A:
Wood flexes and expands, tiles don’t.
A wood floor has to be
prepared in such a way it is flat and solid.
When I come to survey your site I will check to make sure
your floor doesn’t flex (we call this ‘bounce’) and that it’s flat enough (no
more than 3mm flex over a 2m length).
If your floor is not solid and flat it will have to be improved
prior to tiling.
The ideal wooden floor has noggins every 300mm, floorboards or
chipboard floors will have their edges terminating on top of a joist or a
noggin. A chipboard floor will be over boarded with plyboard (WBP
specification) that has had the underside and edges sealed using a universal
bonding agent before fixing with screws every 300mm. The plyboard should be a minimum
of 15mm thick according to British Standards; the closest standard plyboard
thickness is 18mm. If height is a problem there are proprietary boards and
matting that can provide equivalent performance. 2mm gaps between boards and 10mm gaps around
the edge of room are left for expansion.
If a floor is solid but not flat it will have to be made
flat using self levelling compound (SLC), this is also known as a smoothing
screed.
Your wooden floor is now ready for tiling.
A:
A minimum of 3 weeks is recommended, the first week you
should make sure your screed does not dry out too fast in order for the screed
to attain its full strength, and then the following weeks you should expose
your screed to as much air as possible to allow it to dry out. You may have to
let your floor dry out for longer than 3 weeks if the weather is wet. To
determine a more exact drying time before tiling (in warm dry air) allow 1 day
per mm thickness up to 40mm, and for screeds over 40mm you should allow 2 days
per mm thickness.
Preparation of floors for
tiling is one the services on offer from Ceramastyle Tiling Services as part of
our ‘total tiled project’ approach.