Tiling over slight uneveness

Hi,

If tiling over the odd patch of uneveness (2-3mm ish)?

Does one attempt to put more adhesive on, or just push the tile down less?

This is for 300mm floor tiles mostly.

Ta

Tim

Reply to
Tim S
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Floor tiles need a solid bed, so use more adhesive

NT

Reply to
NT

More adhesive. I find a blob in the middle is best. Then gradually tap down with the *handle* of a club hammer i.e. hold the metal bit and hit the centre of the tile at 90 degs with the end of the handle (sorry, don't mean to be patronising :-)). If the adhesive is the right consistency, it'll ooze out at the sides uniformly so that you know there are no gaps under there. If just the weight of the hammer isn't enough, add a little water to the mix rather than hitting it harder. There I go again

Reply to
Stuart Noble

NT coughed up some electrons that declared:

OK - ta.

Are there any good tricks of the trade for doing this. Putting a bit too much on would allow the excess to be squeezed out - is this a good way? Obviously have to scrape out the grout lines with a small screwdriver or something if too much appears there.

I was thinking of adopting the bricklaying approach of tapping the tiles down with a scrap of wood and a tapping implement, using a level over them until they sit right. I'll be aware in advance of the problem bits I have to take more care over. Is this a sane plan - only done wall tiles before?

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

Splendid. My last post just crossed over yours, but you've answered the question. Telepathy...?

Just to check a detail: by "blob" do you mean use a slotted trowel to apply the basic stripes of adhesive then chuck an extra blob on - or just use a blob on its own?

Basically sounds like the way I set bricks (yes I use the club hammer handle there too ;-> )

Ta

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

While you can fill in holes to flatten out uneven floors, if you have bumps standing out, my experience is that you need to fix them first. If you pad-out the unevenness with extra goop (apologies for the technical term), then the tile you've laid over the bump will stand proud of the ones around it. Unless you then add more adhesive to their beds, too - then they stand out WRT the ones around them ... I tried to do this when tiling the conservatory - it wasn't very satisfactory and I ended up pulling up some of the tiles to fix the underlying bumps.

Reply to
pete

pete coughed up some electrons that declared:

As the adhesive is typically going to be several mm thick, I was hoping 2-3 mm bumps could be absorbed?...

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

If you know you have this problem, back-buttering all the tiles will help you get a deeper bed all round which gives you more wiggle room for the tiles over the high spots - basically trowel the backs of the tiles with a 6mm wall trowel as well as the floor with a floor trowel. Or you could just back butter the individual tiles on the low spots. To clean the grout lines out, a cheap paintbrush with the bristles cut down to 10mm or so works quite well.

Reply to
Bolted

I normally use the notched spreader over about a 4 tile area so, if a particular tile is too low, you don't know till you've laid it and messed up the stripes. I then just chuck a blob on top. It's like bricklaying in the sense that you can feel when the suction is good. How you get there doesn't really matter.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Tim,

I had this problem on wall tiles in a shower quite some time ago [1], and simply put more tile cement on the back of the tiles [2], but rather than tap them in with a hammer, I simply 'wriggled' the tiles whilst pressing down on them with hand pressure and then cleared the over-spill away - and the things are still there 10 years later!

[1] There were some rather large indentations in one wall which meant that these had to be filled with IIRC, finishing plaster (it could even have been carlite) mixed with sand - and adding bigger lumps of cement to the tiles really wasn't an option. [2] Making sure that the cement was of a sufficiently 'soft' mix out of a new, unopened pot - rather than using stuff that may have had the odd lump or two in it.

Cash

Reply to
Cash

Bolted coughed up some electrons that declared:

Laying laminate 10 years ago taught me to guage the floors first! :)

Laying wood flooring 3 months ago taught me to guage *all* the floor first, especially the edges where screed often seems to go a bit wonky.

OK - this sounds like a good plan.

That sounds like a real pro trick. I have lots of half knackered brushes which would be ideal candidates for this.

Once again, thanks :)

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

Thanks Stuart.

This place really is a mine of good tips :)

Reply to
Tim S

So long as you use a notched trowel, then yes - maybe. But be mindful than the thicker you lay it, the bigger in absolute terms any variation in thickness will be and the more tapping level will be needed. Then one tap too many and you've got a dip and the other side poking up :-(

Reply to
pete

Cash coughed up some electrons that declared:

Thanks Cash.

I use the wiggle method on marmox as it's very difficult to press it down evenly (large sheets). Wiggling it seems to give a better feel.

It's laying the marmox that seems to induce the lumpiness though. It'll be worth it overall (for the warmer feet and damp resisting properties) but it's bloody difficult getting a 1.2m sheet down without getting 1-2mm out of true somewhere, even with using a 4' and 6' level as I go.

I might try laying the next batch cut in half (600x600 - more like a big floor tile).

Luckily nothing that bad. The surface is generally true - just a couple of mm here and there.

Good point :)

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Its far easier to sort out any small depressions that would not be accommodated by the notched spreader _Before_ you start tilling rather then bodging in extra lumps of adhesive hoping to get an even finish.

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Reply to
Mark

Packing out the odd tile by 3mm isn't a bodge, and is inevitable unless the floor is perfect

Reply to
Stuart Noble

Yep no matter what im tilling the surface is made perfect before I start, not during. :)

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Reply to
Mark

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

That's my thinking. Even my best floors have unevenesses at the 2-4mm level.

You notice that level of detail when you lay wood flooring! Thank heavens for 1mm card!

Unless you pour 10+mm of Stopgap 300 in one hit or have just employed genius floor screeder blokes, I suspect perfection is rare.

Where there might be a gentle dip at a few mm over a 4' or 6' level, I'm more than happy to follow that with the tiles. No one is ever going to notice. The rest of the house is bent anyway - it'll fit in perfectly!

It's localised wibbles that I'm preparing to deal with in my mind. The sort of thing where not making allowances ends up with a cocked tile, which would look bad. Also, while the bath has 4 adjustable feet, the bog does not, so it's very important to get that bit dead flat.

I approach this job with some trepidation - which is why I'm trying to fathom out everything that could go wrong before I start :) This is my bathroom - at 3m2 with barely 1m2 visible in a single area (bath and bog take out the rest) it's my "practise" floor.

After that, the next one will be the kicthen and that will be 20m2 with 15m2 on show!!!

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips.

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Mark coughed up some electrons that declared:

I can understand running some plaster over a wavy wall. But do you really slap down levelling compound on your floors before you tile?

Curious...

Reply to
Tim S

Mark,

I must admit that I have seen many floors tiled, some on brand spanking newly laid screed (dried out of course for the pedants amongst us ;-) ), some on timber floors and some on old concrete floors that have literally had buckets of self-levelling compound poured over them - and not one has ever been *PERFECTLY* level or even - but the pro's have always managed to get around that with the odd 'trade trick' or two (such as a thicker bed of adhesive as and when needed!

All the best

Cash

Reply to
Cash

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