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Laundry refresh

Hi,

I’m hoping for a bit of direction with regards to floor prep and waterproofing before I re-tile my laundry so I don’t continue to feel like I’m living in a 70s house.

I have removed my floor and started to remove my skirting tiles and found a couple of issues.

Firstly it appears I have mildew/mould in the top layer as you can see from the photos which I will firstly try remove with a vinegar based mixture (them move to bleach if required).

Secondly, my subfloor appears to be a sand based screed which has a few chunks missing after removing tiles. Is it recommended that this layer be removed and replaced with a newer stronger layer or could a levelling system be used once all loose sand removed (in prep for next stage)?

Thirdly, with my walls where skirting tiles have been removed, bits of the plaster have come off the wall exposing brickwork. Rather than just patching with a filler, I assume that new cement will need to be applied?

With regards to waterproofing systems, i am aware of some systems overseas such as the Schluter ditra membrane system (which doesn’t appear very common here in aus) but rather here we seem to commonly use liquid based systems. What is the best type of system to waterproof my Laundry that won’t break the bank but be effective (as much as possible living in a suburb where moisture is an issue)? In WA do you need to have it professionally done or can it be done by on the basis if it meets AS3740? Any recommendations would be appreciated 🙂

Thanks 🙂

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Jason

Hi @CeeBee,

Looking forward to seeing what you can achieve with your laundry renovation. It's great that you could join us here at Workshop and share your project.

Let me tag a some experienced members in @ProjectPete, @redracer01, @LePallet and @gippslandhome who might like to kick off the waterproofing discussion.

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the Workshop site.

Thanks again,

Jason

Shane

Make sure you kill all the mould spores otherwise the mould will come back. https://www.bunnings.com.au/flood-1l-mould-action-prewash-paint-stripper_p1562213

CeeBee

Thanks @Shane for posting about that product. It appears on much closer inspection that the dark spots may in fact be remnants of the previous tiling job as is only on the top layer and matches the dark tile adhesive as seen in the picture. Could I be correct? I also did a vinegar wash on a small test patch which just “enriched” the colours 🙂

Shane

Is there any evidence of water damage anywhere @CeeBee? Did you have mould in the bathroom?

CeeBee

Hi @Shane, sorry for the delayed response. Turned out as a no for mould on the floor so all safe in that sense and ready for next step. Yay for one positive!

I was planning on levelling with Dunlop multi purpose leveller which I have bought but after someone further contemplation just thought to ask opinions on whether it will intact be necessary if most of the floor has existing tile adhesive (that can’t be removed) is present and and only small holes exist so the level could be evened and holes filled with extra tile adhesive (after waterproofing)? I am also considering the gradients I need to keep. Opinions would be great 🙂

On another note, I thought I would share my pain of the ‘toilet removal’ with the world for a laugh/cringe moment where I tried to lift to enable me to tile under (due to not wanting to try cut tiles around toilet which I too read is better practice?) and due to my house being built in the 70s it had an epic amount of concrete holding the pan down and over/around all the bolt so could not be lifted. All in all this happened...

New toilet it is!

Jason

@gippslandhome

Anything you can add to this discussion to assist @CeeBee?

Many thanks,

Jason

gippslandhome

Thank you @Jason for tagging me into the discussion.

Hi @CeeBee .

Thank you for your description.

As a waterproofer and a tiler their are a couple of things to consider.

I have a question about the picture in regards the substrate. It looks very sandy. If you get a screwdriver and scrape the floor does it look like the substrate is sandy or soft?

If so remove substrate and install new.

If not my next suggestion would be to do all your floor prep eg leveling, grinding ECT before waterproofing.

If you do it the other way around you will face two problems. 1- You will use way to much waterproofing trying to get a proper coat as you will be filling up the hollows in the floor

And 2- All the pointy and unevenness will create an issue when you walk over your waterproofing later on. Your shoes will rub at the waterproofing and cause failure of the waterproofing.

My real main concern looking at the picture is if that substrate is ok to tile in eg loose or sandy.

If it is fine you can create some type of fall with a tile glue.

Please deal free to ask any more questions and all the best with your renovation 👍😁

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