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Hi all

I'm planning on tiling from my kitchen through to my hallway (I am not having a door, just the door opening). I am having underfloor heating in the kitchen which will raise the level by 5mm.

My tiler said to get 5mm hardboard and screw it down into the concrete floor in the hallway to make both surfaces level to tile on.

Is this my only option? If it is, is there another way of affixing the hardboard to the floor other than using concrete screws?

I'm renovating a house to move into and my budget is pretty low now so dont want to spend more than I have to. Any advice will be gratefully received.

Cheers

no it's not your only option. are your floors that far out? if your concrete floors are just a few mm out then you could always mix up some Latex self levelling compound and pour it in with a gentle trowel smoothing out.

unless you own an SDS drill you will find it rather hard to drill the concrete floor anyway.

Thanks for the welcome.

I've read about latex leveling. My tiler was going to tile in a day and grout the next. By using the latex will I not have to do the kitchen first and then latex the hall otherwise wont the latex run into the kitchen? (As I'm typing this I just thought I could use some wood to block the run through the doorway)

I've been reading since my original post. Could he not just use a trowel with deeper notches, say 10mm deep? This would give a thicker layer of addy. This would obviously save me money but if its not the right thing to do then I wont. By the way my tiles are 30cm x 30cm ceramic tiles.

Thanks again

Sorry forgot to say. My floors are level but the laying of the heated mats will make them 5mm out

sorry i thought you meant your floors were out of level to start with. block it with a wooden strip then but read the instructions 1st because for 5mm you need a certain one.

forget trying to get him to trowel it different, it will take him so much longer it will cost you at least another days labour.

your quickest, cheapest and most level method is latex. if you are not confident enough to do that then i would use "Hardi backer" or similar, not hard board, but that will cost you a lot more than latex.

Do NOT use hardboard. The correct way to do the job is thus:
Sweep & prime floor with a tilers primer, not pva.
Fix 6mm cement based tile backer board to hall, using cement based adhesive.
Fix UFH cable to kitchen floor. You should use some duct tape to help stick the mat down else it will float in the levelling compound.
Mix and pour flexible levelling compound to match level of hall floor.
Tile with flexible cement based adhesive.
Grout with flexible grout.
Remember to leave a movement joint around the perimeter of all the tiling and one across the doorway. Follow the manufacturers instructions re conditioning the heating.
Once you've boarded, the hall floor will be about 8mm higher than the kitchen. The calculation for the levelling compound is
1.7 x thickness x area so if your kitchen floor is 10 sq mtrs, you will need 1.7 x 8 x 10 = 136kgs, 6 no. 25kg bags.
Check clearance under front and back doors before you start work!

Why will the hall floor be 8mm higher if you have levelled the kitchen to the hall after putting down the 6mm backer.

If you tiler is suggesting hardboard... then get another tiler!

if you are on a budget you wont go for underfloor heating
electric underfloor heating costs around 4 times as much to heat the room
over normal gas central heating in use twice a day unless you have very very well insulated rooms that hold the heat without draughts

philrab66 wrote:Why will the hall floor be 8mm higher if you have levelled the kitchen to the hall after putting down the 6mm backer.

Sorry I wasnt clearer. The hall is boarded first, 6mm backer board plus about 2mm adhesive to stick it down making 8mm. Then you level the kitchen up to the hall level.

big-all wrote:if you are on a budget you wont go for underfloor heating
electric underfloor heating costs around 4 times as much to heat the room
over normal gas central heating in use twice a day unless you have very very well insulated rooms that hold the heat without draughts

My thoughts as well. I wouldn't bother with the under floor heating

Rookery wrote:

philrab66 wrote:Why will the hall floor be 8mm higher if you have levelled the kitchen to the hall after putting down the 6mm backer.

Sorry I wasnt clearer. The hall is boarded first, 6mm backer board plus about 2mm adhesive to stick it down making 8mm. Then you level the kitchen up to the hall level.

Thanks for the clearer explanation nice to hear how to do it properly. I have never used the self levelling compound when a few times I should have. Just built it up with adhesive cost a fortune and tiles sound hollow, needs ripping up and doing again. If the floor was out say an inch would you use self levelling or something else.?

philrab66 wrote:

Rookery wrote:

philrab66 wrote:Why will the hall floor be 8mm higher if you have levelled the kitchen to the hall after putting down the 6mm backer.

Sorry I wasnt clearer. The hall is boarded first, 6mm backer board plus about 2mm adhesive to stick it down making 8mm. Then you level the kitchen up to the hall level.

Thanks for the clearer explanation nice to hear how to do it properly. I have never used the self levelling compound when a few times I should have. Just built it up with adhesive cost a fortune and tiles sound hollow, needs ripping up and doing again. If the floor was out say an inch would you use self levelling or something else.?

It would depend on the area, obstructions, no. of rooms, time available etc. If you're 25mm out you could fix a backer board to reduce the amount of slc. I would never attempt a floor that wasn't reasonable flat. The BS is no greater than +/- 3mm under a 2mtr straight edge and its this for a reason.

Hi everyone.

Sorry for not thanking you all earlier.
I went with the SLC in the end. Laid/poured it myself and feathered it out into the hallway.
Tiler has been in and the floor looks great.
Thx everyone for your advice.

Just wanted to say about my budget; it was a budget for renovating the house, not the running costs.

Simon