[pastor1189]

Person has a living room that is carpeted. Party wants to tile the room.
Currently it sits on wood, underneath is cement slab in good shape. Only
Problem there is a foot drop after you remove the wood. You would have to step down.
It would be a big task to pour cement and level the floor. Cement boards I guess wouldn’t raise the floor enough. Any ideas

[Wondergirl]

Why would the wood have to be removed?

[pastor1189]

The wood platform is very old and bad in places after 60 years

[Wondergirl]

Replace it with a new wood platform.

[ma0641]

Either replace the wood, install backer board and tile, OR remove the floor, make a 2 step landing and tile over the concrete. If floor removal puts any exterior door threshold above the floor level do not do it as any water coming in would not get out. Today, most people buying houses with sunken rooms fill them in to regular floor level. Watch "Fixer Upper."

[joypulv]

Gut it down to the concrete. Apply a vapor barrier well sealed without a single hole from nails or anything.
Build a pressure treated platform of 16" apart joists, and subfloor of your choice for the tile. The trick will be to get the edges exactly level with the 4 sides. The tiles may crack there no matter how careful you are, assuming you are extending out over the edges with tiles.

A problem with any of this is the air space under the raised floor - in warm damp climates, it will have all the same problems with moisture and bugs that the old one had, even with some help from the vapor barrier.