www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Is it possible to tile directly onto asphalt? The finish is reasonably hard but there is some very subtle movement.

Hi wadge, there is a lot of conflicting information regarding this but most of it is confused with the softer roofing grade asphalt which is intended to be soft so it deforms with temperature changes.

Internal flooring grade asphalt needs to be sound to be used as a suitable substrate for tiling. How much movement do you have?

The surface must be clean and before tiling should be cleaned with a degreaser which itself then should be removed to prevent contamination of the adhesive bonding application.

When laying your tiles, they should be layed on an even bed of a powdered cementitious adhesive.

Asphalt is not the strongest of surfaces and an even bed of tile adhesive should be used. Varying thickness' of adhesive can cause stresses to build up which can result in differential movement and ultimately failure of the tiling.

Alternatively a reinforced decoupling matting system can be used. In this situation a polymer modified adhesive should be used.

Use a water based adhesive. An oil based adhesive will soften the asphalt.

A thought, why would anyone have an asphalt floor in a house?

Mooncat wrote:A thought, why would anyone have an asphalt floor in a house?

Years ago, they used to lay a concrete floor with no dpc under it. Eventually the dampness rises through it and it becomes damp.

You can get asphalt poured onto the concrete, they bring it on a large wagon and heat it up, pour it into metal buckets and then pour it ontop of the concrete and then float it off to a flat finish.

I had a living room and kitchen done a few years back, it certainly stops the damp. You can only really have asphalting done if the house is empty as it fills the place with fumes.

Mooncat wrote:A thought, why would anyone have an asphalt floor in a house?

My kitchen floor in the last house was exactly how UHM describes, previous occupier did it as a means to stop the damp

Think I'll stick with lino then! Was only thinking of tiling on to the asphalt to use up some tiles I have knocking around.

The house will be rented out so probably better in the long term.

wadge wrote:Think I'll stick with lino then! Was only thinking of tiling on to the asphalt to use up some tiles I have knocking around.

The house will be rented out so probably better in the long term.

You wouldn't happen to have a couple of Opera border tiles knocking about by any chance? See my recent post, I need 'em!

Sorry MC, only some B&Q cream floor tiles!