Tiling An Old Cement Basement Floor

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.

Tiling an old cement basement floor.

Mop the entire floor area of your basement as any dirt or dust is a potential hazard to the success of your tiling job. Yet this application does make sense since concrete is heavy solid and is typically thought of as an unbending uncompromising material. So tile is not a cheap flooring option unless you are doing the work yourself. Remove dusts and debris with a vacuum cleaner and a broom.

One of the first steps in refinishing a basement or turning a garage into a usable room is to put down a new floor. 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. Remove stubborn dust and dirt with a mop soaked in a solution of bleach and water. If the basement slab has large cracks especially cracks that move it s a good idea to install an uncoupling membrane under the tile.

Concrete floors are durable and easy to clean but not very attractive. Things are slowly coming back together. Work the chisel under the tiles forcing them loose. Self leveling underlayment products can be used on concrete floors wood subfloors that are uneven but still in decent shape and even over ceramic tile floors eliminating the task of tearing.

After mopping allow your concrete basement floor to completely dry. Note stop complaining about the tiles not being buttered. 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. Start at a broken tile or between tiles where the grout has loosened.

Strike the face of stubborn tiles to break them up for easier removal. Use a 3 4 or 1 in. Work the chisel between the tiles and the concrete hammering them up with 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.

Installing tile directly on concrete. The tiling has begun. For ceramic tile nail cement boards to the concrete floor with concrete nails so they won t move then apply mastic tile and grout. Fortunately tiling a basement floor isn t much different from any other floor in the house.

Lots of tiling work shown.