I have a condo with an indoors garden. I want to cover this area to make it play area ( 10ft x 6ft) for children. I plan to build deck and use the existing surrounding foundation to anchor treated lumber. Next I plan to use plywood and backer board in order to lay tile on top of it. Is this the best way to cover this garden area? I will be removing lots of dirt in order to start the deck at a point that once all subflooring is added, the tile will be leveled with the existing floor, which is carpet. Thanks for any suggestions.
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Replies
What's under the soil? Is there a depression in the slab that's filled with dirt, or is there a leave-out in the slab so you could dig all the way to China? If it's just a depression, sounds like you're on the right track. If there is no slab...you need to be concerned with ground moisture seeping up through the soil. A good, and properly applied, vapor barrier may be required, and then possibly use pressure treated framing and plywood. What kind of tile? Ceramic or vinyl? If ceramic, you need to design and build the framing so that the deflection is minimal, or else you will crack the grout and/or tile. Vinyl tile is much more forgiving, except that any voids in the underlayment will telegraph through the tile.
Bottom line...what you want to do is very do-able, just think through all the factors.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Edited 7/26/2003 12:00:56 PM ET by ELCID72
Indoors garden? I'm not sure what that is. Does it get rained on? If so, your tiling needs to allow the water to drain away someplace.
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=33213.1
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