Seeking advice on re-tiling a bathroom floor


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Old 01-30-08, 07:55 PM
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Seeking advice on re-tiling a bathroom floor

I have a rather unusual situation with my bathroom floor. I noticed the floor was bowing in areas, which caused a few tiles to crack. Planning on renovating the entire bathroom, I ripped up the older tile and found what seems to be a concrete floor. Research showed me this was a common procedure in the past. However, the floor is still not level, and there is also a 3 inch gap in one area which was spiderweb cracking, so I dug it out to see what was underneath. How do I fill this crack (which is about an inch deep and 3-4 inches wide) and prep the floor to re-tile. Do I have to rip up all the old concrete? Or can I just use a small amount of leveler and patch the crack? PLEASE HELP!!
 
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Old 01-30-08, 08:33 PM
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Are you saying you have a concrete slab that has raised and cracked, or do you have a wooden subfloor?

If it's a concrete slab that has cracked, then you cannot, and should not install tile over this. Filing the crack probably won't help either.

There are steps to do to avoid having your new tile crack, like installing a isolation membrane among other things.
 
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Old 01-31-08, 01:58 AM
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Thanks for replying. I have a wooden sub-floor, but there seems to be a a concrete setting about 1/4 inch over that. I measured the distance between the top of the concrete setting to the ajoining floor separated by a threshold (which is parquet) and its about 1/2 inch, which really doesnt give me much room to play with, assuming i will need 3/8 just for mortar and the new tile i bought is about the same width. However, the ajoining parquet floor will be carpeted over. I am doing the renovation to sell the condo within a few months from now so I am looking for something that will be cost effective and will not give the new buyer any future problems.
 
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Old 01-31-08, 06:16 AM
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Go yankees. Ah what the heck am I talking about GO GIANTS

I'm confused with what you have there. Are you saying this "concrete" over the subfloor is only 1/4" or are you saying that the setting material for the tile over the concrete is 1/4"? Confusing.

You mention spider cracking and a condo and I think of gypcrete. This is a gypsum based material that is rather unstable and requires some additional steps to tile over providing its in good shape.

Can you give a good description of exactly what you have there starting at the bottom and working your way up to the tile?
 
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Old 01-31-08, 06:34 PM
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Sorry about the confusion. Lets see if I can explain. I ripped up the tile, which was very small in size. There was a three piece pattern (1x1, 1x2, and 2x2) Now that that is up, there seems to be some kind of concrete. Because there was a rather large gouge, I can see that it looks like the concrete is about 1/4 inch thick and seems to be over something that resembles metal wire? Under the wire, I can clearly see wood subfloor. I was unsure if it was actually concrete because it was really brittle and seemed to chip very easily. Which is maybe the gypcrete? Also, there are numerous circular cracks that resemble spiderwebs throughout the floor. The bathroom is approx 9'x8' and there is now shower, just a toilet and a vanity. I havent had a chance to rip up the vanity yet due to plumbing issues that will be taken care of tomorrow, so I cannot tell what lies under the vanity. Hope that helped. And yes.... GO GIANTS...AND YANKEES
 
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Old 01-31-08, 07:02 PM
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That is what we so endearingly refer to as a "Jersey Mud Job".

There's your problem right there Yank. Get rid of it and start over at the wood subfloor.

Jersey Mud Jobs fail frequently and there is no reason to try to salvage that mess.
 
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Old 02-01-08, 06:46 AM
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Agreed, Jersey mud job has to go. Boy I hate that name "Jersey mud job" - makes us look bad here. Here we call it a Nebraska mud job though.
 
 

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