DIY Bathroom Renovation - Tiling a floor Part 1: Preparation

I think of ceramic floor tiling projects going in four distinct phases.

Part 1: Preparation
Part 2: Laying the Tile
Part 3: Grouting
Part 4: Sealing

Each of these phases is distinct because of the timing involved. For example, you have to wait for the mortar to cure, then you have to wait for the grout to cure. But I guess that’s part of what made grouting easier for me – you have to take breaks! Can you tile a bathroom in a weekend? Probably in a long weekend. It all depends on the preparation.

So let’s get right to tackling the first phase: preparation. In some ways, this is the most important part of the process. Like many things, if you don’t start with a good foundation, your finished product is doomed. In the case of tiling, if you’ve not created a level foundation, you’ll end up with cracked tiles!

The first thing you have to find, however, is the subfloor of your space. Sometimes, like it was for us, it’s an easy process because you’re facing roll out linoleum that’s only been tacked down at the sides. Sometimes, however, you’ll face layers and layers of glued on linoleum that could take days to remove. So let me try to take you through a couple possibilities.

In a bathroom, the best way to do this is to take up everything off the floor (see my prior post on demolition). Sometimes you won’t have the option of being able to take up the vanity and you’ll have to work around that. You should, however, take up the toilet. I’m not going to lie. It’s not a pretty job. I suggest rubber gloves and lots of plastic.

First, cut off the water (there should be a cutoff valve at the back of the toilet) to the toilet and flush it so that all the water in the tank drains out of the tank. If the water is turned off completely, it shouldn’t fill up again. Then you’re going to have to disconnect the water lines from that part of the tank. You should be able to easily find those joints and unscrew them. Next comes the first yuck part: bail out as much water as you can out of the bowl. If you have a wet vac, suck it all out if you can. Trust me.

The next step is to look for the little screws at the base of the toilet near the floor. You should take off any caps that cover them, and unscrew those screws. You should be able to gently wobble the toilet at this point. Here’s the other yucky point: pull the toilet toward you and lift it from the floor. I’d suggest putting it in the bathtub if you have one close by, if not, make sure you have plastic ready to put it on. If there’s any water left in the base, it’ll slosh out now. There’s also a sticky wax ring that helps seal the toilet drain line. I usually put on rubber gloves and pull that off before I put the toilet down since you’re going to have to replace that when you put the toilet back.

If you're facing a ceramic tile floor, grab a hammer and start banging. Flat pry bars and putty knives are also helpful in getting these tiles up. Once you start breaking them up, you might have to scrape them up, but they should start coming loose.

If you have several layers of linoleum, there's a tool that looks like a flat hoe (like a garden hoe) that you can use to pry the linoleum off of the floor. It's hard work and takes time, but you need to get all those layers up. Large lip putty knives are helpful here as well.

If you are pulling up carpet, you can take a carpet blade and cut the carpet into strips and roll it as you pull it up. Sometimes carpet is only tacked down with tack strips at the edges of the floor, but sometimes people staple the heck out of the entire floor. If this is the case, make sure you pull up all the staples and vacuum up as much dirt and padding as you can get up. Ideally, you'd like a clean floor to begin.

If you're lucky, as I mentioned before, you're facing linoleum that's only glued down at the sides or is glued down in the center as well. Just start pulling that up and scrape up the bits that are left with the glue on the floor.

So is your floor as clean and flat as you can get it? Great! It's time to lay the backer board. First, measure your space so you know how much to get. You might have to cut it and lay it out like a puzzle.

Concrete backer board can be found at your local home improvement store. It can be found in several thicknesses and is very heavy. When you're buying it, think about where your sub floor is in relation to the flooring you'll connect to at the threshold of the room. We opted for very thin board. I highly recommend talking to someone in that department about your project and getting their recommendations as well. While you're there, grab some screws - they make special ones for this purpose that are usually located close to the backer board. Ask if you don't see them because the type of screw is important. If they don't lay flat, you've got trouble. We also grabbed a circular saw blade that was tough enough to cut through the board. Remember, it really is like concrete, so you'll need a tough blade.

If you're a do as you go person (my family is bad about this), you can just lay the board as you go. If you like to prepare, however, you can lay out all the boards to make sure they fit, and then begin screwing them into the floor. Make sure that you keep a level handy as you screw the boards into the floor. It's very important that you keep these boards level with each other. You can help keep them level by screwing the high places tighter and the low places looser.

So your old flooring has been taken up, your backer board has been laid and is level. You're ready for the next step. And you probably need a break. Take it. The next step can wear you out!