Subflooring...
UncleMac
Posts: 13,874 Member
The floor on the lower level is poured concrete. As was typical at that time, it does not have insulation or vapour barrier under the concrete but overall, it's in decent shape.
The laundry room had indoor/outdoor carpet which was dirty. Shortly after I took possession, I pulled up the carpet up and threw it away. I would rather plain concrete... much easier to keep clean.
The rec room had rubber-back carpet glued on top of tiles which were glued to the concrete. If that sounds awful, it was... The carpet was dirty (surprise!) and pulling it up was gross... but the tiles were worse. I had to scrape the concrete to get the tiles up. More fun than anyone should have...
In this picture, the wall between the laundry room and rec room is removed. You can see the pattern on the floor where the old tiles were. The final wall of the hallway was still up...
In this picture, I've put down layers of subfloor... The black stuff is landscaping fabric. The gray stuff is dimpled rigid plastic which acts as a vapour barrier & thermal break. Top layer is 5/8" tongue & grooved OSB plywood.
Rec room subfloor finished
The laundry room had indoor/outdoor carpet which was dirty. Shortly after I took possession, I pulled up the carpet up and threw it away. I would rather plain concrete... much easier to keep clean.
The rec room had rubber-back carpet glued on top of tiles which were glued to the concrete. If that sounds awful, it was... The carpet was dirty (surprise!) and pulling it up was gross... but the tiles were worse. I had to scrape the concrete to get the tiles up. More fun than anyone should have...
In this picture, the wall between the laundry room and rec room is removed. You can see the pattern on the floor where the old tiles were. The final wall of the hallway was still up...
In this picture, I've put down layers of subfloor... The black stuff is landscaping fabric. The gray stuff is dimpled rigid plastic which acts as a vapour barrier & thermal break. Top layer is 5/8" tongue & grooved OSB plywood.
Rec room subfloor finished
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Replies
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Looks like you're making progress Wayne! Looking forward to seeing it completed!0
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I am looking forward to finishing it up too. Next step is to tile the laundry room so I can move the hot water tank. I've never done tiling before so I'm kind of nervous. I hoped a buddy of mine would help but he's busy...fitlulu4150 wrote: »Looks like you're making progress Wayne! Looking forward to seeing it completed!0 -
hmmmm, in my experience tile isn't too tough in a small area but in a larger area you might need some help. We've done both, on our own and with help!1
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fitlulu4150 wrote: »hmmmm, in my experience tile isn't too tough in a small area but in a larger area you might need some help. We've done both, on our own and with help!
The laundry room is now 110 sq ft so it's not huge. I've been youtubing plenty of "how to" videos. This led me to purchase an uncoupling membrane which acts as both thermal break and vapour barrier. The company suggests a particular kind of square notched trowel so I got that too. I've heard larger tiles are harder to set so I picked smaller tile...0 -
Cleaned up and ready...
Membrane installed...
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Not sure why that got turned 90 degree? My first section of membrane is down. I swept, vacuumed and then washed the concrete... then mixed up thin set mortar, troweled it out and pressed in the membrane.
The red cross on the wall is my laser level, marking the line up to which I laid the membrane.
If it's solid enough tomorrow, I will frame up the outside wall, remove the laundry set and then put in the second section of membrane... Who has more fun than me?0 -
Busy afternoon... I framed up the wall with the window & the electrical panel. Let's hope these pictures don't go sideways...
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Another step forward... I moved out the laundry set and laid down the second strip of membrane.
The floor drain is the same size as a 750ml yogurt container. So I used the container to mark the membrane... and then to plug the drain... and then mortared up to the edge! Previously, the edge of the drain hole was a bit ragged. Now it will be smooth as plastic. lol
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The first course of tiles are down... finally...
I went to the hardware store and bought more thin-set mortar as well as tools for cutting tiles. Then I got busy.
