Installing Marble Tile Over Plywood

What type of thinset to use when installing marble tile.

Installing marble tile over plywood.

Hope you didn t like your beautiful new tile floor. This process is not complicated but you will need to be willing to do some work. I ll either use 1 4 inch cement backerboard or a proprietary product like schluter ditra. The marble was put down with thinset over the 1 2 plywood.

Installation of ceramic tile over plywood substrates with latex portland cement mortar tb22 all wooden flooring when placed over conventional floor joist or other systems should be of a design and thickness so as to maintain a substrate deflection not to exceed 1 360th of span including live and dead loads. Here are the basics of how to install bathroom tile on plywood. Step 1 measure. Try laying tile over 1 2 durock or hardie and see what happens when the joists are 19 2 or 24 on center.

Secondly i would never tile directly over the plywood as this video seems to imply is acceptable. Get the dimensions of the room and then multiply them to get the square. In hindsite i think the installer was incorrect about installing over plywood. Tiles are glued down with a thin set adhesive a mortar based product that now is the standard for ceramic and stone tile products.

But a number of precautions must be taken to ensure a successful installation. The preferred method for tile installations is to use a sheet of underlayment. In my experience tile applied directly to plywood will be a short lived installation and more likely to encourage rot in areas near a tub or shower. Tile can be installed over a plywood substrate and it is actually a fantastic way to make sure you don t have deflection in your floor.

All the marble tiles popped loose where the water was. Start by measuring the room. 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. For wall installations plywood is overkill beneath the concrete or fiber board which is designed in five eighths inch material for wall settings.

If possible you should always use concrete board underlayments rather than plywood. Subfloor preparation is similar cement board underlayment installed over a sturdy plywood subfloor is the best base for marble tiles just as it is with ceramic tile. A number of different types of substrate are used for tile including plywood. When installing tile in your home you can use a variety of products to adhere the tile to the substrate.