How To Install Ceramic Tile Floor Over Plywood

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.

How to install ceramic tile floor over plywood. 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. If your tile floors are worn or chipped or you re simply ready for an upgrade follow this guide to learn how to install a tile floor yourself. As the plywood or osb expands the ceramic won t. 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. Laying tile over a plywood subfloor can be a bit tricky but if you take the time to prepare the sub floor properly you can enjoy a new tile floor that will last for a lifetime. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. 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.

Plywood and osb expand and contract with humidity and temperature much more than ceramic tile. Installing a tile floor in any of these rooms will give you an easy to clean waterproof floor that holds up against weather and wear. No matter how firm the subfloor. Ceramic tile doesn t expand contract nearly as much.

But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. 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. Installing over wood. To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile.