We are converting a house to a veterinary clinic and plan on putting down ceramic or porcelain tile in a large portion of it. The house is pier and beam construction with fairly nice oak floors some of which appear to never have been finished. I would rather not irreversibly damage the oak floors by screwing down a cement backer board. I talked to a contractor the other day who tole me that he solved this dilemma in the past by glueing 30 lb felt to the hardwood with carpet mastic because it is removable with a solvent and then putting thinset and tile over the felt.
Has anyone ever tried this? Does it sound reasonable? Any other suggestions for putting down tile without too much damage to the underlying hardwood floor?
Thanks
Dave
Replies
The issue is how much the floor flexes, and whether it's too "soft" for the tile you have. Larger tile needs a stiffer floor.
There is ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathroom now. The foundation and piers have been installed well after the house was built (1950). I think the floors are fairly stiff.
But the subfloor under those areas may be different.
No kidding
glue felt down with a mastic and it can come off with a solvent?
That I would like to see.
If I were going to do something as nutty as that sounds...I'd at least glue down Ditra instead of felt paper. I think that might be a hair less nutty...but nutty non the less...lol