Flooring Tile - might do it soon...

Hey, long time no talk to!!! How's it going??

Well the reason I am back is because I am looking to help another friend remodel a bathroom. The floor is 50 years old and I am pretty sure has a bed or mortar underneath. Is it best to rip out down to 1x6 subfloor and start over or after we rip out tiles, just repair this bed??? Thanks. :)

Depends on how and if the current tile comes out. If the tile can be removed without wrecking the mudbed then you should be fine. If the mudbed is seriously fractured and breaks up during tile demolition then a new mudbed will be in order.

At this point all you can do is to do a little 'discovery' and see how it is going to go.:)

I've always found that its easier to bust up the mud floor and start from scratch. If your able to get the tile up without damaging the mud bed you'll still have some work to do to get the mud bed flat to tile over again (grind down high spots & fill in low spots).

If you put in a new mud bed it'll be nice and flat and you'll get a nice flat floor when your done.

But as Bud said, you could do it.

just wanted to get some ideas. I have done foyers that had 1 1/2" mudbeds and I just beat them down to the subfloor, ripped up the wire and started over.

One more question. I have read here that there is a weight requirement for ceramic. I have 2x10's 16" oc. Should I need to do anything to to hold up the weight?? I know the old tile was fine and this is a small space (except ugly and 50 years old) but should it be better supported??? What about a kitchen that just had linoleom??? Does would this need more support??

Thanks:)

P.S. Do you think I should lay down OSB and Hardibacker or reinstall mudbed??? Any advantages/disadvantages??? A friend of mine does beautiful tile jobs and was taught by an old timer, all the does is lay down wire mesh and thin set over it. Swears by it

What's the unsupported span of the 2x10"s.

If your replacing an old mud bed you probably want to acheive similar finished floor height to what you had to transition to existing surrounding flooring. You could do this with a new mud bed or you could add plywood/osb and cement board. Either will be fine. Mud is always better.

A friend of mine does beautiful tile jobs and was taught by an old timer, all the does is lay down wire mesh and thin set over it. Swears by it. Don't do this. It's called a Jersey mud job (gives us Jersey guys a bad name). It is not an approved method of installation and will not last.

Keep in mind that you have to do something (mud or plywood/osb) over your existing 1x6 subfloor. You cannot tile over or install cement board on dimensional lumber - it moves way to much.

I got ya, New Jersey always gets a bad rap.:) :wall: I will probably go with the backerboard. Thanks for the info.

Just for giggles. How do you install that mudbed???


Also, I never cared for my friends idea (we did 1600 sq foot job like that, went through 4 boxes of roofing nails!!!) Why is this not good??? I told him it sounded screwy.

14 ft I think is the span.