Want to tile the floor of the 1st floor bathroom when I re-do it. Some say DONT, some say nail all the floorboards down, lay thick plywood down tight, and you should be OK...

Any experiences and does 'flexible' grout exist, as I think the floor is BOUND to move and crack hard grout!

Cheers

Just about to lay vinyl floor planks from Karndean (http://www.karndean.com) and have been told to screw 6mm ply on well nailed down floorboards...

Dunno if that helps much...

I've had a look at the site, but would need to see it in person I guess. It is bound to be warmer than tile and err a bit more flexible! Is it better value than tile? What sold you on this?

One other thing, with 6mm plywood and the extra thickness of any tile/vinyl planks there is going to be a step up at the door isn't there? Any way to avoid my dad tripping on this after a sherry ;)

Cheers

just done one for my sister...

The floor needs to be flat.. IMHO.. 6mm is too thin if the floor isnt level allready...

Her floor was well out so we ripped it all out and put T&G flooring down then tiled on this..

David

The stuff itself is 2.5mm thick, so with 6mm ply and glue it'll be around 9mm. By the time you're joining to a good carpet with underlay on it... Well, I'm hoping it won't be a problem :D

What sold us on it was seeing it fitted in a showroom. The planking looks better than laminate floor imho, and should be fantastically durable, easy to clean, and perfectly suited to use in a bathroom. It is also easy to lay.

The wood planking comes in either chamfered or straight type. Chamfered has a bevel at each edge which looks nice, but to my mind looked like a trap for water in a bathroom :)

I bought from a local shop who wanted 40 quid a square metre but entered into haggling when I told him I could get it online for 18+VAT a metre from FlooringSupplies Online (http://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk) including delivery. I got the price I wanted in the end.

It doesn't have to be planking, they also do marble and other stone effects. It is brilliantly realistic stuff - check out a local supplier and you really wouldn't believe it.

Cheers,
Nick.

David, I'm a tad concerned about the 6mm, but worst comes to the worst I'll have to lay a few new floorboards. The majority is fairly level. I hope :D

Chiark, sounds to me that your hi-tech stuff will be a lot more forgiving than tiles on slightly uneven or 'wobbly' floors? Wish I could see some as it is better value than tile, and sounds quicker... (website did say something about getting a 75Kg roller mind to bed them in ;))

75kg roller? What's that in stones ;) :D

It's arriving on Wednesday, and I'll let you know how it goes. It might not be fitted for a week or so yet...

Oh, it is flexible too to answer your question. You do stick it down to the floor though, with some gluey stuff.

You also need a care pack, which is about 20 quid and includes cleaner and treatment kit.

Our en-suite (2x2m) was done with proper big ceramic floor tiles. The bloke was talking about puuting ply down first but reckoned it was level enough without so laid them straight onto the chipboard. We'd have had problems at the threshold if we had had to have a layer of ply.

It hasn't cracked yet..... :o (8 Months)

Deano

Seems vinyl flooring is making a come back. A few years ago you couldn't get it for love nor money.

Courts (carpet/furniture) place now have a huge selection in their showrooms. We counted over a hundred different designs, thicknesses etc. We have just bought some to lay in the bathroom as well, vinyl cushioned stuff that should be a bit wammer than tiles and hopefully easier to lay and maintain. Very resonable price too.

Which leads me to my next question, for which I'll start a new thread.....

Cheers

Ian

Yeah, when we were first told about this vinyl stuff we thought "euch" and teams of wild horses couldn't have dragged us to the stuff.

Then we saw it fitted.

To paraphrase Fat boy slim: Vinyl's come a long way, baby...

Flexible grout does exist,as well as flexible tile adhesive.

Did our kitchen with ceramic tiles on floorboards, covered it with 5mm ply wood first, made sure it was well nailed down.

No cracks or anything, been down over 12 months now, it's bloody cold to walk on bare footed though :D

When we tiled our bathroom floor, we removed the floorboards and replaced it with tounge and grooved waterproof fibreboard, which was screwed to the floor joists.

You can use an electric underfloor heating system to get rid of that cold floor sensation. I installed a 4mm wire electrically heated system in my bathroom, and it is superb.

The system comes with a seven day programmer will full thermostatic control, and came in at under £100 from plumbase.

Running costs are around 2p/hr for the 300watt system, and is programmed to run for only 1.5 hrs in the morning when we are using the bathroom so it is very cheap to run.

