flooring in bathroom

[bpuharic]

OK here's what we got

looking at tile or vinyl for the bathroom. current floor is vinyl on some type of wood floor.

home depot says take the gloss off the vinyl, then mastic, then backerboard, then mastic then tile

lowe's guy says for vinyl, put down skin coat to fill lines in the vinyl, then put town self adhering vinyl.

lowe's guy also says for tile, put down a membrance to cover the vinyl, then mastic, then tile. membrane is moisture barrier and fills in lines in the vinyl

any comments? Thanks all

[hallerb]

pull the existing tile and more than likely the underlayment. make certain the sub floor is rock solid. add deck screws as needed.

then cover with concrete board, fill the seams, and tile.

too many layers cause door threshold troubles, isnt as solid either.

do it right, do it once then relax you wouldnt be doing it again because you tried to cut corners......

[John Grabowski]

*Go to a flooring store and a tile store and talk those people. Also bring in a contractor and ask his opinion. If there is any flex in the current floor, you will need to beef it up for ceramic tile. I would remove everything down to the bare subfloor and start from there.

[jamesgangnc]

Renmove the vinyl.

If you want new vinyl check the subfloor condition. If it's pretty good you can patch any small problems with leveling filler. If it's crappy put down a layer of 1/4" luan board.

If you want tile then if all you have is a subfloor you need to put down 1/2" backer board motared and screwed to the subfloor. If you have a wood floor on top of a subfloor and it it pretty solid you can use the 1/4" backer borad instead.

[dss]

bpuharic,

Here's a website with a wealth of information on tile.

They have a calculator (deflecto) that will tell you whether your structure (joists, subfloor, etc.) can adequately support ceramic or natural stone. If there is too much deflection on the floor you may have to tear down to the joists and beef things up. This might help you make the tile vs. vinyl decision.

Vinyl is easier, cheaper, requires less maintenance, but won't last as long as ceramic. If you're going to be in the house for the long haul I'd seriously consider tile. Either one (done right) will give you a functional bathroom floor. The guys who moderate the website (most are tile pros) will even walk you through your project. I got enough information just by lurking.

There is a fairly wide range of opinions, even among professionals, about what constitutes "best practices" in the laying of tile. I'm a pretty handy guy, but I discovered I don't really like working with tile.

Good luck.

dss

[bpuharic]

there's no flex, but every flooring person i talk to has a different opinion

[bpuharic]

yeah, might have to do this. floor is rock solid but ugly as hell with the vinyl

[bpuharic]

thanks much...

[bpuharic]

very useful! THanks much

yeah probably be here for 7 or 8 years yet...

this'll be a first for me. 1st time is always a big job...

[Ralph Mowery]

One god thing about Vinal is that it is cheaper and if you (usually wife) wants to change the color/type it is easy. We had some put down a couple of years ago that looks almost like a stone tile. Sometimes it depends on the type of house. If it is a high cost (for the area) house, you may want to put in what is popular and live with it. If lower end, then the vinal may be the way to go.

[bpuharic]

since my wife isn't looking over my shoulder you're right. and she does that! you're a wise man...

>

[gpsman]

Mastic would be more than sufficient to fill any lines in the vinyl, but vinyl on vinyl is hill-jack.

I can't comment on your choices of materials, except you don't need cement board for a tile floor. -----

- gpsman