Replacing Bathroom Carpet with Tiles

rich_g85 · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:11

Hi all,
Just wanted to gain the opinion of a wider audience than just the people I sit with at work.

I want to replace my bathroom carpet with tiles and have been quoted 1 day's labour at £120/day. Firstly, is this reasonable? Have also been told that because I have a chipboard floor (house built 2005), he will first need to lay plywood underneath to stop it all moving about and cracking - sound right?

Also, on a slightly different note. The bathroom suite is white, but I'm not sure whether white tiles would look odd, or whether I'd be better contrasting the suite with something like slate/dark tiles.

Your thoughts?

Rich

Bennie-Mac · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:19

Slate tiles or a grey colour would go nicely, id definately be contasting though if it was my choice (although my ensuite has white tiles on the floor and walls and it looks fine. Have to brush them more often though as they show up the dust/pubes more

)

£120 sounds very reasonable for the labour, it can be a real pain cutting all the tiles to fit yourself. Not sure about the plywood boards underneath but it sounds sensible to me!

Skii · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:19

rich_g85 said:
Hi all,
Just wanted to gain the opinion of a wider audience than just the people I sit with at work.

I want to replace my bathroom carpet with tiles and have been quoted 1 day's labour at £120/day. Firstly, is this reasonable? Have also been told that because I have a chipboard floor (house built 2005), he will first need to lay plywood underneath to stop it all moving about and cracking - sound right?

Also, on a slightly different note. The bathroom suite is white, but I'm not sure whether white tiles would look odd, or whether I'd be better contrasting the suite with something like slate/dark tiles.

Your thoughts?

Rich

Stone tiles on a chipboard floor is asking for trouble as any flex in the floor will cause them to move and crumble , i'm not saying its not possible, but if he's recommended re-inforcing the floor to do this there is probably a good reason for this.

The other option is to lay either Vinyl tiles or laminate with a tile effect (which I have in my kitchen and looks pretty good)

Slate is a pretty good contrast with a white bathroom

Biohazard · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:22

^ agreed.

However, you can (read should) PVA the chipboard, and you can also secure it down severly.

I've only had one tile shift in my bathroom flooring that I done, and only because I couldn't be bothered fixing the toilet down and the weight shifted.

danny_mac · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:30

Do not use chipboard. Use Cement Particle Board correctly fixed( Commonly known as CPB ). CPB will not expend / detract as much as chipboard / ply through the different seasons which will leave you with cracking grout / tiles.

Also use a flexible adhesive & grout, we use Ardex but its top quality building stuff, maybe BAL stuff for an ordianary bathroom.

NEVER apply PVC to wood and then tile.

Sankari · 31 Mar 2009 at 14:53

I considered ceramic tiles for our bathroom, but even with CPB I didn't want to risk it.

Ended up laying cork tiles over hardboard instead - and I'm glad I did, because the floor has been flexing like a bodybuilder's nipple! :eek:

rich_g85 · 31 Mar 2009 at 15:34

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll crack on and get the carpet ripped out tonight!

998cc · 31 Mar 2009 at 15:45

House was built in 2005 and has a carpeted bathroom?

Carpets in bathrooms dont make sense, especially on modern builds.

Jono · 31 Mar 2009 at 16:12

danny_mac said:
NEVER apply PVC to wood and then tile.

Why not?

Serious question - I'd quite like to put tiles in my bathroom in my new house (or maybe i'll settle for good quality mock tile vinyl) when I buy it.

Sankari · 31 Mar 2009 at 16:22

C.P said:
House was built in 2005 and has a carpeted bathroom?

Carpets in bathrooms dont make sense, especially on modern builds.

This. Especially when you have a loo in the bathroom. :eek:

Malt_Vinegar · 31 Mar 2009 at 17:03

I treated my chipboard floow with a PVA/water mix. It sealed it off beautifully. I then laid vinyl tiles myself. Much cheaper, easier to fit, and not quite so darn cold either

Sankari · 31 Mar 2009 at 17:40

I used a PVA/water mix for my cork tiles. Worked nicely, but the hardboard buckled after a few weeks, leaving ripples in the cork. I blame the dodgy floorboards, which are pre war vintage.

Reality|Bites · 31 Mar 2009 at 18:06

ewww you have carpet in your bathroom lol

Does it not stink/have stains around the toilet?

rich_g85 · 31 Mar 2009 at 18:08

Reality|Bites said:
ewww you have carpet in your bathroom lol

Does it not stink/have stains around the toilet?

No.

Participant · 31 Mar 2009 at 18:35

Reality|Bites said:
ewww you have carpet in your bathroom lol

Does it not stink/have stains around the toilet?

Mine did, it's iunevitable even if you say no unless you *never* miss in which case you must **** like a girl

. Carpets in the bathroom are disgusting and just wrong.

We've just had our bathroom and kitchen tiled (looks superb). The bathroom tiles are a sort of creamy colour with grey flecks, with white on the walls. It took him two days (not solid but calendar-wise) as he wanted to let the adhesive go off before grouting.