Is there any way to put stone tiles on floorboards without them
cracking?

My wife is nagging for them on the bathroom floor, but I expect it will
be a waste of time because they will crack when the floorboards move as
they do!

If the answer is no, is there an alternative that look and feel very
similar to them?



Steve..

"dog-man" wrote in message
ups.com...
Is there any way to put stone tiles on floorboards without them
cracking?

My wife is nagging for them on the bathroom floor, but I expect it will
be a waste of time because they will crack when the floorboards move as
they do!

If the answer is no, is there an alternative that look and feel very
similar to them?



Steve..

Others with more expertise will come along later but you could cover your
floorbaords with sheet material (ply or chipboard) and fasten tiles to that.
There will be much less flexing than there would be fastened to individual
floor boards. Any flexing is likely to take place in the joints rather than
individual tiles.

Make sure that you use a grade that will tolerate water.

dog-man wrote:
Is there any way to put stone tiles on floorboards without them
cracking?

My wife is nagging for them on the bathroom floor, but I expect it will
be a waste of time because they will crack when the floorboards move as
they do!

If the answer is no, is there an alternative that look and feel very
similar to them?



Steve..

try to talk her out of it. Offer her something new instead.
You would need to put another sheet over the boards as advised to keep
them from cracking up too quickly.
But any ply or chipboard under the stone will start to crack up and
rot after a few years, or sooner if water gets to it.
Tell her its so cold under her feet that its not worth it for a year or
two of use before it needs replacing. Once it starts to crack up, it
will all have to come up.
Its a recipe for trouble. Been there. Done that.

I knew it would be a bad idea.

At least I know for sure now, so will stand up to bossy boots and tell
her NO! ; )



Steve...

dog-man wrote:
I knew it would be a bad idea.

At least I know for sure now, so will stand up to bossy boots and tell
her NO! ; )

Steve...

Let me know where to send the grapes.
;-)

dog-man wrote:
Is there any way to put stone tiles on floorboards without them
cracking?

My wife is nagging for them on the bathroom floor, but I expect it will
be a waste of time because they will crack when the floorboards move as
they do!


Stop the floorboards moving.

If the joists are sound, remove the boards and use 19-35mm ply.

If joists are weak, double up.

Use thick (10mm or more) flexible cement. Maybe flexible grout too.


If the answer is no, is there an alternative that look and feel very
similar to them?


No.


Steve..

wrote:
dog-man wrote:
Is there any way to put stone tiles on floorboards without them
cracking?

My wife is nagging for them on the bathroom floor, but I expect it will
be a waste of time because they will crack when the floorboards move as
they do!

If the answer is no, is there an alternative that look and feel very
similar to them?



Steve..

try to talk her out of it. Offer her something new instead.
You would need to put another sheet over the boards as advised to keep
them from cracking up too quickly.
But any ply or chipboard under the stone will start to crack up and
rot after a few years, or sooner if water gets to it.

Total ********

Tell her its so cold under her feet that its not worth it for a year or
two of use before it needs replacing. Once it starts to crack up, it
will all have to come up.
Its a recipe for trouble. Been there. Done that.

Must be a cowboy. Been there done that three times and its still going
strong.

I just caught the tail end of one of those "buying a house" reality
type shows on BBc1 this morning.

It mentioned briefly that you COULD tile on top of a wooden floor, as
long as you used flexible wood past of some sort. I missed exactly what
was said, but am 100% sure that they said it was ok to do.

Any comments on this?

I still think the tiles would crack unless some exists which have
flexing properties?



Steve...

wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Total ********
Must be a cowboy. Been there done that three times and its still
going
strong.

thats because you have three bathrooms and you are such a fusspot that
you never spill a drop of water on your beautiful tiled floor.

Just one spill on the chipboard or mdf and it will start to swell.

The same would apply to any floor covering laid over chipboard. The
floor covering is there to protect the chipboard as well as looking
nice.

You don't hear of that many bathroom floors rotting except after a
serious flood.


anyway your solution would involve huge expense for a simple job.
change your name to the Natural Bolox

change your email to

MBQ

dog-man wrote:
I just caught the tail end of one of those "buying a house" reality
type shows on BBc1 this morning.

It mentioned briefly that you COULD tile on top of a wooden floor, as
long as you used flexible wood past of some sort. I missed exactly what
was said, but am 100% sure that they said it was ok to do.

Any comments on this?

I still think the tiles would crack unless some exists which have
flexing properties?




Thick beds of flexible tile cement work pretty well. Some hairline
cracking of grout is possible without a flexible grout - epoxy? Dunno.

BUT there is a flexibility beyond which it is unsafe to tread :-) :-)

So often beefing up joists is required.

Also a continuous surface on which to tile of a stable material (floor
boards are NOT stable under humidity change) is indicated - hence
general advice to remove boards and replace with ply or chipboard. Or if
sufficient space, screw this over the top.


Heck - my block and beam concrete floor is flexible - surprisingly so.

Even tiles are flexible..just not that MUCH :-)

Steve...

wrote:
wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Total ********
Must be a cowboy. Been there done that three times and its still
going
strong.
thats because you have three bathrooms and you are such a fusspot that
you never spill a drop of water on your beautiful tiled floor.

Just one spill on the chipboard or mdf and it will start to swell.

The same would apply to any floor covering laid over chipboard. The
floor covering is there to protect the chipboard as well as looking
nice.

You don't hear of that many bathroom floors rotting except after a
serious flood.

anyway your solution would involve huge expense for a simple job.
change your name to the Natural Bolox

change your email to

MBQ

Indeed. Ive had tiled chipboard swell after a long standing undiscovered
small leak behind a toilet..it took 6 months for it to actually lift the
tiles though. AND the tiles were only temporary - they finished before
the wall..now retiled with thick flex adhesive, and with proper
skirtings of tile up the walls, and splashes don't last long enough to
get through the grout. They evaporate first.

IF teh tiles are done properly, they protect the underlying substarte
from water for days - wekks even.

Now those that live in hovels with unheated bathrooms and leave puddles
of water on badly tile floors for weeks..shouldnt be tileing their
bathrooms at all.


The whole raison d'etre of tiles in bathrooms is waterproofing. And
looking cool.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Thick beds of flexible tile cement work pretty well. Some hairline
cracking of grout is possible without a flexible grout - epoxy? Dunno.

I haven't been following this thread,
but my sister-in-law lives in an old terraced house in Stockport,
about 180 years old (the house, not her) I would guess.

Anyway, the houses in her row all had stone floors on the first floor,
laid on the joists.
These are really heavy York stones.
Her neighbour had the stones removed when the ceiling below
started sagging.
She gave the stones to my sister-in-law.
who used them to make a path in her garden.

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Indeed. Ive had tiled chipboard swell after a long standing undiscovered
small leak behind a toilet..it took 6 months for it to actually lift the
tiles though. AND the tiles were only temporary - they finished before
the wall..now retiled with thick flex adhesive, and with proper
skirtings of tile up the walls, and splashes don't last long enough to
get through the grout. They evaporate first.

IF teh tiles are done properly, they protect the underlying substarte
from water for days - wekks even.

point proved. you had to redo the job and that was only a tiny leak.

chipboard and water dont make for good friends.