How To Install Cement Board For Ceramic Tile

Installing over wood.

How to install cement board for ceramic tile.

Today most professional tile setters back their tile with cement board instead because it offers almost the same durability with a lot less work. Cement board is a type of underlayment that is now standard for most tile installations but particularly for floor tile. Whenever you re laying tile on a wood subfloor you need to first install cement backerboard to prevent leaks and water damage. Chipboard cushioned vinyl flooring particle boards of any type oriented strand board osb interior grade plywood tongue and groove planking and hardwood floors are unsuitable substrates for direct installation of ceramic tile.

Unlike wood or drywall sub surfaces cement backerboard will not rot warp or grow mold and mildew when exposed to water. Never install new tiles over existing tiles or onto an unprotected wood or plywood floor. Backer board is everything that drywall is not. We show you how to install a first class tile base.

Here are the basics of how to install tile over cement board. Once the cement board is in place you are ready to install the tile. This is a distinct advantage over plywood and drywall. In order to install tile over cement board you will need to first measure the room.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. But that s pretty much where the similarity ends. In order to install tile over a wood floor you will need to cover it with cement board. Step 1 measure the area.

The primary benefit of cement board is that it doesn t break down or expand or warp if it gets wet. The traditional method of installing ceramic tile called for setting it in a solid mortar bed. Troweling a perfectly flat bed required great skill but the reward was a tile job that lasted for decades. Cement board commonly sold under trade names such as durock hardiebacker and wonderboard is now the standard underlayment used for ceramic porcelain or stone tile laid with thinset mortar adhesive cement board is used for most floor tile and has all but replaced plywood and drywall backer materials for wall tile applications in wet areas like showers and tub surrounds.

Laying cement board is the easiest way to assure a solid durable base for a ceramic tile floor. Ceramic tile backer board also called cement board or tile backer is a rigid panel material that installs over wood framing much like drywall.