Laying tile on a wood floor, can I use flex-set?

Question

Instead of having to put down that board on top of the wood, Home Depot said I could use the flexible thinset as it would give enough to handle the wood expanding and contracting. Thoughts?

Answer 1

Ask yourself if you want the tile to last 40 years or 3 years. If 3 is cool, save the buck a square foot (including screws) and go for it.

However, fiberous cement board goes down pretty quick and easy. If I'm putting down a floor, I want it to outlast the house.

Answer 2

Yes, you can use the flexible thinset. However, it is best to use what is called a "slip sheet" on top of the wood floor on which you will apply the thinset and tiles. This allows some flexibility as the wood expands and shrinks at a different rate than the tile, etc. Good luck!

Answer 3

If the tiles aren't too big. I wouldn't try to put down 12x12 unless they were 1/2 ' thick. I put some 6x6s on a wood floor and everything worked fine. You need to use something flexible. i would suggest mastic. the gooey kind , not a mortar kind. They have new products all the time. If the home depot guy said it was ok, then do it. Good advice. buy some extra tiles. If they break you can repair them easily. Just break the brokrn ones with a hammer, scrape up the mess and use the left over mastic. That is the beauty of tiles, they can be repaired easily. It is hard work , but rewarding. Don't try to do too much at one time or your knees and back will never forgive you. The reason tile layers charge so much is because it is so hard on the body.

Answer 4

When the word "thinset" adhesive is used, you are talking about setting ceramic tiles on a concrete or mortar base. We are probably having a problem with the terminology, and you are advised by me not to put ceramic tile on a floor with a wood base. There's probably a misunderstanding here about the word "thinset" . On a floor prepped right, I'd go with a rubber-mastic. I'm assuming when you write tile, it's ceramic, right?

Answer 5

I've seen the system your suggesting have tiles come loose after two or three years. If you install concrete board your flex-set will be fine. Flex-set will not adhere well to wood. If you're planning on doing it anyway, they make an ad-mix to use when mixing up the flex-set that will improve the adhesion to wood. It's used in place of water.

Answer 6

I wouldn't do it. You're best bet is to get the duro rock and screw it (don't use nails) to the floor joists every 12 inches. Even if you seal the wood first and use thin set, you still run the risk of the wood sucking out the moisture. Do it right once. There are no short cuts.

Answer 7

With no offense to HD, I'd want to know first the stability of the floor you're going to mortar and tile. Certainly that would be most useful on a floor that wasn't on an existing slab, but had joists under.

I've installed thousands of sq. ft. of tile and the customer is always right, but I don't want a call back to repair what the customer may not have expected.

The issue isn't so much the give or the flex set or even the tile, it's what will take place with the grout that will be most evident in any flex. I'm working on 11,000 sq. ft. of tile now that was not properly installed, has many voids, does flex, and often crack, with grout often crumbling, having to be removed and the areas re-mortared. I'm not stating that will happen for you, but if I was doing the job, I'd certainly want any substrate to be solid first.

Again, and with no offense, I suggest you look at the label on the substance to see if there are disclaimers (I'll assume there are) with regard to NO LIABILTY after the fact, most especially none offered by HD.

Steven Wolf

Answer 8

yep. I have done several floors that way, even new ones.

Answer 9

use gum