Can You Lay Tile On Plywood Subfloor

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Can you lay tile on plywood subfloor.

To prepare your concrete subfloor make sure that it can accept water penetration. Additionally a steps must be taken to ensure that a concrete floor will create a solid bond. Read this article from home improvement expert danny lipford to find out if you need to apply cement backer board before tiling over a plywood subfloor. Today s homeowner serves cookies to analyze traffic and better serve you.

As with a wooden subfloor a concrete subfloor must be level for successful tile installation. The use of a plywood subfloor topped by cement backer board has made tiling much easier today than when i started my remodeling career. Use intervening layers of two sheets of plywood. Loose areas on an existing plywood subfloor can cause peel and stick tiles to lift over time.

Use thinset with a higher latex content thinset is the wet base that you first trowel on the plywood to make the tile stick. But there are a few important considerations to take into account when tiling over a wood subfloor. While tile can be laid on plywood do not install tile directly onto the plywood subfloor itself. Test by sprinkling water on various areas of the subfloor.

Concrete board concrete board also called backer boardcomes in 1 4 and 1 2 thicknesses and is usually sold in 4 x 6 sheets. According to backer board manufacturers and tile setters installing backer board directly over an old solid wood subfloor is risky for a couple of reasons. It should be fastened to the subfloor using thinset and then screwed down every 10 square. The subfloor must be free of moisture damage including rot and sponginess and must be securely fastened to the joists and squeak free.

For residential use one form of underlayment the tile council of north america s handbook allows is plywood over joists that are 16 in. There are two materials commonly used for laying ceramic on plywood or osb that are applied before the tile. Walk across the floor to learn whether any areas feel soft underfoot and secure them with screws. Don t lay tiles on a concrete slab with cracks that appear to be spreading or irregularities that prevent you from leveling it.

Void free underlayment grade panels which both stiffen the existing floor and provide uniform support to prevent cracks in the tile above. First changes in humidity make solid wood shrink swell and cup more than plywood.