Easy DIY Bathroom Floor
Introduction: Easy DIY Bathroom Floor
Installing Quictile for the first time was quite exciting! Long story short, we move into a new home. The home could certainly use some updates to make it feel homey to us. I didn’t want to jump into a renovation without properly planning this out. So, my first thought was to do a facelift on the bathrooms.
I wanted this to be quick, I knew if I just painted the walls and vanity, I would not be happy with the floor as is. The floor can make or break any room. I recently discovered QuicTiles, by Daltiles, a flooring tile system that is geared for time installation. It looked to be the easiest solution to experience real tiles without being a professional tile installer. This system is perfect for DIYers wanting to do the work themselves.
Supplies
Materials
Tiles
QuicTiles “Used in this project”
Daltiles “QuicTiles options”
Red Tape
Underlayment
Re-mixed urethane grout
Grout Haze Remover
Leveling the floor
Rapid set Concrete Leveler
Floor squeegee
Eggbeater mixer
1 Qt. Concrete leveler primer
Tools Used
Rotary hammer
Grinder
Universal dust shroud pro
Diamond cup disc
Trowel
Microfiber sponge
Grout float
Steel chisel
Ridgid Vacuum
Tile Speed Cutter
Pro Floor installation kit
Wet saws
Step 1: Remove the Objects in the Bathroom
I wanted the installation to be as easy as possible, so I removed everything from the space. I removed the toilet vanity, baseboard, and door trim. I am not a fan of the trim, so I will be upgrading them eventually.
Step 2: How to Remove the Tiles
Quictile can be placed over many existing flooring, tiles, concrete, vinyl floor, and even laminate, to name a few. Laying the “Quictiles” over the existing tiles was my first choice, but as I inspect the bathroom, there were too many obstacles. Going around the toilet and vanity with the tiles looked like a challenge. In another room, I would have laid this over the existing tiles to save time.
I thought it would be more efficient if I cleared this bathroom. After clearing out the room, the real challenge was taking up the tiles. The installer did a good job; “this was tough to remove.” After trying a number of tools, I made no progress until I pulled out the rotary hammer paired with a steel chisel. I started at the doorway since it was the edge of the tile; this way, I could get up under the tile and lift them. 353
Having the right tool made all the difference.
Although this didn’t seem to kick up much dust, it did! So I recommend closing off that area with plastic.
Once I had all the tiles removed, I could see I had some work ahead of me. I needed to strip this floor, removing all of the adhered thin-set. This part was labor intense. Chances are you may not have it this bad with your existing flooring.
There was a thin membrane under the thin-set, which made it nearly impossible to separate the thin-set from the floor. To tackle this, I used a grinder, a diamond cup disc, and a dust shroud pro. If you need to go to this extreme to get to the bare concrete slab, I recommend using a dust shroud and a shop vacuum. A bit of patience is required due to this constant cleaning of the vacuum filter. To put things into perspective, I dump the vacuum about seven times. In total, I took up about 9 gallons. That was not enough to fill the vacuum, but the fine dust would clog the Vaccum filter.
Step 3: Leveling the Floor
Once I got the floor stripped, I used a long level to check the floor’s leveling. I saw high and low spots that I felt needed to be addressed. Some are areas with up to a 1/4in. difference. I wanted the floor to be as leveled as possible. Leveling the entire floor can be a bit intimidating so another option is to just do a spot fill. The floor doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s best if it’s as level as possible.
To prep the floor I applied, a concrete primer using a brush.
Next, I prep the floor by taping off the areas I didn’t want the concrete leveler to go.
Finally, 2.5 bags of Rapid set Concrete Leveler were mixed per the instruction then poured on to the floor. Once poured, the leveler will begin to spread itself. 353