DogHouse - Looks to be getting a new tile floor

[ScaldedDog]

The DogHouse - Looks to be getting a new tile floor

I've never posted any sort of "build thread", but I'm going to need so much help on this, now is no time for pride... I'll keep this thread updated, so you'll either see a successful install, or a well documented failure.

Thanks to the many questions I've had answered in this forum (search for my posts - it's really sad), and the great looking floors you guys have done, I nailed my sail to the porcelain tile mast tonight. I originally wanted Takla Montana in Steel Gray, but it's been discontinued, so I went with my close second choice, Lightwood. It'll show dirt worse, but I was concerned the Steel Gray might darken the garage too much, so I'm happy with the choice. The delivered price ended up being $2.25/sf, but I just couldn't find anything I liked for less, after a lot of looking.

Having not ever laid a single sf of tile, and staring a 1567sf job in the face, I'm a little intimidated. If I bail and have it done, then the price goes into the stratospherically crazy range, so my first question is, what tools/equipment/skills do I need to acquire before starting, in order to increase my chances of success?

I also have a pre-thread on some mud-job questions, but I'll likely request further info on that topic here.

Mark

 

[N0tt0N]

Wow! Both of those are awesome. I can't wait to see you get into them. 1500 is a bit more than the 220 I just put in Good luck with the install. The most challenging part looked to be the cutting/notching of the edge pieces and making sure there is no air under the tiles.

 

[jmack]

I was also looking at tile from BuildDirect. Can you please comment on your experience with their shipping? How long did it take? What was the condition of the tiles when they arrived? Anything broken? etc.

 

[BoostAddiction]

Sorry to hear that the Takla Montana in Steel Gray has been discontinued. I have a sample on my desk right now so I can cogitate on it. I like it a lot, though I agree that the slightly lighter Lightwood may be an acceptable choice.

I was surprised by the amount that shipping adds to the price, though when I calculated the weight I guess I shouldn't have.

PLease keep the group current on your experience!

 

[Garage Flooring]

I was also looking at tile from BuildDirect. Can you please comment on your experience with their shipping? How long did it take? What was the condition of the tiles when they arrived? Anything broken? etc.

Build Direct is a fantastic company with a fantastic business model. I have never heard a single bad thing about them.

 

[Highlux]

As a tilesetter for 22 years...I could help with any questions you may have.

Why tile though? your gonna chip and crack it to pieces in a garage.

 

[JakeKohl]

I was also looking at tile from BuildDirect. Can you please comment on your experience with their shipping? How long did it take? What was the condition of the tiles when they arrived? Anything broken? etc.

Freaking incredible. Seriously...I ordered about 5,000 lbs of tile from them and they were super fast on shipping and communicated exceptionally well throughout the ordering process. They are setting a new standard in customer service.

 

[JakeKohl]

As a tilesetter for 22 years...I could help with any questions you may have.

Why tile though? your gonna chip and crack it to pieces in a garage.

here we go again....

It's harder than concrete. Mounted ON concrete and installed properly, it's exceptionally durable, practically chemical and stain proof, and if it does get damaged, repairing it is easy. There are several threads on it. Jack's got a video of him pounding on his with a 5 lb sledge hard enough to make the camera, sitting on the floor, jump. It's tough stuff and the people that have it, with genuine workshop garages, will attest that it makes a great floor. Mine is sitting on pallets in the corner of my garage waiting to be installed.

Don't confuse this with tile poorly installed over a wood substrate. This is a different animal.

 

[Highlux]

I was offering to help....considering I've set 100,000's of thousands of square feet of tile and specialized in mudset work.

I was not trying to cause dissent or make him question his choices. Merely helping....so please direct the snydness in another more deserving direction.


With epoxy coatings and resilient flooring choices..ie rubber tiles...I find it an interesting choice. Through my experience.....with slab on grade installs...the is much movement in the substrate and cracks etc will happen. Even with carefully planned expansion joints and isolation membranes...then there is grout.
Epoxy I assume? Black?

Im just curios is all. I know all flooring materials very well....and I know any tile set any way can chip and or crack. I can smack a tile floor with a sledge too....but what about floor jacks rolling over grout joints chipping porcelin tile?

