Any suggestions for installing tile and wood flooring in a 100 year old farm house?
Our house is around 100 years old, so you can imagine the floor is not so even. We want to replace the carpet with wood flooring and the kitchen linoleum with tile. I’ve read some answers where the floor should be even for tile, my husband things he can install it without evening it out. I told him it might crack easier. Of course he thinks he knows how to do it even though he’s never done it before and is not an expert! LOL He wants to install real hardwood flooring in the living room also and I think the floor there is pretty level. Any hints or suggestions I can pass along would be greatly appreciated! I want the floors done right even though he won’t hire a professional. Thanks!
I just did what you are wanting to do in the now house that we are in renovating at the moment:
Once you have ripped up the lino – get the floor as level as possibly by scraping off all of the glue as you can – get a chisel out if you have to just get it all off –
Tiling: In regards to your tiles –
The smaller the tiles the more uneven your floor can be, if you have tiles that are over 600 x 600mm you need to have a reasonably level foor.
Your floor needs to be leveled as much as possible the larger the tiles you go – you can pick up a level compound from bunnings or tiles shops -read the directions on the can ( generaly you spread it over the surface ) this will level the floor first – then once its dried you can tile over it with the normal tiling manner and tools. Really easy to fix!
If you dont level the floor first your tiles will crack -( i bet you your 100 year old house they will! ) and the glue wont stick properly and then you have wasted your time and money!
my husband asks: what is the real hardwood going onto – concrete, joists, more timbers?? –
Again all needs to be checked first –
Timber in Timber:
How to check if its level – easy get a long level ruler ) the longer the better 2mtrs+ makes your life easier!!
and check it really well!
Again if you dont have it level the timber when it expands might not go back to the same position and you might end up with gaps all over the place.
We used a floating timber floor with the hardwood on the top – so i can sand it back if i want to later – HOWEVER you need to glue any floating together – no matter what they say – we have had problems and we cant fix it now.
My husband is a building supervisor so any more q’s and i am happy to ask him for you.. have a great reno!! Sunny
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The floors have to be even with out any bows, hollows wows,warps or anything close to that. If your husband is bound and bent to do the job…take him to Home Depot or any other informed floor and carpet store, have the knowledgeable person in the store talk to hubby, you can have a list of questions for yourself too…in case hubby thinks that he already knows that and does not ask…If he talks to this sales person, surely he will catch on that the floor has to be level and even…I don’t know what else to tell ya.
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Please please please tell your husband the floor must be sturdy for tile floor otherwise he is wasting money and time!
I don’t know much about laying wood floor but I do about ceramic tile.
When I bought my house 7 years ago, the kitchen floor had grout cracking, some tiles were cracked and the floor creacked and cracked when we walked across it. You could feel the thin-set crumbling.
Upon tearing up the floor (kitchen remodel) we found two layers of 1/4" plywood…a HUGE no-no for ceramic floors!
This is not a hint or a suggestions, this is a must: Tear up your old floor down to the subfloor, lay DUROCK; it’s a concrete backer board. It’s heavy as heck and a little pricey but it’s what should be used for ceramic floors.
Also, spacers should match the thickness of the tile. Consider spending $1.50/sf or more for tile; anything close to $1.00/ sf if low quality and will crack on you.
From one wife to another…please tell your husband that my husband didn’t know a thing about laying tile floor until we went to a free how-to/hands-on learning seminar at a local tile shop.
Also, check out diynet.com for advice and definitely check out seminars at Lowe’s and Home Depot or a local tile shop.
Good luck.
References :
put plywood on floor before you start the more the floor is uneven the thicker the plywood screw the plywood to existing floor than install your floor
References :
I just did what you are wanting to do in the now house that we are in renovating at the moment:
Once you have ripped up the lino – get the floor as level as possibly by scraping off all of the glue as you can – get a chisel out if you have to just get it all off –
Tiling: In regards to your tiles –
The smaller the tiles the more uneven your floor can be, if you have tiles that are over 600 x 600mm you need to have a reasonably level foor.
Your floor needs to be leveled as much as possible the larger the tiles you go – you can pick up a level compound from bunnings or tiles shops -read the directions on the can ( generaly you spread it over the surface ) this will level the floor first – then once its dried you can tile over it with the normal tiling manner and tools. Really easy to fix!
If you dont level the floor first your tiles will crack -( i bet you your 100 year old house they will! ) and the glue wont stick properly and then you have wasted your time and money!
my husband asks: what is the real hardwood going onto – concrete, joists, more timbers?? –
Again all needs to be checked first –
Timber in Timber:
How to check if its level – easy get a long level ruler ) the longer the better 2mtrs+ makes your life easier!!
and check it really well!
Again if you dont have it level the timber when it expands might not go back to the same position and you might end up with gaps all over the place.
We used a floating timber floor with the hardwood on the top – so i can sand it back if i want to later – HOWEVER you need to glue any floating together – no matter what they say – we have had problems and we cant fix it now.
My husband is a building supervisor so any more q’s and i am happy to ask him for you.. have a great reno!! Sunny
References :
http://www.homebuildersaustralia.com.au
yes tile will crack on uneven floors
if u go with hard wood floors make sure its a floating floor.
its a 100yr old house dosent it have hard wood already under the carpet? try to restore that it would look so good
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