Tile Guys- Contractors or DIY Guys (1 Viewer)

[AcerFC]

So we decided to redo the kitchen. Wife wants hardwood but knows kids will mess it up so she settles for tiles that look like hardwood. Easy enough. I start laying the tiles down. Once I get to the 4th row or so, I notice the tiles are not laying flat in one area. I figure the sub floor is a little warped and I try to put a little more mud on the sides of the adjoining tiles.

As I keep working my way through, it just gets worse and worse in the same area. I step back and realize that the joist is a supporting joist and is being supported by concrete poles in the basement. So while the rest of the floor has settled, this beam has not because it is held up by poles.

How can I fix this. My wife mentioned she has seen them use self leveling cement on TV. Does this stuff work. Do I need to rip up the 8 rows I did to put this down or will it work on just removing the affected tiles and going from there

Any other suggestions you have might help too.

Really dont want to do the entire thing again but will if that is the only way

 

[Fat Nick]

How can I fix this. My wife mentioned she has seen them use self leveling cement on TV. Does this stuff work. Do I need to rip up the 8 rows I did to put this down or will it work on just removing the affected tiles and going from there

Literally having guys tiling our bathroom as we speak. We have one beam that's a little higher, and we're using large tiles, so the guy said that he'll use more mud and gradually shim the tiles to compensate. He said that if he had a larger area where there was a general high-spot, he'd level over as large an area as possible with self-leveling cement (ideally), or just by using a little bit more mud.

He said that the larger the area you have to level up to, the less noticeable it will be. I.e. if you can start to gradually build up 4-5 rows away, your overall height difference per row will be 1/5 of what it would be if you just had 1 tile higher without leveling...etc. Just a more gradual slope.

So I think to answer your question...do you HAVE to rip up what you've done? Probably not...you could build it up and level it off...but if you're right on top of the high spot with your current work, you'll likely notice the change in grade. If you had more room to level it out, the bump would be less noticeable. So maybe you can pull up a few rows, level it out more gradually, and at least save some of the work.

 

[Fat Nick]

Oh, and also, we re-did our guest bath last year and used some of those wood-look tiles. Those things are pretty cool.

 

[AcerFC]

Thanks Fat nick.

 

[Chaos Commish]

My wife mentioned she has seen them use self leveling cement on TV. Does this stuff work. Do I need to rip up the 8 rows I did to put this down or will it work on just removing the affected tiles and going from there.

Yes the stuff works. I'm not sure I understand the second question, but if you only have a few low tiles or even a low row, cheesy as it is, they can be raised with leveling cement or even quick dry thinset. I hate doing that. I've put down a few miles of tile, and most shortcuts are never noticed, but if there's going to be a problem, that's always where they start. If your problem is a high spot, then tear it out and do it right, imo.

 

[AcerFC]

My wife mentioned she has seen them use self leveling cement on TV. Does this stuff work. Do I need to rip up the 8 rows I did to put this down or will it work on just removing the affected tiles and going from there.

Yes the stuff works. I'm not sure I understand the second question, but if you only have a few low tiles or even a low row, cheesy as it is, they can be raised with leveling cement or even quick dry thinset. I hate doing that. I've put down a few miles of tile, and most shortcuts are never noticed, but if there's going to be a problem, that's always where they start. If your problem is a high spot, then tear it out and do it right, imo.

yeah, the high spot is the problem. Its bowing the tile so that it would crack eventually. Was hoping that I could just remove the tiles affected, put down the leveling stuff to take the bow out and then a little extra mud to the adjoining tiles. Add the grout and I think it might be OK

 

[avoiding injuries]

Hard to tell you what to do without seeing it, but I do know from early on experience that if your subfloor is not completely level and you don't use enough mud, your tile will likely become loose and move around cracking the grout as well.

 

[Fat Nick]

My wife mentioned she has seen them use self leveling cement on TV. Does this stuff work. Do I need to rip up the 8 rows I did to put this down or will it work on just removing the affected tiles and going from there.

Yes the stuff works. I'm not sure I understand the second question, but if you only have a few low tiles or even a low row, cheesy as it is, they can be raised with leveling cement or even quick dry thinset. I hate doing that. I've put down a few miles of tile, and most shortcuts are never noticed, but if there's going to be a problem, that's always where they start. If your problem is a high spot, then tear it out and do it right, imo.

yeah, the high spot is the problem. Its bowing the tile so that it would crack eventually. Was hoping that I could just remove the tiles affected, put down the leveling stuff to take the bow out and then a little extra mud to the adjoining tiles. Add the grout and I think it might be OK

Yeah...I think if it were me, I'd take it up and do it right. I'd also be concerned with how your tiles run relative to the high-spot. Those wood-look tiles are usually long and skinny. If the high spot runs perpendicular to the tiles, you could end up with a tile with support in the middle and less on the ends. If you put pressure on the ends, snappo, it's going to break easily. Less of an issue if you run the long edge parallel to the high spot, but...

 

[Johnny Rock]

Lower the pole

 

[glumpy]

Every job is unique and no one answer is going to work all the time so you may be combining ideas here. You've laid 8 rows and noticed a difference in the last 4? I would consider taking out tiles four deep to the ridge and laying a skim coat down, screed it off to more gradually level up the rise and try to go from there. Let it set first of course, and do the same on the opposite (downward sloping) side to feather it out. That should hide the difference as well as it can without major reconstruction or irregularities. Good luck