Tile On Plywood Or Cement Board

In this highly convenient inexpensive and popular application a moisture barrier of 4 or 6 mil thick plastic is installed directly over the wall studs.

Tile on plywood or cement board.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. 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. If i thinset the cement board down using a 1 4 x 1 4 trowel and screw it every 8 will the thinset end up being 1 8 thick. Cement board commonly sold under trade names such as durock hardiebacker and wonderboard is now the standard underlayment used for ceramic porcelain or stone tile laid with thinset mortar adhesive cement board is used for most floor tile and has all but replaced plywood and drywall backer materials for wall tile applications in wet areas like showers and tub surrounds.

Installing over wood. Plywood is porous and not designed for use with most of today s latex based thinset mortars. Screws secure the cement board to the wall studs. Because plywood expands and contracts beneath the ceramic tile grout and tile failure loose tiles and cracked crumbling grout is just a matter of time.

I d like to get as close as possible to matching the height of the existing tile. On a plywood subfloor you need either a layer of cement backer board or an underlayment membrane like custom building products wonderboard and redgard between the subfloor and tile for the thin set adhesive to achieve a good bond. If the subfloor doesn t have enough stability you can usually but not always remedy the situation by installing cement backer board also called cementboard. Cement backerboard is designed specifically for this use.

On top of the 2 6 will be 3 4 subfloor thinset cement board redgard thinset tile. Then the cement board is installed on top of the plastic sheeting. It depends on how high you want to raise your floor. When installing a ceramic tile floor on a concrete subfloor you don t have to worry about flexing as long as the concrete slab is at least 1 1 8 inch thick which most slabs are.

After you have decided on the thickness and purchased your cement backer board spread adhesive on both the plywood subfloor and the one side of the cement. When using a cement backer board you can go with whether a inch thickness or a inch thickness. Correctly installed cement board provides a very stable base that s permanently bound to the tile with thin set mortar so your new tile floor will last a very long time. Cement based backer board stabilizes the plywood substrate and provides a flat even surface for tile.

Laying a cement board under a tile.