Laying floor tiles - advice

Posted by: Jonathan Gorse on 08 February 2009

Hi folks,

Flushed with success from my recent attampts at tiling the kitchen the wife has now suggested I tile a smallish corridor running from the kitchen to the rear games room.

We've selected some 300mm square fake slate tiles in Focus and I have an electric tile cutting machine. The floor is good quality wooden floorboards and I'm wondering whether I can just fix the tiles to the floorboards? Some websites suggest that you lay hardboard down first but I'm not sure I can see the point of this and crucially it will mean I have to take 5 doors off to plane them because they won't fit over hardboard and the tiles but they will clear if I just fix the tiles direct to the floorboards.

What would you do? Also what sort of size spacing/spacer would you recommend for 300mm imitation slate floor tiles?

Grateful for any advice as I'm new to all this DIY stuff but inundated with it at the moment!

Thanks,

Jonathan

Posted on: 08 February 2009 by manicatel

From your description of your flooring & my distant memory of diy flooring, I think unfortunately you'd have to lay a sub-floor/hardboard. This is because any bumps/ridges/joins/cracks/uneven-ness of your existing floorboards will be seen through the vinyl tiles. After a while, you'll get some lines & possibly even cracks appearing in your vinyl floor & you'll have to rip it up & start again, as the song goes!
One idea may be to get a pro floorer in & get a quote & ask him if it needs the hardboard laying first or not. When you've got his advice you can make a more informed decision.
Planing a few doors isn't a big job in comparison to getting flooring right!
Matt.

Posted on: 08 February 2009 by fatcat

Jonathan

You may have to plane the doors even if you don’t use hardboard. Have you taken into account the thickness of the adhesive. It may end up thicker than you imagined or planned.

You will need flexible adhesive or a flexible additive.

Posted on: 08 February 2009 by pjl

Even if the floorboards are perfectly level and even there will be some small relative movement between them with temperature / humidity changes and with pressure changes from walking on them. This in time will make your tiles uneven and may even crack them. Laying hardboard sheets first will minimise and even-out any movement "seen" by the tiles. It's a pain - but far less so than having to lift all your tiles in 6 months and re-do them!

Peter

Posted on: 08 February 2009 by Jonathan Gorse

Thanks guys, looks like it's the DIY store for me tomorrow then!

Jonathan

Posted on: 08 February 2009 by Howlinhounddog

Jonathan,
Min 6mm play SCREWED (not nailed)at 150mm (6")centres. Another point to remember before starting 6mm + poss 4mm tile could mean as much as 12mm off the bottom rail of your door. Is the door bottom rail solid to that depth? If it's a modern door that may have already been cut it may not be. Good luck.

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Jonathan Gorse

Howlinhounddog,

Thanks for that - it's one of the reasons I hate DIY - nothing is as simple as it seems but thanks for the tips anyway!

Jonathan

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Exiled Highlander

Howlinhounddog

Just out of curiosity, why screwed and not nailed?

Cheers

Jim (who nailed ply in his kitchen/utility room and hallway...

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Howlinhounddog

Guarantees no movement of the sub long term. Remember any movement will eventually, as a minimum crack up the grout, at worst will require to lift and do again. Not good.
Jim, it may not happen but there is a likelyhood it will long term...sorry.

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Exiled Highlander

With around 95,000 (maybe 96,000) nails shot through the floor with a nail gun I don't think it's going anywhere!

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Howlinhounddog

Yeah but now your floorboards are like Leerdammer

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Exiled Highlander

I can't argue with that but i will have sold the house long before it's my problem again! Or maybe I should say that I will have given away my house....

BTW, it's in the US where the standard of workmanship can be amazingly bad!

Cheers

Jim

Posted on: 09 February 2009 by Howlinhounddog

quote:
BTW, it's in the US where the standard of workmanship can be amazingly bad!

That probably explains the use of a nail gun. Interestingly that is another type of gun on the increase in the UK, along with Kalashnikovs

The power that a nail gun (and ridged nails) exerts would probably reduce movement. I once witnessed a guy shoot a nail from a nail gun into his knee through a piece of wood ... It certainly reduced his movement

Posted on: 10 February 2009 by Simon Perry

In my kitchen i got the floorboards removed and screwed into the joists. Reduces the thickness issue and makes a really great surface to lay the tiles on. Lasted years until I sold the place.