I have a floor furnace in my kitchen that does not work. How can I enclose it to be able to put tile over it?

Question

We have a vent where the floor furnace use to be. We are wanting to put tile down in our kitchen instead of the flooring that is there now. I want so way to take the vent off the floor and lay something down to enclose it so that it's safe to walk over and that we can put the tile over so the kitchen floor will look the same all the way around.

Answer 1

you need to get some plywood 1/2" i would say then you cut it to fit you build a frame out of 2by4s atach the frame inside the old vent at a were the plywood will be level with the floor then you tile over problem solved oh be sure your frame is level all around so the plywood will be level dont want a raised spot in your new tile floor

Answer 2

First answer is OK. Make sure the plywood "patch" is well shored up-- so the floor won't flex much. If you put ceramic tile down, the flex will break the tile. If you put vinyl tile down, too much flex will cause problems. So make it as solid and level as you can.
I caution you to make sure there is not a gas line inside the old floor furnace. So make sure it is disconnected and the line is capped. The reason?-- Here in Oklahoma floor furnaces make lenders unhappy-- besides-- you don't an accident some years down the road because you didn't cap off that line.
good luck