quarry tiles and damp proofing. - Tile Advice

[Kaz65]

Hi,
I've just statred ronovating my kitchen.I took up the previous laminate flooring and found the original, 100 year old quarry tiles underneath with no damp course.I had planned to lay some porcelain tiles.I've since had two tilers round.One said to put bitumen down then he'd latex the floor then the second tiler said I'd need to tankin (?)it then he'd put down balls 900 and i'd have to keep off it for 24 hours.this isn't very practical as the bathroom is accessed off the kitchen.I'm totally confused and have no idea what to do.Any help/advise is very welcome.

 

[DHTiling]

You could use an un-coupling membrane...

 

[bubblebobble]

Hi Kaz,

speaking as a building contractor, this is the way that older houses were constructed in years gone by.
I would say the quarries are sitting on an ash substrate possibly, a damp course i.e. a visqueen membrane was not available then.
There are a number of ways to tackle this.

The best way is to remove the quarry tiles, dig out the floor lay a membrane and then concrete it!
However this is rather a drastic option but to do it correctly this would be the way.

The other way is to have the floor bitumen coated (hot bitumen), it will provide a solid base on which to lay the tiles and provide a damp membrane.
I have used this method in the past and it works very well, it is the usual fix for your situation.
Be warned though, when they come to lay it, IT WILL make your property smell for a while and the smoke is unbelieveable.

If I can be of more help let me know.

 

[Kaz65]

Thanks for the reply.the tiler didn't mention hot bitumen but said I could paint it on myself - two coats. Someoe else on the forum mentioned de coupling so I was going to look into that. the floor also needs leveling so I don't know if I could still use that?

 

[wetdec]

With Dave an uncoupling membrane would halt your damp and help avoid tile damage in the future...

..

 

[Kaz65]

Thanks for reply.I've ust watched a youtube video about uncoupling using a Ditra product.it fairly straight forward and alot better than the bitumen.

 

[bubblebobble]

Uncoupling membrane as they say will do the trick but you need to make sure your floor is sound. I would expect it to be sound anyway.
Also watch your ajoining levels to other floors.
I think perhaps you are getting unduly worried/concerned about the suggestions mentioned.
What you have to remember is that existing floor has been down for over a hundred years, if it hasnt moved or shows signs of damp dont worry dear.

I would employ a good tiler with an established record (good experience and references) to do the job, he will know his stuff, take his advice and all will be fine.
Ask to see some of his work ( pictures will suffice), and references are good, if they cannot give references and a customer or two to call then walk away.
I would always give customers references they could follow up.
:8:

 

[Kaz65]

Thankyou for the reply.Never having done this before , I have no idea where to start! I'll have a look in the local paper for some tilers and follow your advise re previous jobs they've done.

 

[dock]

Kaz 65

Clean up the tiles and give them a couple of coats of Mapei Triblock P. Blind the second coat whilst still wet with kiln dried quartz to provide a mechanical key for the adhesive when fixing your tiles.

dock

 

[Ajax123]

I would take up the tiles if they are good quality and sell them on to offset the cost of poly membrane and concrete/screed replacement.

Ditra would be my next favorite oprion

Epoxy DPM the final option e.g. Tremco Unoversal One Coat or Merlin Barrier coat or the like. There are loads of these membranes available nowadays.

Bitumen would no doubt work but it stinks and is not great fumes to be breathing in for an extended period of time.

 

[guppy]

Hello,although drying times would be an issue what about a cement slurry then a levelling compound?

 

[tfs]

I have used one product for this in the past (F75 by F.Ball), this is a two coat resin based surface membrane.

I firstly primed and then smoothed over the concrete base with slc and once dry coated with the dpm, left this coat to dry and applied another coat perpendicular to the direction of the first coat. Once this is dried it can be smoothed over with another thin skim of slc and once dry will be ready for the tile.

Manafacturers such as ARDEX etc also supply the same type of product!

For me this would be the way forward. Each coat of the membrane takes only a few hours before you can walk over it (although, you may need to wait longer before coating again). Get the tiler to do any other prep work and you could do the membrane coating yourself before you go to bed, this would be dry for you in the morning. Applying a surface dpm is realy simple so could be done by you if needed. (just follow manufacturers instructions)