How To Tile Over Plywood Floor

Plywood underlayment is a thin plywood material that is most commonly used under resilient flooring materials such as vinyl and linoleum sheets and tiles.

How to tile over plywood floor.

It can also be used under hardwood laminate and carpet but this is much less common these days because subflooring is typically smooth enough for these materials many of which are installed with a different type of underlayment or pad. As the plywood or osb expands the ceramic won t. Try laying tile over 1 2 durock or hardie and see what happens when the joists are 19 2 or 24 on center. A subfloor is the bottom most structural level of your floor.

But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. 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. In order for tile floors to last for many years tile must have a level solid foundation. Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much.

Hope you didn t like your beautiful new tile floor. In other words if you are installing tile over plywood the subfloor must be able to bear the weight of. Plywood and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile. For more information download our pdf about types of subfloors.

With this patented new technique ron s friend shows us how to build a strong base and then prepare it using the tavy thin skin system so that the tile is as strong. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. 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. Tile can be installed over a plywood substrate and it is actually a fantastic way to make sure you don t have deflection in your floor.