Ceramic Tile Directly On Plywood

You may also want to tile an outdoor shed or tile plywood boards for display.

Ceramic tile directly on plywood.

Plywood and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile. Under british standards bs 5385 part 1 plywood has now been excluded as a suitable substrate material for the direct fixing of wall tiles therefore when tiling on to walls a tile backer board is required however tiling onto plywood floors is still acceptable under british standards. Using intervening sheets of plywood. Mastic adheres the tile directly to a wooden sub floor to a wooden back splash or onto a piece of plywood.

If you re installing new plywood use galvanized screws to fasten it and countersink the screw heads. Using adhesives as per the tile you are wishing to place is. To be sure maybe drill up to 6 evenly spread out holes in the plywood at least 4mm deep or straight through in the areas to be tiled so the adhesive sinks into the holes and hardens hence creating a stronger fix. Glue called mastic is the least expensive method for installing tiles.

Backerboard can double the thickness of an installation which can be troublesome in some locations. 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. While some types of plywood can be used in certain types of tile installations use of the material has limitations.

Be mindful to use intervening sheets of plywood before putting tiles on it. It is more important as a subfloor than anything else. There may be times when you want to bond tile directly to plywood or another wood surface rather than screwing down backerboard first. 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.

For the best results when tiling onto plywood floors follow these instructions. Loose areas on an existing plywood subfloor can cause peel and stick tiles to lift over time. 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. As the plywood or osb expands the ceramic won t.

Clean and heavily score area to where tiles are to be fixed it sounds like the adhesive does not have a rough surface in which to secure itself to. Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much. 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. Installing tile directly on the plywood can damage the plywood and your tile both.

No matter how firm the subfloor.