home > Agriculture

Laying tiles in a wooden house: preparing the floor. Laying tiles on a wooden floor - tips from the masters How to lay floor tiles on a wooden floor

The content of the article:

Laying tiles on a wooden floor is a completely feasible task, despite the fact that such a base does not fit into the usual ideas of reliability, since wood is able to change its shape with fluctuations in temperature and humidity. However, modern building technology have already resolved this issue. You will learn how to lay tiles on a wooden floor with their help from our material.

The combination of wood and ceramics in the construction of the floor

The instability of the wooden base of the floor is the main obstacle to laying a hard tiled floor on it. Due to its structure, wood tends to increase in volume from an excess of moisture, and then decrease from its lack.

In addition, after installation, a new wooden floor undergoes shrinkage for two years until it takes its place. During this and even a later period, its various deformations are possible. They have an extremely unfavorable effect on the solidity of the adhesive base of the tiled cladding, violating its structural bonds. The result of these internal processes is the peeling and cracking of ceramic tiles.

In addition, there are three more reasons why many people avoid tiling a wooden floor:

  • The wooden base of an impermeable tiled flooring is deprived of the possibility of air access, which leads to its decay.
  • The durability of wood is much less than ceramics.
  • A wooden floor is warmer than a tile floor and is more pleasant to walk on.
If the reason for laying tiles on wood is still found, you will have to “reconcile” these materials that are different in their structures. To do this, it is necessary to create a special damping layer, which will absorb all the deformations of the wooden floor elements. Its elastic part will face the base, and the hard part will face the tile. Only such technology will allow high-quality laying of tiles on a wooden floor.

Subfloor preparation for tiling


It is possible to prepare a wooden base for facing with ceramic tiles if the floor is more than two years old and the process of its shrinkage has already ended. Work should begin with a revision of the wooden floor. Its design usually includes beams, logs and boardwalk. Even if outwardly it looks like new, does not bend or creak, the floorboards will have to be removed for its complete revision. This is necessary to assess the state of internal elements.

After dismantling the flooring, you should first carefully inspect the logs and beams. Those that have begun to rot must be replaced with new ones. If the logs were laid at a distance of more than half a meter from each other, they will have to be dismantled and laid, but with a smaller step. Otherwise, the wooden base may later bend from the weight of the tiled floor and destroy it.

The process of laying the basic elements of a wooden floor must be controlled by the building level. All parts must be in the same horizontal plane. Flat shims made of broken tiles or bricks can be used to level the beams.

After the installation of the beams and logs should be abundantly impregnated with an antiseptic. This procedure is very important, since the durability of the load-bearing wooden floor elements, and hence the integrity of the external ceramic cladding, depends on its quality.

When the solution dries, the space between the lags must be covered with fine expanded clay to insulate the future floor. The level of thermal insulation should be several centimeters below the top of the lag. This will provide a ventilation gap under the boardwalk after it is installed.

The floorboards removed earlier for inspection must be prepared for reuse. Now they will serve as a wooden base for laying tiles. First of all with outer surface boards should be removed old paint. This is necessary to impregnate their wood with an antiseptic.

There are three methods to choose from, which can be combined with each other: mechanical, chemical and thermal. In the first case, cleaning is done with brushes, scrapers and sandpaper. In the second - with special washes that dissolve paints and varnishes. In third - building hair dryer by heating and softening the paint layer with its subsequent mechanical removal.

After cleaning, the boards must be treated with an antifungal compound and laid on the logs. At the same time, expansion joints of 3-5 mm should be left between the individual elements of the flooring. They provide the possibility of linear expansion of the material.

The fastening of the flooring to the logs is carried out using galvanized wood screws. It is recommended to screw two screws into the extreme logs, one at a time into the ordinary ones.

There should be no flaws on the surface of the boards. If holes from old fasteners or fallen knots are found, defective places must be sealed with putty, and after it dries, the entire wooden base should be leveled grinder.

During the installation of the flooring along its perimeter, it is necessary to leave a centimeter technical gap, and then glue it with a polymer membrane, which looks like a tape. To do this, a strip of membrane should be bent in half and stick one half of it on the floor, and the other half on the bottom of the wall. Instructions for sticking the damper tape are available on its packaging.

The preparation of the wooden base ends with the formation of an insulating layer on its surface. There are two options here. In the first case, the flooring is smeared with heated drying oil or latex impregnation, then immediately covered with a masking net. In the second, parchment or paraffin paper or rolled bituminous insulation is laid on it.

Tile covering device

After the installation and insulation of the boardwalk, it is necessary to create an even intermediate coating on it, which will absorb the deformations of the underlying layer when its wood swells or shrinks due to changes in humidity and air temperature. There are three ways to construct such a layer.

Dry coating installation


This solution is the simplest and most common. It consists in creating an intermediate layer of moisture-resistant plywood, on top of which you can lay ceramic tiles.

There are many ways to mount plywood to plank flooring. One of them consists in the device on top of the boards of point supports or a lag system, which are covered with sheet material. Another method is to lay an adjustable floor on the flooring, which has screw supports for plywood sheets. You can also simply fasten sheets of plywood, OSB or moisture-resistant drywall cut into quarters with screws to a flat boardwalk.

