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Is it possible to install a ceramic tile bathroom floor using 1/4″ luan as underlayment? What about a kitchen or mudroom ceramic tile floor over 3/4″ T&G flakeboard? I am concerned that the luan will delaminate and that the flakeboard alone is not rigid enough handle a tile install. Although laying tile is not my specialty, I have always laid tile over hardibacker, cement board or a mud floor. Does anyone out there have knowledge regarding ceramic tile being installed on these other surfaces?
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I wouldn't use either. Neither are approved substrates for ceramic tile, and in a damp location you can bet your ass it will come back to haunt you.
"If you can't afford to do something correctly the first time, how can you afford to do it twice?"
Ooze
*Like Ooze said, don't do it. Water will soak through grout fairly easily, then soak into the wood below. The swelling of the wood will pop the tiles loose. It won't happen right away, which is perhaps why some people said they haven't had trouble, but over 10 years or so it will happen.
*Use 1/4" hardi backerboard or a concrete backerboard. I always glue and screw the hardi board down and i use thinset and galvanized screws for the concrete board. Dont forget to tape the seams as you go. You dont want any problems with a ceramic tile floor when your done, so do it right the first time!