Some questions about laying Tile?

DiY_RooK

Hi, i'm new to this forum but have read many posts and think i've learned a couple of things here and there. Long story short, i'm on a tight budget but have wanted to replace my tile for many years now. My current tile is about 15 years old and you can hear it make "creeking" noises when you walk over many different areas. I have an apartment which is about 1,000 square feet which includes the patio area. There is no tile on the patio area.

The first question I have is about how much money should this project total? I'm not looking for any exact figure, just a rough estimate. Someone I work with told me it may cost as much to take out the old tile as it does to install the new tile. I don't know if that's accurate or not or even the process to remove old tile. Because of how bad the old tile is and the fact that there is no "cork" underneath it, I think I need to remove it and put cork. So I guess i'm curious to about how much it would cost to:

Rip out and remove the old tile, install the cork, and install new tile -- basically, just the labor costs (not including the tile itself.)

I do have a couple of other questions regarding the tile and cork itself but I figured i'd ask this first to see if this this is even affordable right now "labor-wise." Any info or help with this would be really appreciated.

DeeTee

I don't think you should assume the creeking noises come from the tile. At any rate 15 year old tile is probably kind of out-of-style if it's vinyl tile. You never say whether it's vinyl or ceramic, or other.

If it is vinyl tile the best job would be to remove it, although I've seen jobs where it's been added to the top of original and has worked okay. Using a good adhesive and locking in the job by either removing and reinstalling the baseboards, or, adding a piece of one-quarter round along the bottom edge of the baseboard, rolling it and then sealing the installation with a hi-quality wax can help make it last.

The tile for 1000 sf ranges from $.72 a sf to whatever you want to pay. Prices in a 2006 costbook I have show labor at $ .70 a sf. The same costbook shows removing the tile at $1.73 a SqYard. That doesn't include hauling, dump fees, etc.

If the tile is ceramic then labor and installation is probably close to starting at $6 a SF with removal at $6.50 a SY. Again, no hauling or dump fees.

There is one caution here and that is that older vinyl tile (70s era but some also later as supplies were being used up by being sold cheaply) can have asbestos in it and the mastic that holds it down can have asbestos also. It's not harmful in place, it's just a problem if it gets dusty and airborne. Still, you should be aware of that.

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