Gluesticks

How do I prepare my concrete floor for tiling?

I have removed carpet (that was glued down) from my basement's concrete floor. I removed the glue with a stripper/remover. How should I now prepare the surface for laying tile? Someone told me that I need to clean off the stripper residue with TSP. Is this correct? Do I need to mechanically scratch up the surface? Use self-leveling concrete to make a floating bed? use Ditra? Please help..

Public Comments

1. it is easy..
2. You dont need to rough it up or anything like that. If the concrete looks fairly level (no big dips, or high points) then simply give the area a good vacume to get dust off and start gluing them down, easy as that. If there is any heavy residue from the stripper i would give the floor a good mop first, but nothing to major.
3. Tile? What type of tile - Vinyl 12" x12" tile,ceramic? We need to know to help you. Clean residue off concrete & rinse & dry. For ceramic tile - You will need to lay it in a bed or thinset mortar. I would just start in a corner to see if you want to really tackle this on your own. Alignment is crucial,spacing,leveling,grouting,cleaning. This could be quite frustrating if this is your first time doing this. Just being honest. Vinyl tile 12" x12". Your floor finish must be exception quality and smoothness for this to work as tile is just adhered directly over the existing concrete. If it has any bumps,imperfections,at all they will show up right through the tile. Most basements are not finished in this high grade of troweling due to the expense of labor. * Please consider this. You also need to do a moisture test. Cut 3-4 strips of aluminum foil the full width of the foil by 12" long. Duct tape all four sides down to the concrete floor in several areas that are not close to each other. Wait 24 hrs. pull up. If you see any moisture on the floor or on the underside of the foil, then you have moisture wicking up through your concrete - This pretty much limits you to ceramic tile. Vinyl tile will eventually come loose because the glue used will not properly adhere to damp or moisture laden concrete. It's hard for me to asses your capabilities for this job, and I don't want to always discourage DYI'ers , just remember it will take time and effort to do it right. * you have to carry everything you are going to use down those basement steps. Good Luck
4. I would first make sure the area is level, if not they sell some premixed stuff called, appropriately, floor level. Lay that down where needed then use a long length of pvc 1" pipe to check for surface level by sliding it along the floor taking note where the surface needs more or less "floor level". working in 4x4ft sections, lay thin set and tile.(using spacers if you wish), if you leave a gap of more than 1/8 inch, you can use sanded colored grout, be sure to use a silicone sealer on the grout after it dries. This will insure the grout remains stain free...