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.
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...
Let me know where to send the grapes. ;-)
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.
No.
Total bollocks
Must be a cowboy. Been there done that three times and its still going strong.
The Natural Philosopher wrote: > Total bollocks > Must be a cowboy. Been there done that three times and its still going
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.
anyway your solution would involve huge expense for a simple job. change your name to the Natural Bolox
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...
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.
change your email to snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com
MBQ
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 :-)
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.
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.
The Natural Philosopher wrote: > >
point proved. you had to redo the job and that was only a tiny leak.
chipboard and water dont make for good friends.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.