Tiling An Old Cement Basement Floor

Strike the face of stubborn tiles to break them up for easier removal.

Tiling an old cement basement floor.

Fortunately tiling a basement floor isn t much different from any other floor in the house. Installing tile directly on concrete. If the basement slab has large cracks especially cracks that move it s a good idea to install an uncoupling membrane under the tile. Mop the entire floor area of your basement as any dirt or dust is a potential hazard to the success of your tiling job.

So tile is not a cheap flooring option unless you are doing the work yourself. Masonry chisel and a 2 lb. Installing a tile floor in all or part of your basement lets you have some fun with design while still quickly covering up existing concrete floors. Ceramic and porcelain tile are so frequently installed at or above grade level on a cement board underlayment or directly on plywood that it almost seems novel to install tile directly on concrete.

One of the first steps in refinishing a basement or turning a garage into a usable room is to put down a new floor. Work the chisel between the tiles and the concrete hammering them up with a 2 lb. Remove stubborn dust and dirt with a mop soaked in a solution of bleach and water. Use a 3 4 or 1 in.

Push air bubbles out to the edge with a j roller or the edge of a grout float. If you feel that despite all precautions the basement floor may get wet put down 2 by 4 inch sleepers cover with plastic and then install the plywood as the subfloor. After mopping allow your concrete basement floor to completely dry. For ceramic tile nail cement boards to the concrete floor with concrete nails so they won t move then apply mastic tile and grout.

Lots of tiling work shown. That old basement floor with the crumbling vinyl tile may look hopeless but with a little scraping and a few strips of crack isolation membrane you can turn it into a perfect base for new ceramic tile. Remove dusts and debris with a vacuum cleaner and a broom. Things are slowly coming back together.

Note stop complaining about the tiles not being buttered. Tile is available in many different sizes and styles and the price range is equally broad. Yet this application does make sense since concrete is heavy solid and is typically thought of as an unbending uncompromising material. Start at a broken tile or between tiles where the grout has loosened.

The tiling has begun.