Tile Floor Not Flat

Tile over hardwood flooring this is not the best option and one very common mistake.

Tile floor not flat.

In order for tiles to lay flat the tile underlayment must be installed correctly. A stiff base will also prevent the tile from cracking. So in order to lay the tiles in the bedroom i need to raise the floor level by at least 3 4 inches. I notice that the corridor tiles were set on top of the old tiles which leveled up the flooring to 1 1 4 inch.

The tile planks don t form a flat surface. The builder and tile installer said with square edged tile you cannot expect a flat floor. I was going to do it with siroco over the base floor. If possible don t do it.

That s an extreme case of lippage. Natalia baran istock gettyimages how to fix a bad subfloor. It is daltile kimona silk 12x12. According to wiktionary lippage is an uneven surface of a floor that occurs when stone or tiles are not laid to a uniform level if you look at the image above notice how some tiles seem higher than others.

Tile over existing tile floor be sure to break or create a rough surface so the adhesive created proper bonding between both surfaces. So the tiles end up not being flat to each other but it doesn t seem possible to correct this as if i squash down on the one side the other side pops up. Cement board underneath the tile to build it up. A well gauged tile manufactured within standards on a properly prepared substrate should not have lippage that can easily be felt.

It can also be perceived as excessive lippage if seen in the type of lighting conditions that accentuate lippage due to shadows. But you said that it is not a good idea. Start by getting a few tiles set and make sure they are all flat with your straight edge just place the straight edge on top of the set tiles and ensure that there are no open spaces beneath it and that every tile is the same height. I butter the back of each tile but scrape off any excess adhesive and put the tile on wall and twist it a few times holding opposite corners.

Most floor tile is adhered to the subfloor or underlayment with cement based thinset mortar. The substrate for tiles shorter than 15 inches must be so flat that it varies no more than 1 16 inch per foot according to the ceramic tile education foundation. Lippage can be affected by a substrate not being properly prepared so it is flat. Vinyl tile is a good undelayment if it isn t damaged.

With only 24 hours left until the hardwood floor guys were showing up to install our new floors we rented a cement grinder to get rid of the adhesive on the floor. If the underlayment isn t in good shape put a 1 4 or 1 2 in. If possible remove the tiles or at least be sure to create that rough surface.