Tiling on chipboard - why not?

[steveboy]

I have been reading on a few posts that it's not the best idea to tile over chipboard without some ply being layd down 1st.

What would happen if you tiled right on to the chipboard??

One of my 1st jobs was a kitchen floor 16m2 that was a chipboard floor, I told the customer it had to be ply lined 1st, she wouldnt listen to me and wanted me to go ahead right on to the chipboard. :mad2:

 

[Rich]

I refuse to tile onto cxhipboard, although some tilers do and have no problems. Chipboard swells and contracts to much for adhesive to hold to (IMO) but adhesive manufacturers will guarentee their product so the call is down to you. I would play it safe and forget Ply, over board with a 6mm backer board like no mope ply or hardie.

 

[Ajax123]

Chip board is much less stable than plywood. If it gets wet it swells quite quickly and loses structural integrity becoming much more flexible. the integrity does not really return when it dries out. It also goes mouldy much more easily than ply for some reason - not sure why though.

I guess it is one of those things which if you do it you might get away with it if you are lucky but would you want to build a reputation based on luck.

 

[seamonkey]

Also alot of chipboards are pre treated with wax or chemicals, these are not a suitable sustrate to bond to.

 

[Aston]

in one sentence, 'it is not a suitably stable substrate in which to tile upon'..

 

[Tecnik2000]

So many things are in question here firstly the joist spacing ,how the flooring is fixed,nails or screws, how much deflection is present, what sort of sealer or primer,super flexi adhesive?I'd be wary of fixing to 18mm chipboard,even if the surface could be stabilised..More info ?:yikes: be very carefull

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I was a big fan of 18mm ply, until I read some of the threads on here (cheep nasty WPB) etc. I now lean towards backer-boards. Chip board never was, and never will be a suitable substate for tiles. Imho:ban:

 

[Aston]

its taken a long time in some respects but we've come a long way from tiling on ply and plasterboard...we should embrace products like hardiebacker and more so, innovative backer boards such as wedi, marmox, dukka, schluter etc due to their thermal capacities and water resistance......we should be educating our clients and moving towards these products and that way, you will see less issues and lower prices due to popularity....its win win situation in the long term...the quicker we sell the benefits of such products, the better imo..

ed

 

[doug boardley]

spill some water on chipboard, then see how it's curled up at the edges when it's dried out

 

[DHTiling]

It's not only that is doesn't like getting wet..

Chipboard is made up of small particles glued and compressed, these particles is all that will be holding tiles in place via the tile adhesive... these chippings are not dimensionally stable enough to withhold the stresses from possible deflection and lateral expansion and still hold the tiles in place.

Ply is cross bonding layers and can handle the stresses a lot better but seen as so much cheap ply is getting imported that leech resins then even this can be hard to guarantee a long lasting installation.

This is where backer boards that are dimensionally stable will always be my choice of over boarding ...much better substrate to tile to.

 

[scribbler]

Lots of good replies here. As another newbie, I can see the difficulty when faced with such a client, and think it might be a good idea to pop a small bit of 'blown' and crumbly chipboard in amongst my tools to illustrate the point to any customers who are insistant about it.

 

[Rich]

Isnt it mad that these people will pay good money for the perfect tiles, the right adhesives, pay for a pro tiler to come in and carry out the work but then wont listen when you tell them that if you put the floor down it would most likely lift in 6 months... I dont get it :nonod:

 

[Scott]

Lots of good replies here. As another newbie, I can see the difficulty when faced with such a client, and think it might be a good idea to pop a small bit of 'blown' and crumbly chipboard in amongst my tools to illustrate the point to any customers who are insistant about it.

Just take a Weetabix along, its exactly the same, its even 18mm think and before you ask yes i did just go measure one!

Only difference is i dont have milk on my chipboard in the morning :drool5:

 

[Superally]

I was a big fan of 18mm ply, until I read some of the threads on here (cheep nasty WPB) etc. I now lean towards backer-boards. Chip board never was, and never will be a suitable substate for tiles. Imho:ban:

I agree with above....caught me out and when shown to Bal rep he said that the ply had been treated with a releasing agent to stop the boards sticking together......beware B+Q plywood......hardiebacker rules

 

[steveboy]

Isnt it mad that these people will pay good money for the perfect tiles, the right adhesives, pay for a pro tiler to come in and carry out the work but then wont listen when you tell them that if you put the floor down it would most likely lift in 6 months... I dont get it :nonod:

Sure is mad!

I'm just back from pricing a job and it's a right mess, the woman told me that the sink came away from the wall and flooded the bathroom, and that the bath has droped about an inch. She has those sticky down tiles with 6mm ply under them. Anywho I removed the bath pannel to show her why its like that, she couldnt believe it, how the chipboard has warped so much. I explaned how it will be like that under all the plyboard and what needs to be done to sort it all and shes happy with that, Just need to work out how much to charge to remove the whole bathroom and rip the old floor and replace it then tile the walls round the bath and possibly the fllor aswell.