At the final stage of installation, the plywood or similar base must be sanded, its joints filled with a sealing compound and coated with a primer.

When laying ceramic tiles on a wooden floor covered with plywood, a two-component polyurethane adhesive should be chosen, which creates a strong but elastic substrate under the cladding. This property of the adhesive composition is especially useful for damping the weak linear vibrations that wood-based panels have.

Wet coating installation


It consists in the installation of a cement or polymer screed on the waterproofing layer of the wooden floor boarding. Unlike a conventional screed for ceramic tiles, such a coating has a small thickness due to the need to reduce the load on the floor. It may not support the weight of a standard thickness screed.

Another feature of the “wet” coating for tiles is its complete isolation from the walls of the room, that is, the base is made according to the “floating floor” model, which provides for the mandatory presence of a deformation gap along the perimeter of the enclosing structures and around the outlets from the floor of engineering communications.

This design allows small movements of the wooden elements of the floor, but at the same time, the cladding, located on a monolithic base, will not feel these movements.

Lightweight screed should have a thickness of 30 mm. It is undesirable to reduce it, as this will reduce its reliability. Cement screed is prepared from a mixture of cement, sand and plasticizing additives. The composition of the polymer includes a two-component polyurethane mixture and liquid glass.

Before pouring any of them over the waterproofing laid on the boardwalk, you need to fix it with screws metal mesh. The next steps are carried out in the usual way. After leveling, the coating must be left to dry, and then treated with a primer to improve its adhesion to the tile adhesive.

Leveling material sticker


This method of mounting the base for laying tiles on a wooden floor is the fastest in execution. Its essence consists in gluing moisture-resistant plasterboard sheets to the prepared flooring from the boards.

In this case, an elastic two-component polyurethane adhesive is used. If the rigidity of the coating seems insufficient, you can lay a second layer of plasterboard on top. Layer-by-layer laying of sheets must be carried out so that their seams do not coincide in the vertical direction. It is recommended to fill the joints between them with a sealing compound, and then treat the surface with a primer.

As in all previous cases, the plasterboard base must be made according to the "floating floor" model. The technological gap that remains along the perimeter of the coating after laying the tiles should be filled with an elastic sealant, and then closed with skirting boards.

All of the above methods of arranging a base for tiled cladding are general recommendations, which will most likely require further development in each specific case of solving technical issues directly at the facility.

In fact, there are many more options for arranging such coatings. But it is important to understand the main principle of their design: the performer is required to create a kind of rigid “tray” mounted on a movable wooden base. In addition, it is necessary to make sure that the intermediate damper coating allows the wood of the floor to “breathe” and move in any direction as necessary. With all this, the floor boarding should not affect the tiled flooring, otherwise it will inevitably destroy it.

Technology for installing tiles on a wooden floor


To work, you need to have a tape measure, a pencil, building level, a paint cord, a drill with a mixer attachment, a tile cutting machine, a soft mallet, a sponge, a notched and rubber spatula.

The process of laying tiles on a wooden floor with your own hands should go in the following sequence:

  1. First you need to mark the base for the tile. To do this, connect the middle of the opposite walls of the room along the floor with center lines. This is done with a painter's cord. Their intersection will indicate the center of the floor.
  2. Focusing on the markings, the tiles must be laid out for fitting on the floor, according to the intended pattern. This procedure should start from the center of the room. This will clarify the issue of trimming tiles at the junctions of the floor with the walls. It is desirable to perform it in places that are not so noticeable at first glance on the floor. For example, under radiators or near openings. Tiles for trimming must be prepared in advance.
  3. Then the dry-laid coating should be removed from the floor and the tile adhesive should be prepared, zealously following the manufacturer's recommendations on this matter, located on the packaging of the mixture. Diluted glue thickens quickly, so you need to cook it in portions based on the amount needed to lay 1 m 2 of the floor.
  4. When choosing a spatula for distributing the adhesive mixture on the surface, you should pay attention to the size of its teeth. for tiles big size the height of the working edge of the tool should be 8 mm; for smaller tiles, the spatula teeth should be finer.
  5. After applying the adhesive, you need to take the tile and lay it on the surface covered with the mixture. While methodically continuing to lay the remaining elements of the cladding, it is necessary to insert plastic separating crosses into the gaps between them, which are designed to maintain the same width of the coating joints.
  6. The installation of each tile should be controlled by the building level, achieving the location of the cladding elements in a single horizontal plane. All shortcomings can be corrected before the adhesive polymerization under the tile begins. Glue should be added under the sagging products, and those protruding beyond the plane should be besieged with a mallet.
  7. After laying all the whole tiles on the wooden floor, it is necessary to arrange the junction of the cladding with a prepared trim. After installation is complete, leave the floor covering for the adhesive to dry.
  8. After the set time, you need to moisten the seams between the tiles and fill them with a fugue - a grout. It can be cement, polyurethane or epoxy based. Cement fugue will require the application of an additional waterproof layer of silicone sealant to the seams. It is recommended to fill the gaps between the tiles with a rubber spatula after removing the dividing crosses. After grouting, the lining must be cleaned of traces of the fugue with a wet sponge.

Important! For laying tiles on drywall sheets or plywood, it is recommended to use polyurethane glue as an adhesive, and when installing it on a screed, a composition containing cement.


