Flooring Tile - levelling floor for tiling

i have hard vinyl tile over older ceramic tile over a cement slab in the bathroom. (when we bought the house, there was carpet over that!). i intend to lay small (1") hexagonal ceramic tile over this collage, but first need advice on levelling the floor. there are several spots at the edges where the vinyl tile has chipped away down to the older tile or all the way to the cement slab. most are less than 1/4" deep, though there are two gaping holes (maybe 2" in diameter) around pipes behind the toilet, where I can wave to someone downstairs in the kitchen.

first I plan to reinforce underneath the holes from the ceiling below, with wood. someone suggested a wire mess above this. after that, do i fill in with concrete, and how long will it have to cure before laying tile? i read about "self-levelling" compounds on the forum. are these only used for small gaps?

thanx, leann

Hi Leann,

You're not going to like me, but I would suggest you remove everything and start over, beginning with the subfloor sheathing (which apparently needs help, because you can see through it to the rooms below.

Get everything out of there, and then you can install a really good subfloor, one that won't give you problems in the future.

John

http://www.johnbridge.com