Make Your Home Repair Successful With Right Floor Tiling!

floor repairFacing problem with the floor tiles? Have they become loose and in need of floor repair? Floor repair can give the floor a new look again.

Finding out the reason for the problem can make your home repair project easy and successful.

The possible reasons for the tiles to become loose from the floor at once could be either the failure of the mortar fixing the tiles to the floor or the floor itself is loosening.

To determine the right reason to loose tiles, basically check the sub-floor for its thickness in a heavy traffic area, where the loose tiles generally occur. Employ a hand saw to determine the thickness. Cut a small piece of the tile to recognize the floor edge.

As a rule, the fixing of tile on a sub-floor needs to be not less than one-inch thickness to have a proper support. If the thickness is less than one inch, then consider floor repair. This process is time-consuming and most expensive. Fixing the problem needs to remove all the tiles on the floor, make the sub-floor about one-inch thick and re-tile the floor with new tiles.

Floor Repair – Step-By-Step Procedure:

Step 1: Start the floor repair by removing the loose tiles carefully using a pry bar. It is a good idea to re-use the loose tiles as much as possible, but it may have a strong coating of mortar on its back side. This can make the re-use of tile impossible. So, it’s better to have an additional supply of tiles.

Step 2: Once you complete removing the tiles, scour the mortar from the sub-floor and fill up and level the sub floor with the dust and wreckage.

Step 3: Lay the new tile using a thin-set mortar. For a better bonding of tiles to the floor, use a mortar with an acrylic or latex additive. Instead, add a liquid acrylic to the thin set mortar substituting plain water.

Step 4: Mix the powdered form of mortar with about a gallon of water using a paddle mixer powered by means of an electric drill.

Step 5: Leave the mixture aside for about 2-3 minutes. Remix the mixture thoroughly before using. The thin-set mortar can be a fast setting, so use the mixture as fastly as possible. If you need more time to work with, then consider other thin-set mortars. It requires 1-2 days for a regular setting mortar to set before grouting.

Step 6: Start replacing the new tile. Holding the straight edge of a quarter-inch notch trowel at a thirty-degree angle to the floor surface, apply the mortar evenly by pressing it tightly contacting it with the floor surface.

Step 7: Twist the same trowel and move on the surface with the notched edge to make lines in order to have the same thickness to set the level floor.

Step 8: Place the tile on the floor in a right position and turn it backward and forward for a while to make a strong bond between the tile and the floor. Cut the tiles properly at the edges to fix it in the corners.

Step 9: Using a water-cooled tile saw, sprinkle water on the tile so that the tile becomes cool and free from cracking.

Step 10: To ensure the firm contact of tiles to the floor, hit the tiles gently on the floor using a mallet.

Step 11: Start grouting after leaving the thin-set mortar to dry for two days. However, for fast-setting mortar, start grouting within two hours.

Step 12: With the help of float, grout strongly into the joints of the tiles. As the grout has to fill the space from the bottom, apply more pressure for grouting. Using the float tip at forty-five degrees, rub the front of the tile diagonally. It protects digging the grout drop out.

Step 13: Once the grout gets firm, clean the tiles thoroughly using a wet sponge to remove the excess from the exterior of the tiles. Clean the tiles by changing the water repeatedly. After 3-4 cleanings, rub the tile with a fresh dry cloth.

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