Can You Tile Over Plywood In Bathroom

Ceramic tile is a very popular upgrade for kitchens bathrooms patios and foyers.

Can you tile over plywood in bathroom.

For wall installations your real concerns are whether you want to use thinset directly on the wood and whether you are using an exterior or interior type of plywood. If your old ceramic tile is worn or dated you can lay new tile right over the old and avoid the huge job of tearing out the old tile. It is resistant to water and scratches making it more durable than hardwoods or vinyl tile for these areas. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood.

While some types of plywood can be used in certain types of tile installations use of the material has limitations. It is more important as a subfloor than anything else. Often the subfloor consists of plywood that is nailed or screwed to the construction floor. Here are the basics of how to install bathroom tile on plywood.

The tile industry has changed so much. In fact pros do it all the time. If you do not waterproof the subfloor moisture can make its way under the subfloor and cause mold growth or other damage. To install bathroom tile over plywood you ll have to follow a series of steps.

A poor ceramic installation will. The nice thing about tiling over plywood is that should you drop something and break a tile you can remove it without disturbing the surrounding tiles. We ve installed a number of ceramic and stone floors. I did it for 30 years over fir plywood.

You can either roll on a liquid latex membrane or use a peel and stick crack prevention mat over the entire concrete subfloor. To prevent that movement from creating cracks in your grout and tile install a crack prevention membrane after the concrete subfloor is clean flat and free of cracks larger than 1 8 inch. The job isn t difficult when it s done right. I still get calls for more work after being out of it for 10 years because my work held up.

Start by measuring the room. Step 1 measure. But done wrong it can leave a homeowner with a feeling of defeat. Get the dimensions of the room and then multiply them to get the square.

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.