Exterior-grade plywood or cementboard provide optimal surfaces for laying tiles. Carpeting and loose or bubbling linoleum must be removed, as must old tile that's not well-adhered to the substrate below.
To effectively adhere the tiles to the floor, you will need an adhesive material. One type of adhesive material is thinset. It is made from a mixture of cement, water, and fine sand. There are two types of thinset: modified and unmodified thinset.
Better Adhesion
Plywood is porous, and not designed for use with most of today's latex-based thinset mortars. Cement backerboard is designed specifically for this use. You get a smoother application, and better adhesion so your tile job is less likely to fail when the backerboard is made of cement.
MDF board or chipboard can also be tiled over, but not in wet or humid areas. Walls must be free of grease, dirt, soap, loose paint, plaster and dust, and must be dry, flat and firm. Walls must be smooth, with holes and rough areas filled with plaster filler and then sanded.
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. No matter how firm the subfloor; 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.
Cement board forms a durable, stable base for tile, and it has no organic materials (unlike drywall, greenboard, or plywood) so it is not prone to mold, rot, shrinkage, or decomposition due to moisture. Ceramic tile laid over cement board is one of the most durable floor or wall surfaces you can install.
Use High-latex Thinset
Thinset is the wet base that you first trowel on the plywood to make the tile stick. Higher latex content is essential for bonding to plywood. A quality unmodified thinset should be used and mixed with a latex additive.
Can you tile on plywood? Yes, but various considerations need to be made first. If the floor consists of sheets that do not support each other, it is necessary to ensure that each edge is fully supported underneath.
If the area is not exposed to high levels of water, this should not occur, however, if you are going to set the plywood overlay in your bathroom or kitchen then you will need to seal the boards beforehand. This can be done simply using PVA adhesive.
Underlayment is something you put on top of your substrate to prepare it for tiling. The substrate (or subfloor) is the ground, whether it's made of plywood or cement. Cement board or backer board are the most standard underlayments. They come in various thicknesses for different spaces.
Tile Thickness
The vast majority of porcelain tiles are 6mm to 10mm thick and a tile in this range will serve most purposes. Wall tiles typically range from 6 to 10mm thick. Mosaics and decorative wall products also range from 6 to 10mm thick to make combining them easier.
A: It's perfectly acceptable to put tile directly on concrete – with a couple of caveats. First, it is important to determine if there is moisture coming up from the slab. You can test for moisture by taping all four sides of 18-by-18-inch polyurethane plastic on the slab.
Compressed Fibre Cement Sheets
Most fibre cement sheets have a surface layer of dust which should be removed by using a damp sponge or cloth before priming and tiling. Before tiling, prime all compressed fibre cement sheets with a compatible primer with the tile adhesive.
There's no need to concrete over the boards or rip them up to start again. However, you can't lay tiles directly onto the floorboards. As wooden floors are made up of many individual boards, they are flexible and susceptible to movement. This movement can cause tiles and grout to crack.
Can you tile on wood? Yes, but because wooden floors naturally bend, bounce and expand, tiles can end up cracking under the pressure if installed incorrectly. Tiling on wood surfaces is all about ensuring there is enough rigidity in the wooden subfloor and selecting the correct flexible tile adhesive.
Yes, apply an acrylic based primer such as BAL Primer (undiluted) to the plasterboard with a brush or roller and leave to dry before applying any powered adhesives. All board joints and internal corners should be reinforced using a suitable alkaline joint tape before tiling.
Part of transitioning a tile floor to a wood floor is ensuring that the thickness of the underlayment is taken into consideration. You can use either fiberboard or a cement board; wood underlayment is never acceptable with tile installations.
Before installing ceramic or stone tile, most subfloors must be properly prepared with an underlayment or membrane to prevent transmission of movement that can result in cracked tiles or grout. This underlayment can be a preferred bonding material like cement backerboard or an elastomeric membrane.
Can you tile on plywood? Yes, but various considerations need to be made first. If the floor consists of sheets that do not support each other, it is necessary to ensure that each edge is fully supported underneath.
You can't, however, lay tiles directly over wooden floorboards, as the flexibility of floorboards makes them susceptible to movement, which could cause tiles and grout to crack and break. There is no need to concrete over the boards or rip them up before tiling, however, you will need to use plywood or backer boards.
Standard cement based tile adhesives rely on a mechanical adhesion to bond onto the substrate. The wet cement engages physically with small irregularities and pores on the surface and uses this to form a strong bond. When the surface is very smooth this grip is much weaker causing tiles to debond.