Bathroom floor tile

[Default User]

One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was retiling the bathroom floors. They both still have the 1-inch square mosaic tiles. Besides looking pretty dated, they take much care when doing the other updates, so there's paint and old adhesive spattered here and there.

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old tile rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete. What's the best way to get this sort of tile up?

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St. Louis)? The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going to be cutting the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm thinking about 12x12 ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary shade.

I don't really have any experience laying tile, although I've seen it on TV. If that Sarah on Bathroom Remodeling can do it, I should be able to. I just have to figure out if it's worth the time for the money saved.

Happy to hear any thoughts on the matter.

Brian

[Charles Spitzer]

hammer, ice scraper, belt sand, some sort of dust control and mask. it's a messy job.

depends upon whether you're doing the demoing, and the cost of the tile. tile and labor is charged by the square foot. call around some tile stores (not big boxes) and ask their sqft charge.

usually the pedestal of the sink and toilet are taken out first as the tile goes under them.

there are several good books on it. try the library. you'll need to rent a tile saw for a half day or so.

[MLD]

All of the above. Had it done to a small bathroom and it took a full day. But it was put down as if it would never have to be torn apart. The big problem turned to be that the toilet flange was too high as a result of the original sub and underlayment floors and had to be ground down to the new level. MLD

[Default User]

Sounds fun.

That's probably a good idea, they likely have some sort of standard install charge.

Toilet is no problem, it needs to be reseated anyway. I'll have to look at the sink.

Thanks for the info, same to MLD.

Brian

[William Brown]

From the type of tiles you describe, this must be a fairly old house, and I'm guessing that it is an upstairs bathroom with about six inches of cement as a subflooring, with the plumbing buried in the cement and rusting away. That is what I had when a drain pipe rusted through; fortunately my insurance covered the repairs, but when the crew came in they removed the cement and put a plywood subfloor in, with ceramic tile on top of that. Within a few years, the new ceramic tiles started cracking; I believe the subfloor was inadequate, in part because the joists had been beveled heavily when the cement was put in.

When I finally had some money, I redid the whole bathroom, with sisters on the joists and a plywood subfloor. While I had everything out, I took out the metal drain plumbing and put in plastic. Most of the metal plumbing was badly corroded and almost blocked. My new floor seems a lot sturdier, but I can't say for certain that it would be sturdy enough for ceramic tile, as I put in cork.

What I'm getting to is that just retiling will be a big dirty job. Before doing just that, I would think seriously about going all the way and removing the cement and updating the plumbing at the same time. Were I doing that, I would remove the tile and cement myself, do the sistering myself, but bring in a plumber to get the new drain system right. I would get a tileman to do the subfloor and tile, as he would have the expertise to get the subfloor strong enough.

D> One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was

[Default User]

Mid-sixties.

It's a ranch.

It's a slab.

I have no comment on this.

Not going to be doing that, it has radiant heating.

Not Bathroom Remodeling. It was an actual homeowner who did all the work with help from her father and some subcontractors.

Brian