How To Install Ceramic Tile On Plywood Subfloor

The best method is to refasten the subfloor then add a layer of plywood.

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. No matter how firm the subfloor. However you re not out of the woods. 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.

Should i install durock before laying the tile. A poor ceramic installation will delaminate from the subfloor split at the grout lines or worse crack directly across the tile. Cement backerboard is made for tiling. 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. Plywood substrate alternatives. 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. The safest most prudent course is to install tile on top of a cement backerboard such as durock wonderboard or hardiebacker.

First changes in humidity make solid wood shrink swell and cup more than plywood. I am laying the tile on a plywood sub floor above a basement. This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints. Installing ceramic floor tile to a plywood sub floor has unique challenges beyond that of installation on a concrete floor.

I am installing ceramic 12 inch by 12 inch tiles in my foyer 150 sq ft. Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. 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.

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. 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.