One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was
retiling the bathroom floors. They both still have the 1-inch square
mosaic tiles. Besides looking pretty dated, they take much care when
doing the other updates, so there's paint and old adhesive spattered
here and there.

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old tile
rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete. What's the
best way to get this sort of tile up?

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St. Louis)?
The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going to be cutting
the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm thinking about 12x12
ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary shade.

I don't really have any experience laying tile, although I've seen it
on TV. If that Sarah on Bathroom Remodeling can do it, I should be able
to. I just have to figure out if it's worth the time for the money
saved.

Happy to hear any thoughts on the matter.



Brian

"Default User" wrote in message
...
One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was
retiling the bathroom floors. They both still have the 1-inch square
mosaic tiles. Besides looking pretty dated, they take much care when
doing the other updates, so there's paint and old adhesive spattered
here and there.

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old tile
rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete. What's the
best way to get this sort of tile up?

hammer, ice scraper, belt sand, some sort of dust control and mask. it's a
messy job.

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St. Louis)?
The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going to be cutting
the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm thinking about 12x12
ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary shade.

depends upon whether you're doing the demoing, and the cost of the tile.
tile and labor is charged by the square foot. call around some tile stores
(not big boxes) and ask their sqft charge.

usually the pedestal of the sink and toilet are taken out first as the tile
goes under them.

I don't really have any experience laying tile, although I've seen it
on TV. If that Sarah on Bathroom Remodeling can do it, I should be able
to. I just have to figure out if it's worth the time for the money
saved.

there are several good books on it. try the library. you'll need to rent a
tile saw for a half day or so.

Happy to hear any thoughts on the matter.



Brian

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"Default User" wrote in message
...
One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was
retiling the bathroom floors. They both still have the 1-inch square
mosaic tiles. Besides looking pretty dated, they take much care when
doing the other updates, so there's paint and old adhesive spattered
here and there.

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old tile
rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete. What's the
best way to get this sort of tile up?

hammer, ice scraper, belt sand, some sort of dust control and mask. it's a
messy job.

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St. Louis)?
The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going to be cutting
the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm thinking about 12x12
ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary shade.

depends upon whether you're doing the demoing, and the cost of the tile.
tile and labor is charged by the square foot. call around some tile stores
(not big boxes) and ask their sqft charge.

usually the pedestal of the sink and toilet are taken out first as the
tile
goes under them.

I don't really have any experience laying tile, although I've seen it
on TV. If that Sarah on Bathroom Remodeling can do it, I should be able
to. I just have to figure out if it's worth the time for the money
saved.

there are several good books on it. try the library. you'll need to rent a
tile saw for a half day or so.

Happy to hear any thoughts on the matter.



Brian

All of the above. Had it done to a small bathroom and it took a full day.
But it was put down as if it would never have to be torn apart. The big
problem turned to be that the toilet flange was too high as a result of the
original sub and underlayment floors and had to be ground down to the new
level.
MLD

Charles Spitzer wrote:


"Default User" wrote in message
...

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old
tile rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete.
What's the best way to get this sort of tile up?

hammer, ice scraper, belt sand, some sort of dust control and mask.
it's a messy job.

Sounds fun.

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St.
Louis)? The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going
to be cutting the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm
thinking about 12x12 ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary
shade.

depends upon whether you're doing the demoing, and the cost of the
tile. tile and labor is charged by the square foot. call around some
tile stores (not big boxes) and ask their sqft charge.

That's probably a good idea, they likely have some sort of standard
install charge.

usually the pedestal of the sink and toilet are taken out first as
the tile goes under them.

Toilet is no problem, it needs to be reseated anyway. I'll have to look
at the sink.

there are several good books on it. try the library. you'll need to
rent a tile saw for a half day or so.


Thanks for the info, same to MLD.


Brian

From the type of tiles you describe, this must be a fairly old house,
and I'm guessing that it is an upstairs bathroom with about six inches
of cement as a subflooring, with the plumbing buried in the cement and
rusting away. That is what I had when a drain pipe rusted through;
fortunately my insurance covered the repairs, but when the crew came in
they removed the cement and put a plywood subfloor in, with ceramic tile
on top of that. Within a few years, the new ceramic tiles started
cracking; I believe the subfloor was inadequate, in part because the
joists had been beveled heavily when the cement was put in.

When I finally had some money, I redid the whole bathroom, with sisters
on the joists and a plywood subfloor. While I had everything out, I
took out the metal drain plumbing and put in plastic. Most of the metal
plumbing was badly corroded and almost blocked. My new floor seems a
lot sturdier, but I can't say for certain that it would be sturdy enough
for ceramic tile, as I put in cork.

What I'm getting to is that just retiling will be a big dirty job.
Before doing just that, I would think seriously about going all the way
and removing the cement and updating the plumbing at the same time.
Were I doing that, I would remove the tile and cement myself, do the
sistering myself, but bring in a plumber to get the new drain system
right. I would get a tileman to do the subfloor and tile, as he would
have the expertise to get the subfloor strong enough.

Don't believe it when you see some of those pretty faces on TV doing
home repair. They are actors and don't really do the work. They may
put down one tile while the camera is running, but the prep and the
balance of the work is done by tradesmen.

Default User wrote:

One of the few jobs the previous owners of the house didn't get too was
retiling the bathroom floors. They both still have the 1-inch square
mosaic tiles. Besides looking pretty dated, they take much care when
doing the other updates, so there's paint and old adhesive spattered
here and there.

From looking at it, I suppose the best idea is to remove the old tile
rather than laying on top of it. The subfloor is concrete. What's the
best way to get this sort of tile up?

How much would a pro charge for a job like this (ballpark, St. Louis)?
The bathroom isn't huge, I'd think that mostly it's going to be cutting
the toilet, pedestal sink and various corners. I'm thinking about 12x12
ceramic tiles in some sort of complementary shade.

I don't really have any experience laying tile, although I've seen it
on TV. If that Sarah on Bathroom Remodeling can do it, I should be able
to. I just have to figure out if it's worth the time for the money
saved.

Happy to hear any thoughts on the matter.



Brian

--
SPAMBLOCK NOTICE! To reply to me, delete the h from apkh.net, if it is
there.

William Brown wrote:

From the type of tiles you describe, this must be a fairly old house,

Mid-sixties.

and I'm guessing that it is an upstairs bathroom

It's a ranch.

with about six
inches of cement as a subflooring,

It's a slab.

with the plumbing buried in the
cement and rusting away.

I have no comment on this.

That is what I had when a drain pipe rusted
through; fortunately my insurance covered the repairs, but when the
crew came in they removed the cement and put a plywood subfloor in,
with ceramic tile on top of that.

Not going to be doing that, it has radiant heating.

Don't believe it when you see some of those pretty faces on TV doing
home repair. They are actors and don't really do the work. They may
put down one tile while the camera is running, but the prep and the
balance of the work is done by tradesmen.

Not Bathroom Remodeling. It was an actual homeowner who did all the
work with help from her father and some subcontractors.


Brian