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So I had some loose tiles and crumbling grout in the bathroom. I took out the grout and the loose tiles and noticed the floor was wet underneath. I've fixed the leak, but now I am in the process of removing the old mortar so I can re-lay the tiles.
Everything was going okay until I noticed the backerboard under the mortar around the toilet was extra crumbly and basically came out all the way down to the wood floor. I have attached some pictures.
My question is, what is the best way to deal with this? Here are some different ways I have thought about it:
1) Fill in the area around the toilet with mortar. Some problems I have read about is that the mortar won't stick to the wood very well, and it may cause problems with movement. There won't be any direct walking, but lots of standing and up and down movements. It is at the front of the toilet area.
2) Cut out a square around the toilet hole with a tile saw, and re-lay a square of backerboard in the hole, and mortar over that. Or two halves of a square, with the toilet cut-out shared between them.
3) I don't really want to cut out the hardwood. It seems to be in good condition from underneath, and I don't want to make this more of a production than I have to.
Is option #1 feasible? Would I have to put down some other compound, let it dry, and then put the thinset on top of it? Or can I just put the thinset directly into this area? The wood is only just barely exposed, so it seems like it would be mostly supported by bonding to the exposed backerboard. So, hopefully there won't be any issues with movement.
#2 seems like the "right" way to do it, but would require some additional investment. So, hopefully I can get away with #1.
Are there any other options I haven't thought about? Is #2 the wrong way? Is there a better way?
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Everything was going okay until I noticed the backerboard under the mortar around the toilet was extra crumbly and basically came out all the way down to the wood floor. I have attached some pictures.
My question is, what is the best way to deal with this? Here are some different ways I have thought about it:
1) Fill in the area around the toilet with mortar. Some problems I have read about is that the mortar won't stick to the wood very well, and it may cause problems with movement. There won't be any direct walking, but lots of standing and up and down movements. It is at the front of the toilet area.
2) Cut out a square around the toilet hole with a tile saw, and re-lay a square of backerboard in the hole, and mortar over that. Or two halves of a square, with the toilet cut-out shared between them.
3) I don't really want to cut out the hardwood. It seems to be in good condition from underneath, and I don't want to make this more of a production than I have to.
Is option #1 feasible? Would I have to put down some other compound, let it dry, and then put the thinset on top of it? Or can I just put the thinset directly into this area? The wood is only just barely exposed, so it seems like it would be mostly supported by bonding to the exposed backerboard. So, hopefully there won't be any issues with movement.
#2 seems like the "right" way to do it, but would require some additional investment. So, hopefully I can get away with #1.
Are there any other options I haven't thought about? Is #2 the wrong way? Is there a better way?
