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Ceramic Tile Underlayments
Make sure to Install a Ceramic Tile
Underlayment before Tiling Your Floor
By Mark J.
Donovan
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Key to every quality ceramic tile floor installation is a
strong ceramic tile underlayment. Ceramic tile is an extremely inflexible
and brittle material. Consequently to ensure that the ceramic floor tiles
will stand the test of time and won’t crack or become loose under load, it
is imperative to install a solid ceramic tile underlayment. I have seen many
failed ceramic tile floors with cracked tiles and loose grout, and in every
case you could literally feel the ceramic tile floor flex when you bounced
up and down on it.
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With a properly installed tile underlayment, there should be nearly zero floor
deflection when springing up and down on the floor.
A ceramic tile underlayment consists of a layer of material that is sandwiched
between the wood subfoor and the ceramic tiles. There are a couple of tile
underlayments choices to choose from when installing a ceramic tile floor.
One of the least expensive solutions for a ceramic tile underlayment is to
install an additional layer of plywood over the existing wood subfloor. The
plywood should be an exterior grade type so that it has some roughness. The
roughness helps ensure a better bond with the thinset adhesive and the ceramic
tiles. The total thickness of the wood floor, after applying the extra layer of
plywood, should be 1-1/4 inch. Most wood subfloors use ¾ inch plywood. As a
result, to create a solid ceramic tile underlayment you should use ½ inch
exterior grade CDX plywood.
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Another alternative is to install ½ inch thick cement backerboard on top of
the ¾ inch wood subfloor. Cement backerboard, as the name suggests, is a
lightweight concrete sheathing product that is constructed out of Portland
cement and fiberglass mesh. Besides being an extremely rigid product, it is
also moisture resistant. In the trades it is commonly called Wonderboard or
Durock.
Whether using plywood or cement backerboard for your ceramic tile
underlayment, the joints of the underlayment material should be staggered
and line up over floor joists.
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Non-corrosive screws should be used to fasten the ceramic tile underlayment
to the subfloor and floor joists. Make sure to install screws on 6 to 8 inch
centers along the floor joists, as well as between them, to ensure a
completely rigid underlayment.
If you plan to install a ceramic tile floor on a concrete slab you do not
need to install a plywood or cement backerboard underlayment. Just make
sure, however, to fill any cracks or holes in the concrete slab with a self
leveling compound before installing the ceramic tile floor. Also, before
setting ceramic tile on a concrete slab make sure the surface has been
thoroughly cleaned. |
Photo by Mark Donovan |
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