Merry Christmas All!
Client has a 2-story victorian buily in 1898. First floor is 3/4″ doug Fir, over 1 x 6 subfloor. Full basement below.
Client wants to mix slate tile with Pergo laminate on the first floor (tile forms a rug pattern, with laminate border).
Problem: Tile and Laminate are roughly the same thickness… if I use cementboard underlayment for the tile, it’ll be proud of the rest of the floor. I suppose I could rout 5/16″ out of the floor, and drop in the cementboard… but… yikes!
Question: Considering this is an old and relatively stable floor, is underlayment really necessary? Or is there some kind of ‘silver bullet’ elastic thinset that will allow me lay the tile over the wood floor without underlayment?
Thanks!
Replies
Is this SLATE or ceramic tiles in a slate pattern.
Stone does require a much better base than tile. Specially in the amount of flexing of the joist. So you need to check that.
While you can can put tile over plywood and sometime get by with it I doubt that you can where you have individual boards.
You have indivisual boards a few inches wide and they can move independently.
Don't know if Ditra would work in this case, but it is a lot thinner.
But why not put underlayment under the whole floor. It should certainly be a good base for the laminate as the tile.
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Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Bill,
Beautiful idea to use underlayment under the whole floor, except...
the laminate runs throughout the entire first floor; client does not want any threshold/elevation change.
And yes, client prefers slate, but I have convinced her that ceramic (in a near-slate pattern) would be much more durable (room is a bar after all...)
Client wants this
Client wants that
client wants something else.Client expectations need to be managed they need education. There is no way to fit an inch of material in a half inch of space
She could get the 'look' with vinylAs osrt of educating her, if she still insists on what she 'wants' have her sign a waiver stating clearly that she is aware that this application will fail and that she is prepared to accept those consequencesor walk away
Clients that insist on crappy woprk even after a tactful presentation are nothing but trouble. They have a personality disorder that requires the real world to bend to their 'wants'she is probably a very nice gal who has seen too many DIY TV shows and just needs careful guidance is all, but your interaction with her leading to this job will let you know which kind she is before you do it and end up in trouble.
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You and client will be very unhappy if you do not tear up the fir and use glue plus screws to lay down underlayment. You say relativelty stable, but it is not stable relative to what is needed for what you propose.
You should also be checking deflection and bounce in joists.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Take out the fir, I do that all the time. The height should match up fine, it wont add that much to the job, and you wont get a call back.
Take the client out behind the barn and bury them for wanting to cover a Fir floor with Pergo and slate.
LOL, I'll go for that!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
In her defense, the fir is in terrible shape... former psycho owner (who ultimately lost the home to foreclosure) apparently locked dog(s) up in the room... they apperently tried to tunnel out!