Ply with no expansion joint photos...

[terry the tiler]

just a warning to members the disasters that can occur from using PLY ! Ply floor 002.JPGPly floor 004.JPGPly floor 003.JPG

[Bri]

What happened? I assume the tiles peeled off the ply?

[terry the tiler]

ply was butted up without a expantion gap m8 ! a joiner plyed it for me to save time . 4 tiles cracked perfectly over the ply joint , due to no gap inbetween boards. photo 1 is where i used a cercluar saw to cut a 2mm expantion gap between boards. NEVER using ply again mate.

[Dave]

Terry.. don't take the wrong way.. but not a lot of coverage on one of those pics mate.. adhesive tram lines is a dead give away of wrong coverage mate..

[terry the tiler]

Dont understand dave ! tiles where fixed solid with back buttering m8. the photos where after i lifted the tiles and cleaned the addy off the ply etc ...

[Dave]

Straight adhesive lines in this pic..


A solid bed does not have these straight lines mate.. sorry..

[Brinkley]

not a 10mm roundnotch trowell anyway
i would advise this for most floors terry .
lookslike a sharpe ended trowell was used

[terry the tiler]

i no what u mean dave ( photo one ) but id used a scraper to get the addy off the floor on that pic m8 .

[terry the tiler]

iam sure i used a solid bed trowel ? but i can see where your coming from tho you guys no more than me , and maybe i accidentally used a 10mm square edged trowel ? carnt remember , DOH .....

[Dave]

It's ok mate,, just here to help.. but a 10mm round trowel will be better than a square notch one.. for coverage on floors.

[Brinkley]

8mm lol dont mean to offend but 8mm

[Dave]

8mm lol dont mean to offend but 8mm

Behave..

[terry the tiler]

defo NOT 8mm m8 .

[Brinkley]

ok terry lol sorry gotta be a 10mm squre notch then never mean to offend mate but thelines do look thin

[Bri]

I made a speech last weekend about how I'd never lay tiles on ply again, I've been part of this forum for 6 months and I've probably spent a 1000 hours reading up on the pros and cons of tiling on ply, cement boards are the way forward and if you take the time to compare the two you will never tile on ply again. Before I joined this forum I swore ply lining floors was the best way to prep a floor and no one could have persuaded me otherwise, now that I have had the priveledge of reading posts from some of the best tilers in the UK I'm a big believer in ply being a thing of the past and can give you a hundred reasons why cement boards (or similar) are the way forward.

[Brinkley]

me too

[deanotile]

i think we all know my opinion on this subject. The use of ply is sometimes a necessity but the use of it as a sub-straight to tile directly on to should be as bad as using PVA as a primer. i am sick to the back teeth of this attitude from tilers and adhesive manufacturers that it is OK to do it. Yes the adhesive will stick the tile to the wood and Yes the adhesive is flexible enough to cope with some movement so is the grout but the tile is not and when it all goes wrong and there is a crack in the tile but the tile is still stuck to the floor the adhesive manufactures will wash there hands of it and you will be the one footing the bill.

[Sir Ramic]

My words too Deano.
While adhesives may be more advanced thes days , they havent made an adhesive that makes the tile flexible.
Ply is fine for strengthening floors but overlaying with backerboards is needed too.

[whitebeam]

Ply on walls is a no no for me, done once never again many years ago

[widler]

Ply on walls is a no no for me, done once never again many years ago

i know exactly what you mean, i tiled 3 bathrooms in a house,each bathroom was 35m2,tiled with 300x 300 quartz tiles,the joiner plylined 1 of them,he said he always ply lines before tiling,its much stronger,stops doors going through the walls when slammed back ect.
i told the owner i will board the other 2 out and over board the one that was plyed(i was plastering the house anyhow,it was huge,the kitchen was bigger than my house itself),he let me do the other 2,but said it cost him enough to ply it out,and the joiner said it would be fine,so,it would be fine.
when he moved in,heating on ect,the ply lined one started popping off,he was not happy,the other 2 are solid,he was fine with me,but he aint spoke to the joiner since,and they drink in same pub

[nybor62]

you cant educate pork