Ceramic or slate floor tiles in bathroom

pandora205

I'm planning to have my wall tiles replaced in my bathroom and also need the bath refitted as water is seeping through the ceiling due to poor fitting. Now I'm wondering about the flooring (which is okay vinyl but nothing special), as I'm really pleased with the slate flooring I had laid in the kitchen.

So, I was wondering about having ceramic tiles. Are there any problems with this (other than the slipperiness - I'd chose something suitable)? I was wondering about whether the floor boards would be suitable or whether there would be a problem with cracking?

Advice welcomed, thanks.

olias

As the bath, if the leak is just round the edges, then you just need the silicone sealant replaced, you shouldn't have to go to the expense of refitting! If the leak is from the waste, then again, this is an easy job to do with the bath in situ.

As for the tiles. Best practice is to screw down plywood to the floor prior to tiling to make it rigid and prevent any cracking. Just be aware that this (together with the tiles) will raise the level of the floor, so you will have to deal with edging at the treshold and also if the door is inward opening, then trim the bottom of the door. Also don't be tempted to do it with the loo and sink in place and tile round them. For a proper job, you really need to remove them, tile, then replace them. This will obviously change the height for pipework by anything up to an inch, however, most pipework will have enough 'give' to mean that no extra plumbing work is required.

Olias

pandora205

olias wrote: »

As the bath, if the leak is just round the edges, then you just need the silicone sealant replaced, you shouldn't have to go to the expense of refitting! If the leak is from the waste, then again, this is an easy job to do with the bath in situ.

As for the tiles. Best practice is to screw down plywood to the floor prior to tiling to make it rigid and prevent any cracking. Just be aware that this (together with the tiles) will raise the level of the floor, so you will have to deal with edging at the treshold and also if the door is inward opening, then trim the bottom of the door. Also don't be tempted to do it with the loo and sink in place and tile round them. For a proper job, you really need to remove them, tile, then replace them. This will obviously change the height for pipework by anything up to an inch, however, most pipework will have enough 'give' to mean that no extra plumbing work is required.

Olias

Thanks for this advice.

I have had problems with leaks from my bathroom from some time. I've replaced the bath (last one was a bad design and water ran off the edges over the side), put up a glass shower screen and replaced the sealant several times. Unfortunately I'm still having problems both in the sealant 'breaking' (which is the bit my builder has suggested is due to the bath having been fitted without weighting prior to the sealant being put on) and water leaking through the tile grout (oh I've also replaced that once too though it seems to be part of the problem). It's all partly due to having a powershower but also the tiling has been on for 20 years (I think) and they do really need to be replaced.

Thanks for the advice re the flooring. The height won't be a problem as when I moved in 8 years ago I replaced the flooring (then laminate - a disaster for us) and there is a gap under the skirting boards and door, though not noticeably under the toilet and sink.

I've had a quote for replacing the wall tiling and refitting the bath but I hadn't thought about replacing the flooring at the time, so I was just exploring it. It's not very big so the tiles shouldn't cost too much, though fitting may well do.

Thanks for the help.

KellyWelly

You can buy some stuff you just paint on the tiles, I don't think it changes the look of the tiles at all, and it makes them non-slip. I was going to buy it when we had our bathroom tiled a month ago but in the end the ceramic tiles aren't actually slippery anyway. I am not sure what it's called but it was recommended to me by a bloke in Topps so maybe ask someone there?

pandora205

Thanks. I haven't even looked at tiles yet as I wanted to check it is possible on an ordinary upstairs floor first.