How To Install Subfloor Porcelain Floor Tile

According to backer board manufacturers and tile setters installing backer board directly over an old solid wood subfloor is risky for a couple of reasons.

How to install subfloor porcelain floor tile.

Planning and patience along with these tips will help ensure that you install the quality of finished flooring you are looking for. But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. Installing ceramic floor tile to a plywood sub floor has unique challenges beyond that of installation on a concrete floor. 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.

This will cause either the tile itself to crack and even come loose or cause the grout to crack inside the joints. I m often asked by homeowners if it s possible to lay down new tile over an existing tile floor. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. You ll see how to complete each step and work the required tools such as trowels manual snap cutter wet saw and tile nipper.

Plywood or osb flakeboard can expand and contract at too high a rate to be a stable foundation for tile. This is not my favorite way to install tile but it can be done as long as the existing tile and subfloor are in good condition and the old tile is thoroughly cleaned and scuffed up with sandpaper to allow the new mortar to grip. Always follow the manufacturer s installation. 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.

First changes in humidity make solid wood shrink swell and cup more than plywood.