[BW56]

I recently had a kitchen floor installed. Unfortunately I was out of town and not available to watch. I came home to find that my new kitchen floor (porcelain) was 2-1/2 inches higher than my adjoining dining room. I now have what equates to a huge step.

Any thoughts on how to ease this transition?

I am telling them they need to rip it up. the kitchen has two other doorways to other rooms - The kitchen floor at these points 1-3/8 and 1-5/8 higher. I'm guessing the right thing to have them do is lower everything by 1-5/8 to try to minimize the different levels

any thoughts, comments?


Thank You

Bruce

 

[goobertime]

I recently had a kitchen floor installed. Unfortunately I was out of town and not available to watch. I came home to find that my new kitchen floor (porcelain) was 2-1/2 inches higher than my adjoining dining room. I now have what equates to a huge step.

Any thoughts on how to ease this transition?

I am telling them they need to rip it up. the kitchen has two other doorways to other rooms - The kitchen floor at these points 1-3/8 and 1-5/8 higher. I'm guessing the right thing to have them do is lower everything by 1-5/8 to try to minimize the different levels

any thoughts, comments?


Thank You

Bruce

you got a mud job, was it discussed before the job was done, you cant lower a mud job, you need the thickness so the tile doesnt crack and flex..how did you expect the tile to be put down? make some wooden saddles for those openings

 

[BW56]

thank you for the reply. It was not discussed. What would be the alternative?

Unfortunately I did not ask the contractor beforehand. It came up in conversation with a different contractor who said since he was removing the existing 3 floors that it should be the same or slightly lower. Should this have been done with a backer board subfloor (forgive my ignorance if this makes no sense)?

The room is a small 12x12 kitchen. What should the overall thickness of the tile floor?

Do you have any experience with a 2-1/2" gap? It seams to me we'd be constantly tripping.

Thanks.

 

[oh'mike]

That is a mess----

I don't have time to go into all the details--but that should be removed and done properly.

Total floor thickness above the floor joists--3/4" subfloor--perhaps another 1/2" plywood--then 1/4" backer board and tile---'

I have a suspicion that those fellows did not remove the old layers of flooring--

What made you choose those
'contractors' over the one that said the fllor would be the same height as surrounding rooms?

 

[rusty baker]

Were the floors level before? With oh'mikes figures, you could gain 1 1/2".

 

[ryansdiydad]

I don't know who would do a job like that and not stop and think this just ain't right.. But what does the contract say? Did it say they would remove the 3 layers of old flooring and match the new height to existing?

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Being we don't know the original condition we have no clue how to correct the situation as the contractor involvement.

Regardless, discussion or no discussion was not the way to determine the work to be done. Discussions don't usually prevail in small claims court but written records prevail.

 

[BW56]

Thanks for all the replies. My wife is really upset (her first new kitchen in 25 years).

I don't know how level or even the existing floor was (it was never an issue).

From what I can tell there were three floors down. Looking at the debris it appears they ripped them all up. Two sheet vinyl or linoleum and one poured floor. There was also a layer of thin plywood sandwiched in.

The tiles are 3/8" so using oh'mikes #'s thats 1/2 + 1/4 + 3/8 or 1-1/8 above the 3/4 plywood. the adjacent rooms are the house's original hardwood floors. If I assume the hardwood to be say 3/4" thick (?), then the new floor should be only about 3/8" higher.

The contract didn't specify anything about the height above the the adjacent floors...I'm not an expert but would think that there would be some implied quality standards (?), otherwise the contract would be endless (e.g. would I have to specify how many degrees of levelness? or gap deviations between the tiles?...)

If they were to use backer board, can the tiles (they are 36x18) be put right over the backer board or is there some mud that has to go down, and if so how thick would the mud be?

Finally - any thoughts about living with a 2-1/2" gap? Have any of you had a project with such a large gap?

FYI - I am based in Long Island NY if anyone wants to come bid a potential floor rip & replace.

At this time the owner of the company is going to come down after the holiday to look first hand.

Happy Holidays.

regards
Bruce

 

[rusty baker]

You need mud on both sides of the backer board, but not that thick.
Let us know what you find out.

 

[oh'mike]

The backer only provides a proper bond between the tile and the plywood floor.
1/4" Durrock is the standard.