How to fix tiles on a wooden floor - look at the video:


Technologically executed cladding of a wooden floor will protect its wood from external damage and decay. In this case, the integrity of the ceramic coating will be guaranteed. This will ensure its durability and save the owners from unscheduled repairs.

This type of finishing material for the floor is very popular and serious problems with his styling today is gone.

Fortunately, manufacturers produce a lot of adhesive compositions characterized by high adhesive qualities.

There are, however, difficulties with laying, only in private households.

And the most key ones are the presence of floors from. Here the question of whether it is possible to lay tiles on a wooden floor is particularly acute.

And, if possible, how is it done correctly, what is the emphasis on, what nuances should be taken into account, and what should not be done? detailed instructions and warnings to beginners are set out in full below.

Usage floor covering from tiles in private homes is also justified by the fact that under it you can organize a water-heated floor or an electric one.

This will save cash on payment for, as well as in view of a number of advantageous qualities of the material:

  • High wear resistance
  • Long service life
  • fire resistance
  • Tiles can withstand high loads
  • Ease of care
  • Ease of installation

Preliminary work and calculations

After everything became more or less clear with the choice of material, you need to make the correct calculation of the tile. There will be no particular difficulties in this, if you have even the slightest idea about the cost of laying tiles. And it happens:

  • Straightforward
  • Diagonal (oblique)
  • herringbone
  • Offset

It is worth dwelling a little more specifically on the choice of tiles in the bathroom of a private sector room.

Here preference should be given to non-slip. Is it possible to lay tiles on a wooden floor in a bath in principle, you can read more about the laying process a little lower in the following subsections.

Formulas and nuances of calculating the number of tiles

  • calculate the area of ​​the room
  • add 7% to the received indicator
  • divide the result of the calculation by the area of ​​\u200b\u200bone plate
  • divide the result by the number of tiles in one package
  • round to whole number

If the “diagonal” laying method is chosen, then approximately 12% is added to the final result (for trimming). With the herringbone layout method - 15%. The simplest and most economical - "rectilinear". If a floor with a pattern is laid out, then the materials for it are completely different and more complex.

Proper preparation of wooden floors

This is the most milestone works, because the quality and the final result as a whole depend on it.

There are several ways to prepare a wooden base for tiling, the choice of one of them directly depends on the condition of the floor at the moment.

A wood floor is a one-piece construction, not just top floorboards.

This includes: logs, beams and substrate.

And they need to be double-checked before laying.

Gender check

Experienced craftsmen recommend using exclusively tongue-and-groove boards with a new floor covering, which implies a complete disassembly of the structure. Even if, at first glance, the floor looks perfect, it does not emit any creak, the floorboards are securely fixed and do not wobble at all.

Note! If the logs are installed at a distance from each other in increments of up to 50 cm, it must be additionally redesigned, in this form it will not be able to withstand the weight of the new flooring.

Algorithm verification work in a wooden base:

  • Floorboards are removed
  • Beams and logs are being audited
  • The level checks the evenness and horizontality of the supporting structures

If there is no possibility of raising the lag, then a wedge or a piece of scrap is hammered under it, fastened, and the excess is simply cut off.

Surface preparation

Wood by nature is an organic material, which means that it cannot be considered stable and reliable. With an increase in humidity, it swells, with its lack - on the contrary, it dries up, decreasing in size.

This raises the question: is it possible to lay tiles on a wooden floor in a private house, with such technical characteristics of the base.

Experienced craftsmen give a positive answer, provided that before laying it will be organized to cushion the movement of the floorboards - a damper layer. Where he turns to the base of the tile with a solid surface, and elastic to a wooden one, taking on pushes.

Important point! When constructing such a layer, it is important to remember that the tree must breathe, otherwise it will begin to rot or deteriorate from fungus and mold.

What is important to do when processing the floor:

  • Treat thoroughly with antiseptics and impregnations
  • Fill the distance between the lags with expanded clay of fine fraction
  • Prepare new or old floorboards
  • Important to consider! When using old floorboards, they should be additionally prepared - completely remove the paintwork.
  • Lay the floorboards on the structure with a gap between them of 5 mm (for expansion)
  • If there are cracks, knots on the floorboards - they need to be puttied and sanded
  • Fully sand the coating, after roughing
  • The gaps between the boards are filled with tape or foam
  • To organize monolithic insulation, the surface is coated with latex impregnation or heated drying oil

Lightweight tie device

Third stage preparatory work there is a creation of a solid base under the tile. It is rational and correct to organize an ordinary monolithic screed, only lightweight because it cannot withstand a full-fledged, considered base.

In principle, three types of screed are used for laying clinker, porcelain stoneware or tile:

  • Standard monolithic - thickness no more than 3 cm. A reinforcing mesh is laid on the waterproofing layer, fixed with self-tapping screws and poured with concrete mortar.
  • Liquid glass or KS glue. You can also use a two-component polyurethane adhesive. They are used to create an elastic coating, to prevent cracking of tile dies from wood movements.

A screed based on liquid glass can be prepared.

To do this, you need to prepare: liquid glass, water and washed coarse sand in proportions, respectively - 2: 1: 2.

If the bath in a private house is dry, then the surface of the floors can be leveled with GVL or DSP boards.

