Been doing the kitchen over past few months, now on flooring. have to remove 12-year-old vinolay and Marley-type tiles under that. I suspect, by the time I have the tiles up, the concrete floor wont be that smooth. If I decide to put down new vinolay or similar, is there any sort of base layer I could put down first over the concrete, to take out the irregularities and perhaps have some insulation propertiies? I had intended to go for ceramic tiles, but thought these may be cold, as it is a 1960's non-insulated floor slab; but with tiles, no problems with small irregularities. (just getting the bitumen-based adhesive off!) Any advice much appreciated.
Kitchen flooring
Mar 25, 2008
6 Replies
The main problem with ceramic tiles is that they're utterly unforgiving. Drop a ceramic or glass item on it (we all do from time to time) and it will smash, even those items which somehow bounce off vinyl flooring.
Mary
Cork tiles.
Warm, resilient, quiet.
Owain
Owain, funny you should mention cork, as I have now done three bathrooms (not in same house) with Westco 4 mm thick cork tiles, a bit 1970's some would say, but very eco and sustainable really, and with good insulating properties. But, for a kitchen, would they need to be more than 4 mm thick, and would they need a base layer down to glue them to? - I do not know what this should be; in bathrooms, I used hardboard, well pinned down to wooden floor with copper nails. In addition, I dont think Westco supply 4 mm thick cork tiles now, I have seen only 3.2 mm in Homebase recently. I shall look into this further.
"4square" wrote
Owain, funny you should mention cork, as I have now done three bathrooms (not in same house) with Westco 4 mm thick cork tiles, a bit 1970's some would say, but very eco and sustainable really, and with good insulating properties. But, for a kitchen, would they need to be more than 4 mm thick, and would they need a base layer down to glue them to? - I do not know what this should be; in bathrooms, I used hardboard, well pinned down to wooden floor with copper nails. In addition, I dont think Westco supply 4 mm thick cork tiles now, I have seen only 3.2 mm in Homebase recently. I shall look into this further.
Are these well sealed and washable? Otherwise the hygiene angle may make them unsuitable!
Phil
Wouldn't think so.
Concrete.
Should be okay if it's firmly stuck down.
Owain
Why?
I'd agree that they're better if sealed and washable but can't see where hygiene comes in, unless you eat off the floor.
Mary
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