Tiling onto floorboards

[danza]

I am considering tiling my kitchen floor, but we have floorboards throughout the ground floor.

What might I need to do in order for this to work? Is 1/2" ply on top of the boards the way forward, or is there a better base layer to start with?

Cheers!

 

[bitslice]

Remove floorboards, check the joists are not wobbling and there is no damp.
Replace floor with 25mm WBP.
If the board overhangs anywhere, fix a noggin underneath.

Then lay down that Orange tiling panel mentioned elsewhere (forgot it's name again )

If you have any pipes or wiring, fix some metal plates over them first

 

[Maccapacca]

Ditra matting

You know I can not remember what it is ever? And we use it pretty much on every site

Or consider electric underfloor heating as this is stuck to a reinforcing mesh which works as well.

I tiled my kitchen floor and never again unless it's proper 20mm+ stone, wife has dropped jam jars and pans and cracked a few tiles.

They were 9mm Italian stone

 

[danza]

I'm in 2 minds about doing this at the moment. I don't really want to rip the boards up, but want something that'll last a while. Trying to do this on the relative cheap probably doesn't help! Also, I can't seem to find any ply stated as being WBP anywhere. Is it also known as something else or am I looking in the wrong places?

I might look into laminate as an alternative.

 

[Nightglow]

Remove floorboards, check the joists are not wobbling and there is no damp.
Replace floor with 25mm WBP.
If the board overhangs anywhere, fix a noggin underneath.

Then lay down that Orange tiling panel mentioned elsewhere (forgot it's name again )

If you have any pipes or wiring, fix some metal plates over them first

+1

False economy,trying to do it on the cheap, you will regret it in the long run.

If you do rip up the floor boards, fit some tile batten to the inside of the bottom edge of the joists for support & drop in some 100mm - 170mm Kingspan or similar rigid insulation, can usually find it on the bay.

This is what you need fixed down with 40mm screws: http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/timbe...20mm-x-2440mm-wbp-bb-cc-external-plywood.html

If you do go doing the laminate route you need the existing floor to be firm & level.

 

[boxman2000]

Yup, as said above, get your floor sorted properly otherwise you'll be wasting your time. We were going to tile our hall floor on top of floor boards but there was too much give and even with replacing with ply and strengthening the boards (due to large void) we just ended up filling the void with rubble and concreting floor. We couldn't be bothered (or couldn't afford) underfloor heating but if you're able to I would recommend it.

I used some really nice natural stone (can't remember how thick but they're damn heavy) and used flexible grout and after 2 years we haven't had one crack.

 

[Nightglow]

Yup, as said above, get your floor sorted properly otherwise you'll be wasting your time. (due to large void) we just ended up filling the void with rubble and concreting floor.

That is the best solution, I've done jobs where you removed the floorboards,& find the ends of the joists have rotted away.

Once you work out the costs of 8x2 joists,ply, it's then better to fill in & lay a concrete floor.

 

[danza]

I think I'll be biting off more than I can chew by tearing up the boards. Costs will quickly start escalating too, and I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible, but with at least a nod to longevity of the floor. Laminate will probably be the way forward as a happy medium. I can't go tearing up the kitchen floor really, not with a 10-week old baby in the house and constant access needed to the kitchen.

 

[StevenG]

If youve got the space and your floor boards are okay then you can just overboard with a thinner cheaper sheet of ply as i have, gives a solid base as long as your floor boards are solid (screw them down) and then screw the ply to that.

Gave me a solid base with no flex which is ideal for my tiles.

 

[Mark A]

I think I'll be biting off more than I can chew by tearing up the boards. Costs will quickly start escalating too, and I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible, but with at least a nod to longevity of the floor. Laminate will probably be the way forward as a happy medium. I can't go tearing up the kitchen floor really, not with a 10-week old baby in the house and constant access needed to the kitchen.

You can get a plastic laminate flooring especially for bathrooms and kitchens. Think it's called aqua step or something. Might be worth looking into as normal laminate isn't going to last a long time before it starts to lift at the edges if you want to mop it etc.

 

[Maccapacca]

You could try a karndean vinyl strip flooring, there's no need to strip all the boards if you use ditra matting in any way. Ditra once stuck properly with tiles can support itself over 1m x 1m

 

[danza]

Karndean looks very good. Are there any other brands worth looking at?

 

[Maccapacca]

Amtico

 

[boxman2000]

I've mentioned this make before but Rhinoflooring is very good. A friend of mine did his whole house out in it and I thought it looked really good.