We got called out to look at a kitchen tile floor that had some grout cracking issues. When we arrived, we found that when we lifted a tile, the back side was completely (I'm talking from the factory) clean. Also 3-4 others around it lifted up as well, and when we lifted those, it just kept coming up. Each tile was the same, clean on the backside.
The previous job was performed three years ago by a pretty well known company here in town with big showrooms all around, but they refuse to warranty their work because the home changed hands in those three years. We're assuming that they let the thinset dry too much between setting it on the floor and setting the tile on the thinset. The new homeowner wants to do the floor over, so I recommended the following:
1. Pull all tile and reuse it (since it's all coming up clean, and is still available - we figured 20% breakage to be safe since it's returnable anyways)
2. Knock down any high points with a cold chisel.
3. Lay down 1/4" hardibacker over old thinset, using fresh thinset to fill in any low spots and attach it with screws to give a solid substrate.
4. Lay new tile.
Pros: it insures that the work is done on a good substrate, and also slightly stiffens the already soft floor.
Cons: it raises their current floor level by 1/2 inch or so, so we have to add some schluter strip transitions.
Now they're a bit worried about the price (who isn't these days...
), and were wondering if I could just lay new thinset over the old and avoid the middle step. My problem with that is that I don't want to be responsible for doing that. God knows why the old thinset didn't hold, but it doesn't seem like a good base to be attaching to.
Now in my mind, I think it might work, but something in my gut keeps telling me that if I don't feel comfortable warrantying something, I just shouldn't do it.
Thoughts?
The previous job was performed three years ago by a pretty well known company here in town with big showrooms all around, but they refuse to warranty their work because the home changed hands in those three years. We're assuming that they let the thinset dry too much between setting it on the floor and setting the tile on the thinset. The new homeowner wants to do the floor over, so I recommended the following:
1. Pull all tile and reuse it (since it's all coming up clean, and is still available - we figured 20% breakage to be safe since it's returnable anyways)
2. Knock down any high points with a cold chisel.
3. Lay down 1/4" hardibacker over old thinset, using fresh thinset to fill in any low spots and attach it with screws to give a solid substrate.
4. Lay new tile.
Pros: it insures that the work is done on a good substrate, and also slightly stiffens the already soft floor.
Cons: it raises their current floor level by 1/2 inch or so, so we have to add some schluter strip transitions.
Now they're a bit worried about the price (who isn't these days...
), and were wondering if I could just lay new thinset over the old and avoid the middle step. My problem with that is that I don't want to be responsible for doing that. God knows why the old thinset didn't hold, but it doesn't seem like a good base to be attaching to.Now in my mind, I think it might work, but something in my gut keeps telling me that if I don't feel comfortable warrantying something, I just shouldn't do it.
Thoughts?
