Ceramic Tile Over Plywood Floor

Installing over wood.

Ceramic tile over plywood floor.

A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. Now the entire flooring of ceramic tiles needs to be torn out and replaced. 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.

To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile. If there is too much deflection in your sub floor then tiles may pop loose over time. 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. Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much.

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. As the plywood or osb expands the ceramic won t. Plywood and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile. The tile industry recommends a sub floor of at least 1 1 4 thick.

We have our large kitchen and hallway that was originally covered by 12 x 12 ceramic tiles on top of 3 8th inch plywood. Plywood underlayment is a thin plywood material that is most commonly used under resilient flooring materials such as vinyl and linoleum sheets and tiles. 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. 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.

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.