They are laid at an angle of 30 0 C, but so that the joints of the plates and the joints of the subfloor do not match.

You can protect and additionally fasten the seams with a special adhesive for drywall.

Highlights of installing tiles on wooden floors

The whole laying process consists of the following steps: marking, glue preparation, laying and grouting tile joints. We will not dwell on each separately this time, but we will analyze the most important ones right now:

  • It will not be superfluous to place the tiles on the floor before “landing” them on the glue. So you can distribute the material as accurately as possible by removing the edged parts, select a more accurate pattern, and so on.
  • It is very important to adhere to the line of the window opening when laying. The lines must be strictly parallel to it. To make it convenient to adhere to the same width of the seams, you can use crosses in your work.
  • To increase the adhesion of the base of the tile and the floor, you can use a special cement-based adhesive in your work.
  • For increase strength characteristics couplings, you can take into operation compositions containing plasticizers or add them yourself to the adhesive at the rate of no more than 15% of the total mass of the adhesive.
  • It is important to remember that the glue must be used completely within three hours.
  • The working surface (glue application area) should not be too large - optimally one square meter.
  • If mistakes are made during laying, they must be corrected within 10 minutes, otherwise it will be impossible - the glue will begin to stick.

Important point! You need to start laying from the farthest corner, move towards the doors, focusing on the center lines.

The only and nevertheless important disadvantage of laying tiles on a wooden floor is its fragility, but, with proper care for 7 years, it is guaranteed to serve as a reliable and durable foundation.

Despite the fragility - this is the most optimal momentary problem of organizing flooring. Moreover, there are no special difficulties and problems in installation. The main thing is to properly prepare the wooden base, and everyone who reads the material will know how to do it.

About laying tiles on wooden bases - on the video:

Theoretically, it is possible to lay tiles on a wooden floor, but such material has several significant disadvantages, which can lead to a deterioration in the condition of the cladding. Wood tends to shrink or swell as conditions change. environment. To prevent cracking of the tile coating, it is necessary to properly prepare the base. Violation of laying technology is the reason for the reduction of the service life of the cladding.

The tile is recommended to be laid on a solid solid base. If this is not possible, other options should be considered. Many people wonder if it is possible to lay tiles on a wooden floor. For this, the following factors should be taken into account:

  1. tile is considered a “cold” material, while wood, on the contrary, retains heat well, for this reason it is not advisable to cover it with such a lining;
  2. when installing wood, it should be possible for it to “breathe”, then the material will last much longer, and ceramics do not let air through;
  3. tiles are rarely laid on a wooden floor, because the cladding of this type surpasses natural material in terms of service life, as a result, the base will quickly collapse, and along with it will be damaged decorative coating;
  4. the tree is not static, which makes it an unsuitable option for the floor if it is planned to perform cladding with ceramic products;
  5. when the wood expands or dries out, the surface of the finishing material is deformed, and, first of all, the integrity of the seam joints between the coating elements is violated.

How to lay tiles on a wooden floor?

Work is carried out on logs - these are wooden crossbars, which are characterized large section. They perform the function of supporting the whole object or some structural elements. The wooden floor is also in most cases mounted on top of the log. If tiling is to be performed, a rough base must be prepared. Floor condition may vary:

  • The floorboards are completely dismantled due to their poor condition: extensive rot, cracks, and dust have appeared. If the flooring is damaged, it will be necessary to remove all or only some of the covering elements. After removing them, check the state of the lag. If they are not damaged, you can continue installation work. In the case when the logs were also exposed to negative factors, these elements are replaced or restoration is carried out: the crossbars are only partially changed, treated with special compounds.


  • Sometimes logs are covered with cheaper materials - these are chipboard, OSB, plywood. The next step is the laying of the cladding.


  • If it can be seen that the logs are in good condition, the base in the form of a flooring is left in its original form, but the floor structure is checked for damage. In this case, the tree has just been laid, or the base was installed not so long ago and has not had time to wear out. In both cases, the flooring is not changed, but additional leveling may be required.

For each of the options, they select their own cladding technology, since the process of preparing the base is different.

First method: dry leveling

Prepare the base for laying tiles. To prevent the lining from deforming during operation, its installation is carried out on plates / sheets used to level the floor on the logs. Materials that can be used for this purpose:

  1. drywall, characterized by moisture resistance;
  2. gypsum fiber sheet;
  3. cement particle boards;
  4. moisture resistant plywood.

All these varieties fit in 1 or 2 layers. You can fix the plates with self-tapping screws, and the installation step of the fastening elements should be small, otherwise the coating will “play” when walking. To make the rough base more durable, it is recommended to process the end sections using a special glue that is designed to work with the material.

If the wooden floor is mounted in a bathroom, kitchen or other room where humidity regularly rises and there is a high probability of contact with water, the joints of the plates are covered with membrane-type polymer waterproofing. It is important to protect the corner areas where the wall meets the floor. Here, the waterproofing is applied with a slight overlap on the wall (up to 5 cm).


Preparation of a wooden floor for tiles is carried out before installation of the cladding. For this, a primer is used. They process the resulting coating. At the next stage, a paint grid is laid. From above, it is recommended to perform a second priming procedure. Such a measure will improve the adhesion of the adhesive and the base. An important point is the need to lay the subfloor slabs so that the docking connection falls in the middle of the wooden cross member (log).

