# Concrete slab prep, level and tile



## Tkelly (Dec 9, 2008)

Hi Guys,

I have a foyer that a customer wants to tile ( about 130 sq ft). 

Foyer is a concrete slab with 2 layers of resilient tile on it. House is 50 years or so old. He wants the resilient tiles removed but he is concerned about the adhesive from the tiles causing problems with the thinset adhesion to the concrete. He is also concerned with installing a crack isolation membrane.

My questions are...

#1 - When removing the adhesive. It could possible contain asbestos and thus I should not scarify the concrete or grind up the adhesive. It seems wet scrapping is what I should be doing. But will this remove enough for adhesion? I also thought about an adhesive remover but read that it may soak into the concrete and also cause issues with adhesion. Is this correct?

#2 - I was intending to use RedGard as a crack isolation membrane. So this would go first onto the concrete and then the thinset above it. Will the RedGard have trouble adhering to the concrete with scraped off adhesive on it.

#3 - Part of slab seems to have settled and will require leveling. I planned to use LevelQuik RS self leveling underlayment with Levelquik Latex Primer beneath.

Does anyone have better ideas for this application? 

Sorry, the picture is not real clear.

Thanks,
Tom


----------



## Frankwhoa (Oct 20, 2010)

Definitely may have asbestos. Check local laws to determine what is needed to contain 130 sf. Defintely wear a mask and block off the rest of the house. 

You are correct with most of your assertions. However, you wont need to remove 'all' of the adhesive because the LevelQuik will bond to the cutback so ...

pull up the old tile (lightly dry scrape if desired),
then vacuum the floor,
then prime your floor, let dry, 
then patch your low spots with the LevelQuik and 'skim' out the rest of the floor with it, let dry, 
then Redgard as needed, let dry, 
then tile... 
:thumbup:

Check with local laws about the asbestos first.


----------



## Tkelly (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks much for the advice!

tb


----------

