Laying tile, stripping concrete, need some help.

[Thaco]

Hey, My brother was having someone renovate his basement bathroom and the guy abandoned the project half way through, so i thought i'd help him finish it up... need some help though


first: is there some sort of chemical cement stripper to get glue off cement? the previous people had glued down underlay or something and the floor is nasty, i don't want to spend 3 days with a scraper cleaning it up.

second: anybody have a good how-to and supplies list for laying tile directly on to cement?

third: what kind of tools will i need for cutting the tile?

fourth: i hear there are different types of glue and grout... how do i know what type i need?

[benyl]

Originally posted by Thaco
Hey, My brother was having someone renovate his basement bathroom and the guy abandoned the project half way through, so i thought i'd help him finish it up... need some help though


first: is there some sort of chemical cement stripper to get glue off cement? the previous people had glued down underlay or something and the floor is nasty, i don't want to spend 3 days with a scraper cleaning it up.

second: anybody have a good how-to and supplies list for laying tile directly on to cement?

third: what kind of tools will i need for cutting the tile?

fourth: i hear there are different types of glue and grout... how do i know what type i need?

1. Dunno. Scraper is probably best. Wouldn't want to damage the concrete with some chemical.
2. You need to use cement to lay tile on the floor, not glue. Glue is usually for walls in bathrooms.
3. Tile cutter, tile sniper, tile saw, trowel, grout float... all I can think of at the moment.
4. Go to a tile store and ask what cement you need.

[jonnycat]

Wouldn't putting tile directly on a concrete floor be a bad idea? Shouldn't there be a subfloor to allow for settling?

[asfjasljj]

for basement would be fine without subfloor

[jonnycat]

I always thought basement floors were the most susceptible to cracks. I'm no contractor though.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by jonnycat
I always thought basement floors were the most susceptible to cracks. I'm no contractor though.

everything i have read says that concrete is actually the best surface for tile... the cement and grout gives plenty of flexibility so there's not a huge worry for cracks.

[Thaco]

Alright, thanks guys, a guy at work here (actually my boss) just finished doing his basement, he says he has all the tools, so i am gonna borrow the cutter and nippers from him, he said basically all i will need is the spacers and cement, for now, i will need grout next time i go out there (he lives about 30 minutes from civilization)

[frozenrice]

I just did my basement bathroom in tile.
The cement that you'd need for putting the tiles down is called thinset mortar. The particular brand I used was Flextile 52 that I got from Totem. I believe it says on the bag that its good for use on concrete surfaces.
FYI on trowels and floats, I picked up my trowels and stuff from Princess Auto. 3/8" and 1/2" notched trowels, a trowel for tile adhesive, a rubber float and a 13" tile cutter all for under $20. IIRC, the trowels and float were under $5.00 a piece and were decent quality for a DIYer. I wouldn't recommend the tile cutter though, the wheel that scores the tile went dull after 3 or 4 passes. The tiles just started shattering after that. If you can get a hold of a wet saw I'd go that route instead. It's nice in case you have to trim off tiny slivers of tile (ie 1/4").
For a circular cut, I used an angle grinder with a diamond blade.

Here's a picture of the floor tile :

One of the wall tile :

[R154]

you can rent wetsaws from totem. My dad bought one from PA not to long ago for cheap, 35$, and it is still useful.

[syscal]

don't use a chemical on the basement, the only thing worse than scraping dry floor glue is scraping sticky wet glue while trying not to pass out from fumes. If you do use something keep your furnace off and turn off the water heater pilot light if it's flammable.

the floor doesn't need to be clean enough of glue to eat from, you just don't want any loose bits or bumps

use thin set directly on the cement

interestingly enough we had a trade show once and installed tile on top of tar paper. A flat bed truck drove over the tile the next day and we thought we were hooped, but there was no damage at all and it came up beautifully...after talking with another flooring store owner he says he uses tar paper under all his show room installs because it hold up and he can replace it whenever he wants.

Use whatever cutter that is comfortable. A wet saw is perfect for no experience. Use masking tape to mark your lines as pencil will wash off when you run the tile through.

As far as what type of grout and thinset, I like Custom's products. You can get them at Home Depot and I found them much easier to work with than Mapei. Didn't do much with Flextile so I can't say about that brand either way.

[mr2mike]

Get a wetsaw to cut tile. You'll thank yourself later after you break a bunch trying to get the tight corners fitted.

Go get a ice scraper to get the glue off. If it doesn't work, go sharpen it up till it does. It'll save your back a bit.

Like syscal said, doesn't need to be 100% smooth. That's what the mastic or thinset is for. Hides the floor blemishes when you lay tile.

I used a permanent fine tip marker and it didn't wash off. Paint thinner usually takes off the mark if you need to in the end.

[syscal]

Originally posted by mr2mike
Get a wetsaw to cut tile. You'll thank yourself later after you break a bunch trying to get the tight corners fitted.

Go get a ice scraper to get the glue off. If it doesn't work, go sharpen it up till it does. It'll save your back a bit.

Like syscal said, doesn't need to be 100% smooth. That's what the mastic or thinset is for. Hides the floor blemishes when you lay tile.

I used a permanent fine tip marker and it didn't wash off. Paint thinner usually takes off the mark if you need to in the end.

Use a scraper that looks like this

You can buy it in the tile section of Home Depot and you can get replacement blades for it or even use a standard Olfa blade if you have those around.

Using a permanent marker is only good on a high gloss tile, a more porous tile and you'll be swearing about the "permanent" part.

[mr2mike]

True on the marker. I was using solid white, high gloss tiles for a rental property.

[SJW]

That looks pretty good frozenrice. I have to do some tiling sometime this summer too.