Floor tiles on chipwood floor?

lovelldr

Hi guys.

Just wondering whether it'sok to put floor tiles on a chipwood floor? Or whether there is a problem that this could create? I was thinking that you could use some special sort of adhesive that would allow a bit of movement beneath the tiles (dunno what it's called).

Is this ok to do?

Any help appreciated

vickyn_2

I'm no DIY expert, hopefully, one will be along soon! But we have recently had ceramic floor tiles laid on floorboards and there is no issue at all. Just make sure you purchase the right adhesive, for wooden floors, however, this will firmly glue the tiles into place and there won't be any 'movement' - I can't think why you would need any movement as this would create problems with the grout etc cracking. So just be aware that if and when you come to remove them, you will need to physically chip them off (which has to be the worst job ever!!!)

HTH

littlereddevil

Mine are laid on chipboard floors . No problems at all.

handyman.

you dont tile onto chipboard, ever. You cover with 12mm ply screwed at 150mm centers, then tile. Use cement based powdered flexi adhesive and grout.

Also, with modern houses, the chipboard floors bounce like mad. In which case use cement board (aquapanel) instead of ply.

As a side note, the adhesive for wooden floors has a spec that the boards must be (and the joists etc), to guarantee no failures. No house is made to this high spec, so its not guaranteed to work.

The point being i would never do chipboard any other way, as i would need to come back and fix the problem, where as, you, as a homeowner would just put up with tiles unbonding.

handyman.

tiling on chipboard is something a gipsy tiler would do

croboy

Just had our bathroom floor retiled as initially we tiled striaght onto chipboard and they all cracked

You MUST lay playwood first and ask the tiler if poss to remove the sink and toilet as it looks far better having tiled underneath

littlereddevil

Mine haven't cracked in 14 years kitchen and bathroom maybe I was just lucky

plumb1_2

handyman. wrote:

tiling on chipboard is something a gipsy tiler would do

call my a gippo do you:mad:

As long as the floor is firmly screwed down and you prime the floor and use flexible adeshive, tileing on chipboard is fine.
You only need to screw ply-wood down if you have a floorboards, as the width of the planks are to narrow and you will get movement.

lovelldr

gahhhh!!! Which bit of advice do you follow?

I was told by the builders of the house to just put down the flexible adhesive, and all should be fine, some people on here agree with that, and others say I need ply!!! Who do you listen to? lol

jennifernil

As a minimum I would lay ply, but in fact I would not do it at all. Our neighbour had tiles on chipboard and ply, and they have had them all ripped up as they were cracking. You need to get the floor really solid and use a flexible adhesive and flexible grout. BAL products are good.

Alan_M_2

I've yet to find a substrate that complies fully with the requirements of these materials. (300mm centre joists of at least 200mm x 50mm etc etc).

What I have found is a large number of installations that have failed, Ply is the answer.

The single most common reason for failure is insufficent strengthening, The second most common is use of incorrect materials.

Reinforce the floor.