LESLIE: Kent in Montana has a question about flooring. What can we help you with?
KENT: Hey, I have a couple bathrooms that have linoleum on the floor.
LESLIE: OK.
KENT: And I want to tile over them. And a friend of mine told me that I can put some thinset down, wonderboard and tile right on top of that.
LESLIE: Well, wonderboard, thinset. (chuckling) The other way around.
KENT: Yeah. Thinset, wonderboard. Well, I’m going to put the – don’t you put thinset down before the wonderboard? Nail it down and then put thinset again for the tile?
LESLIE: Hmm. When I’ve done countertops I’ve done wonderboard, thinset, then tile.
TOM: Yeah, exactly.
LESLIE: I’ve never created like a mud base for it.
TOM: A wonderboard sandwich. (chuckling)
KENT: Well, you nail it down, right?
TOM: No, no. You’re thinking of Wonder Bread. That’s the sandwich.
LESLIE: You do …
KENT: Yeah, Wonder Bread. (Tom chuckles)
LESLIE: You do nail it down or screw it down.
TOM: Yeah, absolutely. You attach the wonder board, then you put the thinset on top of that.
KENT: But no trouble going over the linoleum?
TOM: No, shouldn’t be. There’s no reason to take that up, as long as it’s flat. I would go right over it. There’s really no reason to pull it. Are you doing this in the kitchen?
KENT: No, it’s two bathrooms.
TOM: Oh, OK. Alright. Well, no. You’re going to pull the toilet out and you’re going to have to …
KENT: Right.
TOM: … extend the drain so that it comes up another half-inch or so or whatever the thickness of that is. That’s something you will have to do.
KENT: (overlapping voices) Oh, yeah. How do I do that?
TOM: Well, there’s actually a component for your plumbing system that will extend that.
KENT: Yeah?
TOM: That fits inside there. So yeah, but that’s a plumbing repair and that’s something you’ll have to do. Because you have to make up that distance.
KENT: Man, that’s …
TOM: Is that more than you counted on?
KENT: That’s important stuff. That’s important stuff, right there.
TOM: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
KENT: OK.
TOM: Don’t want to have a leak.
KENT: No. (Tom chuckles) That’s …
LESLIE: And then make sure when you’re reattaching that toilet to the floor, Kent, that you don’t over-tighten the screws and shatter the porcelain.
TOM: Yeah, that’s a bad thing, too.
KENT: Yeah, I know. I’ve done that before. (Tom and Leslie laugh)
TOM: You knew that.
KENT: (chuckling) Yeah.
TOM: Alright, Kent. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
KENT: (overlapping voices) Yeah, I want to thank you.
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