I have quarry tiles in my downstairs bathroom, with no vapour barrier underneath or any kind of DPC apart from the blue bricks round the edge. I'm cosidering tiling over the top, is this possible or do i have to leave them open to breath? to avoid stinky damp problems
If they're not cracked or loose just tile over the top of them - normal grout is pretty permeable anyway so it'll be able to evaporate any water which might wick up through the tiles
Give them a good clean off with thinners or something first as well, to take off as much wax or sealer as you can. It'll make the new ones stick better.
any recommendations on the adhesive as i guess most of them are designed to work in a drier environment than this
Any normal cementy powder-based type will do fine, just don't go with an epoxy grout or anything. If you think the floor is really damp then you could go for a water resistant one with fungicide in it, but it shouldn't really be necessary.
Make sure before you tile on to them you paint a layer of bond over the top. If you want a permanent waterproof layer you will need to invest in a product called schluter matting. Any adhesive will work, but a flexible powered adhesive ( bal are best ) will give the best bonding to the quarry tiles. With the grout, epoxy grout will guarentee waterproofing, but its super fiddly and simply a cu@t to work with. Your best using a superflex grout ( again bal ) which has waterproofing properties to it. Any questions, look at my site link in my sig, and give me a call!
wot you need is ardex X7 with a flexable admix, can`t remember the name right now, clean the tiles with sugar soap first, puta tight coat over the tiles first, to stop the adhesive moving around then your ready to tile when the tight coat has gone off, over night usually
X7r is flexible and is cheaper to buy than powder and polymer. You dont need to sugar soap, thats a waste of time, all he needs to do is paint a layer of bonding ( ie pva bond ) and that would be sufficient if the tiles underneath are dust free and in good order. What is a tight coat? I have never heard of that ever before!
Not a prob. Im not going to get into an argument, as there are many different ways of doing things. Ive never had a complaint about any jobs i have done, as i have always researched the products needed to complete any type of job situation! Hope you get it done okay, and like i said, use the link in my sig if you need any questions answering, i am contactable that way!
sugar soap takes all the greases off the floor, again as i said in another thread PVA isn`t bad but all it does is put another coat between the adhesive a original tile, specailly if it has any kind of grease, mould or dust, surface must be clean or it ain`t worth doing, wot i mean by a tight coat was to put a tight coat of x7 and 90 mixture on the floor better than any pva
it not that cheap nor is the polymer ardoin 90 depends where you can get from but certainly one of the best to cement powder based adhesives, if its good enough swimming pools its good for most things
I can buy xr7 for 15.08 a bag, which is cheaper than a bag of bal rapid set! For x7 and ardion 90 is 28! Not cheaper! Pva is the best way to bond the adhesive to the tiles more than it would normally. Ardion 90 is just a flex additive, why bother adding the flex when you can buy flexible adhesive in the first place, cheaper! Sorry, im not getting into an argument, but i have done jobs like this before, and i know what to use, where to use it and how, and ive never had any problems! Its the same with most things, you gets what you pay for, and i only buy premium products for any jobs i do, including the tiles etc. Its the only way unless you fancy doing the job again in a years time!
your right i`m not arguing either, but if an old surface aint clean of any contaminants that will react with the sticky, the sticky ain`t worth anything, PVA aint always the answer specailly if the its an old quarry tiled floor, anything could be on it not just dust
