Vinyl Tile Floor Prep Plans

[Pavel314]

I finally got the last of the ceramic tile off the kitchen/dining room floor last night. The tile was glued down to plywood which had been laid over the original floor boards. There's still some tile cement in most areas, but it's fairly flat, just light ridges, no large lumps or bumps.

Before I put down the new tile, my plan is to do a light sanding of the entire floor with a belt sander, using medium grit sandpaper, just to take off any high spots. Then I'll vacuum and wet mop to get up the dust. After allowing a day to dry, I'll glue down the tiles.

Does anyone see any potential problems with this plan? I could tack down a layer of 1/4 inch plywood to give a new surface but that seems like a lot of extra trouble.

Paul

[tflfb]

I would apply the plywood after all that work, how big of a area are you working with?

I am replaceing vinyl with vinyl and in the process of removeing the old vinyl and the 1/4in plywood, that is glued and stapled to the sub floor.

[RPJ]

I am not sure, but I think the pros usually use something called "luan" instead of 1/4" plywood for this type of job. It's a little less than 1/4" thick. That's what I did a few years ago on a kitchen floor. It was cheaper, was much easier to work with than 1/4" plywood, and it gave me a flat even surface to tile.

[Joe Bobst]

That works for a lot of people, and some like the real thin Phillipine mahogany (named Luan after the Island). However, in your case you have a fairly decent plywood that needs light sanding, so why not slop on the cheapest polyurethane you can find (it'll cost you under a nickel a square foot), fill the seams or whatever with a tat of bondo, and you will have a perfect substrate for vinly tile, or sheet glooring if you prefer. Self stick tiles work exceptionally well on painted or varnished wood, less so on unfinished wood. Good luck.

Joe

[RPJ]

Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks.