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Posted by Norminn on September 22, 2008, 1:15 pm
infiniteMPG wrote:
>I have ripped up the vinyl tile in my kitchen, cleaned to the bare
>concrete, set and installed base cabinets and just about ready to
>tile. As I have been inspecting the floor I have found the floor has
>some "wavey" areas where over a 3 or 4 foot distance, there might be
>an 1/8" or so dip. Nothing dramatic but just seems to have slight
>waves to some areas. I have never done tiling before and in reading
>have seen things about the smaller the tile the more tolerant of
>level, and I know the base materials for the tile can take up some
>slight differences, but my question is, how level does a floor need to
>be to tile?
>
>I have also read about self leveling floor materials and even picked
>up some Quickrete topping that states on the bag for flooor leveling,
>but this seems like a lot of work and not sure how level I can get it
>(and sure don't want to screw the floor up since it's very smooth and
>clean right now). Don't have a clue how to do the leveling except
>maybe mix a fairly thin concrete mix and let it flow and level itself
>but can't find instructions on this.
>
>Any help from any tiling experts?
>
>
Have you purchased your tile, thinset and grout, or know what you will
be buying? Most mfgs.
have loads of info on their websites. Talk to the tile store personnel
(a very good reason for
not shopping at the big box store). We purchased tile before we hired a
contractor, only
because it was THE tile and we didn't want to consider any others. We
have 20" tile, porcellain,
on a slab floor. Took up the carpet before we ordered it because we
wanted to be sure we
would not be dealing with any cracks or other problems.
Before we hired the contractor we searched around for something to use
between the tile
and adjoining terazzo floors which we expected to be a tad higher.
Didn't find anything, so
the tile guy suggested just putting tile against the terazzo and using
just a little thinset to
raise one side of the tile to meet the surface of the terazzo level.
Scared me! The difference
would be about 1/8" to 1/4". As it turned out, the tile is sloped so
gradually I can't see it.
Contractor was extremely good, and solved some other tricky issues for
us with great
results.
We seriously considered tiling ourselves, but glad we did not. The
problems that I recall
reading about most often are haze that isn't removed right away and
hardens. Grout batches
that turn out to be of different colors. Be sure you like the design
layout you plan and have
plenty to allow for waste.
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