What thickness of plywood for vinyl tile squares

CJ spake thus:

Put down over what? Existing floor? No, 1/4" isn't enough for a floor. Think of how much that's going to flex when people walk over it. You need 3/4" plywood at least.

If you already have a subfloor, and you are going to put down a 1/4" underlayment, then that is fine. If you just have joists, then 1/4" won't work. I would use 1-1/4" screws instead of the 3/4". Easier to work with, for one thing. And don't use drywall screws. And use construction adhesive in addition to the screws. I recommend PL200 or PL 400.

Not familiar with Traffic Master. My advice is to use the best grade of tile you can afford and avoid the self stick variety. I have only used self stick once, and will never use them again. I would go to a real flooring store and look at the various types that they carry. They will be much more knowledgable about what you need and how to help you.

I absolutely hate vinyl tile. I pretty much hate vinyl, period, but if you must use it, use the sheet variety. Vinyl tiles look cheap, period. After a few years you'll get grime in each of the tiny seams and it just looks bad.

Last month I tore up a vinyl tile floor in a bathroom and replaced it with ceramic tile. I paid 58 cents a square ft. for the tile -- hideously cheap on closeout, and it looks about 10,000-percent richer than the old vinyl tile that probably cost 3-4x as much at today's prices...

-Tim

I have a subfloor and the 1/4 inch plywood would go over that and then we would start with the vinyl tile.

The Traffic Master Self Stick Tiles are 30 cents a tile more than the standard squares sold at Home Depot and that is why I am asking the question if they are better or not.

Tim Fischer wrote:

Not sure, but you couldn't pay me to install self-stick vinyl squares in my home, except maybe in a basement laundry or storage room...

-Tim

Same here. Self stick means non-professional. The glue is substandard to a real vinyl tile installation. You must be very careful as to the substrate and condition with self stick, and then, they don't stick.

If you use self stick, make sure that you buy three times as many as you need, because you have to redo them about every 6 months or so.

Like I said, there is no way that I will ever use them again. I have installed thousands of square feet of vinyl tile, and the only one that I ever had to do over was the self stick. I have had to go back and do small repairs or corrections, but never an entire floor (thank god it was only 8' x 8'). After looking at the results after the second installation, I removed everything again and installed regular tiles.

YMMV, but I doubt it.

Well, just to be clear, I wouldn't install non-self-stick vinyl tile either. I think vinyl tile is ugly, no matter what pattern they print on it... Like I said earlier in the thread, if you MUST use vinyl, just sheet, not tile.

-Tim