Tiling Onto Plywood Wall

Under british standards bs 5385 part 1 plywood has now been excluded as a suitable substrate material for the direct fixing of wall tiles therefore when tiling on to walls a tile backer board is required.

Tiling onto plywood wall.

You should not tile over wallpaper glossy surfaces lead paint or plywood. However tiling onto plywood floors is still acceptable under british standards. If you re not sure if you have lead paint test kits are available. The recommended maximum weight of tiling for plywood is 30kg m.

However tiling over tile can add quite a bit of thickness so make sure your wall can handle the weight. It contains oils that are sensitive to temperature changes. You may tile over existing tile painted or unpainted drywall plaster and textured walls. For wall installations plywood is overkill beneath the concrete or fiber board which is designed in five eighths inch material for wall settings.

Although wall tiles can t expand and contract plywood can be used for tiling your floor. The preferred method for tile installations is to use a sheet of underlayment. While tile can be laid on plywood do not install tile directly onto the plywood subfloor itself. Use intervening layers of two sheets of plywood.

Tile backing boards are ideal for wall tiling as they offer a dimensionally stable wall background to moisture and thermal movement. You can use plywood for tiling floors but when it comes to walls it is unfit. As plywood goes under a continuous change in size tiles and grout can crack and cause irreversible damage. Use thinset with a higher latex content thinset is the wet base that you first trowel on the plywood to make the tile stick.

If possible you should always use concrete board underlayments rather than plywood.