Flooring Tile - Question on ceramic floor tile installation

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ljkbuyer
02-27-06, 02:26 PM
I plan to replace my Vinyl flooring with Porcelain tile. The floor composition is ¾” plywood subfloor, 1/8” Luan, and then the Vinyl. I plan to apply thinset to the subfloor and use ¼” Hardibacker. So my question is, besides removing the Vinyl, do I also need to remove the Luan?

HeresJohnny
02-27-06, 02:49 PM
Yes - remove the luan. You may need to add another layer of plywood.

What do you have for framing - joist size, joist spacing and length of unsupported span of joists?
ljkbuyer
02-27-06, 06:04 PM
Thanks HeresJohnny. Joist size = 2x10, joist spacing is 16", Max length of unsupported span is 13'.

HeresJohnny
02-27-06, 06:23 PM
Your floor structure meets the bare minimum for ceramic tile. You should add a second layer of plywood (exterior bc or better). 1/2" would be good. Screw the second layer of ply to the first avoiding the floor joists. Stagger the seems so the top layer of ply doesn't line up with the first layer. No glue is needed. Use an unmodified thinset under the hardibacker.
ljkbuyer
02-28-06, 06:24 PM
Now my only problem is - I was hoping to keep the same floor height as the adjacent rooms with Hardwood flooring. Adding 1/2" plywood plus 1/4" backerboard plus the 5/16" tile will have the floor at least 3/8" higher than the adjacent hardwood flooring. Is there molding to handle this transition? Is this step height considered acceptable?