I have my bathroom cleared out and I am down to the plywood subfloor. I was planning on installing my new cabinet then putting down 1/4″ cement backerboard and then tiling with 12″ squares.
Question: should I tile the entire floor and then install the cabinet on top of the tile job?? Seems a bit wasteful?
Feedback and recommendations welcome.
dan
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Replies
Use 1/2" backer and thinset together with the plywood sub-floor.
Do the whole floor, tile as well. Extra few square feet should not be much. Cutting in is easier too.
If you have to replace the cabinet at anytime any slight size change won't be a problem.
"Use 1/2" backer "Why.1/4" is speced for floors.No need for 1/2" unless that is what is needed to match finished heights..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Make it easy for the next guy. It may be you. Most of the time it is easier
to put flooring under the cabinets. Sometimes I need to use the culls under the
back.
Larry b
My tiler told me to install the cabinet first. Not sure why. But the other thoughts seem valid as well. I installed my cabinet, then cement board, then the tile went in.
My tile guy wants tile before cabinet. My guess about your tile guys suggestion is that if you have shim the cabinet, the gap would be hidden.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
Kitchen and bathroom cabinets are subject to the vagaries of style and are one of the most frequently changed elements in a house. tile first for you and the next guy.
if you change the floor and not the cabinet, or have to replace a chipped tile that goes underneath the cabinet, who is it easy on?
cab first, then tile
can't remember many times changing cabinets without changing floors
can remember many times changing floors but not the cabs
just keep some spare tiles if, in the rare instance, you decide to change the cab with a smaller one
Dan,
I say tile first, then cabinets.
As has been mentioned, if the footprint of the cabinets or you or the next owner wants a pedestal sink or sinks the tile is there.
Have you checked the joist deflection and is it good for tile?
Chuck S
Edited 8/17/2008 5:55 pm ET by stevent1
If you have the cabinet already (so you can look at how it's supported), I'd recommend tiling several inches under, then "spotting" some individual tiles (or equivalent thickness of plywood, etc) where the back of the cab will bear. You'll be able to change out the cabinet for another of roughly the same size, but you don't have to spend the money for tile you won't see.
Without question, I believe that if you're hurting from the cost of a few tiles under your vanity, you're buying overpriced tiles. ;-)
And it's not like hardwood strip flooring, which gets tedious once you get too closet to the wall. . .
I put the tile all over the floor, then put the cabinets in. Mostly because that gave me the full height of the toe plate. If you set the cabinets on the floor, then put in 1/2 " backerboard and tile, you eat up 1" of the toe space before you're done. If the cabinets go on top of the tile, you've got the full space. The first time you stub your toe under there, you'll regret not having the full height.
I learned this from experience by doing it one way in the kitchen and the other in the bathroom. Unfortunately, I did it the wrong way in the kitchen, which made it a nightmare to replace the dishwasher.
I've done it both ways. Generally, it's less work to do it before, and if you tile up to the cabinet, than your cuts have to be superb. You won't be saving a fortune in tile either. How big is the vanity? Kitchens should be tile first even though you'll save a bit more. I've seen alot of people decide to tile their kitchen with out removing the cabinets. I've done it myself. But it's heart breaking to find out that after adding a half inch of underlayment, and a half inch of tile/thinset that your old dishwasher no longer fits under the counter.
The bathroom floor is only 9' x 5' to be tiled(includes area under the cabinet. The tile is fairly cheap 12" squares.
Another input was wondering about deflection and the use of 1/4" cement board versus 1/2" board. The floor in 5/8 plywood nailed to 1" tongue and groove yellow pine cross decking nailed to the joists. I can't see or feel any deflection.
Why I am hoping to use 1/4" backer? My finished tile floor will be above the existing oak strip flooring in the hall. I would like to avoid finishing too high above the existing floor surface if possible.
I was the thinking the backer board was primarily to prevent the mortar from soaking the plywood??
New at this .. any inputs welcome. Also, thanks for all the great inputs already. I am leaning towards tiling the entire space and sitting the cabinet on top. It just looks easier to do with the room empty.
dan
Dan,
unless your joist size is inadequate (say 2x4) or have extreme spacing, I would think that the 1/4" underlayment is more than enough over 1" t&G plus 5/8" ply.
You could also use an isolation membrane direct to the plywood. Check out Schluter's Ditra as one option.
The membrane would add maybe just a little less height than the 1/4" durock.
I would also tile under the cabinet. I see a lot of tile cut around cabs and then grouted in. It always looks bad to me.
Thanks for the tip. I will look into that membrane. The closer I can get the 2 surfaces, the better.
Dan
6 years ago I laid 6inch square ceramic tile in a small bath directly over two 3/4 inch plywood for 1 1/2inch subfloor without backerboard or a membrane
and see it every year or so to check for any discrepancies and so far there has been nothing show up.
How necessary is a isolation membrane?
That is more than the TCA specs. IIRC they require 1/2 over 5/8 min (or is it vice versa) for tile on plywood.The only special things are that modified thinset should be used and the screws for the top layer shoud go into the subfloor and not the joist..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.