Any flooring experts?

[tunnie]

We are moving our kitchen to the new extension, I plan to convert the old kitchen into a kids playroom. Now looking at the tiles, I can see they have tiled whole room first. The tiles go under the units, at least in areas I can see. So suggests whole room was tiled first, then units went on top.

When old kitchen is stripped out, I will be left with a flat, but hard floor.

Can this be carpeted as is? I know they usually nail grippers to the side, could these be glued? Otherwise it's more effort and expense to strip off old tiles, to make floor suitable for carpet.

[Doctor Gollum]

Pull the skirting, sikaflex the gripper round the edges, refit skirting to the new level and fit underlay and carpet...

Simples

[dave the builder]

unusual to tile the whole floor (unless diy)
usual to tile under washing machines and fridges etc that get pulled out
but under units it's common to just end at a full tile ,fit plinth
waste of tile and labour. as kitchens tend to get changed @10 years
only way to know is remove all plinths etc 
depending on the kitchen fitter  there could be a spaghetti delight of wiring and plumbing behind the units   

[STEMO]

unusual to tile the whole floor (unless diy)
usual to tile under washing machines and fridges etc that get pulled out
but under units it's common to just end at a full tile ,fit plinth
waste of tile and labour. as kitchens tend to get changed @10 years
only way to know is remove all plinths etc 
depending on the kitchen fitter  there could be a spaghetti delight of wiring and plumbing behind the units   

Oh yes, especially the plumbing. Behind the sink unit you'll have mains feeds for the sink, the dishwasher, the washing machine and a rising main. Then the waste for the sink, washing machine and dishwasher. All plastic, the same colour and the same diameter. Tee hee. 

Oh, I forgot, some boilers have the condense pipe running in to the sink trap too.

[Sir Tigger KC]

I've recently been replacing worn worktops to jazz up a 7 year old kitchen, and found that the waste pipes from the sink and washing machine which the fitter ran down the back of the units had been leaking. 

What a mess!  He'd just laid the pipes flat on the floor, so there was no run and the pipes must have permanently full of water!    He could have easily popped them through the wall and had the run to the drain outside.   

[tunnie]

Our house was built in 2012, so hopefully not to bad. The quotes for extension work, include resetting kitchen back a room.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, I'd be very surprised if the tiles extend far back behind the plinths so I'm guessing you'll have to remove the tiles anyway - plus tidy up a load of other sins that are "out of sight, out of mind", as said.

[Shackeng]

Are these ceramic or rubberised type tiles?
If the former they are messy and time consuming to remove, and require a hammer drill with chisel attachment, and cause dust everywhere. If rubberised, they are easy to remove, but the sticky adhesive residue removal is also time consuming. If they don't cover the whole area, a cheat would be to use floor leveller*, hardboard or plywood to make up the untiled area, and carpet over the lot. In both cases I would level the floor to the existing tile level, and carpet over it. For many years, my hall and living room was carpeted over the existing rubberised tiles, with hardboard over an area in a small extension to level it, and it now has wood flooring laid over the same tiles.
I have done all of the above!
* There are some excellent floor levelling compounds available. I can't remember the last one I used, but it  mixed up and laid very easily, and gave a perfect finish.

[tunnie]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

If you tap them lightly with a small hammer or similar and it sounds like there are lots of hollow bits they'll lift up quite easily. If they are well laid on a good bed of adhesive it can be a time consuming job, but a lot of tilers take a dot and dab approach to save money. 

[STEMO]

Quarry tiles....now they're proper. Try getting them buggers up. 

[redelitev6]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

Watch out for ceramic tiles , they're like razors when broken up , i know 

[dave the builder]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

If you tap them lightly with a small hammer or similar and it sounds like there are lots of hollow bits they'll lift up quite easily. If they are well laid on a good bed of adhesive it can be a time consuming job, but SOME DIY COWBOYS take a dot and dab approach to save money. 

fixed that for you 
A profesional "tiler" will do the job right ,because it would not save money or time doing the job twice

Quarry tiles....now they're proper. Try getting them buggers up. 

If genuine old quarry tile ,not been relaid with modern adhesive and cements e'g
laid on soil,(dirt is what is on a shirt collar),ash, spoil and lime mortar , they come up quite nice 

[TheBoy]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

Take a photo, as I doubt a developer would use anything other than standard, cheap flexible floor tiles.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Thanks 

Tiles are ceramic 

Take a photo, as I doubt a developer would use anything other than standard, cheap biscuits.

FTFY