Tile on hardwood - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Browny · 03-27-2006, 09:31 PM

I was wondering if anyone can tell me if it is a bad idea to lay 12x12 tile right onto a hardwood floor.

long story short the guy that was in here took the money and ran he did sand the floor, so its not in to bad of shape but not customer wants to cover it. they were just going to put linolium down and all of a sudden want tile.

DecksEtc · 03-27-2006, 09:49 PM

I'm no tile expert and I'm sure they'll chime in soon but if it were me, I wouldn't do it. I would be concerned with the thinset adhering and getting a quality job going right over the hardwood.

Browny · 03-27-2006, 09:50 PM

I agree. I was thinking same thing.

Mike Finley · 03-27-2006, 09:50 PM

Yes, it's a bad idea.

Browny · 03-27-2006, 09:55 PM

Roger That!

R&D Tile · 03-28-2006, 06:09 AM

The hardwood has to be removed and the proper substrate put down, NO, you can not put anything over it, then tile, and tile should never be installed directly over any plank flooring, you need plywood then a CBU or membrane first, demensional plank flooring can stay if covered by sheet plywood, Hardwood has to come up.

Bud Cline · 03-28-2006, 11:43 AM

Seems that this topic has suddenly shown-up on several of the forums at the same time, different person (supposedly) asking the question but still the same question.

It's kinda funny.......the same handfull of tileguys using the same name everywhere answers all of the questions on all of the boards but still the same question pops up everywhere.

H-m-m-m-m! very curious.

Anyway...........
R&D has the apropriate answer.

Mike Finley · 03-28-2006, 11:51 AM

Nice to know somebody is keeping score.

Bud Cline · 03-28-2006, 12:03 PM

Just a curiosity Mike.

It seems topics come in waves and it isn't unusual for the same questions and (arguements) to appear on all the boards at the same time. In most cases it's a DIY'er on a fishing expedition. The only problem is that even though the same pro's will offer the same information everywhere the more boards that are exposed to the same topic the more novices that also get involved. This is where answers start to get confusing to DIY'ers and their heads begin to spin from too much information.

Besides.......someone has to keep score.

Browny · 03-28-2006, 05:58 PM

Thanks for fast response guys! I thought the hardwood would have to come up and I really didnt want to get involved with it it wasnt in contract, but i thought i might be overdueing and just added stuff that would have to be done in order to do it right just cause i didnt want to do it, but all my thoughts have been confirmed!

Thanks so much!

You guys are the best!

R&D Tile · 03-28-2006, 06:37 PM

Mike Finley · 03-28-2006, 06:48 PM

Just kidding Bud, no harm meant.

R&D Tile · 03-28-2006, 07:00 PM

So, who's winning?, guess Bud is, he has 6 wet saws, I have only two, damn, lost again.

Bud Cline · 03-29-2006, 05:31 PM

Seven, if you consider the handheld wetsaw.

I'm looking for the KMA emotican but I can't find it anywhere.

By-the-way, I would be happy to turn loose of any one of those saws at any time since I'm winding down around here.

Riversong · 03-29-2006, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R&D Tile

The hardwood has to be removed and the proper substrate put down, NO, you can not put anything over it, then tile, and tile should never be installed directly over any plank flooring, you need plywood then a CBU or membrane first, demensional plank flooring can stay if covered by sheet plywood, Hardwood has to come up.

Pretty definitive answer, except you don't offer any explanation. If it's such a definite NO then why? Without an explanation that makes sense, your answer comes across as just another opinion.

- Robert

ch0mpie · 03-29-2006, 11:14 PM

I accually did an enterance way a while ago that had tile over hard wood. I ripped the tile and hard wood out, preped and layed new tile. Point is when I was pulling out the existing tile it didn't seem that the thin set was adhearing to the poly.

Bud Cline · 03-29-2006, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Pretty definitive answer, except you don't offer any explanation. If it's such a definite NO then why? Without an explanation that makes sense, your answer comes across as just another opinion.
- Robert

OK Robert here's your answer:

Any hardwood slat flooring is dimensionally unstable. As it lives it's life as a hardwood floor this instability goes unnoticed. Each and every board expands and contracts (as everything does) in every possible direction. Under a rigid ceramic tile floor this instability would be disasterous.

Here's more: Even engineered hardwood that one would think would be stable because it is basically plywood has almost the same potential to disrupt a ceramic tile floor as does solid wood. Because even though it doesn't move as much it still has the ability to move upward.

Now Robert you are asking yourself "Then why is plywood sheathing OK under tile?" And the reason this is OK is because of the general size of the sheathing. It's the slats and the small size of the wood flooring that is the culprit. The potential for variable movement is too great to expect ceramic tile to stay in place.

All of this isn't to say that all ceramic tile over slat-wood will fail, this is simply to say the potential for failure is much greater than other methods and one shouldn't gamble on a customer's floor.

R&D, I'll email you and tell you where to send my check.

R&D Tile · 03-30-2006, 06:22 AM

RowdyRed94 · 03-30-2006, 04:22 PM

Bud's right on, and it's usually spelled out on the back of the mortar bag.

Bud Cline · 03-31-2006, 10:52 PM

thread Closed???