Floor Joists for Tile Floor in the Kitchen

Dutchman80

Hi Everyone. First thanks to all that helped with my bath remodel project last year.

I am on to the kitchen now. Before I even begin the research process for the cabinets, appliances, etc. I would like to know what my floor joists need to be in order to hold a new tile floor (currenly vinyl)? 2x8s? 2x10s? More or less? Do I/Should I beef them up to not have a worry in the world?

I will be putting 3/4" ply with 1/4" (potentially 1/2" given the floor height that it will join next to in the hall way) hardi as the subfloor.

Then the plan would be to put a 13"-15" procelain tile on top of that.

I am just concerned that the floor joists will not be able to withstand the load of the new floor. Any help of guidance will be appreciated.

Daniel Holzman

Check out the Ditramat (Schluter) website for a detailed discussion about the required stiffness of a floor to accept porcelain tile (www.schluter.com). This site includes a PDF download that discusses floor systems, and answers most any question you could have, regardless of whether you use Ditra or not.