In the case of a subfloor that is installed over a hardwood floor, it is a concrete board, sometimes referred to as concrete backer board. In either case, it is a layer of cement that is sandwiched between a layer of fiberglass on the bottom and a layer of fiberglass on the top.
Cement board is typically installed in showers and other locations where the possibility for a significant amount of moisture exists. In the case of using it as a subfloor over a hardwood floor, it works because of its strength and it can be screwed down to keep the hardwood floor in place. This keeps the floor from shifting under the tile and causing it to crack.
After the subfloor has been installed, go over it carefully to make sure you have no screw heads sticking up and no uneven surfaces, especially where two pieces of board join together.
Any imperfection in the level of the subfloor is likely to cause the tile to crack over time. You would install the tile in the same way that you would over any other subfloor once the cement board is in place. Strike a line in the center of the room and lay the tile on one side of the room first before doing the other side of the room. If so, adjust your centerline appropriately. Begin working the floor with thin-set mortar using a tile trowel.
The lines in the mortar left by the trowel are important for the proper adhesion of the floor. Continue to work your way from the centerline to the edge of the room in sections. It may work at first but eventually, it could fail because of the weak bond. Use a straight edge, such as a 2 x 4 and a rubber mallet to gently tap on the tiles and keep them level.
You should also ensure that the grout lines are straight from the very start. Any issues that occur in the level or lines will likely get worse as you continue to work across the room. An expansion gap should be left between the tiles.
Spacers can be purchased to keep the gaps uniform. Any errors are likely to magnify as you continue to work across the room. After you lay all of the full tiles, measure and cut the remaining tiles with a tile cutter or wet saw. Give the floor some time to set and then it is time to grout.
Work your way carefully across the floor, filling the joints with grout and then wiping with a wet sponge. You will typically have to wipe the floor two times to get the majority of the grout up. Floating floors were designed for these types of applications.
Styles, colors, and appearances are numerous today specifically with the leader in floating floor technology; Kahrs. Only in recent years have some hardwood adhesive manufacturers given the green light to gluing over ceramic, but there are some important considerations before starting the job. For a successful glue down application over older tile the single largest issue associated with failures are older loosened tiled floors.
Floors cannot be glued in this condition. Preparation before installing any glue down floor will require some additional floor work in the form of skim coating the surface that also fills in any excessive grout joints. In addition, the slick surface finishes of most tiles should be roughed up to accept an adhesive bond.
This can be accomplished with the use of a flooring buffer and very coarse grit paper. Sorry folks, but this one may be out of the question in terms of functionality.
In order to install a solid floor one would need a proper subfloor. Wine bottles are meant to stay unopened for decades. Cork does not soak up the liquid like a sponge and remains dry on the other end. That kind of water resistance means it can withstand water-spills in the bathroom. It also has other advantages like soundproofing. Though not as sound absorbent as most carpets, cork flooring can absorb sound like most natural wood flooring. It is also gentler on the feet because it is not as brittle as laminate floors.
Cork can withstand more foot traffic than other wooden choices, but carpets beat cork flooring in durability against foot traffic.
It is the need to regularly clean that introduces more wear and tear to carpets. Cork flooring has a set of sensitivities that make it less-than-ideal for almost any other place than bathrooms. It easily fades with direct exposure to sunlight. It does not do well in certain climates as well. Extreme climates, where the summer is very hot and the winter too cold, are not great for cork floors, and the temperature-fragile flooring fades and gets weaker. If you cover the tile with flooring, it is best to start with the option that can be reversed.
Since the laminate floor does not include the use of glue-like vinyl floors, it can be easily disassembled if the need arises. You can check out this article for more information. Among the advantages of laminate flooring is that it is relatively inexpensive. Again, this provides a direct contrast to hardwood floors, which require you to pay top-dollar. Laminate flooring, like hardwood floors, is not as easily stained as carpets.
Therefore, one can assume that laminate flooring has all the advantages of a hardwood floor with a lower durability, smaller price tag, thinner planks, and the possibility of self-installation.
There are certain drawbacks of laminate flooring that you must keep in mind. One of these, as mentioned earlier, is the relatively lower durability compared to hardwood floors. Not only can it get damaged from impact, but there is also the possibility of water damage. Tiles are often used in the bathroom, and if you are looking to use flooring over tiles in a bathroom, laminate flooring must be quickly taken off the list.
You do not want molding and other water-related problems. It also looks unnatural because it is made from recycled hardwood. That also makes it noisier than hardwood floors. Again, if you have tile in your house, you are accustomed to lowering sound output. You can have hardwood flooring installed over ceramic tile as long as there is an underlayment that accounts for patch-leveling and stickiness.
Hardwood floors are very durable and shield well against the brittleness of tile. They do not crack as easily as ceramic and can, therefore, lend a protective layer to your flooring. This is a key benefit for those installing flooring over tile for a visual change.
If the aesthetics variety is important to you, you may want to keep your options open when making further changes. Unfortunately, that is also where the drawbacks of hardwood start to surface.
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