Tiling to wood/ply substrates

[Ian]

Following on from the gypsum thread, who still ply lines a wooden substrate before tiling? With cement boards and decoupling membranes better suited to the job, why still use ply? I don't mind tiling to ply boxings or even bath panels but, won't even consider tiling over a ply lined floor.

 

[DP Tiling]

In an ideal world we would always tile to cement board or a decoupler if we can. Personally I find a lot of the time customers don't want to pay the extra money to overboard or lay a decoupler, if the ply is in good condition and screwed down properly I will tile to it but I will advise the customer that cement board has so many advantages and leave the decision up to them.

I will insist, however, if stone is to be put down there is too much instability in ply and tiles with veins and fissures just can't cope with the movement. This is my opinion after a friend of mine had a series of costly failures when fixing travertine to ply for a builder in multiple houses. (he even used 2 part s2).

 

[Stef]

Exact same as you Bri, very rarely I tile to ply & always insist that floor gets overboarded with Hardie or a thermal board.
If the client uses wbp ply then I probably will but it's normally cheap rubbish that delaminates & isn't a suitable surface to tile to.

 

[Sean SML Tiling]

For me it's either cement board or decoupler. If they don't like it they can lump it in my eyes. If the ply isn't fixed with adhesive then there will be voids underneath then when the tile gets fixed there will be movement and will cause the grout to crack.

 

[area tiling]

How many of us lay a decoupler over the top of ply ??

 

[Qwerty]

How many of us lay a decoupler over the top of ply ??

Always. Either that or tile backer board.

 

[Stocks Tiles]

Job I start tomorrow is on 18mm or 22mm marine ply, been tiled before had no problems but they're having every room done again with different tiles, the adhesive is still stuck to the board I have allowed to cement board and screw over the top (going to try scrape first), wondering now if would be easier to just decouple it? The floors solid reason I instantly went cement board is that they're having a huge bath weighing over 150kg! Better to over price than under right??

I will only tile to ply overboard if customer agrees in writing that any cracking problems etc are not my problem, not worth the hassle for me for the future! I've always decoupled only recently started using cement boards!

 

[Russell brown]

Has anyone used no more ply? Materials are hard to get around here unless you want to pay over the odds but a local tile shop stocks these. I've always used ply and never had a problem but I'm always willing to learn. The property we're in the kitchen floor was tiled 20+ yrs ago, the substrate is T&G chipboard which has been covered in experiment and tiled onto. No cracks or lose tiles?.

 

[White Room]

Always. Either that or tile backer board.

Job I start tomorrow is on 18mm or 22mm marine ply, been tiled before had no problems but they're having every room done again with different tiles, the adhesive is still stuck to the board I have allowed to cement board and screw over the top (going to try scrape first), wondering now if would be easier to just decouple it? The floors solid reason I instantly went cement board is that they're having a huge back weighing over 150kg! Better to over price than under right??

I will only tile to ply overboard if customer agrees in writing that any cracking problems etc are not my problem, not worth the hassle for me for the future! I've always decoupled only recently started using cement boards!

Has anyone used no more ply? Materials are hard to get around here unless you want to pay over the odds but a local tile shop stocks these. I've always used ply and never had a problem but I'm always willing to learn. The property we're in the kitchen floor was tiled 20+ yrs ago, the substrate is T&G chipboard which has been covered in experiment and tiled onto. No cracks or lose tiles?.

Lost me on both counts there....

 

[Stocks Tiles]

Haha sorry bloody phone, BATH

 

[Russell brown]

Predictive text!

Expamet mesh

 

[Russell brown]

Used hardibacker for the first time today and I have to say I'm not impressed!. Not sure if it's because I've never used it and did it without seeing it done but can't say that I'm impressed. Will definitely give it another go but it's a hell of a lot dearer than ply. 5 boards 3 bags of screws and adhesive was around £100!.

 

[Stef]

Used hardibacker for the first time today and I have to say I'm not impressed!. Not sure if it's because I've never used it and did it without seeing it done but can't say that I'm impressed. Will definitely give it another go but it's a hell of a lot dearer than ply. 5 boards 3 bags of screws and adhesive was around £100!.

What screws did you use & where did you purchase the Hardie?

 

[Russell brown]

Used hardibacker screws and purchased it from topps, I have an account with them. For what little discount you get!

 

[Stef]

Used hardibacker screws and purchased it from topps, I have an account with them. For what little discount you get!

No wonder you were as expensive.
Screwfix for 4x25 turbo golds or toolstation for reisser 4x25s need 35 screws per board & I could have fixed 5 Hardie boards with one 20kg bag of addy.
Half the price easily.