Floor tiling in Barking: porcelain, ceramic and natural stone. Subfloor levelled and decoupled where needed, laid flat, grouted properly.
Barking floors run from solid concrete in the Becontree houses to timber upstairs and new screed out at Barking Riverside, and each of those needs different preparation. A tile laid the same way on all three will crack on at least one of them.
Hallways in Barking houses take everything the street brings in, and a tiled hall is the most hardwearing floor there is. The question is usually what lies underneath: original quarry tiles in some Becontree halls, concrete in others, and occasionally a timber floor that needs boarding first.
Send a photo or a quick video of the room on WhatsApp, or get a free fixed quote, no obligation, and we’ll tell you straight what it needs.
Levelling compound on solid floors, overboarding on timber. On a Becontree solid ground floor that usually means a latex levelling compound rather than ply, because a tile laid on anything that flexes will crack.
On a timber floor or over underfloor heating, an uncoupling membrane stops movement in the floor turning into cracks in the tile. Upstairs in these houses the boards move more than people expect.
Planned so full tiles run as you come in from the hall and the cuts go to the edges of the room.
The right grout for the joint width. Natural stone is sealed before grouting as well as after, which is where stone floors are usually lost.
Where original quarry tiles are sound they can be tiled over after preparation; loose ones are lifted first.
Not directly. In the Becontree houses the upstairs boards move more than people expect, and tile does not move at all. They get overboarded or an uncoupling membrane goes down first, and that is what stops a cracked line appearing along the joists.
Porcelain, in almost every case. It is denser and takes the traffic of a busy family kitchen far better. Ceramic is perfectly good on a wall and cheaper, but on an estate kitchen floor it chips.
Yes, and tile is the best covering for it because it conducts rather than insulates. It needs an uncoupling membrane and a slow first heat-up over several days, which we will talk you through rather than just leaving you to it.
Often, if the quarry tiles are firmly bonded and level. They are cleaned, keyed and primed so the adhesive grips. Loose or cracked ones are lifted and the floor made good first.
A porcelain tile with a textured or matt finish copes best with grit and wet shoes. A mid-tone colour and grout hide dirt far better than white or very dark tiles.