How to Transition From Floor That Is Too Thick?

[Jay Chan]

I am planning to cover the vinyl floor tiles on a small kitchen floor with granite tiles. Because of the possibility that the vinyl floor tiles "may" have asbestos in the adhesive, I am thinking tiling over the existing vinyl tiles. The problem is that the combined thickness of the granite tiles / cement backer board / thinset is around 1.25". I am afraid that this may make the kitchen floor too high above the adjacent floor. Two sides of the kitchen are open to the living room; therefore, the border is kind of long relatively to the size of the kitchen. I am afraid that people will keep tripping over the border area.

I understand that I can install wooden threshold to try to blend in with the wooden floor in the living room. But I am afraid that this may not be enough to transition from the living room floor to the kitchen floor.

Have anyone tried something like that before? What's your experience of doing this? How successful that was?

Thanks.

Jay Chan

[Joe Bobst]

[None]

I agree with jbobst4 however,

Checking wheter the tile or adhesive contains asbestos is not a great expense. Two appoaches are used- the least expensive of which is the "dye method". You may want to shop around in your area and find out how much it would cost.

I took the conservative approach and found a lab that did it and found out that neither the tile or the adhesive contained asbestos. Don't recall what the cost was but if it was high I sure would have remembered it.

Good luck.

[Ron]

I'd take a sample to a lab. You can't just wear a respirator and think your protected because when you break the tiles you release fibers into the home; if you have children consider that. If you smoke, exposure to asbestos is more hazardous than if a non-smoker were exposed. Do it right, if it contains asbestos you might have to hire a reputable asbestos removal crew.

[Jay Chan]

Thanks for sharing your real life experience with me. This surely confirms what I have been afraid of. OK, this "raised floor" idea is definitely OUT.

Thanks for the advice. This surely makes sense. I have watched "This Old House Classic" about the way professionals went about removing asbestos materials. Seem like I need to cover the whole area with sealed plastic sheet. Good thing I have an air cleaner that has HEAP filters. Keeping the dust down with water is also a good idea.

Jay Chan

[Jay Chan]

I didn't realize that I can test for asbestos using a kit. I will look for it in a home center. If I cannot find a kit, I will send a sample to a lab.

Thanks for the good information.

Jay Chan

[Jay Chan]

Thanks for the warning. The suggestion of using a lab to test a sample is a good one.

The affected area is very small (7'x7'). I think I can contain the area with the use of plastic sheet, spray water to keep the dust down, and a respirator that fits my face.

Jay Chan

[Jay Chan]

I have something that I don't quite understand.

I am under the impression that I should put a cement backer board under granite tiles or ceramic tiles in order to provide a stable platform regardless if I am going to remove the vinyl floor tiles or not. The reason is that the sub floor under the vinyl tiles is plywood, and I assume that plywood is not a very good platform for granite tiles or ceramic tiles. This means I really cannot cut down any of the additional thickness that I will put on the kitchen floor

-- I still need to account for the thickness of the granite tiles, the cement backer board, and the thinset adhesive.

Can I remove the vinyl floor tiles and simply put granite tiles on top of the plywood sub-floor assuming that the sub-floor is still rigid? Then at least I can cut down the additional thickness that I will have to add onto the kitchen floor.

Any idea? Thanks.

Jay Chan

[default]

*IF* the plywood subfloor is sufficiently rigid, yes. But that's a big if.

[Jay Chan]

Then, this is likely to be "No". I probably need to add cement backer boards to support the granite tiles if I really need to replace the vinyl tiles with granite tiles, or I just need to forget about this whole thing, and leave the vinyl floor alone. Oh well. Thanks for the info anyway.

Jay Chan