Never tiled before. Entry hall needs tile.

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Quattro

Massive Tool Belt
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
262
Reaction score
0
So, while I've learned to do a lot of home repair and remodel on my own (and I think I've improved quite a bit over the years), I've never laid ceramic tile.

That's not true, I did it once about 6 years ago, but it wasn't my house, and we used the wrong kind of grout (should have used sanded grout)...so the project wasn't the greatest success.

I'm a little older and wiser now, and we'd like to replace the entry hall flooring with tile. Currently, there is two layers of vinyl flooring and two layers of 1/4" underlayment. That will all come up (with some work), leaving the bare subfloor.

Now, do I need to put down cement board, or just 1/4" underlayment (lauan)? I expect we'll have wet/snowy shoes from time to time, and this hall sees traffic every day from 2 adults and 1 crazy 2-year-old. Not sure if that makes a difference.

I guess from there, we choose a thinset, get some trowels, and layout the center row of tiles, right? These will be large tiles (1 sq ft or larger), with a 3/8" gap...so we'll use sanded grout.

Beyond that, what am I missing?

Thanks!
 
Hello Quattro:
Your plan sounds like it is 'right on' to me. The only thing I would consider adding is a polyethelyne vapor barrier under the cement board; I think the tile and cement board will allow moisture to infiltrate through to the wood sub-floor.
Best wishes on your endeavor!
Glenn
 
Hi Glenn, thanks for the response. I've seen a few online "tutorials", and they show the backerboard being put down with some sort of thinset, and then screwed to the subfloor. How would I do that if there was a poly layer?

I honestly don't know why the cement board would need to be stuck down...I figure plenty of screws would hold it in place, right?
 
Back
Top