Porcelain floor tiles

[jubba]

Just done my kitchen floor, made sure floorboards where fixed well, overlayed with 9mm ply with screws every 150mm, primed with granfix acrylic primer then used granfix superflex adhesive. Suitable for porcelain & says can be laid directly onto floorboards, so your 18mm should be more than ample. (as long as its solid)

Only been down a week, but Jumped up an down on them a bit (LOL), and feels pretty soild.

 

[aflemi]

I dont like tiling on to ply given the choice, tile backerboards are designed to be tiled onto, ply is not.

• Ply will swell with moisture, this can cause tiles to lift or grout to crack
• If ply get damp but not enough to lift tiles, it can stain the grout
• A lot of ply is treated with fire resistant chemicals that stop the adhesive bonding
• Most ply is NOT suitable to tile onto

Backer boards will do none of the above.

The OP has already laid the ply (18mm, which is thicker than most people seem to use, 12mm generally appears to be an acceptable minimum).
I must have read hundreds of posts regarding tiling onto ply and, maybe I'm wrong but, on the contrary, it seems totally acceptable as being suitable to tile onto. I'd be interested to hear other tilers views on this??:bigear:

 

[White Room]

I do work for plumbers and they love ply, they can be hard work at times but I have to work with it

 

[Richard Edwards]

I do lay on ply - always 18mm WBP grade and seal both sides with acrylic primer. I always use Bal two part fast flex - which has already been stated on the Forum is very very expensive. - Actually I use 'Butech Tile to Wood' at trade is 60% of the cost and is the same - exactly! Always ensure boards under ply are very stable and pump in a lot of screws - usually 200mm centres or less and along all board joints and doorways at 100 mm centres - It a lot more difficult to add some more screws once the tiles are down. !!

Otherwise I use backerboards, either Hardie/Lux/Wedi or similar cheaper ones depending on the application.

:8:

Hope this gives you confidence

 

[lewisloo]

Hi
thanks for the feedback, quick update I did use marine ply (exterior) then gave it 2 coats of waterproof pva, so hope this works!!

 

[Aston]

there will be times when you have to fix tiles onto ply. as beam say's plumbers AND builders always ssem to go for it. mostly down to unintentional ignorance and being set in their ways imho..

it doesnt really matter if you used 100mm thick ply (if they made it ) and screwed it every 50mm, its still has all the concerns that dylante listed. as i wrote yesterday, we need to be progressing forward if we can and that means educating our clients, builders and in some instances, other tilers.....as i said at the begining, sometimes you'll have no choice but always explain why, ply is not a stable substrate in the same way as a tile backer board is.....

 

[Aston]

Hi
thanks for the feedback, quick update I did use marine ply (exterior) then gave it 2 coats of waterproof pva, so hope this works!!

waterproof pva??

 

[Rich]

The OP has already laid the ply (18mm, which is thicker than most people seem to use, 12mm generally appears to be an acceptable minimum).
I must have read hundreds of posts regarding tiling onto ply and, maybe I'm wrong but, on the contrary, it seems totally acceptable as being suitable to tile onto. I'd be interested to hear other tilers views on this??:bigear:

We all Have to tile onto ply if we want to stay in business. My point was if he could have over boarded with a backer board than I would advise it. As he cant, it doesnt matter. Ply is not an ideal substrate to tile onto for the reasons I have listed above and another thousand that the guys on here could add. We only tile on to the stuff because builders, plumbers, customers and
(unfortunatley) some tilers dont know any better. Brilliant post by Diamond, I couldnt agree more. It is down to us (professional tilers) to tell people what needs to be done to ensure a sound installation.

 

[Rich]

Hmmm...PVA??

 

[aflemi]

We all Have to tile onto ply if we want to stay in business. My point was if he could have over boarded with a backer board than I would advise it. As he cant, it doesnt matter. Ply is not an ideal substrate to tile onto for the reasons I have listed above and another thousand that the guys on here could add. We only tile on to the stuff because builders, plumbers, customers and
(unfortunatley) some tilers dont know any better. Brilliant post by Diamond, I couldnt agree more. It is down to us (professional tilers) to tell people what needs to be done to ensure a sound installation.

Sorry, I can't see Diamond's post on this thread? I am always willing to learn from more experienced tilers and am very interested in your views. It's just that I can't remember reading anywhere previously that ply was regarded in such a negative way. That's why I'm interested to get a broad coverage of input if I'm to change my practices.
Do people have floor tiling failures because of ply being used that they can identify? I must admit I thought the main advantage of BB over ply on floors was the thickness. I don't think even Hardiebacker make a big point of this inherent weakness in ply compared to BB in their publicity.
Still interested to hear others experience of this??