marklin: I know a canadian guy who is going to do ceramic tile for me

[xyott]

I know a canadian guy who is going to do mine around the same time for my condo, but in much smaller area (foyer and hallway), if you are interested, I will let him know.

 

[marklin]

Could you tell me more details about him? is he a contractor or someone you know who is just helping you? what's his labour rate? does he have experience? did you get him through reference? is he doing alone or are you helping him?

My project will be hallway, foyer, plus kitchen, laundry and powder room. I figure it'll take about 2 days to complete. If you don't mind, may I have his contact?

Thanks a lot!

 

[DayInDayOUt]

最初由 marklin 发布
Could you tell me more details about him? is he a contractor or someone you know who is just helping you? what's his labour rate? does he have experience? did you get him through reference? is he doing alone or are you helping him?

My project will be hallway, foyer, plus kitchen, laundry and powder room. I figure it'll take about 2 days to complete. If you don't mind, may I have his contact?

Thanks a lot!

Marklin, I'd like to share my knowledge with you but it may be discouraging.
If your sub-floor is not thicker enough, be prepared for two weeks at least.
In that case, it'll be wise to divide the project to two, unless you have some where else to cook and eat during your project.
If I remembered right, the thickness for the sub-floor should be 1.5"( or better 1.75") at least.
If the sub-floor is too thin, it will stretch and squeak and the tiles won't stay long.
So for your 600sqft project, you need 19 sheets of 4x8 (32sqft per sheet) plywood, 4000 screws to enforce them (one screw every 4" along the edge, 6" apart in the middle).
My project is very similar to yours and I got my drill burnt out because I didn't give it enough time to cool down.
You need several drill bits for the screw too, unless you can get a super hard one.
After you tightened your floor, the rest job may be easier.
Spread mortar and put tiles on, then let them dry ( practice ahead, even it sounds easy).
Usually it takes one day to dry or you need to check the mortar's instruction for its setting time.
Then apply the grout and another day passing by.
For the last day, you need to clean up the grout on the surface of tiles for few times.
Alas, the project is done, finally!

 

[marklin]

Thank you very much for your valuable input Dayindayout! I didn't expect it would take that much time! I realize that I have to lay plywood first as there's only subfloor under carpet, but there is already a layer of plywood on top underneath the nivyl floor, it must have been a standard practice from Minto!

I was hoping the set in time would be quick enough to finish at least one room in a day, doesn't mortar dry out pretty fast?

Sounds like you have experience with the project, would you happen to have free time around to give me a hand? I'll be happy to pay you..

 

[DayInDayOUt]

The sandwich(playwood-vinyl-plywood) sub-floor as you mentioned is not standard from Minto.
Unfortunetly, many new houses' sub-floor are thiner than old ones.
The "sandwich" should be done by your previous owner when they added the carpet.
You can measure the thickness of sub-floor by taking out the register cover.
If you are lucky, it may be thicker enough, but you still have to make sure your sub-floor is stable.
You can do it by checking the density of the screws or just put more screws if you like.
I am doing my home project(s) for fun. For what I've done, I believe you can do it by your own.
Let me know if you really have hard time or if you have more questions.
For mortar part, I heard the quick setting mortar is hard to control, so I picked regular one instead which takes 24 hours to set.

 

[marklin]

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. What I mean is Minto only put plywood on top subfloor when you choose to have ceramic or vinyl flooring, as in my bathroom and kitchen; and nothing in between for carpet! hence the need to add plywood. However, the plywood they put in is far from the 1.5" thickness you mentioned, did you mean 1.5cm instead? it looks more like that!

I too enjoy doing house renovations, I've done deck, laminte flooring in the past and plan to do tiles, hardwood and fence in the future. The problem is always time and a helping hand, my wife is just as handy but we now have a little kid to consume her time...

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Mark

 

[xyott]

when install the laminate floor, which thickneess product you choose?

7毫米, 8毫米, 10毫米的合成地板那个更好装？

 

[marklin]

For laminate flooring, there's not much difference in terms of ease of installation with different thicknesses, but there is a great deal of difference in quality! obviously the thicker the better!

I am not a fan of laminate flooring anymore for the 2 main reasons:

1- the planks become loose over time and the gaps widen, making it look not as nice as installed new
2- smart buyers know laminate is no better than carpet, can even be cheaper sometimes! therefore does not increase value of house. Besides, I think westerners prefer carpet over laminate (had hard time selling previous house, a lot of buyers saw the laminate flooring on entire home and left without showing too much interest)

However, over the past years, they've improved the quality and locking ability of laminate, some narrow strip ones even resemble hardwood! If you really want to go with laminate, make sure you get at least the dual locking ones as opposed to the traditional single locking, meaning the locking tongue and grove are on both side of the plank, to ensure maximum binding.

Good luck!

 

[marklin]

Re: when install the laminate floor, which thickneess product you choose?

最初由 xyott 发布
7毫米, 8毫米, 10毫米的合成地板那个更好装？

Sorry forgot to answer your main question, I chose 7mm for lower traffic areas such as bedrooms, and 8mm and above for higher traffic areas such as living room, kitchen...

One thing to note here, avoid installing laminate in wet areas like kitchen or bathroom, as drops or splash of water will penetrate the gaps and raise "bumps" on the floor if you don't wipe it off quick enough..

 

[marklin]

Hey xyott, could you give me the contact of your contractor for ceramic tiles? I am in need of a helper to help me finish the work. Thanks!

 

[xyott]

marklin, I send you an email couple of days ago

please check your email that linked to your name in the site, let me know if you didn't get it, I will resend again

 

[DayInDayOUt]

最初由 marklin 发布
...
However, the plywood they put in is far from the 1.5" thickness you mentioned, did you mean 1.5cm instead? it looks more like that!
...
Mark

You mean far from 1.5" in total? That's sad.
OK, let me try one more time.
For the ceramic tile's underlayment, plywood must be installed over an adequate subfloor and be at least 1 1/8" thick when combined with the subfloor.
If you have a old vinyl floor, it'll be hazardous to pull it out because of the health concern.
Since you are going to put plywood on top of vinyl floor, 1.5" combined thickness is recommended.
Any situation worse than above, 1.75" is needed.

 

[marklin]

Re: marklin, I send you an email couple of days ago

最初由 xyott 发布
please check your email that linked to your name in the site, let me know if you didn't get it, I will resend again

The email address I registered is right, somehow I did not receive it, or it could have ended up in my spam box, in which I deleted all. So could you please send me again, or you can use QQH too

Thanks a lot!

 

[xyott]

marklin, tiles on sale in HomeDepot

marklin, did you get your tiles yet, I saw 0.49 / per sqft 12x12 tile, really great deal in Homedepot.
I will send you an email again with the infos.

 

[marklin]

That's exactly what I got!! you can't go wrong with that price! if the texture doesn't please you, chances are, neither will all others that cost more! it's really a personal taste..

I made sure I got more than enough of those for the project (20% of extra), in case they discontinue in the future, you can always return the unused packs...