Laying Plywood Floor For Tiling

Add a layer of 1 2 in.

Laying plywood floor for tiling.

Preparation for installing floor tile depends on the type of subfloor in the room you are tiling. Cement based backer board. Laying tile to veneer plywood risks loosening and unbonding the veneer creating an unstable base for the tile. Now largely regarded as the very best underlayment for ceramic tile in any application floors walls and countertops cement based backer board goes by many names.

It will break or dislodge if the surface bends under the load. Cement backer board can provide a solid flat surface to install tiles on if you have a wood subfloor. The tile council of america tca recommends a max. Laying tile on plywood.

Tile floors are heavy and tile is a hard material. Tile floors are likely to weigh 15 to 20. A plywood subfloor must be structurally sound and able to support the installation. It is generically called cement board or backer board or it can also be referred to by one of the common brand names such as densshield hardiebacker and wonderboard.

Space the field and edge fasteners correctly the top layer of plywood should be screwed down every 8 inches on the edge and every 6 inches in the field or interior section. In my experience tile applied directly to plywood will be a short lived installation and more likely to encourage rot in areas near a tub or shower. With the plywood in place install the backer board as you normally would. Screws every 6 in.

Secondly i would never tile directly over the plywood as this video seems to imply is acceptable. Deflection of l 360 for ceramic tile and l 720 for natural stone tiles. I ll either use 1 4 inch cement backerboard or a proprietary product like schluter ditra. This is fine for wood carpeting and resilient flooring but not for ceramic tile.

Bc plywood over the old subfloor using construction adhesive and driving 1 1 4 in. Residential floors are typically sized for a live load of 40 psf and a dead load or 10 psf. To prepare a concrete subfloor for installing tile you ll need to do a different kind of preparation. It supports your decorative floor finish whether it s carpet hardwood vinyl laminate or tile.

For more information download our pdf about types of subfloors. A subfloor is the bottom most structural level of your floor.