Laying tiles on chipboard flooring.

Gloomendoom

Has anybody got any experience of laying tiles on to (water resistant) chipboard flooring sheets?

The tiles in question are 6" square and about 15 mm thick.

Is there a special adhesive that I should use or will the standard stuff be OK.

TIA

Heedtheadvice

Although it can be done (I have done it!) it really is not a great idea!
I only did it because the work involved to change the flooring was going to be too much!


All chipboard tends to suffer from expansion with any water penetration or even changes in humidity in it's vicinity. Resistant board is not immune. Far preferable to install tiles on a solid (even if suspended) floor.


If you do go ahead make sure:
There is sufficient support to prevent flexing.
The boards are sealed top and bottem and all edges to reduce water issues.
Lay an impervious membrane and then thin marine grade ply to even out any current or future height imperfections. Seal that ply!
For laying the tiles use a flexible cement.
Grout using an aporopriate colour silicone sealant instead of cement based grout -retains seal even with a bit of flexing- and similarly seal around all holes (pipework etc) and perimeter.


Movement really is the killer issue hence the need for extra support to give better stability (I ended up with support at 200mm centres) and the need to reduce the risk of swelling as much as possible.


With hindsight I would now bite the bullet and have ripped out the chipboard even though after five years I have had no problems. The risk, which is small but would have a big impact, remains.

phill99

I do this all day everyday.


You cannot lay tiles directly onto a chipboard floor. Even with ultra flexible adhesive.


You need to stabilise the floor first. We use a 6mm Hardie Backer Board which is a cement based sheet product. This has to be stuck to the existing chipboard floor with flexible adhesive AND screwed at 150mm centres. This will take out the movement of the timber floor. The new cement based floor must then be primed. A flexible adhesive must then be used to adhere the tiles and a flexible grout used to finish off.

Gloomendoom

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad I asked!