tiling over floor grade chipboard

[DHTiling]

For others reading this thread... Just because this job has held for 3 years does not mean that it is correct to tile direct to chipboard.. YES! adhesives will stick to it and have done for years, the concern is that as a particle board it is not dimensionally stable enough to hold the tiles in the long term, 3 years might sound long enough to test it, but as tilers we have to guarantee a tiled installation and to say that it is ok to tile to a substrate when really it should not be ,is incorrect for someone to say it is so..

So please do listen to those who do this day in day out and not a DIY'r who has been lucky..

 

[sharpfamily]

OK. For clarity & readers benefit, opportunity surely for you to give the bullet point summary of what the best professional tiling practice is for existing chipboard floors.




I'd like to make some context comment regarding the value of the 3 yrs test period. In the schluter-ditra handbook they give a warranty of.......... just 5 yrs! Hardiebacker give a longer 10 yrs warranty. BAL a massive 25 yrs (but not over chipboard). Meanwhile, of course as time passes, there are changes in interior style/design - eg how long is it before a sound tile floor is simply the wrong colour for the new decor!!? 3yrs is pretty long.....especially for any gross errors to have shown....meanwhile the test goes on.

 

[Perry]

Arrogant!?- that's very unfair.

But here's an idea regarding your concerns: You can now simply provide readers with a bullet point summary of what you believe to be best tiling practice when faced with an existing chipboard floor.

sorry it was the wrong word to use not what i was looking for good with my hands not with words perhaps the opposite to yourself cant think of a word to describe it sort of **** sure but against fact sorry but i had a poor education i didn't meen to sound rude

 

[jay]

Interesting read http://194.223.92.131/pdf/Technical Data Sheets/B & C Technical Data Sheets/BAL_Single_Part_Flex.pdf

 

[sharpfamily]

sorry it was the wrong word to use not what i was looking for good with my hands not with words perhaps the opposite to yourself cant think of a word to describe it sort of **** sure but against fact sorry but i had a poor education i didn't meen to sound rude

pjc, thanks for that explanation - i was hurt by the word arrogant, as it's a word i associate with the likes of david cameron, george osbourne...& tony blair.




i'm sorry also, though, if i've come across as a bit **** sure - don't mean to. The big downside of taking a risk is worry - certainly during the first 3 months after finishing the job i was uncertain that it wouldn't work. At 3 months less worried, and now after 3 yrs.....i'm pretty confident, but still don't know for sure if it will show distress in the future.




my advice to any diy'ers is to seek advice, do a risk assessment and be prepared to take responsibility for their decisions. if they can't do this, then get in a professional tiler. Anyway, i've really enjoyed doing my 3 diy tiling projects...

best,
graham

 

[sharpfamily]

Interesting read http://194.223.92.131/pdf/Technical Data Sheets/B & C Technical Data Sheets/BAL_Single_Part_Flex.pdf

3 yrs ago single part fastflex wasn't available only the messy and espensive 2 part fastflex....that's why i took a risk with single part flexible.
this newer BAL product sounds to have less risk than spf and the leaflet below suggests it may be used on single layer of sound chipboard.....big advantage there not to have to do over boarding or using decoupler membranes etc.
here's the product link:



http://194.223.92.131/pdf/Technical...ical Data Sheets/BAL_Single_Part_Fastflex.pdf

 

[Deleted member 9966]

I think this topic has been done to death now. Everybody has had their say and is entitled to their own opinions.

For all future readers contemplating tiling over chipboard, please read every part of this thread carefully before making your decision.

Thread now closed. Thankyou everybody for your input.

 

[Dan]

Don't mind me while I bump some old but popular threads to see if the topic is still active in some way. Wondering if either the original idea or original issue still exists. I've done this with quite a few threads, so don't be offended if this is just jargon these days and not applicable. But I thought there might be a small chance a small percentage of the small number of threads might just be slightly applicable and the thread could get a new lease of life.

Reply to this if you've read a bit and have something to say.
There IS going to be a bigger chance when i do this, that the thread is dead. So don't worry if that's the case, just don't reply to it, and we'll all move on and let the thread drop out of view again.

Bump

 

[ythan]

Yes, this thread is still relevant. I'm aware that the floor is still performing perfectly satisfactorily without any problems...no sign of cracks in tiles or grout, no debonding, nothing at all untoward.
Definately seems to have been a success.

So how has this worked when so many said it wouldn't?

 

[m3fitter]

Hilarious thread... Unibond do a ready mixed bucket adhesive that states you may stick straight onto floorboards !.. hahha unfortunately there isn't a grout that can flex as much... ! If you professionally fix tiles for a living, you must adhere ( sorry for the pun ) to the upto date advice, recommendations of adhesive, TTa, grout, tile manufacturers, if you don't and it fails, you are at fault..

 

[Stef]

Luck!!!!!

 

[ythan]

Come on, luck? There's got to be rational reasons why that chipboard floor + BAL SPF has been successful. Hence this thread isn't dead.

 

[beanz]

To an extent it IS luck. British Standards aren't just plucked out of the air, it's a numbers game. There will be a certain number of jobs that will be fine using the above method, but there will also be a percentage that fail. Once that percentage is deemed to be too high, it's not worth the risk.

 

[Mr Tiler]

in my honest opinion I don't believe this chap should of done what he done because chipboard is not a tough material it doesn't take much for it to crumble so the Idea of water from adhesive soaking down into it is not a good idea to me at all. but I also believe that the b.s is basically a play it safe rule book because if you stick to it... you will never or very very rarely get failures... but you can also push past there guidelines as there far short of the risk boundary as everything else in this country... I don't know the b.s on most things just bits ive seen on this site. but I know that is how it will be. thank you and goodnight! lol

 

[beanz]

in my honest opinion I don't believe this chap should of done what he done because chipboard is not a tough material it doesn't take much for it to crumble so the Idea of water from adhesive soaking down into it is not a good idea to me at all. but I also believe that the b.s is basically a play it safe rule book because if you stick to it... you will never or very very rarely get failures... but you can also push past there guidelines as there far short of the risk boundary as everything else in this country... I don't know the b.s on most things just bits ive seen on this site. but I know that is how it will be. thank you and goodnight! lol

Very true. You'll also either, never land a job because you're too expensive, or never make a profit. That's why it's a good idea to work for someone at first, so you can see what works and what doesn't.