Thinset on Concrete

http://go.askthebuilder.com/YouTubeNews Tim Carter shares some tips for installing ceramic tile on concrete using thinset mortar.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• thinset
• thin
• set
• concrete
• mortar
• askthebuilder
• tim
• carter
• home
• house
• diy
• howto
• flooring

[lrd9999]

I assume this is reasonably old concrete. I see some comments about cracks, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned shrinkage. My understanding is that concrete shrinks for the first 30 years of its life, so if you try to tile over new concrete, you need some kind of slip-mat, floating backer-board or really flexible grout. Otherwise, you'll get that dreaded "hollow bulge" in the middle of the floor.

[AsktheBuilder]

@lrd9999 The concrete was about 8 years old. If you want to discover the *truth* about concrete shrinkage, go to my AsktheBuilder website. It's a dot com. Type: concrete shrinkage into the search engine. You'll be blown away by what you'll discover.

[speezguy]

Tim,

Great vid. Im redoing my bathroom. The shwer/toilet are seperated with a pocket door wall and the vanity is on the other side of the P/D wall. The tile in the bathroom is all the same. The vanity area tile is attached directly to the concrete with thin set but the shwr/to area has a very thin black material on the concrete under the thin set and the thin set didn't stick well at all to it. Do you know what the black material is and how to remove it? I think the bathroom was retiled in 70's

[AsktheBuilder]

@speezguy Could be hot tar. It's not easy to remove. Chip it away with a sharp chisel.

[echtconservative]

Tim,

Thanks for the video. Do you use tile spacers at all, or can one do without them?



[AsktheBuilder]

@echtconservative I've done it both ways for years. In this case, I chalked lines every three or four rows to ensure I was running straight. It's best to use a combination of spacers and chalk lines in my opinion.

[CanadianToolGuy416]

great tips TIm, keep em coming

[Reed12223]

i love your videos! and for some reason i also love when you finished applying the thinset and it made that cool pattern hahaha

[jutanat]

Thanks for vidio....^=^

[chevpowr]

ALWAYS back butter the tiles with thin set. That will make sure it is a 100% bond. Its especially important with porcelain and stone.

[feedphillipnow]

Great video! I've seen a lot of people putting down a board first and not direct to the concrete, when is that needed? I am doing a kitchen and dining area soon and would like to do it how you've done here, great method!

[thanhtran5]

Another great video!

[overlordetna2]

Thanks for the video!

[tonlo2006]

your so wonderful  thank you

[mderieux]

@speezguy hehehe....I probably shouldn't say this...but I have actually found that mineral spirits worked really good in getting it up. :)

[Solarpassive]

Tim, I made a suggestion previously. Here is another. The more parallel your lines of thin set are, the more air that can escape. The way you are doing that, there will be areas where air will not be able to escape. Try this. Take a 1 foot square of clear plastic should be sort of thick. Make your lines completely parallel and drop the tile on it. Then slide it with the lines, then against the lines. You will notice there is no air under... Try both ways and see what ya get...