In over my head! What would you Pros do?

[halliday4400]

I have recently started to remodel my upstairs bathroom. Everything is going great, until I start to work on the floor. I currently have ceramic tile down now. I was told at a home improvement store that I need to take up the old tile and then lay down some plywood. I start to pull up the tiles, not easy but its working. Then all of a sudden I remove several tiles and a big chunk of what looks like concrete comes up with the tiles and that happens to more after further attempt. I decided to stop before it got any worse. Underneath the tiles and concerts is what appears to be some kind of wire mesh?? I have no idea what to do next and could really use some help.

 

[rugaddict]

being an upstairs bath i will assume that its a wood subfloor ---from your description it sounds like an old school mud job---this was often used before cement board and basically the tile setter poured a cement slab over the bathroom floor ---the wire mesh was to strenghten the slab and to minimize cracking---this was designed for permenant installation---it aint to happy about coming up---the slab could be of various thickness--though about 3 inches was the norm ---your choices at this point is rip it all out down to the wood subfloor or using leveling compounds to level out the floor and go over it----plywood is not an option since the mud job wont hold a fastener----ripout will be a challenge---a hammer a chisel and a bad attitude would be a start---there will be flying shrapnel---protect yourself safety glasses and kevlar is a start---but hammering in a bath can have other risks---plumbing damage to start----does the mub job go under the bath/shower? proceed with caution---more info from you gets more info from us

 

[halliday4400]

Thank you for the reply rugaddict! Yea this floor is defiantly an old school mud job, it goes TILE-->CEMENT---WIRE MESH--->then finally the subfloor. Which appears to be about 2-3 inches down. It looks like the bathtub was not installed with a mud job under it and not sure about the toilet. This stuff is very hard and dangerous to get up. I was wearing gloves and safety glasses and yesterday I managed to get 5 stitches in my right middle finger, sliced me right down to the tendon. Luckily there is not a whole lot of tile and the mud job showing, most of my bath still has the old tile up. My plan was to get the old tile up, lay down a very thin piece of plywood (Lowes called it something else, can't remember) and then lay down my Peel and Stick Tile Flooring. At least they made it sound that easy. Is there anything that I can do besides ripping up the whole floor? The section that I already have ripped up is probably about 34"x40" and about two spots where the mud job started to come up. Thanks again for the advice!!

 

[havasu]

Thank you for the reply rugaddict! Yea this floor is defiantly an old school mud job, it goes TILE-->CEMENT---WIRE MESH--->then finally the subfloor. Which appears to be about 2-3 inches down. It looks like the bathtub was not installed with a mud job under it and not sure about the toilet. This stuff is very hard and dangerous to get up. I was wearing gloves and safety glasses and yesterday I managed to get 5 stitches in my right middle finger, sliced me right down to the tendon. Luckily there is not a whole lot of tile and the mud job showing, most of my bath still has the old tile up. My plan was to get the old tile up, lay down a very thin piece of plywood (Lowes called it something else, can't remember) and then lay down my Peel and Stick Tile Flooring. At least they made it sound that easy. Is there anything that I can do besides ripping up the whole floor? The section that I already have ripped up is probably about 34"x40" and about two spots where the mud job started to come up. Thanks again for the advice!!

Please tell me I am reading this incorrectly??

 

[Nick]

That is pure junk. My brother bought it one time and i made him take it back .

 

[halliday4400]

The home improvement store I go to told me that Peel and Stick tile works really good and looks good. You have any ideas that will help me and not make me feel like an idiot?????? This site helps people right havasu?

 

[havasu]

I apologize but in my humble opinion, any real tile would be way better than any peal and stick stuff you will find. That stuff pops up, slips, separates, and will lower the value of any home.

I would recommend taking it all the way down to the sub floor, then replacing with concrete backer board and a nice inexpensive real tile or my favorite, a wood plank tile. You can get very square and straight pieces for $1.89 a piece at your local big box store, and with some elbow grease, it could be installed in less than a day for less than a hundred bucks.

 

[rusty baker]

Yep, peel and stick is crap.

 

[woodguy]

Seriously? You are taking up a permanent floor to put in a floor that will last a year? Whatever for? FYI, the toilet is the first thing to be removed when working on a bathroom.

 

[Nick]

And don't forget to stuff a rag in the hole when you remove the throne .

 

[halliday4400]

Awesome!! Thank you guys for all of the good advice! I am currently down to the sub floor but still have a lot of digging to go lol...Any yes i do now agree with all of you peel and stick is just lazy and looks like crap!!

 

[highup]

I don't know if the bathroom is huge, small or average sized. One thing to keep in mind. Find out how much the total cost of material will be to do the job.
If you simply look at the cost per square foot of the material, it may seem expensive, but if you ask how much it will cost to do the room, the expensive material may not really be a big deal. Something super cheap like peel and stick might cost $60, and some high quality stuff might be $200.
In a small area like most bathrooms are, going for a quality material isn't usually a deal breaker.

 

[Incognito]

what you're tearing out sounds like a "Jersey Mud Job"

but it could be a legit mud job-----tile laid over a bed of mortar used to create the ideal substrate, level or sloped to a drain as desired

I'm generally in agreement that the peel n stick tiles are garbage but let's all not forget that this world keeps spinning and things change. Peel n Stick from 2014 is not the same as Peel n Stick from 1982. I suspect and have seen EVIDENCE than this part of our industry is changing. It's no longer your father's Peel n Stick.

 

[Ken]

what you're tearing out sounds like a "Jersey Mud Job"

but it could be a legit mud job-----tile laid over a bed of mortar used to create the ideal substrate, level or sloped to a drain as desired

I'm generally in agreement that the peel n stick tiles are garbage but let's all not forget that this world keeps spinning and things change. Peel n Stick from 2014 is not the same as Peel n Stick from 1982. I suspect and have seen EVIDENCE than this part of our industry is changing. It's no longer your father's Peel n Stick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAJ3-mbP1pY

HEY! I resemble that remark!

 

[highup]

HEY! I resemble that remark!

You asked for it Ken................ were all gonna call you mud job.

 

[Nick]

Careful High, We also make shoes out of the same material in Joisey .

 

[rugaddict]

kenny-----my muddy buddy

 

[Ken]

Lol, so wrong.

 

[halliday4400]

Ok I have my old floor tore up down to the subfloor, the store I go to mentioned that I now need to put down some plywood to raise the floor up to where the existing floor was at. My question is what kind of plywood should I use? And yes the mud job was fun tearing up hahaha

 

[highup]

Ok I have my old floor tore up down to the subfloor, the store I go to mentioned that I now need to put down some plywood to raise the floor up to where the existing floor was at. My question is what kind of plywood should I use? And yes the mud job was fun tearing up hahaha

For the finished surface, I'd get AC or what's called CCPTS........... this is a plywood with no voids under the top layer.
Cheaper grades of plywood can mean voids or delamination which need to be cut out and filled........... so you may end up "saving" $6 per sheet and then spend an hour carving out and filling the voids. No need for Marine grade, that's way overkill.
Whatever you get, look the sheets over carefully for surface quality and the edges for voids.