Laying Floor Tile Subfloor

For more on prepping the floor read prep a tile floor.

Laying floor tile subfloor.

The floors joist are 19 on center. For more information download our pdf about types of subfloors. 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. Can i just use 1 2 inch backer board on top of the 1 6 and lay my floor tile on top of that.

First make sure you have prepared the subfloor properly before you begin laying tile. However you re not out of the woods. I am laying the tile on a plywood sub floor above a basement. 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.

Should i install durock before laying the tile. Preparation for installing floor tile depends on the type of subfloor in the room you are tiling. It supports your decorative floor finish whether it s carpet hardwood vinyl laminate or tile. Richard august 17 2009 at 7 43 pm.

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. Before beginning remove tiles from the different boxes and randomly mix them to ensure that minor color differences don t form an unwanted pattern in your new floor. Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. Installing ceramic floor tile to a plywood sub floor has unique challenges beyond that of installation on a concrete floor.

Concrete expands and contracts and that type of movement can also crack the tiles and the grout.