How do you plan on floating this out? compensating for the pitches that are too big to float out? Are you wanting to float it then do a thinset install? A mudset? wet or dry mudset?

I'd clean and latex prime entire floor....slurry coat it...and do a wetset mudbed install setting the tile as I floated a 2" mudbed across the floor so flat you could slide a hockey puck across the floor without hearing a click.

Have any questions re tile setting....I am more than happy to help you.

 

[Regnar]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lash-Tile-Leveling-Clips-96-Pack-99720Q/100645280#.UqEk-liA01I

Be sure to back butter and use a 1/2 trowel. I would also recommend the tool to squeeze the clips rather then push in with your hand. Used on a friends kitchen and although we where probably slower than a pro we ended up with pro results. If I ever do a tiling job at my place I will use this system.

 

[Highlux]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lash-Tile-Leveling-Clips-96-Pack-99720Q/100645280#.UqEk-liA01I

Be sure to back butter and use a 1/2 trowel. I would also recommend the tool to squeeze the clips rather then push in with your hand. Used on a friends kitchen and although we where probably slower than a pro we ended up with pro results. If I ever do a tiling job at my place I will use this system.

When using these type leveling spacer...make sure to "dot" the corners lightly
and one dollop in center....like the "5" on a dice. Air pockets like to form on corners fron these level spacer deals.

Also...never use a 1/2 trowel with a thinset...too much sag. A 1/2 trowel is designed to be used with a medium bed mortar. If you need to go that thick with the seeting material to level out floor....def use a medium bed mortar.

 

[Dakota00]

With epoxy coatings and resilient flooring choices..ie rubber tiles...I find it an interesting choice. Through my experience.....with slab on grade installs...the is much movement in the substrate and cracks etc will happen. Even with carefully planned expansion joints and isolation membranes...then there is grout.
Epoxy I assume? Black?

Im just curios is all. I know all flooring materials very well....and I know any tile set any way can chip and or crack. I can smack a tile floor with a sledge too....but what about floor jacks rolling over grout joints chipping porcelin tile?

How do you plan on floating this out? compensating for the pitches that are too big to float out? Are you wanting to float it then do a thinset install? A mudset? wet or dry mudset?

I'd clean and latex prime entire floor....slurry coat it...and do a wetset mudbed install setting the tile as I floated a 2" mudbed across the floor so flat you could slide a hockey puck across the floor without hearing a click.

Have any questions re tile setting....I am more than happy to help you.

In your 22yrs you have never installed tiles in a garage for a client? As for floor jacks, absolutely no issues with the joints. Epoxy grout, is not a must either.

 

[JakeKohl]

I was offering to help....considering I've set 100,000's of thousands of square feet of tile and specialized in mudset work.

I was not trying to cause dissent or make him question his choices. Merely helping....so please direct the snydness in another more deserving direction.


With epoxy coatings and resilient flooring choices..ie rubber tiles...I find it an interesting choice. Through my experience.....with slab on grade installs...the is much movement in the substrate and cracks etc will happen. Even with carefully planned expansion joints and isolation membranes...then there is grout.
Epoxy I assume? Black?

Im just curios is all. I know all flooring materials very well....and I know any tile set any way can chip and or crack. I can smack a tile floor with a sledge too....but what about floor jacks rolling over grout joints chipping porcelin tile?

How do you plan on floating this out? compensating for the pitches that are too big to float out? Are you wanting to float it then do a thinset install? A mudset? wet or dry mudset?

I'd clean and latex prime entire floor....slurry coat it...and do a wetset mudbed install setting the tile as I floated a 2" mudbed across the floor so flat you could slide a hockey puck across the floor without hearing a click.

Have any questions re tile setting....I am more than happy to help you.

Sorry - didn't mean to be snarky...we just get that response a lot on here but it really is a great floor.

 

[ScaldedDog]

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how BD does. I wasn't able to get them to budge on the price of the tile, at all, but they did knock $150 or so off the shipping. I have no idea what 8000lbs of tile look like, but it looks like I'll find out soon.

