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Remodeling Flooring Kitchens

How to prepare tile installation in kitchen on wood subfloor

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I have a question. I read that before installing tile on kitchen over wood subfloor, you need to put a layer of thinset mortar to level the subfloor, then install 1/2" cement board using screws, but my contract plan to just lay a waterproof sheet directly on wood subfloor, then use roofing nail to install 1/4" cement board. Is that process correct? I want to make sure it's done correctly at the start. InThanksAdvance!

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Comments (5)

catinthehat
3 years ago
To be honest both methods you mentioned are incorrect. I would move on with a different contractor, this one is bad news.
Sv Rain thanked catinthehat
Sv Rain
Original Author
3 years ago
If both ways are wrong, what's the correct way? I asked a licensed contractor who said the only difference is that he does differently from my contractor is that he would use screw instead of nails
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Kinda looks like vinyl sheet flooring. Either way you must take up the flooring and scrape it very good. If its tile I would rent an air hammer with a flat chisel. After the floor is clean check for dips and bumps ( level is not so important) and level it out with floor leveler. Floating floor is a simpler option but I won't touch the stuff and you will get a more possessional job with engineered glue down. Better resale also.
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Good input guys. Thank you very much! I've had a couple tile guys come out to provide quotes, just one moments ago. His thinking was to mud or mortar the whole thing, including the kitchen, so no Hardibacker or Ditra, which I was leaning toward... I guess the benefit there would be the ability to make the elevation the same in both the entry way and kitchen... It would 1/2 inch though, on top of the underlayment, then thinset, then tile. That becomes higher than anticipated, and possibly problematic with respect to a transition to carpet in the living room and the DW fitting under the counter. The other tile guy would jackhammer the mortar bed, remove it and use wood to build it up. He'd use 1/4 Hardibacker, however nail those down with roofing nails. He does put some thinset on the bottom of the Hardibacker though. Not so keen on roofing nails on the Hardibacker, but maybe with the thinset under, it would be fine....
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Sorry, I should have added---it's a 1916 Craftsman and we know there's a Doug fir subfloor underneath (it's a basement so you can see the flooring, plus we've pulled up an edge--that's how we know it's installed on a mortar bed). It's just the current tile job that was done in the mid-1990s. We can't know for sure if the wood is salvageable till we have a refinisher come see it, but I figured if it was the case that mortar bed installs typically render a subfloor totally unusable afterwards (versus only sometimes destroying the wood), we should figure that out sooner rather than later. Sounds like it varies widely depending on the installer. Thanks for the help, though---we'll just have to pull it up and see what we find! At the very least, if all we do is lay new linoleum, the old kitchen door will open again. :)
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What you first do with any tile floor installaion is compute deflection rating. In a wood structure that is always number 1 first step. Your photos show a mismash of poorly placed and wrongly installed plywood of unknown type/origins. So it doesnt qualify "as is" as a structural rated layer Your best removing this and doing things correctly. This includes the proper type subfloor on joists and then underlayment if its required and it all needs be Installed properly or your simply winging it and gambling. Id stop now and listen to your gut....and keep removing the junk down to joist, no telling what other joys youll find..
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catinthehat
3 years ago
Hi @Sv Rain,

For starters any contractor claiming that leveling a wood plank subfloor with thinset would cause me to skip their services entirely. Full disclosure I am not a tiling professional but have tiled and leveled subfloors for a few years. Cement board is not the product I would use either but cement board is an approved material, just not my preference. I’m sure others will chime in here.
Sv Rain thanked catinthehat
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
OK...Contractors are NOT tile setters. Let's get that out of the way right now. Tile setters are EXPENSIVE...so General Contractors (GCs) do NOT like to use them...they loose too much money to all that professionalism and knowledge and correct way of doing things...and all that junk!

So...to be clear, you need a TILE SETTER! Not a GC to lay tile. We've seen THOUSANDS of RUINED of tile installs laid by GCs themselves (they REALLY try hard to save money by doing it themselves....they only pay-out to Electricians and Plumbers...everything else they DIThemselves).

So...onto your situation. You have a SLATTED subfloor. That's big, bad news for tile. That's expensive for a proper install. This CAN BE DONE...but it ain't cheap. You need smooth and flat.

You also need to know your deflection rating. And you will need a decoupling membrane. What it sits on will be determined by the TILING PRO you will make your GC hire. Oh...that part requires a new negotiation for an increase in costs....which you will pay....but that's a different thread.

Some will use backer board (if the deflection rating is CORRECT). Some will use plywood (if the deflection rating is NOT correct). The screws (galvanized please) will then be patched to create the smooth. And the decoupling membrane will go down and THEN you start the tiling bit.

Floor Tiling Over Timber Like a Pro - Bing video

Notice this guy is British...and has a 3 month waiting list....?

Here's how you start in N. America: National Tile Contractors Association (tile-assn.com)
Sv Rain thanked SJ McCarthy
Sv Rain
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the replies. There is a lot of information for me to sink in. Time for serious talk with my contractor.

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