what goes under tiles in bathroom

[flatnoseflynn]

totally new to tiling so need some advice im going to do bathroom upstairs and it has wood floor...
how can i get the tiles to be level will i need to put some kind of board down? thanks for any replies

[whitebeam]

Make sure your floorboards are fixed well and secure then over lay with 12mm ply fixed at every 300mm just into the floorboards, prime the back and the edges of the ply, not pva.

[div]

remove whites apart from BATH easier 2 tile ..better finish

[Daz]

Welcome to the forums Flynn.

How "solid" is your floor? i.e. is there any flex in it?
Are we talking chipboard or floorboards?

It will probably require overboarding prior to tiling to eliminate floor delfection and make the substrate suitable for tiling. I would recommend the use of cement boards as these are impervious to water so ideal for a bathroom environment. Also, you will be able to use a 6mm cement board, as opposed to 18mm plywood, therefore, keeping the increase in floor height to a minimum.

The boards will need to be fixed using a flexible adhesive and then screwed at least every 300mm centres.

Depending on how out of level the floor is you could level it up with the adhesive when "glueing" the cement boards or otherwise apply a thin layer of self levvelling compound prior to tile fixing?

Hope this helps!
Good luck

[chris.tiling]

If a 12mm increase in height is too much, use a tile backer board such as hardiebacker or NoMorePly...these are both 6mm thick and will stiffen the floor. As whitebeam has said, the existing boards must be securely fixed down first, then the backer boards are screwed down every 300mm. The NoMorePly will need priming with something like BAL SBR, but the Hardiebacker wont.

[flatnoseflynn]

there is a couple of floorboards loose or broke so will need to repair them is removing toilet and sink a big job last thing i need breaking them missus will (DO NOT SWEAR) me if that happens haha

[chris.tiling]

When you take the sink / toilet out, tile underneath and then re-install them, you may need to re plumb them in as the feeds wont reach the new raised height and the same goes with the soil pipe.

however, leaving then in place mean the tiling takes longer as you have more awkward cuts and if you then change the loo it may not fit the hole left by the old one...so keep some tiles after as a just in case

[flatnoseflynn]

cement boards are they expensive?

[flatnoseflynn]

yes that makes more sense moving whites i was wondering how i was going to work round the toilet and sink wheres the best place to start in middle, side or anywhere in the room ?

[Daz]

You need to find a local supplier and ask them mate. As a guide I pay approx £10 per 1500 x 900 board, but remember that's a trade price 'cos I buy quite a lot . It's similarly priced to ply, so won't break the bank.

[flatnoseflynn]

oh good not to bad then...thanks for the advice cheers

[doug boardley]

if removing your potware (advisable imo) if they're not already fitted with isolator/service valves, fit these as they will help accomodate the raised floor height issues.

[Bolter]

if removing your potware (advisable imo) if they're not already fitted with isolator/service valves, fit these as they will help accomodate the raised floor height issues.

Thats great advice! Must try to remember that one

For where to start, I always think it looks nice all centred up. Centre the width of the room and dry lay some tiles to see if they work nicely to the edge, you want really half a tile cut around the room or more. Any less and I dont think it looks right, but sometimes cant be avoided. If it doesnt work out right (as in tile cuts are too small at the edge of the room) then use the other centre of the room. Im not mad if you imagine, you have marked a centre line on the floor and put a full tile up against it, and then laid more tiles etc, thats one centre point. The other is if you mark the centre of the tile with a pencil, and then match that with the centre line mark, and then mark the floor where the tile edge is. Thats centr line number two.

Then centre the length and dry lay again to see if that way works out ok.

Then you should know where to start. Plan your route out of the bathroom, ping a chalkline (a straight line you work off) and off you go.