Floor tiles.

[Phil Pascoe]

I have heavy ceramic tiles to lay in my lounge on a solid concrete floor. Is there any insulation I can lay under them? I can't use anything remotely flexible as the wheelchair will crack the tiles. There is no way the floor is going to be cut up.

 

[Distinterior]

I've used this type of thing under tiles on a few occasions in the past Phil....

https://underfloorheating-direct.co...YLIA5sJnc4ZvvUl9Ddb3uOCmuOQZal6waAjF4EALw_wcB
On both occasions, I laid electric under floor heating cables over them prior to laying the tiles on top, but I cant see why they wouldn't work in your application to just keep your floor warmer, rather than laying your tiles directly on to the concrete sub floor.

These insulation sheets are just stuck down with a flexible floor tile adhesive, and then just tiled over in the usual way....
They have a " high compressive strength of 30 tonnes/ sq mtr"......That should cover most eventualities...

 

[RogerS]

If you do the maths and assume a wheelchair places a 10 sq cm point loading with a weight of (guessing here, Phil) 85kg then that is a point loading of 83 tons, I'm afraid.

Stick another woolie on, Phil

 

[Distinterior]

If you do the maths and assume a wheelchair places a 10 sq cm point loading with a weight of (guessing here, Phil) 85kg then that is a point loading of 83 tons, I'm afraid.

Stick another woolie on, Phil

But, surely the load will be spread across the surface of the solid bedded tiles...? Would it not...?

On one of the jobs I mentioned above that I undertook about 4 years ago, the Client had a HUGE indoor plant in a large ceramic pot sitting directly on the tiled floor......The plant and pot must have had a total weight of in excess of 400kg....The base diameter of the pot was about 450mm....That floor is still fine!.....Admittedly, as far as I'm aware, the plant was not a Triffid, so doesn't have any inclination or ability to move from its allocated resting place.....

 

[baldkev]

Hi Phil,
I cant offer a specific product, but you might want to look into marmox load bearing insulation. It is used as a thermal break at damp proof level of blockwork. I personally have no experience of it, but did stumble across it researching a quote

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The weight of the chair with me in it is > 240kg - approaching 38 stone. A relentless breaker of badly laid floor tiles.

Thanks, everyone. It's made me think of underfloor heating, as well, which I hadn't considered before.

 

[Dave Moore]

I have heavy ceramic tiles to lay in my lounge on a solid concrete floor. Is there any insulation I can lay under them? I can't use anything remotely flexible as the wheelchair will crack the tiles. There is no way the floor is going to be cut up.

Hi,
insulation boards for electric heating should be fine if laid correctly or they would still crack with element laid on them. Normally bonded to the floor and then the element bonded on top followed by the tiles. Done correctly by a good tradesman you shouldn’t have a problem And they will provide some extra insulation.
Regards,
Dave

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Had I suggested underfloor heating swmbo probably would have dismissed it out of hand, but I suggested insulation would be a good idea as the floor gets quite cold and left it at that. A couple of hours later she looks up and says wouldn't it be a good idea to put in underfloor heating at the same time?

 

[paulrbarnard]

Had I suggested underfloor heating swmbo probably would have dismissed it out of hand, but I suggested insulation would be a good idea as the floor gets quite cold and left it at that. A couple of hours later she looks up and says wouldn't it be a good idea to put in underfloor heating at the same time?

Today I’m ripping up a floor that I put laminate down on about four years ago. It’s in a bathroom and I strongly suggested tiling it at the time but no she could not be persuaded. All the problems I listed at the time came about. Now I get to replace the floor the way it should have been done in the first place, using up a valuable weekend when I could have been doing something useful. Wives are always experts and know exactly how something should be done…. They learn it from YouTube experts apparently.

Having seen me remove the toilet and skirting boards she now realises it is more than the couple of hours she anticipated.

 

[Geoff_S]

Today I’m ripping up a floor that I put laminate down on about four years ago. It’s in a bathroom and I strongly suggested tiling it at the time but no she could not be persuaded. All the problems I listed at the time came about. Now I get to replace the floor the way it should have been done in the first place, using up a valuable weekend when I could have been doing something useful. Wives are always experts and know exactly how something should be done…. They learn it from YouTube experts apparently.

Having seen me remove the toilet and skirting boards she now realises it is more than the couple of hours she anticipated.

I find that suggesting that my wife shows me how often works to my advantage.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I find that suggesting that my wife shows me how often works to my advantage.

Went there early in the relationship and it then took twice as long to remove/correct what she has done.

I personally hate painting so she does that, unless it needs doing properly

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I watched my wife doing something badly one day several years ago and thought carefully what to say as she usually bit my head off. Would you rather I watched you cock that up and make yourself a couple of hours hard work tomorrow trying to put it right or would you rather I told you what you're doing wrong? Well, I'd rather you told me what I'm doing wrong, she said. Thank you, I said, I'm not picking holes for the fun of it. From there on in she's been fine with being told.
edit - I should of course have said advised, not told.

 

[RogerS]

But, surely the load will be spread across the surface of the solid bedded tiles...? Would it not...?

That would impy a different set of the laws of physics to the ones I'm familiar with. It's a point load from the tyres. Any voids underneath and ...

 

[Distinterior]

Hence, why I stipulated solid bedded tiles...!

I bow to your knowledge of the laws of physics, but I still feel from having laid many, many square mtrs of tiles over the years, that if the tiles are laid and adhered in the correct manner, a heavy person in a wheelchair is highly unlikely to break through a tile.....!!

 

[Dave Moore]

I watched my wife doing something badly one day several years ago and thought carefully what to say as she usually bit my head off. Would you rather I watched you cock that up and make yourself a couple of hours hard work tomorrow trying to put it right or would you rather I told you what you're doing wrong? Well, I'd rather you told me what I'm doing wrong, she said. Thank you, I said, I'm not picking holes for the fun of it. From there on in she's been fine with being told.
edit - I should of course have said advised, not told.

I find I have to prove to my wife regularly that I know what I’m talking about as she doubts me. Haven’t lost a fight yet!

 

[inkyblue]

Today I’m ripping up a floor that I put laminate down on about four years ago. It’s in a bathroom and I strongly suggested tiling it at the time but no she could not be persuaded. All the problems I listed at the time came about. Now I get to replace the floor the way it should have been done in the first place, using up a valuable weekend when I could have been doing something useful. Wives are always experts and know exactly how something should be done…. They learn it from YouTube experts apparently.

Having seen me remove the toilet and skirting boards she now realises it is more than the couple of hours she anticipated.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hence, why I stipulated solid bedded tiles...!

I bow to your knowledge of the laws of physics, but I still feel from having laid many, many square mtrs of tiles over the years, that if the tiles are laid and adhered in the correct manner, a heavy person in a wheelchair is highly unlikely to break through a tile.....!!

Or even a person in a heavy wheelchair.

 

[Distinterior]

Or even a person in a heavy wheelchair.

Oops!....Sorry Phil...☺☺ No offence intended.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

None taken.. My chair is 135kg.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've decided to use these or similar -
https://underfloorheating-direct.co...YLIA5sJnc4ZvvUl9Ddb3uOCmuOQZal6waAjF4EALw_wcBand possibly putting electric underfloor heating in one room.
The existing adhesive is going to be a pig to get up, so I'm thinking to level between the patches of adhesive (far more stuck to the floor than did to the tiles) with a self levelling compound - it will be far easier than removing the adhesive, and so long as it's flat and solid for the boards to be stuck down it won't matter. Can anyone find a flaw in this approach? I can't afford top get to the end of the job and think I wish I'd done differently - it'll be done only once.