How to make floor heights even? - DIY Chatroom

oregondiy · 09-22-2009, 01:27 AM

I have a aprox. 10' x20' living room that has 2x6 tounge and groove car decking as subfloor. I am going to be installing a 4 ft. by 6 ft. area of tile entryway and laminate floor in the rest of the room. I am assuming the right way would be to install cement backer under the tile, but this would make the tile much higher then the laminate. Is my only option to install 1/2" cement backer under the tile area, and then add in 1/2" plywood over the remainder to bring the laminate up to the same level?

Is there any way other way to do this?

The laminate I have is about 1/16" thicker then the tile.

thanks for any advice

JazMan · 09-23-2009, 01:18 AM

Not so fast Oregon. First of all it sounds to me that you may have one of those left-coast pier & beam homes with the beams or joists 4 ft. apart. If so, you may need to do some measuring under there.

You should not install any backer board direct on to any plank subfloor.....ever. You will need to install a layer of min. 3/8" underlayment grade plywood first, then the 1/4" backer and then the tiles.

You can not have two different types of flooring and expect them to be the same height without some extra work. So add the appropriate layers of plywood or install tile in the entire room. You could substitute Ditra membrane for the 1/4" backer board and save an 1/8". Better method too.

Jaz

oregondiy · 09-24-2009, 02:29 AM

The floor joists are 2x8, 24" on center.

So you can't fasten the backer board to the planks because of expansion and contraction?

I basically I need plywood, then concrete backer board, then the tile. Then I need playwood underlayment for the rest of the room to bring it up to the correct height of the tile?

thanks for the help

JazMan · 09-24-2009, 11:18 PM

What is the unsupported span of the joists? They're probably spanned to the max, so just checking. The 24" o.c. s normally not a good thing, but in your case with the 2x6 planks, you're good there.

So, you need min. 3/8", prefer 1/2" ply underlayment, then either backer board with thin set mortar under it, fastened, taped per directions, OR Ditra instead of the backer. Let us know about the joists span and which backer you're planning.

Jaz