Ceramic Tile Over Plywood Floor

Installing over wood.

Ceramic 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. Plywood and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile. Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much. Thin set was used instead of glue or adhesive.

But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. 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. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. The tile industry recommends a sub floor of at least 1 1 4 thick.

The floor tiles became loose cracked and ugly looking over about 2 decades of use. Keep in mind when building up the thickness of your sub floor to overlap the seams of the different layers of plywood as this will also help stiffen the floor. 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. 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.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. 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. 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. We have our large kitchen and hallway that was originally covered by 12 x 12 ceramic tiles on top of 3 8th inch plywood.

Now the entire flooring of ceramic tiles needs to be torn out and replaced.