Highlux, no worries on the choice questioning. I got some strange looks in tile stores when I told them what I was doing, too. I've seen enough successful installs on here to have become a believer, though. That success appears to be execution dependent, and that's why I started this thread. I appreciate everyone's help.

I'd clean and latex prime entire floor....slurry coat it...and do a wetset mudbed install setting the tile as I floated a 2" mudbed across the floor so flat you could slide a hockey puck across the floor without hearing a click.

Can you expand a little on your comment above? As you can see in my "pre-thread", I do have some drainage issues I want to fix, but I can't raise the floor 2". I have been assuming I could fix the small undulations in the floor - "birdbaths" if that makes sense - with thinset as I went. Is that correct?

When using these type leveling spacer...make sure to "dot" the corners lightly
and one dollop in center....like the "5" on a dice. Air pockets like to form on corners fron these level spacer deals.

Also...never use a 1/2 trowel with a thinset...too much sag. A 1/2 trowel is designed to be used with a medium bed mortar. If you need to go that thick with the seeting material to level out floor....def use a medium bed mortar.

Help me get a mental image of where these dollops go. are you saying 5 dots on the leveling spacer itself? If so, on the bottom (facing the floor), or the top?

Also, and this is a really dumb question, what's the difference between thinset and "medium bed mortar"?

I need to collect some equipment this week - everything from kneepads to trowels. If anyone has recommendations, I'd like to hear them.

Mark

 

[KPSquared]

As a tilesetter for 22 years...I could help with any questions you may have.

Why tile though? your gonna chip and crack it to pieces in a garage.

You might want to take some time to browse through the multitude of awesome tile installs on this website. . .

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55006

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212509

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95966&highlight=floor

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151789&highlight=porcelain

That's just the highlights. . .

 

[N0tt0N]

I have no idea what 8000lbs of tile look like, but it looks like I'll find out soon.

LOL! I only got 1200lbs. It was only half a pallet but since the truck was parked on the hill in front of the house the one guy delivering what looked like a small load almost sh*t himself when that weight got rolling inside the truck and headed for the tail lift. He had to drop the pallet a couple of times and let it skid to a halt for a few inches. Inching it onto the tail lift without shooting off the edge was pretty nerve wracking to watch - I can't imagine doing it myself. Just hope you're not on a hill! Hopefully they will have a hoist for your full pallets. Also, get a hand truck to shift it from street to garage

Good luck and I can't wait to see the install! Pics are a must!

 

[Angelfire]

I ordered up around 600+ SF of a tile they had on clearance for 0.99/SF. They did work a deal on the shipping so it pays to call them vs. just using their online quote system. I had mine delivered to my local terminal and I went to pick it up. Mistake! I forget the weight but my little Toyota Tacoma was not liking it. Probably the slowest I've driven through the city ever...haha. Anyway, all the tiles were boxed and then the boxes were stacked on pallets. I didn't open each and every box to check but of the sample boxes I did open, I didn't find a single broken tile. Shipping took about a week or so but I told the guy I wasn't in a hurry and to get it on the cheapest truck coming my way. I was a little surprised when I got it as the name of the tile/mfg were different from what I ordered from the website. I went online and discovered the stuff I got was the same as what they list....all made in the same factory by the same company etc.... and it matched my sample from them perfectly. So yeah, I'd buy from them again.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I got a note from BD today that my tile shipped, and will be here tomorrow. It looks like I'll be renting a pallet jack in the morning...

I have some questions about floor prep.

1) I think the original part of the garage floor - 32yo, I suspect - had a sealer applied at one time. I need to grind that off before laying tile, correct?

2) The center of that part of the garage has a troweled in control joint. Of course, it cracked there, so I filled the control joint with Sikaflex self leveling polyurethane a couple of years ago. It is nearly flush with the floor, but not quite. I'll be honoring this joint, as it runs right down the middle of the garage, and I think the floor is slightly crowned there. Can I leave the Sikaflex, or do I need to remove it and fill the joint with something more solid? Here's a pic of the joint:

3) I plan to tile the stem walls, which are in varying conditions. The best part looks like this:

I just need to hit the high spots with a grinder so that it is "level" right?

