[Woodbob]

Hi,

Have a small basement washroom, cement floor, approx. 80 sq. ft. Washer, Dryer, Sink, Toilet.

Want to tile the floor. Thinking of the following:
6 Mil. Poly on floor.

5/4 x 4” ( 1.0”) floating risers, on top of poly
¾” Plywood on risers

¼” Cement backer, over plywood

Tile

I believe the total height of this floor is 2 ¼” . The rest of the finished basement flooring height is 2” and I can live with this.

Questions:

Will this setup work, no cracking of tile or grout?

The risers would Float and not be screwed to the cement

OR

Should I forget the tile and go to a laminate floor?


Thanks

[cyberheater]

Woodbob, I am trying to get the whole picture here. Are you putting the floor up on risers for a reason?

When tiling, it's important to have a secure floor. If you are not going to do it directly on the floor, then be sure it's secure, and that you have no bounce on your flloor by having enough framing and securing that to the floor. You don't want Shifting. Then, it's a bathroom. That means "wet location". Many different materials you can use to ensure moisture resistance.

Ditra, which is the "orange dimpled plastic sheeting. Water will not penetrate that. You will probably also like that fact that it is easy to work with. You still will use thinset. You can also use backer board, (cement board) but that is not water proofed alone, but workable, but more heavy.

Again, I am not sure why you want to "raise" your floor, but if you have to for some reason, then secure it if you are going to tile. Otherwise, I recommond vinyl. They now have a new product that comes in sqaures that over lap without glue. I have just used it and it works well.
I try not to suggest "floating" laminate in damp area's in the basement and in bathrooms on a usual basis. You can, but make sure you get the heavier laminate rated for basement applications and use poly and a good moisture resistant pad underneath.

[Woodbob]

Hi,

Thanks you. I have convinced my wife to use vinyl instead of tile.

The Risers are used only to bring the bath floor up to the same level as the rest of the finished basement.

Thanks again

[cyberheater]

Have fun! You can pick up that product from the big box store if you are interested.

[Woodbob]

Thanks again, I'll check it out I'll be at obe tomorrow buying some gas piping.