Cement particle boards should be laid on top of drywall / plywood. They are the main structural element of the dry leveling floor. This is due to the sufficient strength of such products, their durability. During the installation of the base, its surface is constantly checked for workmanship, for which a level is used. Do not lay tiles on uneven floors.


Advantages of the dry leveling method:

  • you can add a layer of insulation to the design of the subfloor;
  • due to the low weight of the floor, the level of load on the logs is reduced;
  • high installation speed, because in this case it is not necessary to work with a cement screed.

So that the process does not have to be interrupted, they pre-calculate necessary materials: determine the number of plates, fasteners, cladding. There are also disadvantages to this method. For example, the installation of a multilayer floor structure, which also rises on logs, will help reduce the height of the ceilings. This means that dry leveling technology is not suitable for all objects.

Second method: wet screed

You can lay tiles on a wooden floor, after applying the traditional leveling method with a cement screed, but in a lightweight version. By itself, a wooden frame (logs, plank flooring) cannot provide enough level strength. Its bearing capacity is low, so the tile coating will not last long.

It is recommended to use the floating floor installation technology. Here the screed will not have direct contact with the wooden frame and walls. It is separated from other structural elements of the object with the help of a sufficiently dense waterproofing material. To level the floor, a polymer leveler or a cement-based mixture is often used.


The screed layer can be 10-30 mm. If the thickness exceeds 10 mm, a polymer mesh is used to strengthen the structure. Sequencing:


  1. Prepare the base. First, the old flooring is dismantled, if any. Then the quality of the wood from which the logs are made is checked. The next step is to change the distance between the crossbars. It should not exceed 50 cm. If necessary, attach additional beams. In the process of performing restoration work, they check whether there is a gap between the wall and the end sections of the log. It should be 1 cm. Due to this, the coating will not deform when the material expands in conditions of high humidity.
  2. The lag design is being processed antiseptic composition. Given that wood is not a moisture resistant material, it is important to exclude the possibility of fungus formation.
  3. Boardwalk is installed. Use material with a thickness of at least 4 cm. The recommended distance between the boards is 1 cm. If you lay them close to each other, you will need to make holes in wooden deck, which will provide the possibility of ventilation of the structure.
  4. Moisture resistant plywood is mounted. The sheets are laid in the opposite direction to the floorboards. The recommended thickness of this material is 12 mm. The subfloor is fastened with zinc-coated self-tapping screws. Their installation step is 20 cm. Plywood sheets should also be placed at a small distance from each other, but in this case the gap width should not exceed 3 mm.
  5. A material is laid on top of the structure that is not susceptible to moisture. Suitable waterproofing options: bituminous / paraffin paper, dense polyethylene. The strips of material are overlapped with a margin of 10 cm. The edge is fixed with adhesive tape. Waterproofing starts on the walls, strip width - 10 cm.
  6. A damper tape is laid along the perimeter of the room along the walls, its thickness should be 0.8-1.0 mm, and its width should be 10 cm.
  7. Fill the base of the floor with an additional screed. After drying, you can lay the tile. For this, tile adhesive is used.


Third Method: Express Option

Laying ceramic tiles on a wooden floor is carried out using a similar technology as in the previously considered case with a screed, however, only sheets of moisture-resistant drywall are used as a rough base. They can be mounted in 2 layers. The sheets are arranged so that the seams do not overlap.


Moisture-resistant drywall is fastened with a two-component polyurethane adhesive. With it, the expansion of wood is leveled in conditions of high humidity. In this case, a slight change in the dimensions of the subfloor is compensated by an elastic adhesive mixture. In addition, silicone-based sealant is used to connect drywall sheets.

In order for the tree to be able to expand without the risk of deformation of the tile, a gap of 1 cm is left between the wall and the end sections of the draft base. Finishing material spread after applying the primer on the surface of drywall.



In order not to have to repair the coating soon, you should follow the advice of the masters for laying tiles on a wooden floor:

  • it is necessary to use well-dried wood, otherwise, after completion of work, the structure will shrink;
  • during the installation of logs, floorboards and other elements of the rough base, it is recommended to constantly use the building level, this is necessary so that the surface of the structure is even, with minimal errors at different points in the room;
  • if the boards and logs are not evenly spaced, the situation is corrected with the help of any materials at hand, their choice is determined by the size of the gap to be filled: fiberboard, slats, thin boards, roofing material and even cardboard;
  • the technological gap around the perimeter of the room should be closed silicone sealant, which will enable wooden structure to expand in conditions of high humidity without the risk of breaking the tightness of the waterproofing layer.

The principle of laying tiles on the floor is the same as when this type of cladding is mounted on top of a solid concrete base. Work begins from a corner, and it is advisable to choose a site in the room that is most open for review.

Tsugunov Anton Valerievich

Reading time: 5 minutes

The vast majority of apartments, especially those built in Soviet period, equipped with wooden floors. But for rooms with high operational load or high humidity- such as corridors, kitchens, bathrooms, showers, tiled floors are more suitable. Ceramic tile (tile) is superior to wood in terms of durability and practicality. It is much easier to keep it perfectly clean. But will the tile lie on a wooden floor if you don’t want to disassemble it? Or is it not possible to do so?

