How To Install Ceramic On Plywood

Installing over wood.

How to install ceramic on plywood.

No matter how firm the subfloor. 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. Get the dimensions of the room and then multiply them to get the square. 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.

Backerboard does not shrink or expand when it comes into contact with water mortar and grout both contain water. To install bathroom tile over plywood you ll have to follow a series of steps. The safest most prudent course is to install tile on top of a cement backerboard such as durock wonderboard or hardiebacker. One question that folks new to ceramic tile frequently ask is whether they can lay the ceramic directly on top of a plywood or osb subfloor using a thinset cement or liquid nails to glue down the tile to the wood.

This process is not complicated but you will need to be willing to do some work. Cement backerboard is made for tiling. This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints. 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.

Here are the basics of how to install bathroom tile on plywood. A poor ceramic installation will delaminate from the subfloor split at the grout lines or worse crack directly across the tile. In order for tile floors to last for many years tile must have a level solid foundation. In other words if you are installing tile over plywood the subfloor.

Start by measuring the room. Step 1 measure. Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. While you can lay tile directly over a concrete slab using thin set adhesive don t make the mistake of applying tile directly to a plywood subfloor.

Plywood substrate alternatives. However specialty thinsets are available that allow you to install tile and natural stones in unusual conditions such as on top of plywood instead of drywall for a wall setting. To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. Underlayment the preferred method for tile installations is to use a sheet of underlayment.