On my sixth tile, I remembered the tutorial on youtube suggested checking the bottom of tiles occasionally to ensure there is good coverage/adherence of the mortar. I grabbed an edge and tried to pull up a tile; it seemed to be stuck well... I couldn't lift it with my fingers. I almost left it... I'm glad I didn't. I used to trowel to pry up the tile and I found it only had about 25% adherence. Everything I read/saw suggested at least 75% coverage..
Long story short, my thin-set wasn't quite hydrated enough. So I added a bit of water, remixed, then pulled up all of the tiles I'd just laid. The more coverage was 50% so it's just as well I pulled them up.
With the extra wet mortar, I redressed the membrane and "back-buttered" the tiles, then reset the row. By the time that first row was done, so was I...
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I mixed a batch of thin set mortar and got busy. By the time I finished the batch, my back was getting grumpy. I took that as being a sign that it was time to quit for the day.
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Looks great Wayne. You remind me of my father, he was so particular to all the details and the best practice on any job. Walter is more of a fly by the seat of his pants repair man. Luckily I'm detail oriented so we make a fairly good team.
Looking forward to seeing the finished floor!
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I'll take that as a compliment, Lulu.
I'm not quite OCD; I will strive for the best but I can tolerate good enough. I try to make sure everything is done well... a legacy from my father who says anything worth doing is worth doing right.0 -
Two steps forward, three steps sideways... UGH!
I walked into the tile zone, stepped on a newly laid tile and it cracked!! I'm not sure how or why but my mortar didn't stick with a damn to most of the tiles. I'm researching tonight to see if I can find what I did wrong.
Long story short, I pulled up most of the tiles I laid because when I knocked on them with my knuckle, they rang hollow. Most had less than 50% adherence. I cracked a second tile while lifting it... My first batch are all stuck well... just the second batch that failed... I scraped whatever mortar would came off from the tiles & the floor.
One of the YouTube "experts" I checked recommends doing a skim coat on the membrane, leaving it dry, then mortaring onto that. So I've done the skim coat.
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Overnight, my son's cat did a bit of walk-about... lol
Not sure if it was my busy day yesterday or what but today I felt unmotivated... I did some baking and cooking but that's about it.
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Oh my gosh, you're not having the best of luck are you? Hopefully it all works out in the end. You're persistent so you'll get it!1
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I bought a different notched trowel as my old one wasn't leaving enough mortar on the subfloor so I could sink the tiles in properly. I set around 10 tiles today and I think it's going better... but the proof will be in the pudding. When I check the tiles tomorrow, hopefully none of them ring hollow when I knock...0
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The tiles stuck down hard!! I'm so relieved!! I did some cleaning up but it was a lazy day so I didn't mix any mortar.I bought a different notched trowel as my old one wasn't leaving enough mortar on the subfloor so I could sink the tiles in properly. I set around 10 tiles today and I think it's going better... but the proof will be in the pudding. When I check the tiles tomorrow, hopefully none of them ring hollow when I knock...0 -
Sounds like you figured it out! Like I said, tile is sooooooo challenging!
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Yes, finally...fitlulu4150 wrote: »Sounds like you figured it out! Like I said, tile is sooooooo challenging!
The next section is next to the wall so I need to cut tiles. I started off using a manual cutter but after ruining a couple of tiles, I decided to buy a used wet tile cutter. Facebook Marketplace to the rescue.
After a bit of fiddling, I got it working well. I'm going to use today's dry & sunny to clear more leafs and then I'll get back at the tiles.0 -
I cut a bunch of tiles last night and then laid them today...
Tomorrow I will pull the laundry set out and finish that left corner... and around the drain (to the right of the washer)0 -
Next step: grout and then I get to start playing with plumbing. Hurray?
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It's looking good and sounds like a great learning experience...........good luck with the grout........lol1
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This looks so good and it's so informative. We will have to redo our basement flooring, for some reason one of the past owners raised the flooring an extra 2.5 inches off the ground and placed filler underneath it. I'm a little concerned that means there are foundational issues but if there are, then I guess we'll do that work too.
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Oh wow. Looks great but I lived thru that - putting down tile. Not easy.0
