ceramic tile over hardwood

[Mikepier]

Recently I ripped up ceramic tile in my foyer approx 4 X 10. Originally it was tile over 1/4" plywood , then the plywood was screwed to the oak floors underneath. I'm guessing the plywood was there to raise the height of the floor to match the kitchen floor. Now that I gutted my kitchen and took out 2 layers of ceramic tile and a layer of linoeum, it turns out that if I tile directly on the hardwood floors in the foyer, it would match the height of the new kitchen floor( which I will install 1/2" cement board) . So my question is can I install tile over hardwood? The existing tile floor was fine for 25+ years but the only difference is I will not be using a 1/4" plywood.

[ransley]

The hardwood floor probably isnt rigid enough to prevent the tile from failing

[RicodJour]

In a word, no. The problem is that the hardwood floor moves with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. The tile would fracture. The easiest an surest thing to do is to rip out the hardwood floor and install backer board then tile it. There are anti- fracture membranes that you could use but they'd raise the finished height of the tile a bit.

R

[Mikepier]

What if i just used 1/4"backerboard or 5/16" cement board over the hardwood floor? Of course that would mean I have to raise the kitchen floor the same height, but thats no big deal.

[ransley]

I used 3/4 ply over a thick 3/4 hardwood, all is fine. cement board should work if there is no flex in what you have now.