood layer first? I find it a bit hard to believe that a 6mm board will give me the rigidity I need for my heavy tile floor... but if I can get away with the 6mm no-more-ply, then great.
- Would it be better to take out the old floorboards and put down a fresh 25mm plywood floor? Or is this just unnecessary work?
6. Fit the kitchen
QUESTIONS: Can I stand the kitchen units directly on to the no-more-ply? Or do I have to put tiles down first? Can I drill through the backerboard and the flooboards under the kitchen units to give some ventilation to the floor? Or is this not going to help?
7. Tile the (visible) floor
QUESTION: I've had a lot of people tell me that quartz tiles need sealing; and a lot of people telling me that they don't. Is there a definitive answer, or does it depend on the tile? I'm thinking of going for these:
http://www.tilesporcelain.co.uk/quartz-tiles/black-quartz-tiles.php
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Nick
I'm putting in a new kitchen on the bank holiday weekend. The job for next week is tearing out the old kitchen (which I think will be easy); and re-laying the floor (which I think will be hard!).
I've read up and done as much research as possible on how to do the floor and I think I know what I'm doing, but just want to check my approach before I start:
Current floor
I live in a Victorian terrace. There is no door between the kitchen and dining room. There are floorboards in both rooms (exactly the same level), but there is a concrete screed, approx. 30mm thick, on the floorboards in the kitchen, with ceramic tiles on top. I have a photo showing this and will try to upload it soon. In the dining room we are walking on the floorboards.
There is no ventilation to the floor in the kitchen or the dining room: a previous owner seems to have laid a new patio which is slightly higher than the floor level inside. There is no springiness in the floorboards in the dining room yet but I'm not sure how to fix this, but I don't want to make the issue any worse in my upcoming project.
What I want
I want to put a tiled floor down in the kitchen (10mm thick tiles). These things cost a fortune so I only want them where I can see them. I'm undecided on what to put down under the units (see questions below).
I will be putting in a new floor (engineered wood flooring).
What I propose to do
1. Take up the tiles and the concrete slab in the kitchen.
QUESTIONS: I plan to use a 5kg SDS drill for this - is this suitable? Do I risk damaging the floorboards underneath?
2. Screw down loose/moving floorboards in the kitchen as best I can. Obviously I have no idea what sort of state they will be in- I'm hoping they are in reasonable shape!
3. check that the floor is level, and fill in any dips with a levelling compound.
QUESTION: Do I actually need to do this? I won't be tiling directly on to the old floorboards (see below)
4. Give the floor a good clean and a sweep.
5. Put down no-more-ply backerboard in the kitchen.
QUESTIONS:
- Do I need to cover the joints between the boards with anything?
- Do I need to put down a 12mm plywood layer first? I find it a bit hard to believe that a 6mm board will give me the rigidity I need for my heavy tile floor... but if I can get away with the 6mm no-more-ply, then great.
- Would it be better to take out the old floorboards and put down a fresh 25mm plywood floor? Or is this just unnecessary work?
6. Fit the kitchen
QUESTIONS: Can I stand the kitchen units directly on to the no-more-ply? Or do I have to put tiles down first? Can I drill through the backerboard and the flooboards under the kitchen units to give some ventilation to the floor? Or is this not going to help?
7. Tile the (visible) floor
QUESTION: I've had a lot of people tell me that quartz tiles need sealing; and a lot of people telling me that they don't. Is there a definitive answer, or does it depend on the tile? I'm thinking of going for these:
http://www.tilesporcelain.co.uk/quartz-tiles/black-quartz-tiles.php
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Nick
