Before installing tile on your floor you must make sure your floor is properly prepared. A properly prepared floor does not have to be level. It must, however, be flat.
The only time the levelness (is that a word?) must be taken into consideration is when drainage is an issue, such as on a porch or in a shower. In those cases you must make sure your floor is not level – it has to be angled toward a drainage area.
If your floor will not be subjected to water regularly, such as a kitchen or bathroom floor, it does not necessarily have to be level. That does not mean you can have a 45 degree angle from your door to the cabinet (although I suppose you could if you wanted), it just means if your floor is not absolutely level it will not negatively affect your tile installation.
One of the things you must make sure of, among other things, is that your floor is flat. If it is not it will be difficult to set your tiles without what we call “lippage”. That’s a ridiculous word, isn’t it? Lippage simply describes the difference in the height of two adjacent tiles. If you have a tile that sticks up higher than the tile next to it you have lippage. You don’t want that. Starting with a flat floor helps prevent it.
When prepping your floor for tile trade your level for a straight edge. Don’t be concerned with how level your floor is, be concerned with how flat it is.
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Hi Roger,
We are remodeling our master bath. We bought marble tiles. Can we put the marble tiles over the existing ceramic floor?
Hi Gabrielle,
You can, but you first need to ensure that your floor is strong enough for not only the stone, but to support both installations without excess deflection. You also need to scarify the surface of the existing tile and use a setting material approved for tile over tile installations. With marble I would highly suggest not doing that. I would remove what is currently there and start from scratch building a proper substrate.
Many thanks!!! Exactly what I was hoping you’d say. Especially since I already have the adult beverage in hand.
I hired a home improvement company to put tile down in my bathrooms. When they pulled up the existing linoleum there was mold around the toilet. I asked if they were going to replace the plywood and he said, “no we will spray it with bleach. They put down the mud, hardibacker, more mud then tile. For some reason this just hasn’t set well with me. Am I being overly concerned?
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
BLEACH DOES NOT KILL MOLD!!!
*ahem*
I’m better now.
That being yelled – as long as the substrate was still stable and they allowed the substrate to completely dry out (which actually will kill the mold) then you’ll be fine. Mold requires moisture to propagate – take away the moisture and it dies. Spray it with bleach and it will turn white, then laugh at you while it continues to grow. Wherever there is mold needs to be thoroughly dried out before moisture is introduced to it again – then you won’t have a problem.
Thank you for responding so quickly! Sorry for causing frustration. There’s no way the subfloor was completely dry. They sprayed it and had the tile down within three hours. Sure wish I’d followed my instincts. They were highly recommended so I thought I could trust them. The floor looks great! I asked them twice if they were certain it would be okay. Yeah, yeah no problems. They are friends of my parents and gave me a great deal. This is their specialty and have been in business since 1996. I’m really bummed now and not sure what to do. Maybe I should call them and ask if they let it dry. What can I expect will happen if the floor is left like it is? Is it possible that it dried with the mud on top of it? Thanks so much for your help.
If they had a cleavage membrane (tar paper) beneath the mud then yes, eventually it will dry over time provided no moisture is introduced beneath the tile. It should eventually dry out. The issue would be how much mold is going to grow before it does? How much mold was there?
No tar paper. The mold was around the toilet. A foot on either side and behind the toilet. The substrate was discolored but wasn’t warped; I don’t think it was still wet. The problem that caused the moisture has been fixed.
It’ll be just fine. Go have an adult beverage.
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