Ceramic Tile Over Plywood

If possible you should always use concrete board underlayments rather than plywood.

Ceramic tile over plywood.

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. No matter how firm the subfloor. The preferred method for tile installations is to use a sheet of underlayment. Before laying tile over any plywood subfloor it s important to make sure that the floor itself is free from excessive deflection or bending which can pop grout joints and loosen or crack tiles.

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 plywood will expand and contract at a different rate as the tile causing cracks to develop in the grout lines or tiles over time. The subfloor should be made of. Installation of ceramic tile over plywood substrates with latex portland cement mortar tb22 all wooden flooring when placed over conventional floor joist or other systems should be of a design and thickness so as to maintain a substrate deflection not to exceed 1 360th of span including live and dead loads.

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. While most floor tile these days is installed onto a layer of cement board or similar backerboard it is possible to lay tile directly over 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 and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile.

Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. For wall installations plywood is overkill beneath the concrete or fiber board which is designed in five eighths inch material for wall settings. A glass of water can detect deflection that s otherwise hard to see with your eye.

A single sheet of 3 4 inch plywood is normally not adequate as a. Regular seasonal humidity shifts are significant enough to make the average 10 x 10 wood subfloor floor expand or contract as much as 1 2. To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile.