Tiling onto a Victorian Solid (ish) floor in a bathroom

[JoeSheffer]

Digging up some tiles in a victorian terrance at the back of the house. The floor is solid and when i took up the existing tiles, the floor looks like it's been levelled with sharp sand etc. The tiles were laid about 10 years ago. They are not victorian.

Is this normal? Shall I just remove the adhesive and then retile over it like it was before? Or is it best practise to do something else now? Don't really understand how the whole thing stays together without some kind of mesh or something?

Any thoughts... cheers hive mind...

 

[Dee J]

The underlying material could be just about anything. 'levelled with sharp sand etc'? - so a mortar bed? a screed? But if its solid and dry then just retile. Plenty of victorian floors at the back of houses (scullery/kitchen) were quarry tile over packed sand and earth. That then gets replaced in more recent times with various attempts at damp courses (sometimes) then some sort of cement/mortar/screed. But if it works then best not disturb.

 

[JoeSheffer]

Yes i think it's some kind of weak screed underneath. It is rather sandy though!

 

[deema]

Had the same type of floor in my last house an old Chapel, it wasn’t screed, and a little digging soon got me down to the earth. Had to dig it all out and install a proper floor, hard core, sand, DPM, insulation, DPM and then concrete.

 

[JoeS]

Yes I think it's some kind of soft

Had the same type of floor in my last house an old Chapel, it wasn’t screed, and a little digging soon got me down to the earth. Had to dig it all out and install a proper floor, hard core, sand, DPM, insulation, DPM and then concrete.

Out of interest, why did you feel the need to do that? Why didn't you just leave it as is? Worried about rising damp in floor? In walls? Not trying to be snarky.

 

[deema]

Yep, didn’t want damp rising up the walls / affecting the floor.