Tiling On Timber Floorboards

There are two main materials you can use for your overboard.

Tiling on timber floorboards.

Can you tile on wood floorboards. I am wanting to install ceramic tile flooring in my upstairs bathroom in an old house. Checking for any creaking. This means you will need to strengthen the substrate first with either a levelling compound tile backer board or plywood.

Unfortunately wooden flooring is often found in bathrooms and kitchens areas of the home which are more suited to durable and waterproof tiled surfaces. Good luck with your project. Laying them directly on top of floorboards is a recipe for disaster because the timber underneath will force the tiles to move. To install ceramic tile over wood the wood surface must be structurally sound enough to support the weight of the tile.

Floor tiles on the other hand are rigid. Tile is hard and will break or dislodge if the surface bends under the load and many wood surfaces can expand or contract negatively. Natural timber shrinks and expands. Timber and non tongue and groove floorboards and chipboard are usually subject to large amounts of deflection movement and therefore cannot be tiled onto with even the most flexible of tile adhesives.

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. The floor is in good shape but i don t know what type of subfloor is under the linoleum. The best approach would be to remove the wood flooring and screw down a layer of 5 8 or thicker plywood followed by a layer of 1 2 cement backer board before laying the tile. It wouldn t matter what shape the tiles or what they are made of.

Some diy floor tilers try to get around this by using a flexible floor adhesive but report mixed results. Use our guide below to learn how to tile onto timber floors. Have a good stomp around your room. Plywood or backer board both.

Wood naturally warps twists swells and shrinks due to change in temperature or humidity. Long answer to can i tile directly onto wooden floorboards. Tiling on floorboards in bathrooms is pretty commonplace because of this but getting this wrong can result in broken floor tiles and cracks appearing in the grout. Unfortunately tiling directly to floorboards is not recommended.

Tiling over wood wood in any form serves as a poor subfloor for ceramic or stone tile.