What are the challenges of laying tiles on wood?

The installation of tiled floors requires a perfectly flat, fixed base. The tree is sensitive to changes in the microclimate of the room: it swells with excessive humidity, dries out and shrinks when used at high temperatures. Such a base is not suitable for tiles: it will crack or begin to “walk”. When using tiles small size cracks will go along the seams between the floor elements.

In turn, the wood is also uncomfortable under the ceramic layer. wooden details devoid of natural ventilation, will become unusable much faster under the influence of dampness and microorganisms.

But modern materials and appropriate technologies make it possible to create an intermediate layer that allows you to lay tiles on a wooden floor.

Revision of the old coating

Before choosing a method for preparing the base for laying tiles, it is necessary to conduct a thorough inspection. The sequence of future work will largely depend on the condition of the old floors.

Under no circumstances should it be laid on newly erected wooden floors. They should be given at least two to three years to shrink. So in new buildings, tiles cannot be laid on wood. We must either wait or completely dismantle the floors and construct a fundamentally different foundation, for example, a concrete screed.

Professionals insist on a complete overhaul of old floors to find and replace all defective elements.

Be sure to check the condition and the distance between them. It should not exceed 50 cm, otherwise the base may not withstand the weight of tiles, glue and other materials.

Strong boards with no visible defects can be used, but first they must be freed from the old coating: paint or varnish. You can do this in different ways:

  1. Mechanical - clean off the coating with an abrasive tool: sandpaper, grinders, grinders with a special nozzle.
  2. Thermal - heat the paint with a building hair dryer. It will swell and be easily removed with a spatula. Some masters manage to use an ordinary blowtorch for these purposes, but we must remember about the possibility of fire.
  3. Chemical - remove varnish or paint using various reagents. But the tree, having been soaked with them, will emit for a long time unpleasant odors so this method is rarely used.

Foundation preparation

So, you should carefully disassemble the wooden floors, assess the state of the log. Replace defective ones, add additional logs if necessary, securely fasten them and align them.

All elements of the wooden floor structure must be treated with an antiseptic. After it dries, you can update or replace the insulation. It can be a layer of expanded clay, slabs mineral wool or other type of insulation. When laying, the recommendations for the use of the selected material must be observed.

Between the boards of the subfloor and the insulation, it is necessary to leave a space of 5 cm to create natural ventilation.

  • A layer of mortar is applied to the floor surface, consisting of sand (2 parts), liquid glass (2 parts) and water. All components must be thoroughly mixed.

Tile fixed two-component adhesive from polyurethane. It retains its plasticity after hardening, so that it will not only provide a secure fixing of the tiles, but also compensate for small fluctuations in the parts of the subfloor.

Lightweight screed

The meaning of this method is to create a solid and even base, not connected to the walls and wooden floor. This floating design will ensure the integrity of the tile flooring. The optimal thickness of the screed is 30 mm: a smaller one will not give sufficient strength to the base, a larger one will significantly increase the weight of the floor.

  • A layer of waterproofing is created. It can be rolled material: glassine, bituminous paper or even thick polyethylene. Often used waterproofing mastics or heated drying oil. In this case, reinforcement with fiberglass masking mesh is used.
  • A damper tape is glued along the perimeter of the room between the floor and the wall.
  • A thin metal mesh is attached to the waterproofing layer with self-tapping screws.
  • A 30 mm high screed is poured.

You can use a regular mortar of cement and sand, but it is better to use self-leveling mixtures: they dry much faster, and it is more convenient to work with them.

  • After hardening, the screed is primed, and then the tiles are laid in the same way as on a conventional concrete base.

Plywood is also subject to thermal expansion, which is why a compensating gap between individual sheets is needed. And also a gap of 10 mm wide is left around the entire perimeter of the room.

  • The resulting surface is processed with a grinder along, across and obliquely. Then primed.
  • A waterproofing layer is formed from latex impregnation, paint mesh and liquid glass solution.
  • The tile is attached with polyurethane adhesive.

Plywood can be replaced with moisture-resistant drywall or gypsum fiber boards. The technology will not differ much, but it is worth using components designed specifically for these materials.

Laying tiles

On wooden floors tile placed in the same way as on a concrete base:

  • Laying starts from the middle of the room or from the far corner opposite the entrance.
  • With lightweight screed or gypsum boards, it is recommended to use cement adhesive solutions, for plywood or boards - two-component polyurethane adhesive.

The ardor of those who want to cover the wooden floor with ceramic tiles is usually cooled by the “ice shower” of the incompatibility of the base and cladding materials. Wood tends to expand, contract, changing dimensions due to the instability of the humidity-temperature background. Floor tiles that are too sensitive to linear movements will be rendered useless by the zealous movement of lumber. Cracks, chips will appear, seams will crumble, elements will detach from the base if the independent performer does not know how to properly carry out the work. The listed troubles will not threaten the craftsmen who have learned the secrets and rules of ceramic flooring.

Why is it undesirable to combine ceramics and wood

Cladding wood floors with ceramic coating is justifiably considered not a very reasonable undertaking, because:

  • covering a “warm” tree with a “cold” tile does not make much sense;
  • under water-repellent floor ceramics planted on tile glue, the tree almost does not breathe, because of which it begins to rot and collapse;
  • the service life of building ceramics significantly exceeds the service life of the timber and boards of the rough base;
  • strong, slightly abraded ceramics are easily pricked with linear expansion of neighboring elements;
  • the wooden floor is not static, which is required for laying ceramic products.

