Can You Lay Tile On Plywood Sub Floor

No matter how firm the subfloor.

Can you lay tile on plywood sub floor. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. The plywood adds stiffness and stability to the floor. A 3 4 inch plywood subfloor on a joist structure with 24 inch spacing needs the extra thickness of cementboard or the floor will flex and the tiles will crack. Bc plywood over the old subfloor using construction adhesive and driving 1 1 4 in.

But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. Screws every 6 in. You can either roll on a liquid latex membrane or use a peel and stick crack prevention mat over the entire concrete subfloor. Add a layer of 1 2 in.

I ll either use 1 4 inch cement backerboard or a proprietary product like schluter ditra. In my experience tile applied directly to plywood will be a short lived installation and more likely to encourage rot in areas near a tub or shower. While some types of plywood can be used in certain types of tile installations use of the material has limitations. The good news is that you can lay tile flooring over many other types of flooring materials carpet excluded as long as you use an appropriate underlayment.

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. Laying tile over a plywood subfloor can be tricky but if you prepare the sub floor properly your tile floor will last for a lifetime. Loose areas on an existing plywood subfloor can cause peel and stick tiles to lift over time. 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.

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. A poor ceramic installation will delaminate from the subfloor split at the grout lines or worse crack directly across the tile. If you re installing new plywood use galvanized screws to fasten it and countersink the screw heads. To prevent that movement from creating cracks in your grout and tile install a crack prevention membrane after the concrete subfloor is clean flat and free of cracks larger than 1 8 inch.

It is more important as a subfloor than anything else. 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.