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sparklebread

Hex tile down but floor does not appear to be level

sparklebread
11 years ago

Oh dear! Tile was put down today, but it appears as if the floor is not level. I thought maybe it was an optical illusion, but I believe the level tells me otherwise. I called our GC who will be out tomorrow morning to take peek before the subs get here to grout. Any advice as to how I should proceed?

Comments (7)

  • sparklebread
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Pic 2

  • MongoCT
    11 years ago

    Had you wanted the floor leveled it's certainly something that should have been addressed prior to the tile going down.

    Your level looks quite short, and the deviation on your level is a full bubble, which is significant. I'd flip the level end-for-end just to make sure the level is accurate.

    To level the floor, it'll be thicker around the toilet flange. Make sure that detail is thought out beforehand if you rip out, level, and retile.

    How to proceed? Depends on what you want to do. If you want a level floor, it's a rip out, level, and retile. If you can live with what you have, go ahead and grout.

    As far as keeping it "as is", the slope will have to be accounted for during the installation of any new cabinetry, wall tiling, etc. But that's common today when remodeling.

  • threeapples
    11 years ago

    sparklebread, this would drive me nuts! if your house is a very old one it would not bother me, but otherwise it would. i'm sorry you are dealing with this (trust me, i completely understand and sympathize with your situation).

  • sparklebread
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Mongoct- thank you for your response. It is a tiny little level!-long metal one tells the same unfortunate story. Our GC noted the floor was not level and asked the tile setters to do something about it before they set the tile. They spread self leveling compound in the corner but maybe not far enough out into the center of the room. (?) The slope in the floor bothers me and I want it to be right, so I will ask for it to be removed, fixed and replaced. Not loking forward to that ordeal. Your feedback gives me the confidence I need to address this in the morning. Thanks again.

  • sparklebread
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    threeapples~I have been reading all about your pain, and I have no idea how you can deal with all that, especially so close to the holidays! Everyone tells me these are just hiccups and all this will be a blur once everything is complete. Let's hope they are right! :-)

  • MongoCT
    11 years ago

    Knowing that you want it level and your GC addressed that issue to the tilers, sure, plow ahead.

    Just a few things to be aware of:

    From the photo, as is, your floor slopes "downhill" from left-to-right.

    Let's say for example that the SLC will go from zero thickness on the left wall to 1/2" thickness on the right wall. At the doorway you were standing in when you took the photo, you'll have a "step up" from the hallway into the bathroom, plus the height of the threshold could be uneven, for example, it could be 1/4" high at the left edge of the door and 3/8" high on the right side.

    Again, those numbers are made up and are simply for illustrative purposes.

    They'll be able to use a level or a laser to mark out the amount of slope across the floor. That will help you gauge how much of an issue the SLC pour will be.

    The toilet flange: You could end up with a 1/2
    deep ring of SLC around the flange. So the flange may have to be raised. Or use a waxless ring when the toilet is reset. But make sure that's addressed ahead of time. Or at least thought about. Don't let them leave the flange well below the height of the tile and simply stack two wax rings.

    It does look like they might have SLC'd the right side of the room, or at least the back right corner.

    For pouring a room full of SLC, it will go wherever it can flow to. So they'll need to dam up everything. The doorway, the toilet flange, the wall-to-floor intersections. It's especially important in old construction. You never know where those seemingly small black holes lead to.

  • sparklebread
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Just a follow up~ GC came out this morning with a monster size set of levels and agreed the issue needs to be adressed and rectified before any further work is done. He was thankful we brought it to his attention right away. I rolled a marble across the floor and you could actually see it travel across the dips. It looks like the small mosaic just bent with the slope of the floor and we had a roller coaster thing going on in there.

    Mongoct- Special thanks about the toilet flange. Never hurts to be proactive!