How To Install Ceramic Tile On Plywood Subfloor

No matter how firm the subfloor.

How to install ceramic tile on plywood subfloor.

Backerboard does not shrink or expand when it comes into contact with water mortar and grout both contain water. This guide will show you how to prepare your subfloor for a tile installation project to ensure that it s fit to support ceramic or porcelain tile. I was thinking 1 4 durock and 1 4 tile which would make my floor height almost the same as my hardwoods in the other rooms. The floors joist are 19 on center.

Installing ceramic floor tile to a plywood sub floor has unique challenges beyond that of installation on a concrete floor. One question that folks new to ceramic tile frequently ask is whether they can lay the ceramic directly on top of a plywood or osb subfloor using a thinset cement or liquid nails to glue down the tile to the wood. I am laying the tile on a plywood sub floor above a basement. However you re not out of the woods.

Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. When installing a ceramic tile floor on a concrete subfloor you don t have to worry about flexing as long as the concrete slab is at least 1 1 8 inch thick which most slabs are. This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints. First changes in humidity make solid wood shrink swell and cup more than plywood.

Preparing a subfloor is an essential step for installing floor tile it provides a level surface that will allow the tiles to properly stay in place. Cement backerboard is made for tiling. The best method is to refasten the subfloor then add a layer of plywood. The safest most prudent course is to install tile on top of a cement backerboard such as durock wonderboard or hardiebacker.

Plywood substrate alternatives. I am installing ceramic 12 inch by 12 inch tiles in my foyer 150 sq ft. According to backer board manufacturers and tile setters installing backer board directly over an old solid wood subfloor is risky for a couple of reasons. Concrete expands and contracts and that type of movement can also crack the tiles and the grout.

While you can lay tile directly over a concrete slab using thin set adhesive don t make the mistake of applying tile directly to a plywood subfloor. Preparing your subfloor for tile in this video learn how to prepare a wood or concrete subfloor for tile including such steps as checking for dips installing backerboard applying primer and thinset pouring liquid underlayment and when to use osb or exterior grade plywood.