ᐅ Which type of flooring is recommended for a utility room with a screed base – DIY options or tiles?
Created on: 24 Feb 2023 10:32
J
Jurassic135
Hello everyone,
In our house, built in 2007, the utility room only has the bare screed floor. The original builders probably cut costs and just left it like that.
The room is just under 7 square meters (about 75 square feet) and, as usual, besides the technical installations, it also houses the washing machine, dryer, and freezer.
Directly adjacent is the kitchen, where tiles have been laid and end with a metal strip at the utility room. From there, the floor drops down a few millimeters (inches) to the screed.
Bare screed is neither visually appealing nor comfortable to walk on, so we would like to install some kind of floor covering.
Option 1: Have tiles installed – but then we would first need to find a tiler willing to take on a 7 square meter (75 square feet) job with many awkward cutouts (pipes, etc.). I’m not sure if we’ll find someone.
Option 2: DIY – install something ourselves.
Can you recommend a floor covering suitable for a utility room that can be installed by beginners? We are absolute novices when it comes to flooring; so far, we haven’t even laid laminate or carpet. We also don’t have any large tools. I’m unclear how to manage the floor around all the pipes. You can use pipe collars for the cutouts, but I imagine that will still be difficult.
The flooring should be suitable for damp environments since there is always a chance of water from the washing machine etc. Our washing machine has leaked before, and the heating system’s expansion vessel has sprayed water, so the floor must be able to handle that.
Is this even a reasonable project for beginners, or should we look for a professional tiler? Maybe you have experience or ideas on how we could do this cost-effectively but properly.
In our house, built in 2007, the utility room only has the bare screed floor. The original builders probably cut costs and just left it like that.
The room is just under 7 square meters (about 75 square feet) and, as usual, besides the technical installations, it also houses the washing machine, dryer, and freezer.
Directly adjacent is the kitchen, where tiles have been laid and end with a metal strip at the utility room. From there, the floor drops down a few millimeters (inches) to the screed.
Bare screed is neither visually appealing nor comfortable to walk on, so we would like to install some kind of floor covering.
Option 1: Have tiles installed – but then we would first need to find a tiler willing to take on a 7 square meter (75 square feet) job with many awkward cutouts (pipes, etc.). I’m not sure if we’ll find someone.
Option 2: DIY – install something ourselves.
Can you recommend a floor covering suitable for a utility room that can be installed by beginners? We are absolute novices when it comes to flooring; so far, we haven’t even laid laminate or carpet. We also don’t have any large tools. I’m unclear how to manage the floor around all the pipes. You can use pipe collars for the cutouts, but I imagine that will still be difficult.
The flooring should be suitable for damp environments since there is always a chance of water from the washing machine etc. Our washing machine has leaked before, and the heating system’s expansion vessel has sprayed water, so the floor must be able to handle that.
Is this even a reasonable project for beginners, or should we look for a professional tiler? Maybe you have experience or ideas on how we could do this cost-effectively but properly.
Winniefred24 Feb 2023 13:03Tolentino schrieb:
Someone recently tiled their basement themselves. Was that @Winniefred?Yes, that was me. It does require effort, and you can’t get it perfect, especially with so many cutouts involved.
Some friends recently just applied a primer, poured self-leveling compound, and sealed it. That’s definitely easy and inexpensive. However, I don’t have any long-term experience with that method.
J
Jurassic13524 Feb 2023 13:45kbt09 schrieb:
That's why I suggested linoleum sheet flooring as an alternative ... instead of PVC 😉Oh right, thanks, I’ll have to look that up again.
Winniefred schrieb:
Yes, I have. But it’s quite a bit of work and it’s hard to get it perfect, especially with so many cutouts involved. Friends of mine recently just primed, poured self-leveling compound, and sealed it. Also done in a laundry room. Definitely simple and cost-effective. I don’t have experience with its long-term performance though.I just searched for that in image search. I think that’s exactly what we have! Honestly, I don’t really know what screed looks like in real life since we didn’t build it ourselves. It’s just gray and very smooth. I originally looked for screed images, but apparently photos with self-leveling compound on top also come up. But when I search for self-leveling compound, it all looks like what we have in our utility room.
It’s not really attractive though, and the height difference to the tiled kitchen floor is annoying, especially if you step on it barefoot.
Winniefred24 Feb 2023 14:36In the end, it’s basically just a very thin screed.
If the room is dry, you can basically put anything on it. You’re not really limited. We had bare screed in two rooms, rough and uneven, that you couldn’t even sweep properly, let alone mop. Since we have an old, sick cat that sheds a lot, tiles were the only option for us. But that was quite a bit of work: edge insulation strips, priming, leveling compound, priming again, laying tiles, grouting, and then cleaning several times at the end. I skipped the skirting board because I was just done with it. And our basement isn’t really dry either.
If the room is dry, you can basically put anything on it. You’re not really limited. We had bare screed in two rooms, rough and uneven, that you couldn’t even sweep properly, let alone mop. Since we have an old, sick cat that sheds a lot, tiles were the only option for us. But that was quite a bit of work: edge insulation strips, priming, leveling compound, priming again, laying tiles, grouting, and then cleaning several times at the end. I skipped the skirting board because I was just done with it. And our basement isn’t really dry either.
If you have the time, I would lean towards laying the tiles yourselves.
Do you have any photos showing how many pipes or cut-outs there are?
Since it’s a utility room, it might not be a big problem if it’s not perfect. I can definitely see this as a DIY project. Friends of ours tiled their garage themselves for the first time, and it didn’t look that bad.
What tools would you need? I assume a trowel and a few buckets, and maybe a laser level to check if everything is straight? I’m not sure what they’re called. Our tiler had one like that, but it was for wall tiles. I don’t even know if it’s necessary for the floor. Also, a tile cutter is needed, but I think those aren’t expensive. As far as I remember, you just score the tile and then snap it off. There are probably good tutorials online.
Do you have any photos showing how many pipes or cut-outs there are?
Since it’s a utility room, it might not be a big problem if it’s not perfect. I can definitely see this as a DIY project. Friends of ours tiled their garage themselves for the first time, and it didn’t look that bad.
What tools would you need? I assume a trowel and a few buckets, and maybe a laser level to check if everything is straight? I’m not sure what they’re called. Our tiler had one like that, but it was for wall tiles. I don’t even know if it’s necessary for the floor. Also, a tile cutter is needed, but I think those aren’t expensive. As far as I remember, you just score the tile and then snap it off. There are probably good tutorials online.
W
WilderSueden24 Feb 2023 14:47I would set aside a weekend and tile it yourself. A utility room doesn’t need to look perfect and is great for practice 😉
I would tend to choose a smaller tile size, like 10x10cm (4x4 inches), so you have fewer cut tiles around pipes. In this case, I would consider working less precisely if needed, and instead of carefully cutting leftover pieces, just fill in the gaps with grout.
I would tend to choose a smaller tile size, like 10x10cm (4x4 inches), so you have fewer cut tiles around pipes. In this case, I would consider working less precisely if needed, and instead of carefully cutting leftover pieces, just fill in the gaps with grout.
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