GA native
Senior Member
The master bath in my house had a garden tub. The wife has come to my side, regarding these tubs as useless. So we have purchased a new tub, new faucet, and a plumber is coming out to rough it in tomorrow.
The interesting thing is, this bathroom floor has a 1 1/2" mortar bed. Common thing for houses built before the 70's, but unusual for a house built in 84'. The garden tub was installed first, and the mortar bed poured up to it. Leaving a 6'x4' void to be filled.
Now generally, in a bathroom remodel, I chip out the whole mortar bed, build the subfloor up, add durock, and lay my tiles on top of that. But this floor is in good shape, and the wife likes the tiles. Plus I need to match the height of the existing floor. So I am planning to fill in the void, and lay tile on top of that.
So the question is: What do I use to make that bed? I lean towards sand mix concrete. Or type S mortar. Floor leveler is not the right tool for the job, and it would be prohibitively expensive, at $37 for 40lbs. And at $16 per 50lbs, bedding mortar is getting too pricey for 24 sq ft at 1 1/2" (4.5 cubic feet).
I figure on 10- 60 lb bags (for sand mix or type s), so cost is a factor. $50 for sand mix or type s. $200 for bedding mortar. And forget about the leveler...
The interesting thing is, this bathroom floor has a 1 1/2" mortar bed. Common thing for houses built before the 70's, but unusual for a house built in 84'. The garden tub was installed first, and the mortar bed poured up to it. Leaving a 6'x4' void to be filled.
Now generally, in a bathroom remodel, I chip out the whole mortar bed, build the subfloor up, add durock, and lay my tiles on top of that. But this floor is in good shape, and the wife likes the tiles. Plus I need to match the height of the existing floor. So I am planning to fill in the void, and lay tile on top of that.
So the question is: What do I use to make that bed? I lean towards sand mix concrete. Or type S mortar. Floor leveler is not the right tool for the job, and it would be prohibitively expensive, at $37 for 40lbs. And at $16 per 50lbs, bedding mortar is getting too pricey for 24 sq ft at 1 1/2" (4.5 cubic feet).
I figure on 10- 60 lb bags (for sand mix or type s), so cost is a factor. $50 for sand mix or type s. $200 for bedding mortar. And forget about the leveler...