The concrete guy who built the add-on garage was awful. To fix a mistake, he left one corner of a stem wall look like this:

What's the best way to fill in the corner so I can tile it?

Mark

 

[Dakota00]

1- You wont have to worry too much about the old sealer. Make sure the slab is cleaned well, any oil spots are treated with a degreaser.

2- You can leave the Sikaflex in the control joint, it wont be an issue.

3- Any high spots on the stem wall can be hit with a grinder or hammer and chisel. As for the corner you can build up most of the area with stiff thinset, let it dry. When mounting the baseboard, place extra thinset on the back side of the baseboard. When setting the baseboard squeeze out the remaining thinset for a solid bond.

 

[slickgt1]

1- You wont have to worry too much about the old sealer. Make sure the slab is cleaned well, any oil spots are treated with a degreaser.

2- You can leave the Sikaflex in the control joint, it wont be an issue.

3- Any high spots on the stem wall can be hit with a grinder or hammer and chisel. As for the corner you can build up most of the area with stiff thinset, let it dry. When mounting the baseboard, place extra thinset on the back side of the baseboard. When setting the baseboard squeeze out the remaining thinset for a solid bond.

I second everything Dakota stated.
1. I wouldn't bother grinding anything. If you had a polished surface, Then I might say grind, otherwise you look good to go. Wash it, degrease it. Get on your knees and go to work.

2. As per Dakota, yup.

3. Yup Dakota style

I recomend you get yourself some knee pads. Seriously. The flatter the better, almost like shin guards that the football (socker sp?) players have.

Get a straight edge. For your single job, a 4'-8' straight edge / level will do.

As far as other tools. Get a few empty compound buckets. I usually have around 20 stacked in my garage, so that's what I go to. Get a mixer attachment for your drill. Corded drill will be a better bet, as I don't know the level of your cordless if you have one.

Get yourself one of these if you plan on having a lot of straight cuts.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FK5J60/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It will work for your job. Plan on braking a few tiles as you get the hang of where the break point is, score pressure, and break pressure. Just don't force this tool, it really is simple as hell.

You know you need a trowel, some utility knife blades to clean out the grout joints.

You should be ok. It seems like it is a lot, but once you get the hang of it, you will fly right through in a few days.

 

[slickgt1]

As a tilesetter for 22 years...I could help with any questions you may have.

Why tile though? your gonna chip and crack it to pieces in a garage.

I knew you were going to get owned the moment I saw this. At least it wasn't me this time. lol.

Tile is probably the most nuts floor covering you can have in a garage, or anywhere really as long as you do it right.

As a matter of fact, my parents conceded, and I am doing it in their garage in the next few weeks, with floor heat.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I second everything Dakota stated.
1. I wouldn't bother grinding anything. If you had a polished surface, Then I might say grind, otherwise you look good to go. Wash it, degrease it. Get on your knees and go to work.

2. As per Dakota, yup.

3. Yup Dakota style

I recomend you get yourself some knee pads. Seriously. The flatter the better, almost like shin guards that the football (socker sp?) players have.

Get a straight edge. For your single job, a 4'-8' straight edge / level will do.

As far as other tools. Get a few empty compound buckets. I usually have around 20 stacked in my garage, so that's what I go to. Get a mixer attachment for your drill. Corded drill will be a better bet, as I don't know the level of your cordless if you have one.

Get yourself one of these if you plan on having a lot of straight cuts.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FK5J60/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It will work for your job. Plan on braking a few tiles as you get the hang of where the break point is, score pressure, and break pressure. Just don't force this tool, it really is simple as hell.

You know you need a trowel, some utility knife blades to clean out the grout joints.

You should be ok. It seems like it is a lot, but once you get the hang of it, you will fly right through in a few days.

Washing - I'll rent a pressure washer instead of a grinder, then. I was dreading the dust, so that sounds good to me.

Knee pads - Got 'em. Just the $20 ones from HD, which seemed a little better than the $10 ones.

Straight edge - Got it - a 6' level I've had for awhile.

Buckets - Will do. The orange HD ones are the ticket, I assume.

Mixer attachment - Will do. I'll be using a 1/2" corded drill.

