Can you successfully apply stone tiles over floorboards?


Stephen.

wrote:
Can you successfully apply stone tiles over floorboards?


In theory yes, using a special adhesive.

Inpractice IME its difficult to do properly. The sub floor has to be 110%
rigid. That means IMO a layer of 18mm ply screwed down every 150mm into the
joists.

If you do this & follow the adhesive instructions you have a fair chance it
will work.

However I come across many instances where it hasn't worked. Not saying it
can't be done, just saying it has to be done 100% right.

Last job I did was a newly laid 18mm grade 5 chipboard floor. I extra
screwed it down every 100mm into the joists, PVA primed it & used a flexible
adhesive. Two months on I've had to re grout one tile where it had started
to crack a little.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
wrote:
Can you successfully apply stone tiles over floorboards?


In theory yes, using a special adhesive.

Inpractice IME its difficult to do properly. The sub floor has to be 110%
rigid. That means IMO a layer of 18mm ply screwed down every 150mm into the
joists.

If you do this & follow the adhesive instructions you have a fair chance it
will work.

However I come across many instances where it hasn't worked. Not saying it
can't be done, just saying it has to be done 100% right.

Last job I did was a newly laid 18mm grade 5 chipboard floor. I extra
screwed it down every 100mm into the joists, PVA primed it & used a flexible
adhesive. Two months on I've had to re grout one tile where it had started
to crack a little.



At the end of some refurb progam the other day, they had the people in
for first view ("would you buy it?"). They walked over a ceramic floor
and immediately I assumed that it was actually ceramic over chip or ply.
The noise level and character was distinctly unpleasant. It would have
been acceptable in a bathroom or WC - but not a kitchen/diner where it
has a chance to echo around and compete with radio/cooking/chatter/etc.

Do you find this in reality? Or is it just unimportant in the precise
location? Or does your fixing methid overcome this adequately?

(I am well aware that even ceramics fixed to concrete will echo a lot -
usually too much to my ears. But it was particularly the noise of
feet/shoes on the floor that I noticed.)

--
Rod

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onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
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Rod wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
wrote:
Can you successfully apply stone tiles over floorboards?


In theory yes, using a special adhesive.

Inpractice IME its difficult to do properly. The sub floor has to be
110% rigid. That means IMO a layer of 18mm ply screwed down every
150mm into the joists.

If you do this & follow the adhesive instructions you have a fair
chance it will work.

However I come across many instances where it hasn't worked. Not
saying it can't be done, just saying it has to be done 100% right.

Last job I did was a newly laid 18mm grade 5 chipboard floor. I extra
screwed it down every 100mm into the joists, PVA primed it & used a
flexible adhesive. Two months on I've had to re grout one tile where
it had started to crack a little.



At the end of some refurb progam the other day, they had the people in
for first view ("would you buy it?"). They walked over a ceramic floor
and immediately I assumed that it was actually ceramic over chip or ply.
The noise level and character was distinctly unpleasant. It would have
been acceptable in a bathroom or WC - but not a kitchen/diner where it
has a chance to echo around and compete with radio/cooking/chatter/etc.


That depends a lot on what else is in the kitchen. Once you sart adding
curtains and in fact all sorts of other stuff into a room, it loses or
at least transforms the characteristic reverberation.
All hard floors - wood, tiles, whatever..are very 'clacky' with hard
shoes.


Do you find this in reality? Or is it just unimportant in the precise
location? Or does your fixing methid overcome this adequately?


The thing to do is to have a stiff enough floor to take the fundamemtal
resonant frequencies up high enough so it doesn't 'boom'.

Generally that means making it stiff enough to not crack the tiles as well.

I had a bit worry in one barthroom built over very shallow and flexy oak
beams.

I finally solved that by boxing in the bath using structural ply for
bath ends, screwed very firmly to the wall and floor ~ (19mm chip) -
that braced one whole section: the bath side was similarly massive 19mm
MDF screwed hard to the floor and the bath ends. A massive shower tray
on 19mm ply base screwed to the bath end made that whole side of the
room a unitary structure. The span of the floor that was left was narrow
enough to allow thick tiles in a thick adhesive base to make a very fair
job of stiffening. The boom from the floor has completely gone.


(I am well aware that even ceramics fixed to concrete will echo a lot -
usually too much to my ears. But it was particularly the noise of
feet/shoes on the floor that I noticed.)

I have a 9" thick suspended concrete floor at ground level. It resonates
a surprising amount.

In message
"The Medway Handyman" wrote:



wrote:
Can you successfully apply stone tiles over floorboards?


In theory yes, using a special adhesive.

Inpractice IME its difficult to do properly. The sub floor has to be 110%
rigid. That means IMO a layer of 18mm ply screwed down every 150mm into the
joists.

If you do this & follow the adhesive instructions you have a fair chance it
will work.

However I come across many instances where it hasn't worked. Not saying it
can't be done, just saying it has to be done 100% right.

Last job I did was a newly laid 18mm grade 5 chipboard floor. I extra
screwed it down every 100mm into the joists, PVA primed it & used a flexible
adhesive. Two months on I've had to re grout one tile where it had started
to crack a little.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Thanks for that,
The floor is in a bungalow built during the 1950's, the floorboards are
thick and solid with no movement when walked on, the feel underfoot is
like walking on a solid concrete floor, unlike the feel you get on
modern new builds especially with chipboard (weetabix) constructions.

The intended tiling of the floor is in a small kitchen 10x6ft, I don't
really want to use vinyl or laminate.

Stephen.