Jump to content

tiling quandary


AWW$HEEET

Recommended Posts

ok so i plan on installing tile in my basement bathroom. the floor is currently vinyl, glued to the concrete slab. this stuff is a bitch to get up. i have maybe 10% of it up, and am throwing in the towel. there are basically chunks now taken out of it, making the floor uneven. to remedy this should I:

a. screed some sort of floor leveling compound over the whole bathroom floor, and install tile over it when cured

b. install 1/4" wonderboard on the floor, and essentially glue it to the concrete slab with thinset. then install tile over the wonderboard, when cured

c. say fuck it and install tile over it, directly to it.

total thickness of this god forsaken vinyl is between 1/16th and 1/8th of an inch, by my estimate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recon is right. They make real wide chisel/scraper tools. Add to his list some elbow grease.....

If you leave the asbestos then if you ever sell the house you have to fully disclose that and it will probably make it more difficult to sell if anyone would even buy it without you having it removed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its vinyl, not tile. and even if it were asbestos, wouldn't a proper action be to cover it anyway and not disturb it?

If it is VCT and contained absestos it could be identified by its size 9"x9" and would be adhered with a black asphalt based adhesive.

Proper adhesion would require a latex modified thinset at a minimum.

12x12 commercial tire can be easily removed by adding head and a flame spreader on a propane torch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So how much area are you looking at having to deal with?

20 sq ft total but this stuff is fairly tough, it comes off in shreds. to get all of it, i end up chipping the concrete slab, in which case im gonna have to level it out, even when i get all this stuff up.

and no, this is NOT asbestos. its that rolled vinyl stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it is VCT and contained absestos it could be identified by its size 9"x9" and would be adhered with a black asphalt based adhesive.

^^This if it's old and 9x9 you can figure it has asbestos but they also made asbestos in 12x12 and it was used in linoleum also. If you even think it could have asbestos in it just leave it alone and go over top of it with something like wonderboard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 sq ft total but this stuff is fairly tough, it comes off in shreds. to get all of it, i end up chipping the concrete slab, in which case im gonna have to level it out, even when i get all this stuff up.

and no, this is NOT asbestos. its that rolled vinyl stuff.

asbestos was in rolled linoleum

Link to comment
Share on other sites

heat gun or spreader torch

it does sound like a mess, but if heat works, I'd remove it.

If heat doesn't work, I'd leave it.

Lots of energy required, even if only 20 square feet.

I have a friend stripping an entire house of all it's tile. Some on slab, and some not.

He's using two heat guns, and alternates them. He doesn't want to overheat and melt them.

I can ask him what he did for really tough parts of it.

Edited by ReconRat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't mess with it they banned it in '78 but the ban didn't stop them from selling anything that was already made and some say it could have been sold as late as early '90's. It isn't worth the risk and the wonderboard will save you a lot of hard work either way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the biggest risk is the acoustic ceiling tiles flooring usually isn't an issue because it doesn't turn to dust like the ceiling tiles do. My grandfather died from Mesothelioma and it's a painful long nasty death so if I even think there is a chance of asbestos I won't mess with it but others do. In your case using the wonderboard and covering it makes sense and will save you a lot of labor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

heat gun or spreader torch

it does sound like a mess, but if heat works, I'd remove it.

If heat doesn't work, I'd leave it.

Lots of energy required, even if only 20 square feet.

I have a friend stripping an entire house of all it's tile. Some on slab, and some not.

He's using two heat guns, and alternates them. He doesn't want to overheat and melt them.

I can ask him what he did for really tough parts of it.

ive been through some tough tile removals, and just 10 mins of working with this shit takes the cake. right when you think you have a good, wide section ready to peel up, only the top layer of the vinyl comes off, leaving you with stuff still glued to the ground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope something in here can help.

Removing Tile Adhesive from Concrete

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/removing-tile-adhesive-from-concrete#.URmHKvLAFBk

Glue Removal and Concrete Grinding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ81BvpmQrg

Floor Polishing Tips: How to remove glue from concrete?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5NH2Cc1y-s

Carpet glue removal 7" Grinder Vac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWNcS78pxIE

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*FYI*

I,ve tested 12x12 tiles finding HIGH levels of Asbestos here in Ohio. The mastic, if black is going to be ACM (asbestos containing material). The yellow/blonde colored mastic before 1999 has tested ACM also

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...