Tiling Onto Very Polished Concrete

[Feltwell]

Mechanical abrasion - scratch it with something sharp and pointy to get a start, then give it a going over with a steel wire brush - might not be man enough for the job though, give it a try. Or chip at it with a hammer and bolster. Or even better a scutch hammer.

I wouldn't use anything chemical as it could react with your tile adhesive.

 

[Flyfisher]

I wouldn't be so sure about modern tile adhesive not adhering to polished concrete because it's pretty sticky stuff. I removed some modern ceramic tiles from a windowsill and discovered they had been laid directly on the previous ceramic tiles ( :roll: ), which is a pretty shiny, polished surface. The top tiles were very difficult to split from the underlying tiles. Of course, I don't really know what was used to lay them.

But I know that's of little help and I really wanted to suggest contacting the technical helpline of any of the main tile adhesive manufacturers. Should be able to find a telephone number on their websites.

 

[Owain]

I wouldn't be so sure about modern tile adhesive not adhering to polished concrete because it's pretty sticky stuff. I removed some modern ceramic tiles from a windowsill and discovered they had been laid directly on the previous ceramic tiles ( :roll: ), which is a pretty shiny, polished surface.

"They" did that in my kitchen.

"They" also laid the ceramic tiles over the kitchen carpet, which is a different problem altogether. Gives a new meaning to "tiling on a roll".

 

[Moo]

Wall tiles can be tiled over by priming them with diluted pva and then using standard 'waterproof' adhesive.
I know, because I did it years ago in a bathroom, and as far as I know the tiles are still there.

 

[Me!]

As long as it is just foot traffic that has polished the surface and it hasn't been treated with wax, then I think they will probably stick with normal tile cement. I'd try sticking one tile down, leaving it a fortnight to dry and then testing to see how hard it is to remove. Remember that in normal use, once tiles are stuck on a combed layer of tile cement, there are no forces trying to lift them again as long as they are properly bedded and don't try and rock on any high spots. Tile cement is very versatile and sticky stuff. In the past I've used it to fix down window boards, to bed a toilet pan onto a plastic laminate floor, and it is also the best thing I've found to bed plastic resin shower trays to the floor. They all seem to have stayed stuck for many years.

 

[Zebra]

ceramic tiles over the kitchen carpet

!!! the mind boggles...

 

[Penners]

I can endorse what's been said above from personal experience. On a number of occasions I have hung new tiles on top of old ones, without problems. In your case, I feel confident that proper floor tile cement would do a good job for you, provided the old substrate has been thoroughly cleaned of any oils, waxes, silicones, etc.

Speaking for myself, I would concentrate on cleaning the concrete and forget any ideas of abrasion.