Hi gordonr
Here in Wisconsin they usually have the subfloor, then cement board, then tile on top of that. (Cement board they said was stronger and most importantly, water resistant. If we did not have the tile floor, the contractor used LUAN for the 2nd subfloor and vinyl flooring went over it.Some grumbling by the contractor but he said the cemnet board was necessary for the strength. I enjoy your posts by the way !!

Cement board is not considered structural. It is not used to add strength, but to allow movement in the subfloor without damaging the tile. Yes, the subfloor will have movement, and that movement will cause the tile to fail. Tile is just not very flexible or compressible.

There should be thinset applied between the subfloor and the cement board to fill any voids. This will make the subfloor solid. Then the tile is adhered to the cement board with thinset.

I would tile the entire floor and then put the drain pan on top of the tile.

David

Why should you tile under the drain pan? I'm using the Mustee Model 99 drain pan which is HEAVY duty and it's more like a preformed shower floor than your typical $20 plastic washer pan.

I'm getting this sinking feeling that putting tile on the floor of a second floor laundry room in the presence of a 240 lb machine spinning at 1300 rpm may not be such a good idea. Is tile maybe not the best choice in this situation? If so, what other floor coverings would make the most sense? For us the laundry room is all about utility and were not super concerned about how it looks (i.e. only white appliances and non matching washer and dryer).

Hi Gordonr.
I have not posted much around here but have found many very helpful threads so I am happy to contribute here to the extent I can. I am a pretty avid "do it yourselfer" and have been doing my own small construction projects for the last 15 years or so. In that upstairs laundry I would strongly suggest a good linoleum product over a heavily reinforce subfloor. As someone else mentioned, the cement board is not structural but is often used under tile for moisture control even though most contractors do not take the time to seal the perferations that come from the screws. If you switch to linolium, you can forget about the cement board. Also, one other consideration needs to be the thikness of the subfloor and its resulting impact on the way the laundry floor transitions to the hall floor...using an extra lawyer of 3/4" plywood can make for a not so elegant transiton at the doorway. You may want to consider how those floring surfaces will match up. That may be why your contractor suggested cement board as it comes in many different thicknesses. I also suggest "coving" the floor-to-wall transion so it will be super easy to clean. Also, be sure to seal those coved corners just in case you get some water in there some day. Choose one of the heavy duty pans as suggested and you will never regret it.
Good luck and please post a follow up after you have it all in.
Brad

Many thanks for the advice...

On floor level transitions: Prior to this laundry room remodel we had 2 layers of plywood on the subfloor so the existing threshold assumes we have some additional height. The original flooring material was linoleum so going with tile will require the correct thickness of cement board ao the level matches. The contractor stripped off the top plywood layer so the entire floor only has one layer right now.

No matter what ends up on the laundry room floor, we are not going to tile under the drain pan. As such it sounds like cement board is the wrong choice. I'm going to have the contractor put a second layer of plywood under the drain pan now. This pan has a 1/2" lip on it's front edge so you can match the surrounding floor level above the base level of the pan. This pan has a removeable front dam that eases both installation and any service.

Plumbing installation required that one joist bay be cut open for the drain pan overflow line, washer drain line and hot water supply. I've asked the contractor to humor me and install bracing between the joists along that one cut open bay.

Hi gordonr
Your mentioned the 1300 RPM spin on the machine. Sure hope it isn't one of those new Miele's. It did not work for Crooks 101 or myself.

darboydoughboy,

1300 rpm and 240 lbs would be an HE5t (non-steam). Scheduled to be delivered right after the construction is done.

1400 rpm and 290 lbs would be the Miele W4840.

I fully understand and sympathize with the issues crooks101 had with the Miele, but I'm curious what issues you ran into?

I only ask because a nagging part of me still wants to consider the Miele in spite of the heater issues. For our laundry room layout a right hinged washer door would work best. Left opening like the HE5t would be just OK (the washer/dryer are catty corner to each other rather than side by side due to the shape and size of the laundry room).

Hi gordonr
On page 11 "Returned Miele Machines" lists a tale of woe.
You may recall crooks 101 was upset about the heater issue. Only once or twice did he mention the helicopter landing on his house. Its bad and even worse with a pedestal. We ended up with the duet aspen greens on pedestals. So far so good. Good luck with your project.