How To Tile Over Plywood Subfloor

It should be fastened to the subfloor using thinset and then screwed down every 10 square.

How to tile over plywood subfloor. Use intervening layers of two sheets of plywood. Concrete board concrete board also called backer boardcomes in 1 4 and 1 2 thicknesses and is usually sold in 4 x 6 sheets. On a plywood subfloor you need either a layer of cement backer board or an underlayment membrane like custom building products wonderboard and redgard between the subfloor and tile for the thin set adhesive to achieve a good bond. 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.

Installing tile over a wood subfloor is a lot easier today than it was when i started my remodeling career. Begin by applying the thin skin adhesive to the plywood with a smooth trowel. No matter how firm the subfloor. Use thinset with a higher latex content thinset is the wet base that you first trowel on the plywood to make the tile stick.

Once the surface is completely covered cover the adhesive with the fiberglass based paper and smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles with a broad drywall knife. While tile can be laid on plywood do not install tile directly onto the plywood subfloor itself.