advice on replacing kitchen tile with granite

[encantotom]

Hi, i have green ceramic tile that i believe is original. i think i am going to replace it with granite. so a few questions to those of you that have taken up the original tile. 1. is the subfloor able to be cleaned up sufficient to put new flooring down or did you have to replace it?
2. if you cleaned it up, did you sand it and scrap or what did you do?
3. any other hints on doing the job?
how many layers of wood and what dimensions is the subfloor?

thanks

tom

[Wally Arntzen]

I changed from carpet in my 1988 coach. After removing the carpet I installed 1/2" cement board by gluing and screwing it to the floor and then installed the marble on top of the cement board. If you use the cement board be careful if you have metal on the floor by the door for the step slide cover, you can't put screws through the metal so I put weight on the glued cement board until the glue set up overnight. It's been in 4 years and I do have any cracks or loose marble and it looks great.

[tuga]

I have 3 granite tiles that have cracked. My Newell is a 1999 with black granite tiles. When I purchased the coach the same 3 granite tiles were broken and as a condition of the sale they were replaced with new ones. Now, 2 years later the same new tiles are broken. This leads me to believe that the subfloor is not supporting the granite tiles. It seems like repairing the same 3 tiles would be futile!

Also the grouting seems to be drying out. Has anyone ever re-grouted a tile floor in a Newell? Does the old grout have to be removed? Or can you apply new grouting over the old?

Any help will be appreciated.

Tuga Gaidry
1999 Newell 45' Dual slides

[encantotom]

where are the 3 tiles that are cracking at? i am having my granite put in in the next week and it is replacing ceramic tile in the same area. ater 18 years there was not a single crack in the ceramic so i am hopeful i will have the same luck with the granite.

at the recommendation of a friend who has done many coaches, i am putting a high end anti fracture membrane under the granite. it is called sam3 by NAC products. http://www.nacproducts.com/Sam3.htm

i guess i will see how mine works out. i hope you figure yours out as well. i have never taken grout out, but i know there are tools to do it and from what i can tell it is just work and time as long as you are careful. i bought color matched silicone caulk made by the grout company to do around my exterior edges or wherever the granite touches a wall or cabinent.

tom

[tuga]

Tom,

The granite tiles that are cracking are located on the outer edges of the tile floor where it meets the carpet. The worst tile (cracked in half) is located on the outer edge of the tile floor in the galley. The other one is also on the outer edge about 2 feet forward of the first one.

Thanks for the tip on the sam3 membrane, I will check it out.