Installing Ceramic Tile On Plywood Subfloor

A thinner subfloor will cause the floor to flex due to the weight of the tile.

Installing ceramic tile on plywood subfloor.

No matter how firm the subfloor. 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. The safest most prudent course is to install tile on top of a cement backerboard such as durock wonderboard or hardiebacker. Most tile manufacturers recommend installing a cement backer board instead of any other type of underlayment such as plywood.

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. Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. Uncoupling membranes aren t recommended for tiles smaller than 2 inches square and should not be used when covering old hardwood flooring due to adhesion problems. The plywood will expand and contract at a different rate as the tile causing cracks to develop in the grout lines or tiles over time.

A 3 4 inch plywood subfloor on a joist structure with 24 inch spacing needs the extra thickness of cementboard or the floor will flex and the tiles will crack. 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. 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. This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints.

A poor ceramic installation will delaminate from the subfloor split at the grout lines or worse crack directly across the tile. Plywood underlayment is typically needed when a floor material must have a very smooth flat surface. For example if you install resilient tiles or sheet flooring over a subfloor any bumps dips or voids in the subfloor may be evident in the finished flooring. A flexing subfloor results in cracked tiles and grout and a lot of headaches.

Cement backerboard is made for tiling. Backerboard does not shrink or expand when it comes into contact with water mortar and grout both contain water. Installing over wood. On a plywood subfloor you need either a layer of cement backer board or an underlayment membrane like custom building products wonderboard and redgard between the subfloor.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile.