Additionally a steps must be taken to ensure that a concrete floor will create a solid bond.
How to tile a bathroom floor on wood subfloor.
Laying tile on plywood.
Tile floors are heavy and tile is a hard material.
To tile a bathroom floor start by spreading a layer of thin set mortar onto the entire subfloor with a notched trowel.
Bc plywood over the old subfloor using construction adhesive and driving 1 1 4 in.
Once i had the old tile removed i had to do a little bit of structural work to repair some subfloor damage due to water and termites cutting out old rotten areas and replacing with new wood.
A plywood subfloor must be structurally sound and able to support the installation.
Test by sprinkling water on various areas of the subfloor.
Once the subfloor was repaired i could get to work on preparing for the new tile.
As with a wooden subfloor a concrete subfloor must be level for successful tile installation.
It will break or dislodge if the surface bends under the load.
If the floor is less than this it probably isn t stiff enough to lay tile directly on vinyl.
The house is 25 years old and this is the original tile.
The tiles broke way too easily so i was suspicious and when removing the pieces of tile i found wood rot which caused a hollow effect under these tiles tile over wood subfloor.
The plywood adds stiffness and stability to the floor.
Screws every 6 in.
To prepare your concrete subfloor make sure that it can accept water penetration.
Apart the combination of subfloor plus underlayment a second layer of plywood directly under the vinyl should add up to at least 1 1 8 in.
Add a layer of 1 2 in.
Cement backer board can provide a solid flat surface to install tiles on if you have a wood subfloor.
Apart it should add up to 1 1 2 in.
Then place cement board on top of it to reinforce the floor.
It is a good idea to put half inch plywood underlay to strengthen the floor before using modified thin set to put the tile directly on wood.
After the thin set has dried for 2 days work in small sections to spread more thin set over the cement board and lay the tile on top of it.
If the subfloor is 5 8 or 3 4 you can probably apply tile directly to it with no problem.