Stupid question time

[poynton phil]

I always overboard chipboard white or green, 18 or 22mm but i have never took the time to find out why its not suitable to be tiled on. Can someone enlighten, ignorant old me on this please.

 

[diamondtiling]

Green is full of wax that can and does react with adhesive and the white is full of glue that can do the same. None are acceptable tiling surfaces Phil and they are usually nailed down as well.

 

[DHTiling]

Also chipboard is not stable enough to tile to directly.. it is a particle board and IMO not structurally sound enough to hold the adhesive in situ.

 

[cornish_crofter]

Also, Chipboard is a pretty poor flooring material for bathroom in general. I have replaced or repaired quite a few bathroom floors. Once moisture gets into the chipboard it very rarely comes out 100%.

I always screw floors down though. In fact I very rarely use nails for anything apart from roofing. I bought a 25KG box of 2 inch and the same of 4 inch 6 yeas ago and I've still got about half of each box.

 

[Brinkley]

and to add even moisture from adhesive affects it let alone any leaks, it goes all scrunchy when wet like weetabix

 

[Tenchman]

Main reason is the chip is just compressed sawdust and it swells up like cat litter when the water from adhesive soaks in, then it expands and stays that way thus blowing the tiles either off or the chip falls to bits.

I have done dozens of 2nd opinions amazingly the tilers in question have nearly always said the builders or client told them it would be fine ??????

still massive room for improvement in our trade.

 

[Scott]

But we have all seen it tiled on and it hasnt always failed though.

 

[Alberta Stone]

But we have all seen it tiled on and it hasnt always failed though.

I have seen tile put on K-3 which is even worse than chipboard as it is like an early MDF style board but less dense, and I have seen areas which didn't fail.
But, any spots that got even a little water under into the board and it inflates and disintegrates.
It is taking a hell of a gamble to tile onto such material.
You may be lucky and have no problems, but hey, even people who play russian roulette have a chance to spin that barrel again.
Certainly not the mark of a professional who cares about their clients investment to advise or make such a poor and un-warranty-able choice.

 

[Gazzer]

I think that in the past most experienced tilers will have tiled direct to chipboard but they have seen the shortfall now and again. Times are changing and there are safer methods available to us now. As an experienced professional I dont want to take any chances that a floor can fail, should such a thing happen it would prove costly in terms of money and maybe my reputation.
Yes adhesive manufacturers will claim that their adhesive will stick to chipboard ...I dont doubt it will stick but what happens if the boards expand or contract ? There is only so much the adhesive and tile can take.
As I have said times move on and so do we as fixers.
That said I will admit to tiling my own bathroom floor with a 2 part rubber crumb adhesive which has not failed in the 7 years that it has been down...........Its less that 2m2 though and although it was laid direct to old type T&G floorboards they were securely fixed.
I certainly wouldnt use that method in a room any larger. In fact I havent used that method for a good number of years.....it hasnt failed but I see better methods.

 

[aph257]

it's a no brainer to replace chip with ply and cement boards compared with the cost of a strip-out and re-tile.

 

[Alberta Stone]

In a game like ours, failures are costly.
None of us are doing this because we wish to give it away, we seek to gain.
Ergo, we look for better methods...things that work, reliably, time and again with no issues.
I have heard the adage: "learn from your mistakes"
And while that is capital advice, my dad taught me one better:
"Learn from the mistakes of others as you will not live long enough to make them all yourself".

 

[Scott]

You better put that in the favourite quotes thread AS

 

[Alberta Stone]

Done, scottley