Ceramic tile over painted basement floor

Posted by Frank from Deeeetroit on August 2, 2009, 2:15 pm

My wife wants our basement floor tiled. The current floor is 40 year
old cement with a coat of gray paint. The paint is older than when we
moved-in, 7 years ago. I do not know what kind of paint, it is,
however, the paint is a flat color, not a shiny surface paint.

Couple of questions (well, actually 3 questions);

Can I tile over a painted floor, if so, what is the best method to
prepare the cement surface?

Ceramic or porcelin tiles? Is there an advantage to either?

Thanx in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Frank

Posted by Walter R. on August 2, 2009, 7:26 pm

I had a 600 sqft concrete patio slab, previously painted and lots of 1/8"
cracks. It is exposed to the rain. The paint was in good shape (not flaking
off)

I used fairly large (16") tiles in order to bridge the cracks. The
contractor used a rotary sander to go over the paint, to roughen it up. He
then applied some blue goop (with a big swab) to absorb any future movement
of the cracks in the slab. They used the cement-based paste to glue down the
tiles. (Thinset?)

It's been three years and all is well. Looks great. No tiles popping up or
cracks anywhere. YMMV

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

> My wife wants our basement floor tiled. The current floor is 40 year
> old cement with a coat of gray paint. The paint is older than when we
> moved-in, 7 years ago. I do not know what kind of paint, it is,
> however, the paint is a flat color, not a shiny surface paint.
> Couple of questions (well, actually 3 questions);
> Can I tile over a painted floor, if so, what is the best method to
> prepare the cement surface?
> Ceramic or porcelin tiles? Is there an advantage to either?
> Thanx in advance for your thoughts and advice.
> Frank
>

Posted by DerbyDad03 on August 2, 2009, 9:36 pm

wrote:

> My wife wants our basement floor tiled. =A0The current floor is 40 year
> old cement with a coat of gray paint. =A0The paint is older than when we
> moved-in, 7 years ago. =A0I do not know what kind of paint, it is,
> however, the paint is a flat color, not a shiny surface paint.
> Couple of questions (well, actually 3 questions);
> Can I tile over a painted floor, if so, what is the best method to
> prepare the cement surface?
> Ceramic or porcelin tiles? =A0Is there an advantage to either?
> Thanx in advance for your thoughts and advice.
> Frank

Detroit, huh? It gets cold there, right?

Ceramic tile on a concrete slab is going to be pretty cold mid-
winter...

DAGS on your subject and you'll get lots of hits that say don't tile
directly over a painted surface. What's the Thinset going to bond
to...the paint? Not the securest of surfaces.

2 options to consider:

1 - Lay down cement board and attach it to the slab with a Ramset or
other power-fastener.

2 - Rent a concrete scarifier and remove most of the paint and rough
up the concrete so the Thinset can bite.

Posted by Frank from Deeeetroit on August 3, 2009, 10:26 am

> wrote:

> > My wife wants our basement floor tiled. =A0The current floor is 40 year
> > old cement with a coat of gray paint. =A0The paint is older than when w=

> > moved-in, 7 years ago. =A0I do not know what kind of paint, it is,
> > however, the paint is a flat color, not a shiny surface paint.
> > Couple of questions (well, actually 3 questions);
> > Can I tile over a painted floor, if so, what is the best method to
> > prepare the cement surface?
> > Ceramic or porcelin tiles? =A0Is there an advantage to either?
> > Thanx in advance for your thoughts and advice.
> > Frank

> Detroit, huh? =A0It gets cold there, right?

Cold?? Dogs freeze to fire hydrants here in the WInter. Al Gore
would change his mind on Gloal Warming if he visited here in mid-
February.

> Ceramic tile on a concrete slab is going to be pretty cold mid-
> winter...

Ceramic cannot be colder than bare cement n the basement. The
basement is heated enough to wear a T-Shirt in the Winter, so I am no
concerned about it being too cold in the room.

> DAGS on your subject and you'll get lots of hits that say don't tile
> directly over a painted surface. What's the Thinset going to bond
> to...the paint? Not the securest of surfaces.
> 2 options to consider:
> 1 - Lay down cement board and attach it to the slab with a Ramset or
> other power-fastener.

Would have concerns about the backer board "flexing" under the tiles?

> 2 - Rent a concrete scarifier and remove most of the paint and rough
> up the concrete so the Thinset can bite.

Is this a common machine that my local rent-a-center would have in
stock? Will this mke a huge poder mess in the basement?

Thanx

Frank

Posted by Mike rock on August 3, 2009, 10:34 am

I think putting backerboard over concrete is a little overkill. I put
tiles on my concrete den floor 5 years ago and its still solid. Even
if the concrete is not perfect, the thinset can compensate for some
small minor irregularities.

If you can wear a T-shirt down there in the winter time, then it
sounds like you should be OK.

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