Cheers,

Alex


[Edited by AlexM - 1/7/2003 11:03:50 AM]

[Edited by AlexM - 1/7/2003 11:04:41 AM]

Erm the secret 2 securing it is to make sure the ply wood (4-6mm plywood wbp standard) is screwed down with screws every 10cm (maybe less can't remember will have a look in the floor layers book i got sumwhere;)) & not just round the edge but this is then good 2 go on the ole adhesive front :D update screws every 10cm on outside of the board (layed in opposite direct to floorboards) & evry 6" 15cm inside the actual board.
Also make sure u ave correct trowel notch size so as to get correct amount of adhesive :p
Si
PS may add more if needed/can remember ;)
PPS damn competitors AMTICO IS DA DADDY :rolleyes:

Tachnical manual for laying etc (http://www.amtico.com/nsie_business/techman.asp)
Fort that might b useful ;)
Si
PS sections E&F seems 2b most appropriate when u ave downloaded it :D

NB any1 got a dictionary in exchange as i still cant spell :p lol
Si

Nick,

Can you email me piccies of it when finished? Need some new stuff for the kitchen when that's fitted, yours sounds interesting.......

cheers

Greg

Si, that manual is 103 pages big!!!!!!!! Sounds scary - you can learn to ceramic tile in 5 pages after all!

Yeah a lot of it is specific bumpth but the sections i mentioned do have more relevant info 2 this topic ;)
Si
PS PVC aint cold thou :p lol

http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?ThreadID=122762

Ro.

Underfloor heating ,Mat style is getting very popular.But time after time the insulation under it is not good and you loose a lot of the heat.

[salesman mode;)]Say again Amtico aint a problem on the temperature front unlike the actual stone type stuff we have in kitchen at the minute that is bleeding freezin :eek: Anyway advantages of amtico is u can have wotever design etc u want, quality is the bollox ;) & 20 year guarantee on product ie wear & tear ie2 it is bleedin durable unlike sum of the lesser but cheaper alternatives :p lol.
Wood like 2 add that many problems people have with any sort of flooring is it being layed incorrectly so while payin sum1 sure as sh!t aint cheap but yer less likely to have any future problems :D
Term is u get wot u pay 4 init ;)
Si (not even on commision:(lol)

I'll let you know how I get on tonight/tomorrow fitting the Karndean stuff ;) . All floorboards are screwed down now, I probably need a quick blast with a sander on some of the slightly warped edges...

Aint you done it yet Chiark? Though you were waiting for the pics back from Boots so you could post em up here ;)

u got the right tooling on the spreader front then as that is where most mishaps happen? ;)
Si

Spreader-wise, I've had troubles finding a 1.5mm high x 5mm spacing spreader so I've made my own from a flexible artex spreader of all things...

Am going to finish all the tiling before I put the floor down, as I'm not the world's cleanest tiler :D

I take it u mean cutting the tiles 2 the correct size b4 u put adhesive down? That being the case definately do that :D In terms of where 2 measure cut etc find the central point of the floor & lay tiles (presume we're talkin 12"x12" or sumin square?) with corner of tile meeting this central point & lay all tiles out 2 the edge 1/4 at a time kinda thing. 2 make it look best u will need to move this central point so that there is not less than half a tile on any of the edges ;) Not bin on a laying course but i have picked up a few tips from the layers etc :D Dont suppose u have stripping inbetween each tile n all have u as that is marginally more tricky but does improve look with many styles of tile, at least that we do but then we are the most original best floor design tile people [hey im allowed a quick plug 4 all this info:p lol] So is it a square tile or r we talkin plank type things or other?
Anyway dunno wot adhesive u have need etc with such a lesser product (hey kudnt resist ;)) presume instruction on it or sumin but with ours u need 2 leave down for a period of time, not too long :rolleyes:, untill it is tacky but not wet 2 touch then lay, roll etc & wipe clean da glue is a bitch 2 get off if left 2 dry. Yeah OK guilty i have dun it b4 but at least it assists staying upright while havin a pea drunk :eek: lmao.
I presume u no how 2 work out how much u need 2 cut off the end tiles without pissin about by overlaying tiles on top of each other n all?
Er hope that helps sum but ask away if owt else?
Si
PS makes up 4 all dat ICE advice http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/party/party043.gif

And what is that in English Si - I find it very hard to follow! I did pick up a tip though, so thanks!

Si, cheers. When I mentioned "tiling", I meant wall tiling... I'm a tad messy with cement and grout.

Just working out the best way to put the sheeting down prior to laying the stuff down.

I'm using karndean adhesive, and have the karndean cleaning pack to get rid of all the ****e I'll drop on the floor :D
Ta,
Nick.