Laying quarry tiles on an ash floor

jonewer

Looking for some advice. We have solid brick paved floors, with the bricks apparently just lying on an ash (at least its some kind of powdery substrate.

We had to lift and discard some of the bricks in one corner of the dining room because they were too badly damaged/uneven and want to replace them with some quarry tiles which match closely enough (but are not as thick).

Question is how to do this?

I thought I should make be making a layer of concrete/cement on the ash, then laying the tiles flush with the existing floor, then grouting.

Does this sound reasonable? If so, what sort of concrete/cement should I be using?

Any pointers much welcome!

FreeBear

jonewer wrote: »

I thought I should make be making a layer of concrete/cement on the ash, then laying the tiles flush with the existing floor, then grouting.

Does this sound reasonable? If so, what sort of concrete/cement should I be using?

I'm guessing this is an old property (i.e. over 100 years old) ?

If this is the case, then you do not want to be using cement & grout for the tiles as it will push moisture in to the walls and cause problems further down the line.

I'd suggest mixing sharp sand with lime (NHL5) and bedding the tiles down on this. You may have to hunt around for lime as very few builders merchants carry it in stock. Alternatively, give Mike Wye a call https://www.mikewye.co.uk

jonewer

Thanks,

It a pretty small area so I'm not sure how worried I should be be about the damp issue.

By the way, the previous owners had put carpet and laminate over the brick floor, which caused much mysterious damp in the walls.

Once we stripped the floors we found them literally wet underneath, but within an hour or two they dried out.

I don't quite know what possesses people to put laminate over 100+ year old paved flooring....