The original post: /r/diy by /u/Meat_Sandwiches on 2024-11-09 20:46:56.

Had some plumbing work that involved jack hammering up my foundation. Now it’s time to fix the tile. Relatively small area that I want to attempt myself but I have no tiling experience. Did some research and was just looking for confirmation that my method will be correct or any advice someone wants to provide. Some pictures for reference. Note - the plumber who replaced the concrete said he intentionally left it a bit lower and that during the tiling process it should be handled to bring it level. I tried to include two pictures of the height difference, I know it can be difficult to tell from pictures.

General plan:

  1. Use metal floor scraper to get up any old mortar and general gunk. Sweep/vacuum/clean up the space.
  2. Chip away high spots of concrete
  3. Roll on concrete primer
  4. Apply self-leveling compound to try and get it even. Some areas look to be close to ~0.5" difference but I think that is fine for self-leveling? I have read that using a spiked roller brush is best practice during this.
  5. Dry lay the new tile - make appropriate cuts around the rough end/any tiles that need to be cut to fit their space. From my understanding, around a 5mm gap between tiles should be left for the grout line.
  6. Lay the mortar. A little confused on what type to use - these are 12"x12" porcelain tiles going straight on concrete. Haven’t been to the store yet to look at materials but I’m assuming by reading the bags it should be easy to determine correct product
  7. Lay tile and use tile spacers.
  8. Fill in grout lines.

Tool list I’m thinking I’ll need: Metal floor scraper, spiked roller brush, mortar trowel with flat and grooved edges, drill mixer, tile spacers (any recommendations?), sponge/buckets.

Thanks for any information you can provide