Cutter - Really? I was assuming I'd need a wet saw off Craigslist - to be sold at the end of the project - but I like the idea of a smaller, quieter tool.

Trowel - 1/2", right?

Thanks guys!

Mark

 

[DeadSock]

Cutter - Really? I was assuming I'd need a wet saw off Craigslist - to be sold at the end of the project - but I like the idea of a smaller, quieter tool.

Kinda depends on the cuts ...
I did a basement all in tile. I did everything with a snapper except for 4 tiles. I took the tile marked into a lowes/HD and did the cuts on their saw. I started it up and got one done before they stopped me and did the other 3

 

[slickgt1]

I think power washer is a bit extreme too, but listen, it can't hurt. Unless it over saturates the slab or some **** like that.

Cutter, yes. I never leave home without it, when doing tile that is. Seriously, it is fast, accurate, and no noise. Yes the cut side will be sharp, nothing a little grinder wheel cup can't fix. But your cuts will most likely be by the walls, so the cut bevel won't matter. Just use the cutter, and set the tile. This will only work for straight cuts, so keep that in mind.

And here is a trick to mark off a tile to cut, without a tape measure.

1. Place full tile, on a row before the wall. Full tile, lays on full set tile.
2. Place another full tile against the wall, but since the space is smaller, the extra part should land on your full tile in step one.
3. Mark tile from step one, at position the tile from step 2 overlaps.
4. Cut tile from step one, you have a tile that fits the gap.
5. Obviously account for grout lines and stuff, but you get the point. I hope.

I really need to learn to take pics of the stuff I do.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I think power washer is a bit extreme too, but listen, it can't hurt. Unless it over saturates the slab or some **** like that.

Cutter, yes. I never leave home without it, when doing tile that is. Seriously, it is fast, accurate, and no noise. Yes the cut side will be sharp, nothing a little grinder wheel cup can't fix. But your cuts will most likely be by the walls, so the cut bevel won't matter. Just use the cutter, and set the tile. This will only work for straight cuts, so keep that in mind.

And here is a trick to mark off a tile to cut, without a tape measure.

1. Place full tile, on a row before the wall. Full tile, lays on full set tile.
2. Place another full tile against the wall, but since the space is smaller, the extra part should land on your full tile in step one.
3. Mark tile from step one, at position the tile from step 2 overlaps.
4. Cut tile from step one, you have a tile that fits the gap.
5. Obviously account for grout lines and stuff, but you get the point. I hope.

I really need to learn to take pics of the stuff I do.

This floor has 30y of dirt ground into it, so I'll take a little time to get it clean. Besides, I need to mud part of it around the door first, anyway, so it'll have time to dry.

Speaking of the mud job from my other thread, do I need to apply any sort of bonding agent to the floor? I'm thinking of using self-leveling concrete from one of the box stores, if that matters.

DeadSock - I'll likely steal your idea. I don't expect to have many non-straight cuts.

Mark

 

[DeadSock]

DeadSock - I'll likely steal your idea. I don't expect to have many non-straight cuts.
Mark

Mark them like slickgt suggested even for inside corner cuts
It is actually harder to explain than show.

 

[cleveman]

Don't forget that mortar and tile aren't expensive. If you wonder about adhesion, for example, just mix up a bit of mortar and set some tile in different spots. You can also try this with a 3/8" trowel, and by burning the back of the tile and not.

I have never used a trowel larger than 3/8". The thicker the bed, the more up and down and resulting lippage.

A running bond is your friend.

The best way to lay on concrete is with a line. You can pull a line and leave it 1/2" above the surface and held down with concrete block or something on the ends, or a screw into a wall.

Make sure your square up your layout first, and think about how it will hit course-wise on the walls. Again, a running bond is your friend here as far as start and finish.

Check out your grout choices. The Laticrete products, I don't know if they are called Tru-color or Perma-color, might be nice. This is the second generation, up a bit from the standard portland based grout.

I would think you would want 1/8" joints.

Nowadays, everyone uses spacers.

You might want to consider tiling a bathroom or something before you go whole hog on a 1500 SF install.

