Q Re: putting cement sheet on yellow tongue for tiles

After some opinions please

We have yellow tongue throughout our house, as our house is raised. We will be getting 19mm solid timber flooring throughout main areas and tiles in wet areas. We would like to keep the levels of the flooring as even as possible so were thinking that we would put 6mm cement sheet down, and then 4mm cement sheet. This plus tile height makes 18mm. Add glue etc to both timber and tiles and they both should be roughly the same height - Does this sound right?

Also, when putting the cement sheet down on the yellow tongue should we use glue (as well as screws obviously)? And if so, what type? Liquid nail which is quite rigid or something flexible?

Actually, thinking about it - if we use glue to put the cement sheet on the yellow tongue and also between the two layers of cement sheet than maybe we should use two 4mm cement sheets

There's a 9mm tile underlay at the plaster shop, but he said around $100 a sheet and we'd need 8 - I dont want to pay that

Open to suggestions

I remember Kyton using yellow tongue somewhere in her build. Maybe search her thread if no-one comes up with anything.

Yep we just used yellow tongue but not in our house. In the chicken coop.

Sorry, got my wires crossed! I knew you'd used it somewhere!

Yeah, project builders mainly build on slabs so yellow tongue flooring isnt typical anymore

Yep yellow and green tongue in the coop. Was painful - ended up taking out the "tongues"

Mate just re tiled his bathroom and used cement sheeting screwed through the floorboards, no glue.

He used 6mm Aqua check.

I seem to remember him saying he had 10mm thick tiles though. seems a bit thick from memory

You'll end up with a 18mm alright, but it will be dead flat. How do you get the fall to the shower waste and floor waste?. A slight leak from the shower, toilet overflow, vanity overflow will end up running down the hallway. Also, you'll need a core drill to drill thru the FC sheets to get to the waste

Here's what you do:

1. Waterproof by someone who knows what they are doing. If you screw this up, you will WRECK your house. The yellow tougue will soak up water like a sponge and it will travel from board-to-board until you fall thru a hole one day. A waterproofer will cost you about $300. If you DIY, the materials will cost you at least $150 anyway.
2. Sand and cement bed for the tiles to be glued on. This will give you falls to the shower and floor waste.
3. Glue tiles to floor and grout.
4. Most important - GET A TILER,

Paul

There is no floor waste and the shower is dropped down. And who said we're not getting a tiler or water proofer?

So basically, in response to my question your answer is dont put anything down, let the tiler put a sand and cement bed.




Thanks chrisandkate, Ill look in to it

A floor waste is mandatory and also smart. (Imagine: Child,plug in vanity, turn on tap, shrug and walk away - where doe the water go?) Do it now before you have to pull up the bathroom floor and do it later. The council will have to approve the waterproofing - they'll pick it up.

And yes, sand and cement is the way to do it.

A floor waste isnt mandatory, or common. Thanks for the advice but Im happy not to have one. I havent had any problems so far and on the rare chance I do than I have no-one to blame but myself.

Can I put down one layer of cement sheet, and have the tiler sand and cement over that?

Builder Paul - wastes aren't mandatory in Vic unlike other states. Personally I wouldn't be without them in any wet area but Victorians seem to be happy to go ahead without them.

You are delusional not having a floor waste. The stupid thing is that you must have one in a multi-unit dwelling, but dont in a single dwelling. The implication of this logic is that it's OK for your place to be flooded, but not the unit next door.

I still don't see why you want to put down the FC sheets. Just waterproof and tile, used the money saved to put in the floor waste.

I, along with other Victorians, are happy to be delusional then

Thanks for the input

@BuilderPaul,

I have lived in Victoria my whole life and the only time I ever saw a situation where a floor waste would have helped is is my childhood home where the washing machine let go and flooded the laundry and part hall way.

That house was built in 1974. Was it mandatory to have floor wastes in other states then?

I (along with lots of other people) understand the attraction of a floor waste and even a full wet bathroom, but they are just not that common in single story homes here and lots of time people overlook them as they aren't used to them.

In 50 years I've never had a floor waste and have never had a problem.

Bam, to answer your question, our FC sheets were nailed to our floorboards in the old place (and a bugger to get up when we re-tiled ). I can't tell you the type of nail, but they're the kind with big flat heads.

Hi Bam,
No idea about how to help you unfortunately, but could you tell me about this 9mm tile underlay? What is it made of and how do you attach it to the slab (if it can be used for concrete)? Thanks

Thank you Kek From what Ive researched, it seems pretty common to put FC down first so thats what we'll do



Lex, I cant really give much more info than that as he told me to go back when the boss was there. It was a Boral plaster place if that helps at all?

Yep, it's standard on floorboards/yellowtongue. That way you can easily remove tiles if you ever want to replace them without damaging the flooring.

I remember when we renovated, we parked our wheelbarrow in the house and used a wrecking bar, claw hammer and huge screwdriver to get the old tiles out. The pine floorboards survived quite intact.

Hey Bam, as others have stated I would be putting cement sheets in preference over sand/cement over your yellow tounge. This is fairly comman at bunnings. However I am not quite sure what the thickness is. Also it is important to nail this not screw it. You will need to use flat head nails. This is better over sand and cement since timber moves sand and cement is more likely to crack in my opinion. Once cement sheet is down you need to waterproof as you plan to do. This Is simply how they used to do tiling in a house that is built on stumps. WHile it is not coman now it use to be.

If I am not mistaken when they used to use sand and cement they also use to use a layer of light grade mesh to hold it all together. I must admit I havent seen it for a while (in the shops that is)