Tile Floor Underlayment Requirements

It supports your decorative floor finish whether it s carpet hardwood vinyl laminate or tile.

Tile floor underlayment requirements. To determine the requirements for a tile subfloor i partnered with jim and rich from diamond tile located here in maryland. The sheet vinyl must be clean and free of wax or other bond breakers. The very shiny vinyl must be scuffed up or scarified in order to provide a surface that tile adhesives can bond to. Preparation for installing floor tile depends on the type of subfloor in the room you are tiling.

For more information download our pdf about types of subfloors. Even if a tile floor is installed grouted and sealed properly you will soon experience problems such as cracked chipped and loose tiles if it s laid over a subfloor that doesn t meet the. For wood and laminate flooring the underlayment may provides moisture protection. The difficulty is that tile can be installed over a number of substrates and each requires specific preparations to ensure a long lasting tile floor.

In addition underlayments can provide thermal and sound insulation as well as a cushion that makes walking on the floor more. In many ways however an uncoupling membrane such as schluter ditra is an even better backing material for reasons other than the fact that it doesn t raise the height of the floor as much as cementboard. The tcna gives the following requirements for using vinyl flooring as an underlayment for ceramic tile.