Victor, If the current tiles are cracked and coming up, that makes me think that your current floor isn't sturdy enough for tiles. If something isn't done to strengthen the floor, you will have the same problems with the new tiles. My recommendation is to tare down to the sub floor. Put 3 inch deck screws through the sub floor in to the floor joists. Eliminate as many squeaks an bouncy spots you can. Determine your sub floor thickness, mine was 5/8. Most are 3/4. before the tile goes down, you want your floor to be a total thickness of 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches. Put down a layer of plywood 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 depending on the floor height you want. I went with 3/4. put the plywood down with Liquid Nail sub floor adhesive, and the 3 inch deck screws going in to the floor joists. Make sure the seems over lap the seems of the sub floor. Leave a 1/4 inch gap between the plywood and walls. next is a layer of 1/4 inch concrete backer board. I used Durarock. Put down a layer of thinset, I used a 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4 notched trawl. put the backer board on the thinset, and kind of slide it or twist it into place, this helps even out the thinset. Use roofing nails or concrete backer board screws to hold the backer board down. this is a matter of personal preference, I used the screws. leave a 1/4 gap between the backer board and walls. place fiberglass mesh tape over the seems, and apply a thin layer of thinset. Then lay your tile. A bead of caulk between the wall and floor. Replace your base molding, cabinets, appliances, etc... Done... This is how I did my bathroom floor, and the floor was bouncy when I started, now I, almost 300 lbs, can jump on the floor and it don't move. Michael _____
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Victor Gouveia Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 05:10 To: Blind Handyman Listserv Subject: [BlindHandyMan] To Scratch or Not To Scratch Hi Folks, Had a contractor here yesterday, two in fact, and each gives me their own interpretation of something I need done to my kitchen floor, so I'm wondering what you all think. I'm going to be replacing the ceramic tiles on my kitchen floor upstairs. I'm going to be laying thicker tiles down than I already have up there, as my current floor tiles are all cracked and coming up. Suffice it to say, this is a long time in coming. In any case, like I said above, I get a different story, as to how to go about installing the floor from each of the contractors. One says that I should rip everything up, and just lay down three quarter or five eighths inch plywood without any scratch coat, and I should be fine. The other says that I really don't need to rip up the sub-floor, as it feels sturdy to him, and that all you need to do is apply a good scratch coat to it, and install the new tiles. As some of you may or may not know, I'm a pretty hefty guy, weighing in at around 375, so this floor will have to put up with a heavy weight. Add to that the fact that this is the main kitchen for the house, so we're talking a great deal of traffic and with a five year-old running around, we're bound to get some spills and food stuff on the floor. Hell, I'm not that clean an eater either. In any case, which contractor is right. Can you make an argument for going with the scratch coat alone, or ripping up the sub-floor altogether and installing the plywood without the scratch coat? I should also note that the scratch coat would also entail laying down the wire mesh, so I guess that would make the scratch coat even stronger, but I'm still hesitant to do this, as I have had two contractors tell me that I should rip up the sub-floor in the kitchen and start from the bottom up. Any ideas? Victor Gouveia [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
