How to deal with uneven floor before tiling?

mymattcarroll

We are replacing our old tiles with new ones after a kitchen replacement. In the area where the level is the old tiles were cracked. It seems the floor is quite uneven in this area. I'm not sure if the image of the level on the floor conveys the issue well enough. Can supply more photos from different angles if it would help. We have covered the kitchen area with 6mm tile underlay and planned on continuing the tiles underlay into the dining and living areas before tiling the entire area (roughly 80m2 total). Should I attempt to even out the yellow toungue flooring before continuing with the underlay or should I put the underlay down first and then deal with the unevenness? Also, what products/methods would you recommend to get the floor even before tiling? We are attempting to do as much as possible ourselves before hiring a tiler.

JacobZ

Hi @mymattcarroll,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

It looks like there is a hump in the yellow tongue, so you will need to remove some material to reduce the height. You should try and sort out the levels before continuing to lay the underlay as at this stage in the project, it will be much easier to fix the unevenness than it would be later down the line.

The easiest way to reduce the height is to remove the yellow tongue board and plane back the frame beneath. This can be done with an electric planer.

Start by measuring the difference in height between the yellow tongue sheets before unscrewing and lifting them. This will give you an indication of roughly how much material you need to remove. 

Place the level on the high spot, adjust it till it is level and then measure the gap beneath the end. Looking at the level in the third photo, it looks like you'll need to remove around 6mm from the hump in the frame.

Repeat this process for any other high spots that you find.

You might like to have a read of How To Level a Subfloor for some guidance.

Let me know if you have any further questions, I'm happy to assist further if required.

Jacob