Laying tiles in a wooden house: preparing the floor

Recommendation points

• Basic requirements for tile floor construction
• Preparation of a floor for a clean tile floor
• Damper tape laying
• Screed device

The quality of laying tiles in a wooden house directly depends on the preparation of the base. Laying of tiles or porcelain stoneware can be carried out both on floors on the ground and on beams. Let’s talk about how to properly prepare the base for tiling on a timber joist floor with your own hands..

Basic requirements for tile floor construction

Floors made of porcelain stoneware or tiles must comply with the operational construction and sanitary requirements for the premises where they are installed. If this is a private wooden house, then tile floors are usually arranged in damp rooms (bathroom, sauna, etc.) or where water may get on the floor (toilet, kitchen).

The tiled floor is well cleaned and withstands frequent wet cleaning, therefore the tiles are also laid in rooms where there is a strong contamination of the floor surface (utility rooms, hallway, etc.). The quality of a tile or porcelain stoneware floor is determined by the following properties:

• rigid and durable floor structure;
• smooth, non-slip and even coating;
• resistance to high temperatures;
• moisture resistance;
• high abrasion resistance;
• resistance of the coating to chemical attack of substances (acids, alkalis).

To contain unexpected water leaks in bathrooms and toilets, the floor in them is arranged at least 15 cm lower than in adjacent rooms. The junction of the tile floor to the wall must be protected by a waterproof skirting board.

The clearance when laying on the floor surface of a control two-meter strip for tiled covering is provided for up to 4 mm. When installing a clean floor with a slope, its size is allowed 0.2% and 2 cm.The deviation in height between adjacent tiles should not be more than 1 mm.

When laying a tile covering on adhesives, the peel strength of adhesion is allowed not less than 0.5 MPa on cement adhesive compositions and 2.0 MPa – on polymer adhesives.

The air gap in the floors over timber joists must not be connected to the smoke ducts of stoves and fireplaces, as well as ventilation ducts. With a room area over 25 m² the air space in the floors is partitioned off with boards, dividing into compartments with an area of ​​no more than 5×6 m².

Floors made of piece materials (tile, porcelain stoneware), with insufficient rigidity of their structure, become “unstable”. This creates compressive stresses in the top layer of the hardwood floor and leads to the destruction of the tile floor..

The maximum deflection of the beam should be no more than 2 mm. The deflection of the timber deck is limited to 0.1 mm (calculated for a concentrated load of 0.6 kN).

The permissible loads on the flooring are determined by the calculation for the deflection and “shaking” of the joist floor and timber flooring. As a result, for a given span of the beam (flooring) and the load on them, the required section of these elements is selected.

These constructive measures are applied both in the construction of a house and in the reconstruction of the floor. In the latter case, the structure is checked for the action of existing loads and spans of floor elements. If, as a result of the installation of a tile floor (porcelain stoneware), the weight of the supporting structure increases, this is also taken into account in the calculation.

The classic composition of the floor in timber joist floors:

1. Wooden beams.
2. Subfloor made of solid planks or wooden panels laid on the cranial beam.
3. Insulation and vapor barrier for rooms with different operating temperatures (attic and basement floors).
4. Clean floor.

Wooden floor structure: 1 – cranial bar; 2 – rough floor; 3 – beam; 4 – vapor barrier; 5 – waterproofing; 6 – insulation; 7 – air gap; 8 – clean floor (floor board)

For a clean tile floor or porcelain stoneware floor, a flat and firm base is required. It consists of a continuous boardwalk, a screed and an adhesive composition. It is possible to reduce the compressive stress of the floor “clothes” by using a reinforced or dry screed, as well as by using a damper tape around the perimeter of the coating.

Preparation of a floor for a clean tile floor

All wooden elements of the existing floor on which the tiles are to be laid must be inspected. For this, the floor is opened up to the subfloor and beams. In case of detection of defects in biocorrosion or strength of wood, replacement or repair of damaged structural parts is carried out.

Even if the wooden elements are not damaged, they must be thoroughly antiseptic. Insulation and vapor barrier must also be checked for loss of operational properties (caking, wetting, decay, violation of integrity, etc.). A heat insulator, which, when wet, increases the coefficient of thermal conductivity, must be protected from above with a vapor barrier.

At the same time, we must not forget about the air gap separating the insulation and the upper flooring from the boards, the size of which is at least 3 cm.If it is possible to leave the existing flooring, its surface is cleaned of the old coating (paint, varnish, etc.). To do this, you can use a building hair dryer, chemical “washes”, sandpaper or a simple scraper.

Damper tape laying

Before laying the wood covering around the perimeter of the floor, a compensator for possible deformations of wood from a damper tape is installed on the wall. It is attached to the wall using an adhesive coating or some kind of fastener. Instead of tape, you can use polyurethane foam.

Planks are laid with gaps of 3-5 mm also to prevent deformation stresses in the flooring. It is advisable to fill all the gaps between the individual elements of the wooden coating with an elastic sealant.

Since the installation of a tile floor is justified in rooms associated with frequent use of water, the wooden flooring is protected with roll materials, bituminous, bitumen-polymer mastics or moisture-insulating cement mortars in at least 2 layers.

Screed device

Next, you need a leveling screed device. For the dry version of the underlying layer, moisture-resistant plywood sheets, wood-particle boards, wood-fiber boards are used. They are attached to the wooden flooring with self-tapping screws, and the joints are filled with the appropriate sealant or adhesive for fixing the tiles..

The screed along the layer of moisture insulation made of cement-sand mortar is made using bitumen mastic with sandy dressing (sand fraction of 1.5–5 mm) or roll waterproofing layer with factory dressing. On the wooden floor, the screed must be reinforced. These can be meshes:

• from metal wire ВР-I with a diameter of 3-5 mm;
• polymer nets made of polypropylene;
• fiberglass alkali-resistant with a diameter of 4–6 mm;

The scheme for laying tiles on a wooden base: 1 – cranial bars; 2 – floor beam; 3 – wooden flooring; 4 – vapor barrier; 5 – thermal insulation; 6 – waterproofing; 7 – floor board; 8 – roll or coated waterproofing; 9 – reinforced screed; 10 – tiles

Fiber is also used to reinforce the screeds. It is a fibrous material that is made from polypropylene, basalt, or glass. There is also steel fiber that is added directly to the dry mortar and mixed thoroughly. Then water is poured in and stirring continues for another 10 minutes.

The thickness of the screed in this version is provided for 10-15 mm. A compensating elastic gap along the floor perimeter is made to the entire height of the screed. The tile floor for cement-sand preparation must actually be separated from the structure of the timber floor and walls (floating floor), so that the integrity of the tile covering is not compromised in case of possible deformations of the wood.

The next step is to apply an adhesive that matches the floor covering. These can be cement or polymer adhesive compositions. So, for example, a polyurethane two-component adhesive composition is quite suitable. The thickness of the interlayer should be 2–3 mm..

It is possible to put a floor made of tiles or porcelain stoneware on a wooden floor. It is important to take into account all the recommendations of professionals and the regulatory requirements of the technology for the device of this floor..