Flooring Tile - Luan or Plywood? And other questions!
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : Luan or Plywood? And other questions!
Paige80
06-08-09, 02:22 PM
Hello all,
I'm new to this forum and the whole tile laying stuff, but I am adventuring into remodeling my bathroom with ceramic flooring. I have gone to HD to see how to do it, so I have a good grasp on what I need to do. I just have a couple of questions.
1) I know you are not supposed to put hardibacker over luan, but how do you tell the difference between luan and plywood? (I know probably a dumb question)
2) I am going to have to chip away some old ceramic tiling (from the 50s) to get to whatever is below it. Should I remove the toliet and sink before doing this?
3) We are possibly going to put in a new toliet, but at HD I noticed that many of the toliets had different size "exit hole" (I don't know the right term). Is this true? Do I need to know the size of the hole leaving the bathroom (where the flange is) before purchasing a new toliet?
Thanks in advance!
James
I'm new to this forum and the whole tile laying stuff, but I am adventuring into remodeling my bathroom with ceramic flooring. I have gone to HD to see how to do it, so I have a good grasp on what I need to do. I just have a couple of questions.
1) I know you are not supposed to put hardibacker over luan, but how do you tell the difference between luan and plywood? (I know probably a dumb question)
2) I am going to have to chip away some old ceramic tiling (from the 50s) to get to whatever is below it. Should I remove the toliet and sink before doing this?
3) We are possibly going to put in a new toliet, but at HD I noticed that many of the toliets had different size "exit hole" (I don't know the right term). Is this true? Do I need to know the size of the hole leaving the bathroom (where the flange is) before purchasing a new toliet?
Thanks in advance!
James
Kevin Stevens
06-12-09, 10:16 AM
James, ready to go fishing? beacuse you might have opened up a big ol can of worms. One of our sayings for people who get in over their heads. Good luck with your project.
Luan is a specie of wood and is often made into thin plywood (1/4" or 3/16") to be used as an underlayment..its cheap and smooth..used for lots of vinyl installations. So your question if its luan or plywood it could be both...
my guess is your tile is set on the plywood subfloor (hopefully 3/4" thick) you will need a minimum of 5/8. If you meet up with hardwood in the hall (3/4") then 1/4" backer with tile will be close...other wise 1/2" backer will put you thicker than the other flooring..you might need a transiton threshold.
pull the toilet and sink the more room the better...I use a air Chisel to demo tile, or a heavy duty floor scraper. once the tile is up you can prep for the backer..if you still have some adhesive residue don't worry you will just need to put down a thicker adhesive layer when you set the backer. I like to use acrylic mastic to set backer because of the long pot life, some only use thinset...after 10+ years I have not seen any difference in performace for seting the backer. If you need to put down a thick layer use thinset, it will set faster. I nail off the backer with my roofing gun and 1 3/4" nails, you can hand nail or use backer or dry wall screws...the idea here is to get a bomb proof substrate to set the tile, the stiffer the better.
just about any toliet with work with old rough ins...New wax ring, anchor bolts etc.
good luck, Beer 4U2
Luan is a specie of wood and is often made into thin plywood (1/4" or 3/16") to be used as an underlayment..its cheap and smooth..used for lots of vinyl installations. So your question if its luan or plywood it could be both...
my guess is your tile is set on the plywood subfloor (hopefully 3/4" thick) you will need a minimum of 5/8. If you meet up with hardwood in the hall (3/4") then 1/4" backer with tile will be close...other wise 1/2" backer will put you thicker than the other flooring..you might need a transiton threshold.
pull the toilet and sink the more room the better...I use a air Chisel to demo tile, or a heavy duty floor scraper. once the tile is up you can prep for the backer..if you still have some adhesive residue don't worry you will just need to put down a thicker adhesive layer when you set the backer. I like to use acrylic mastic to set backer because of the long pot life, some only use thinset...after 10+ years I have not seen any difference in performace for seting the backer. If you need to put down a thick layer use thinset, it will set faster. I nail off the backer with my roofing gun and 1 3/4" nails, you can hand nail or use backer or dry wall screws...the idea here is to get a bomb proof substrate to set the tile, the stiffer the better.
just about any toliet with work with old rough ins...New wax ring, anchor bolts etc.
good luck, Beer 4U2
Paige80
06-12-09, 01:29 PM
Thanks for the advice Kevin. Tonight I'm going to try to find out the thickness of the plywood and tomorrow go to Home Depot to pick out all the necessary supplies. Thanks for the info on the floor, it was really worrying me because I know I need a sound floor for ceramic tile.
James
James