How To Install Ceramic Tile On Plywood

Tile can be installed over various types of subfloor.

How to install ceramic tile on plywood.

Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. If your tile floors are worn or chipped or you re simply ready for an upgrade follow this guide to learn how to install a tile floor yourself. 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. Tile floors are an attractive functional option for kitchens bathrooms laundry rooms and entryways.

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. This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints. The tiles that go around the perimeter of the room can be cut to width using a manual scoring type tile cutter. 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.

The safest most prudent course is to install tile on top of a cement backerboard such as durock wonderboard or hardiebacker. To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. Slide tiles back and forth until you end up with edge tiles that are an attractive size and equal in width. No matter how firm the subfloor.

Plywood substrate alternatives. Cement backerboard is made for tiling. The most suitable materials for the subfloor are concrete plywood and cement board. However specialty thinsets are available that allow you to install tile and natural stones in unusual conditions such as on top of plywood instead of drywall for a wall setting.

Installing ceramic floor tile to a plywood sub floor has unique challenges beyond that of installation on a concrete floor. Backerboard does not shrink or expand when it comes into contact with water mortar and grout both contain water. A thinner subfloor will cause the floor to flex due to the weight of the tile. Underlayment the preferred method for tile installations is to use a sheet of underlayment.

A carbide wheel scores the surface then a bar exerts pressure on both sides of the cut cleanly snapping the tile along the line. Install ceramic tile over a subfloor that s no less than 1 1 8 inches thick.