tiling over floor grade chipboard

[grumpygrouter]

Grumpy,
Thank you for sharing your practical knowledge so patiently.
That's what will make this forum work.
Others perhaps should take note the good example you set.
best,
graham

Thanks for your comment Graham. I am here to help if I can.

 

[ad tiling]

i'm tiling (500*500 tiles) over floor grade chipboard using bal single part flexible. do i need to apply a primer, if so why, and which primer?
thanks

And he only asked about primer :lol:

 

[Rab78]

ive not long tiles a chipboard turn and grrove floor 110 m2 most of the floor needed extra support underneath and had to be well bonded with universal bonading agent, i use dunlop/bal. I used dunlop tile on wood as it is suitable for this kind of floor, but is a bit expensive, abot £23 per 3m2. I used dlexi addative for the grouting. Has been down for 2 months with no problems.

 

[andy-p]

I can see why is chipboard not suitable for tiling in some circumstances.

However my chipboard floor is solid, no deflections....therefore I see no need for adding ply for extra stiffness.
the chipboard is bone dry, been down for 17 years and is not subject to any wetting or moisture.
please explain in more detail why you foresee cracking or debonding before Christmas.

graham , if the floor is solid overboard with 9mm ply screwed every 150 centres, it wont cost much and is a fairly easy job, time and money well spent for peace of mind and will save you a packet on the long run..

 

[Droopy]

thanks to all contributors.
I can't understand a mechanism that will cause the tiles to crack.
- as regards gravity - the floor is solid and vibration proof
- temp - tiling at summer temps, so any differential thermal contraction will only occur over an individual tile, ie given that the grout's tensile strength is weaker that the tile. Thermal expansion and possibility of the tiles buckling not an issue given summer temps.
- moisture. the floor is bone dry, and any small expansion in the chipboard would only have affect across one tile width, and there should be sufficient flexibility in the bal spf to cope with that.

hence I'm going to proceed with the bal spf. I'll be sure to let you know if the tiles crack within the year.

As soon as you put any adhesive onto it, the floor will no longer be bone dry.
The water in the adhesive will make sure of that.

Save yourself any hassle and take the SPF back and change it for BAL FastFlex.
Yes the cost is greater. But this difference will be far less than ripping up and redoing, or overboarding with 18mm ply (which will be needed if you intend to use the BAL Single Part Flexible)

 

[mark1966]

the adhesive your going to use is cement based and will only flex so much bal fast flex cost alot howtex wf21 is the same product but cost less do as the guys said prime the floor first and use the wf21 i did a floating floor years ago and to this day they havnt had a prob with it hope this helps ps the wf21 goes alot further and probally will only be about 30% more exspensive depending on what you paid for your originail adhesive mark

 

[Brindle]

I have recently tiled onto chipboard on 2 floors (against my advice) with the only adhesive I would have trusted - Bal Fastflex. Worked a treat, not very messy to use either. I also used the GT1 (?) Admix to the grout to prevent cracking in the grout. No problems. Definitely wouldn't have used a single part.

Good luck with it

 

[grumpygrouter]

I have recently tiled onto chipboard on 2 floors (against my advice) with the only adhesive I would have trusted - Bal Fastflex. Worked a treat, not very messy to use either. I also used the GT1 (?) Admix to the grout to prevent cracking in the grout. No problems. Definitely wouldn't have used a single part.

Good luck with it

Ardex-flex 7001 is a single part addy designed for the very same thing and also works a treat. Cheaper too.

 

[Brindle]

Cheers Grumpy, had to get readily available stuff in my location, which was Bal (which is blinking dear 🙂

 

[woodie]

i wouldn't advise using single part flex' i agree with grumpy you're better off being safe than sorry