I am fixing to lay ceramic tile over my basement floor. do i need to do anything special to the concrete to rough it up a little so the thin set will bond good?

ac101

No need to rough it up really but make sure it cleaned really well nothing loose like old paint or concrete chips anything like that the only time I would suggest roughing it up would be if it was previously painted. If its just bare concrete make sure its clean level and go for it. GOOD LUCK !

downrange

thanks for the reply.. I do have one more question. I had to break out the concrete to run some plumbing. the area i broke out was no wider that 4 inches but many feet long,and i am laying 12"x12' tiles.. some areas where i poured concrete back in isnt perfect, but pretty good. slightly dipped in a few places, will it be ok just to run the thin set over those ares and let it do the filling for those areas?

ac101

I have used thinset as a leveler if the dips arent real bad you should be okay ridges are what you have to watch out for but 12x12's shouldnt be too bad. The biggest thing with tile is to make sure there is no movement underneath if the tiles are allowed room to flex sooner or later they will probably crack Just use a good thinset properly mixed and a good notched trowel to spread and you should be fine. GOOD LUCK.

downrange

thanks!!

ac101

No problem post again if you need anything else.