Plan of attack?

hyunelan2 · 10-17-2007, 01:16 PM

My wife and I are considering putting ceramic flooring in throughout the kitchen/hallway of our home. Currently, there are 12" vinyl tiles [glued] laid directly over the concrete slap. I had to remove 9 of the tiles about 2 months ago and replace them, due to my wife dragging the couch over them. That took a good 2 hours just to get 9 tiles up.

What's the best plan of attack here? I though about putting some cement board down directly on top of the vinyl tiles and then laying the ceramic over that.

If I do go through the herculean task of pulling up the vinyl, do I need to put something over the concrete before I lay the ceramic?

FYI: The house is 2.5 years old. We had the builder just put in "level 1" vinyl tiles because we knew we'd change it to ceramic ourselves eventually, cheaper than what they wanted to do it for. Now the tiles are starting to gap and it just doesn't look very nice. Total project area is about 300 sqft, and includes kitchen, 2 hallways, 3 closets, and a 1/2 bathroom.

Floorwizard · 10-17-2007, 02:05 PM

No reason for concrete board if there is concrete as a substrate.
you will need to take the time to remove the tiles and lay an anti-fracture membrane, then youe ceramic tile.
At least the subfloor is concrete and not plywood...
that will help a bit.

KUIPORNG · 10-17-2007, 02:11 PM

I think what you are facing here is a flexible subflooring which is not too good to tiling... but if you really want to leave the vinyl.... I would use the "ditra" rather than anything else. I think the ditra system can stand the little soft movement variation generated by your vinyl flooring.... but the best is still remove them all.... and after you removing everything.... you can lay tile directly onto concrete... but if you don't mind the cost of ditra... use ditra is still a good idea....

hyunelan2 · 10-17-2007, 02:39 PM

For removing tile... is there some machine that I could rent that would make this process easier. I'm sure it'll go faster than my previous experience if I have a large scraper and am not having to protect the surrounding tiles. It's still going to be a headache to get them out.

Florcraft - as for laying an anti-fracture membrane, are you talking like hardibacker/etc or something different?

NateHanson · 10-17-2007, 02:55 PM

Rent or buy a heat gun. That'll soften the adhesive, and they should peel up easily.

JazMan · 10-17-2007, 11:35 PM

I recommend renting a tile stripper. Check out your local tool rental stores. They look something like these: http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...h+Images&gbv=2

After they're removed, you'll have to consider the kind of thinset mortar to use depending on what's left on the concrete. Add to this thread when you get to that step.

Jaz