There are even plastic membrane types that are only 1/8" thick---

These installers did something strange---how they got the floor so thick is a mystery.

Also--why did they leave the edges exposed?

 

[Yodaman]

Finally - any thoughts about living with a 2-1/2" gap? Have any of you had a project with such a large gap?

2 1/2" - Definitely not. Major trip hazard. Its high enough to catch the tow often but low enough that when the eyes look across the room while walking
it gets missed. If I had to live with it, I would want a 12 to 16" transition ramp.
Good luck with a remedy.

 

[Bret86844]

I recently put down porcelain tile on top of an old floor and it was not even close to 2 1/2". I'm curious what the owner has to say.

 

[Yodaman]

I'm curious what the owner has to say.

You might try reading all the post starting at #1

 

[goobertime]

Thanks for all the replies. My wife is really upset (her first new kitchen in 25 years).

I don't know how level or even the existing floor was (it was never an issue).

From what I can tell there were three floors down. Looking at the debris it appears they ripped them all up. Two sheet vinyl or linoleum and one poured floor. There was also a layer of thin plywood sandwiched in.

The tiles are 3/8" so using oh'mikes #'s thats 1/2 + 1/4 + 3/8 or 1-1/8 above the 3/4 plywood. the adjacent rooms are the house's original hardwood floors. If I assume the hardwood to be say 3/4" thick (?), then the new floor should be only about 3/8" higher.

The contract didn't specify anything about the height above the the adjacent floors...I'm not an expert but would think that there would be some implied quality standards (?), otherwise the contract would be endless (e.g. would I have to specify how many degrees of levelness? or gap deviations between the tiles?...)

If they were to use backer board, can the tiles (they are 36x18) be put right over the backer board or is there some mud that has to go down, and if so how thick would the mud be?

Finally - any thoughts about living with a 2-1/2" gap? Have any of you had a project with such a large gap?

FYI - I am based in Long Island NY if anyone wants to come bid a potential floor rip & replace.

At this time the owner of the company is going to come down after the holiday to look first hand.

Happy Holidays.

regards
Bruce

tiles that size need to be set in a mud base to prevent cracking,the mud should be about 1 1/2 thick, and to level the floor it gets thicker as the floor dips... why such big tiles in a small kitchen?

 

[oh'mike]

tiles that size need to be set in a mud base to prevent cracking,the mud should be about 1 1/2 thick, and to level the floor it gets thicker as the floor dips... why such big tiles in a small kitchen?

No large tiles do not need to be set into a mud bed---

 

[ront02769]

Not a contractor, not a tile pro, just a regular guy......with a BIT of common sense.....and if someone asked me to redo their kitchen floor...and my method was going to end up 2 1/2" higher than all adjoining floors....and it was not that much higher before....and I didn't tell you....then it is my bad WHATEVER method I used. Ron

 

[BW56]

Thanks again for the great inputs. I met with the owner of the company that did the install. In short he said his employee did the correct job by making the floor level. I told him, so a 10" gap or 20" gap would still be acceptable? as long as its level? (makes no sense). As everyone on the board indicated, I told him why didn't he tell me beforehand? (I never would have continued the job if I had to live with a 2.5" gap - which I already tripped over).

He also stated that one side of the room is quite elevated (opposite side to the 2-1/2"
gap). So we agreed to the following. He would rip it all up and reduce the height. He said he would probably have to pitch the floor (I figure about 1.5 inches which over 12 ft, is about 1/8' per foot. I'll shim the cabinets so that counter tops are level. I'll pay for the new tiles (about $700 - ouch) and he'll cover the labor. Painful for both of us.

Hopefully that's the end. We'll see next week. Thanks Again.

 

[oh'mike]

Thanks for keeping us informed---while 'level' is best--'flat' is all that is needed for tile to look right.

 

[ZTMAN]

Instead of ripping everything up, did you consider putting new flooring in the adjoining rooms to match the level of the kitchen. Seems like the contractor would be more willing to do that.

 

[ryansdiydad]

Sounds like a reasonable compromise.. But did you get absolutely specific in terms of what height relative to the existing floor you would find acceptable? Is he matching the height exactly? Does the subfloor have the strength for such large format tiles to avoid cracking?