Tiling travertine over floorboards

[UnicycleBloke]

I want to tile the upstairs bathroom floor with 300mm square trav. It's *not* a wetroom.
The room is about 2m x 2.5m, with a lot of this covered by shower and bath.

I've seen advice that says I should:

1. Overboard the floor with 15mm WBP - with lots and lots of screws.
2. Stick down 6mm Hardibacker.
3. Then tile using flexible adhesive.

Is that about right?

Is it necessary to tank, and at what stage?

With a 12mm tile, this creates quite a step. While I don't really mind, is the Hardibacker really necessary?

Thanks.


Al

 

[AMtek]

If height is an issue then you could rip the floorboard up, put noggins between the joists, lay 25mm WBP onto the joists then put 6mm backerboards on top.

Is it a bath and a standard shower tray that is going in? if so the floor is fine to tile but the walls in the shower and round the bath should be tanked.

Make sure that everything is primed as per manufacturers instructions, you know to back skim the trav and that it needs sealing?

 

[UnicycleBloke]

Thanks for a quick reply.

Taking up the floor might be the way to go. 25mm sounds pretty rigid. What does the backerboard add? The visible area will be pretty small.

>> Is it a bath and a standard shower tray that is going in?

Yes. The visible floor area is quite small.

>> the walls in the shower and round the bath should be tanked.

I thought so.

I always back skim tiles, in any case. Thanks for the reminder about the sealing.

Still not convinced I'll do the plumbing myself. I'd hate to
have a leaky joint under all that flooring...


Al

 

[peteablard]

What's the floor that's down now and is there any deflection in it?

 

[UnicycleBloke]

What's the floor that's down now and is there any deflection in it?

It's old style floorboards. It seems pretty solid but I haven't spent much time jumping up and down on it. I haven't removed the old suite yet, so can't check the whole floor. What would be a good test?

In my last house, I had a similar trav floor, but did not fit it. I recall that the plumber screwed down some ply, and tiled straight over it. There were no problems, but I get the impression from this forum that he should have done more.

 

[Sean SML Tiling]

Tiling onto ply is a no no so we use hardie backer or other cement boards which is waterproof unlike ply. Any moisture is ply amd it will expand causing the tiles to come loose

 

[AliGage]

Tiling over ply is not necessarily ya no no. However there are better methods of prep for your fixing such as hardie backer board (which is moisture resistant not waterproof)

If its actual floorboards you have then that's at least better than chipboard.
You can test for deflection by placing a glass of water on the floor (full) and have a walk around or if you can get your hands on a laser level do the same and the laser will show you how much bounce the floor has, if any.

If the floor is sound it still wouldn't hurt driving new screws into the Joists.
Make sure the boards are in good condition and any varnish or stain etc is removed.

Yet should then be able to go over with the hardie which will eliminate some of the height at transition.

 

[AliGage]

Might want to consider a decoup if you're opting for Travertine as well. I always put one under Travertine on the floor. Might be stone but essentially its a flawed product and can be weak.

 

[J Sid]

If the floor boards are solid and well screwed door (check for pipes under boards before screws go in) and no deflection, i would go with Detra uncoupling membrane, which would work as a tanking if done properly. Been doing it that way for many years and never had a problem.