I would buy a $50 wet saw before I would trust a newby with a snap cutter, especially on a thicker porcelain. The wet saw will be slower and noisy, but it will work for you and I don't think you'll find a snap cutter worth a darn for under $250.

If you can hide your cuts, an angle grinder (dry) will do just fine.

 

[Dakota00]

This floor has 30y of dirt ground into it, so I'll take a little time to get it clean. Besides, I need to mud part of it around the door first, anyway, so it'll have time to dry.

Speaking of the mud job from my other thread, do I need to apply any sort of bonding agent to the floor? I'm thinking of using self-leveling concrete from one of the box stores, if that matters.

DeadSock - I'll likely steal your idea. I don't expect to have many non-straight cuts.

Mark

You don't have to remove 30yrs of dirt from the concrete. Give it a good wash and degreasing if needed. As for the mud job, I'm not a big fan of self leveling concrete. If you plan to use it, I would use a bonding agent, it's cheap insurance in doing so.

EDIT:
On 12"x12" tiles and bigger I always use a 1/2" trowel, but that's me. I rather have more thinset under the tiles that I can squeeze out than not having enough thinset with air pockets.

 

[slickgt1]

I agree, use a 1/2", and overfill with thinset. You really want to push out the excess. Don't use a hammer, use both hands and put all your weight on the tile.

Although I have never tried that cheap cutter on Amazon, it seems to have good reviews, that is why I suggested that one, well and its cheap.

This is not me, but I have this baby.

You can see how easy and fast you can cut tile.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I have no idea what 8000lbs of tile look like, but it looks like I'll find out soon.

Oh, my...

The tile showed up tonight, and the first thing the driver said to me was, "Are you ready for this? Do have any idea how heavy this is?" Not a good sign.

BuildDirect put the tile on 3 tiny pallets, that can't be moved with a pallet jack, so the driver had to put those pallets on regular pallets, just to get them loaded. When we tried to unload them, on the slight hill in front of my house, the unsecured top pallet started to slide on the bottom one, and the driver was afraid he was going to dump it. We ended up securing the tile with one of my tow straps so he could drive to a more level spot up the road. We continued working for thirty minutes, but the driver finally gave up and is going to bring it back Monday night on a newer truck with a flatter liftgate, and we'll try again.

I'm so far underwhelmed with BuildDirect. $900+ for shipping, and they can't afford to put 8000lbs of tile on decent pallets? I'll take pics when we finally have it on the ground, but BuildDirect is going to get an earful from me.

Mark

 

[N0tt0N]

You didn't believe me, did you?

 

[ScaldedDog]

I have more questions:

Grout - I chose rectified tile and planned on using 1/16" grout joints. The normal recommendation for those narrow joints is unsanded grout, but I saw where some of you more experienced folks suggest not using unsanded grout in a garage. I saw a recommendation for using Laticrete Permacolor grout in 1/16" joints, and still another to mix sanded and unsanded together. Is there a best answer to this, or a really wrong one to avoid?

Managing temperatures - I can keep the air temp in the garage 50-60* easily, and the slab I'm starting with ranges from 42-50* from the door to the back wall. I assume I'm good there. However, as Dakota00, I plan to tile the part of the garage slab that extends out past the door. Even with occasional 60* days in the winter, nights are nearly always below freezing, and it can get stupid cold for days on end. What are my minimums for air temp and slab temp before the risk of failure gets too high?

Mark

 

[ScaldedDog]

For those of you who've been helping, I thought it might be helpful of me to show you a drawing of what I'm trying to do. The one below is from the planning stage of the building, so there are lots things about it that are incorrect. The shape of the "boxes" are close enough, though. The gist is that the two car garage on the left is about 500sf, including the little alcove and hallway, and the bigger garage on the right is about 1000sf. It looks sorta like this:

I'm tiling the smaller garage first, then doing the larger one. I got the smaller one cleaned out tonight, and will RedGard a few cracks tomorrow. I hope to do some layout work tomorrow night - if the tile gets here, in the same number of pieces BD shipped - and will check my work on Tuesday. I may start laying tile then, if everything looks good.