Wood can lose to tiles in terms of aesthetic parameters, but this is not a very convincing argument either. After all, tiles are mainly used not because of the beauty of the pattern, but because of the sanitary and hygienic advantages. Its use as a protection of wooden floors from moisture is a moot point, although it can be the cause of ceramic flooring in wooden bath, in the shower room, in the kitchen or in the combined bathroom. In general, where constant wet cleaning is needed.

Suppose there is a reason, there is a material and a desire to lay a ceramic coating on a wooden base. It remains to find out how and in what ways this can be done, and to choose a rational technology.

Laying floor tiles in a new house should be absolutely abandoned, as well as arranging floors with new wooden floors in any other building. It is necessary to wait for the end of intensive shrinkage. It's 2-3 years at least.

How to lay ceramic tiles on a wooden floor

A wood floor is a multi-layered sandwich created partly or entirely from lumber. The enumeration of all variations on its theme would be unnecessarily lengthy, we will consider only frequently occurring types. To carry out work on arranging a wood floor, home craftsmen mainly get:

  • only logs left after the dismantling of worn out floorboards and damaged substrate;
  • flooring made of moisture-resistant plywood, OSB or chipboard sheets, of course, with lags under it;
  • plank floor in good condition, i.e. not new (!), but slightly worn construction with flooring.

The number of repair operations, and not the choice of arrangement scheme, depends on the condition of the floor that was inherited. Because the process of attaching ceramic components to any type of surface is carried out according to a standard algorithm, all the differences are in the preparation.

In any case, it will be necessary to create an even, solid and relatively static base suitable for laying ceramics. Let's see how.

The wooden floor must be prepared for laying tiles. In the next article we will tell you several ways:.

First method: dry leveling

The most common and technologically sound way to level floors. At the same time, a relatively stable rough layer is formed from moisture-resistant plywood or similar. sheet material suitable for laying flooring. There are many different methods for implementing dry leveling, such as:

  • ready-made sets of adjustable floors with screw plastic supports, thanks to which you can install logs or plywood sheets right away in a matter of hours;
  • independent construction of a system of logs or point supports on top of a “strong” boardwalk, followed by laying sheet material;
  • laying a duplicate layer of plywood on an existing plywood substrate;
  • fastening of quartered plywood, GKLV, OSB with self-tapping screws directly to the leveled floorboards.

It is clear that the final touch of dry preparation will be chipboard, plywood or similar, thanks to which it can be done on a wooden floor.

Sheet products of pressed veneer or wood waste cannot be considered absolutely non-subject to linear shifts. True, they do not show agility equivalent to wood. However, for fixing tiles over leveling sheets, it is necessary to purchase a two-component polyurethane adhesive that is elastic, and not ordinary tile adhesive.

Before fixing the ceramic elements, the created plywood coating is sanded along the seams. Then the joints between the elements are filled with sealant or glue purchased for the upcoming work, the surface is treated with a primer impregnation compatible with it.

The advantages of dry methods of creating a substrate:

  • the ability to improve the insulating qualities by: foam plastic, mineral wool, expanded clay backfill between the lags;
  • minimum load on wooden floors that do not differ in reinforced concrete strength;
  • the speed of execution, the absence of technological interruptions, significantly "delaying" the repair.

There are downsides. Dry leveling will definitely "eat" part of the height of the ceiling. A difference will appear between the finished and unfinished part of the floor, which will have to be decorated under a step or a small threshold.

Please note that according to building regulations, the floor in hygienic rooms must be lowered by at least a couple of cm, so that in case of emergency or accidental leaks, water does not flood the floors in adjacent rooms. So, if after dry leveling, to which the thickness of the ceramic coating should be added, the surface will rise significantly above the surrounding floor, the use of dry technology is undesirable.

Video: adjustable floor system

Method two: "wet" screed

Or a lightweight version of the traditional alignment type. Filling the screed in an easy-sparing form is required because the bearing capacity of wooden floors is not enough to create a full-fledged leveling layer. There is another specific feature: a coupler on wooden floors must be cut off both from the underlying base and from the walls. Those. it must be arranged as a floating floor with a deformation gap around the perimeter and around the communications crossing the ceiling.

Thanks to the use of a floating scheme wooden elements floors will be able to move as much as they please, and ceramics with monolithic preparation will lie still.

The standard thickness of the screed poured onto a wooden floor is 3 cm. It is undesirable to increase the power, because at the same time the weight will increase. It is also not worth reducing, otherwise it will be quite reliable. Minor deviations in both directions are allowed.

