Proper Subfloor For Ceramic Tile

Concrete expands and contracts and that type of movement can also crack the tiles and the grout.

Proper subfloor for ceramic tile.

However you re not out of the woods. A plywood subfloor must be structurally sound and able to support the installation. Proper preparation of the subfloor is critical to the success of your ceramic tile installation. It will break or dislodge if the surface bends under the load.

Because of issues of moisture movement and adhesion ceramic tile will work well with certain types of subfloor underlayment systems and can go dramatically wrong with other subfloor materials. It sounds like your joists are well within the acceptable limits of l 300 so your main concern is the deflection of the subfloor between joists. Wood building materials contract and expand at different rates from natural humidity and exposure. Preparing a subfloor is an essential step for installing floor tile it provides a level surface that will allow the tiles to properly stay in place.

Tile floors are heavy and tile is a hard material. When installing a ceramic tile floor on a concrete subfloor you don t have to worry about flexing as long as the concrete slab is at least 1 1 8 inch thick which most slabs are. With ceramic tile you also need to limit the deflection between joists which is a function of the subfloor thickness and how it is installed. This guide will show you how to prepare your subfloor for a tile installation project to ensure that it s fit to support ceramic or porcelain tile.