BTW, I can see why some of you are not a fan of self-leveling concrete. At least in the first couple of days after setting, it melts when wet. I was not pleased...

Aside from my questions in the post prior to this one, I thought of another one today, though it only affects the larger garage:

Tiling over foam edging - The larger garage has in-floor heat, so the slab is insulated on the sides with Dow Hi-Load 40 foam. I covered the foam years ago with SikaFlex, which has worked great. My current plan is to simply tile over that to within 1/4" of the stem wall, then tile the stem wall down to within 1/16-1/8" of the floor, and use caulk for that joint. I realize tiling over that foam is a bad idea, but I'm thinking I can get away with it since the drywall above overhangs the foam by at least 1". That means that it's nearly impossible to put any weight on that section of the floor. Here's a pic, if that helps:

Is there any problem with doing this? I think my only other option would be to attach thick backer board to the stem wall, then tile over that. I don't mind doing that, but I don't know how I'd attach the backer board to the wall. Your thoughts?

Mark

 

[slickgt1]

I honestly have never done a garage floor with less then 1/8" grout space. Gonna leave that for Dakota.

If the thinset has a chance of freezing, don't do that section. The water in the thinset will freeze and your tile will come up. You need to stay above freezing till the thinset dries up.

That foam part. How strong is that foam? 4"? You can thinset hardi board to that stem wall, with screws. I personally prefer PL Premium glue, with tapcons. But that can get expensive.

But seriously how strong is that foam? Can you remove some?

 

[KPSquared]

I would think being as the tiles were so cheap they are not a rectified tile. You are going to have a helluva time with such a narrow grout line. The tiles will not be perfectly square and you need a little extra width in the grout line to allow an average straightness. . .

I could be wrong but that's my personal experience. You can't just stuff spacers at all corners and expect it to work out.

 

[ScaldedDog]

If the thinset has a chance of freezing, don't do that section. The water in the thinset will freeze and your tile will come up. You need to stay above freezing till the thinset dries up.

Got it. That means I'll likely follow Dakota's suggestion to lay the row "one tile in" from the door first, then come back and do the first row and the apron row later. That's not a problem, other than having to keep the self-leveling concrete I used to build up that one side dry.

That foam part. How strong is that foam? 4"? You can thinset hardi board to that stem wall, with screws. I personally prefer PL Premium glue, with tapcons. But that can get expensive.

But seriously how strong is that foam? Can you remove some?

It's pretty strong, for foam: 40psi. The edge that is showing is not the machined edge, it's a cut cross section, if that matters to the strength. Removing some of it would be a real pain. Are you thinking of taking out the top 2" and filling it with concrete? I think I'd build out the stem walls with backer board first. I could glue/screw some of it on, but would have to use thinset on the rougher sections.

I would think being as the tiles were so cheap they are not a rectified tile. You are going to have a helluva time with such a narrow grout line. The tiles will not be perfectly square and you need a little extra width in the grout line to allow an average straightness. . .

I could be wrong but that's my personal experience. You can't just stuff spacers at all corners and expect it to work out.

They really are rectified. (EDIT: No, they aren't. See post #41.) I think I linked them at the top of this thread, and BD has the specs at that link. They are really good garage tile for the price, but still more than I wanted to pay. If we assume they are rectified, describe the "helluva time" the narrow grout lines are going to cause. As I've mentioned before, I don't know what I don't know.

Mark

 

[KPSquared]

Re: The DogHouse - Looks to be getting a new tile floor

Sorry I missed that. If they are rectified the narrow grout lines should be no problem. Standard tiles are just not square enough but if yours are you should be fine!

I don't see anything in your links about the tile being rectified.

 

[slickgt1]

Only one way to find out how strong that foam is with tile over it. Set one on it. Then jump on it, get some sort of load on it, and finally peel it off. See what happens.

 

[slickgt1]

I think KP is correct. It does not seem to be rectified. Which is not surprising for the price. Don't stress it though, just do 1/8" grout and move on.

 

[Dakota00]

Even if the tiles were rectified. I still wouldn't suggest going with 1/16" grout joints. With your floor not being flat and your limited to no experience in laying tiles, you are asking for trouble. Stick to 1/8" grout joints.