The process of pouring screed on a wooden floor in steps:

  • We disassemble the floor to the beam for a detailed diagnosis. We dismantle all the wooden components of the floor, which cause the slightest doubt about reliability, and replace them with analogues. If the step between the lags is more than 50 cm, we strengthen the system by installing an additional beam. There should be a gap of 1 cm between the ends of the log and the walls of the building. All floor parts must be treated with antiseptic impregnations before reassembly.
  • We are constructing a flooring for future pouring. Old boards, 4 cm thick, will do if they are suitable for further exploitation. The grooved material does not need to be rallied. Between the boards should be left about 1 cm for ventilation. We do the same with an unedged board in case of replacing worn floorboards. If the boards are laid tightly, then ventilation holes will have to be drilled in the flooring.
  • We fasten quartered moisture-resistant plywood to the boards across their direction at least 12 mm thick or other boards made from pressed woodworking waste. The elements are arranged according to the principle of laying bricks, fastened with galvanized self-tapping screws every 20 cm. There should be no cruciform joints. Between the sheets, gaps of approximately 3 mm must be left.
  • We cover the constructed flooring with waterproofing. It is better to use bituminous or paraffin paper, parchment or glassine. Thick polyethylene is not prohibited. To form a monolithic insulating carpet, roll materials are laid with overlaps and fastened with adhesive tape. Along the perimeter, you need to create something like bumpers with a min 10 cm approach to the walls. For convenience, we also fasten them with pieces of adhesive tape to the walls.
  • We lay damper tape along the walls, 0.8-1.0 cm thick, 10 cm wide, we put sleeves on the pipes.
  • We fill the screed with the factory leveling mixture or homemade leveling compound. To prepare it, you will need 2 parts of sifted and washed coarse sand, liquid glass in the same amount. You need to close the home-made mixture with one part of the water without biogenic and man-made pollution.

As soon as the poured layer hardens, the tiles can be laid on the wooden floor with a preparation created on top of it, independent of the overlap.

When carrying out facing works of any premises with the help of tiles, it is necessary to lay not only whole tiles, but also their parts. This raises the question of how to cut the tiles so that the edges are even. About the special tools with which you can do this, we will tell in the material:.

Method Three: Express Option

It consists in attaching sheets of moisture-resistant drywall to the plank floor using a two-component polyurethane adhesive, the elastic structure of which is not disturbed by wood movements.

Previously, the master needs to revise the design and repair, if necessary. In order to increase the rigidity of the floor, GKVL can be laid in two layers so that the seams top row did not match the seams of the bottom.

It is constructed by analogy with the previous schemes as a floating floor, according to which a technological gap should be left around the perimeter of the room. The joints are filled with sealant, then the entire area is primed with a universal primer.

The expansion joint left along the perimeter after laying the floor covering and trimming the excess insulation is recommended to be filled with sealant and closed with a plinth on top. This is necessary so that the water when performing wet cleaning did not seep, did not accumulate there and did not spoil building materials.

Expert opinion

Viktor Kaploukhiy

Thanks to my varied hobbies, I write on different topics, but the most beloved are engineering, technology and construction.

The best way to lay ceramic tiles on a wooden floor is considered to be a two-layer construction of gypsum fiber boards, which are installed with overlapping seams and mounted to the base using wood screws. In this case, you should pay attention to some important points:

  1. The subfloor must be waterproofed. For protection against moisture in this case, it is best suited bituminous waterproofing. Unlike various polymer films, this type of water-repellent composition is applied in liquid form and penetrates into the upper layers of wood. Thanks to this method of processing, it is possible not only to protect the wooden base from various kinds of leaks, but also to prevent the appearance of fungi.
  2. If glue in the form of a dry mixture is used for laying tiles, then gypsum fiber sheets must be impregnated with soil deep penetration(e.g. Primer #6 by Artisan). Since cement-containing adhesives are diluted to the desired consistency with water, we have one negative factor: penetrating into the structure of the gypsum fiber board, moisture changes the linear characteristics of the GVL - due to the swelling of the material, its dimensions increase, and after the liquid evaporates, they decrease. These movements can lead to cracking of tile joints, and in some cases, damage to ceramic tiles. Thin layer primers will just serve as a barrier that will prevent moisture from being absorbed into the GVL. If you decide to use a ready-made two-component epoxy-polyurethane composition, then additional processing is not required.
  3. Improve specifications even the cheapest tile adhesive it is possible with the help of a latex additive, for example, the brand Latexcol-m from the manufacturer Litokol. The plasticizer is suitable for any cement-based compositions and allows you to increase their elasticity, strength and water resistance.

Many questions from our readers relate to the arrangement of a warm floor. If it is necessary to mount it on top of a wooden one and close it with ceramic tiles on top, then proceed as follows. GVL is protected with a waterproof film, on top of which a building mesh with a cell of 100 × 100 mm is laid. Pipes are attached to the latter floor heating, perform a wet screed with a thickness of at least 3 cm and lay ceramic tiles. During installation electrical system underfloor heating type concrete screed you can refuse - in this case, the cable is embedded in a layer of tile adhesive. As for the requirement that the floor in sanitary facilities should be below the level of other rooms, in our time it can be considered irrelevant. By using the Leak Prevention System, which automatically shuts off the water supply when sensors placed on the floor become wet, you can reduce the risk of flooding to a minimum.

The above three preparation device methods are just a hint that needs to be improved taking into account the technical specifics of the object. There are many more variations on the theme of building a kind of fixed "tray" over a freely moving wooden base. It is important to take into account the principle: a rigid substrate should not destroy the floor and vice versa, the subfloor should not destroy the screed with tiles attached to it.

We also recommend

Loading...Loading...