Looking to put a skim coat over this floor tile. Preferably to give it a concrete look. I'm wondering if anyone has experience doing something similar and has advice. I'm thinking of either just using concrete right on top or using a small amount of self leveling compound and then doing a concrete skim coat. I'm planning on using a concrete sealer over the top to darken the look and make it stand out a bit from the stone I added. Thanks!

I don't have an opinion as to whether or not just 'putting concrete' on top of that tile is a good idea or not, but if you do that I think you'd want to use topping mix and not concrete. There isn't any aggregate in topping mix and it can be poured thinner than concrete.

You don't have enough room to add a skim coat without being at the level of the fireplace front. Just take a hammer drill and flat bit and chip out the tile. You could possibly remove it with just a hammer and chisel. Then you will have enough depth to float it out with mortar properly.

But first lift out the floor t-mold.

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Or replace the tile with a piece of slate.

The Fife said:

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Or replace the tile with a piece of slate.

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That would look great against the stone. Good idea.

Cow Hop Ag said:

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The Fife said:

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Or replace the tile with a piece of slate.

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That would look great against the stone. Good idea.

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Thought about that but we're selling the house and we're in a sub $200,000 area. Stayed there for a while to save up for a better house/ISD/etc. So I'm looking for the most economical upgrades that don't over improve for the area.

What he proposed is a $100 or less fix. For $25 you could put in some stone tile.

If you are trying to sell it, it looks like you were lazy or ran out of money right now.

That's my honest opinion. Putting an extra $100 means I won't ask for $500 off the price to fix it myself (if I were a buyer).

~egon

Dr. Doctor said:

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If you are trying to sell it, it looks like you were lazy or ran out of money right now.

That's my honest opinion. Putting an extra $100 means I won't ask for $500 off the price to fix it myself (if I were a buyer).

~egon

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Fair points. I was looking to avoid taking out the tile if at all possible, both due to low expertise and least impact with kids running around. Time to try it out I guess.

And, for what it's worth if you were to use something like self-leveling compound (forgetting about the fact that it would cover part of the wood molding and probably chip out there), the stuff runs about $35/bag according to Home Depot's website and it's unclear whether this would be one bag or two.

I'd also recommend a piece of wood trim around the stone to fill in that gap on top where i can still see the old tile.

Corps_Ag12 said:

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I'd also recommend a piece of wood trim around the stone to fill in that gap on top where i can still see the old tile.

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That's already been done. Took a piece of 1/4 and shaved a bit off where the mantle wasn't quite level.