Ceramic tiling on woodblock floor

vaultsman · 4 May 2024

Hi,

My daughter's house, a late-1930s semi, has the original woodblock flooring in the hallway which I believe to be oak. It appears to be very firm and stable but is in poor surface condition. Originally she was considering sanding and refinishing, but she now would like to lay ceramic tiles.

What backing boards would be needed? The tiles would be 9mm thick and I'm hoping to keep the overall floor height as close to 12mm as possible to avoid too much differential with the rooms leading off.

Thanks, Stan

Tigercubrider · 4 May 2024

It would be a terrible shame (imho) to tile the floor.
However it’s their house.
The blocks are likely fixed with bitumen
9mm seems thin for floor tiles but you’s need backer board and cement.
Are you sure that you’s have enough room?

foxhole · 5 May 2024

6mm cement boards thinnest . Surprising how high a threshold you can get away with.

vaultsman · 6 May 2024

Tigercubrider said:
It would be a terrible shame (imho) to tile the floor.
However it’s their house.
The blocks are likely fixed with bitumen
9mm seems thin for floor tiles but you’s need backer board and cement.
Are you sure that you’s have enough room?

Yes, I'd prefer her not to tile it....we'll see.

vaultsman · 6 May 2024

foxhole said:
6mm cement boards thinnest . Surprising how high a threshold you can get away with.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm still hoping she changes her mind again re tiling though.

aveatry · 6 May 2024

I had herringbone oak blocks in my hallway but was not thick blocks and was thinner on top of floorboards. There were heavy dark water ? stains that could not be sanded out so I used a darker wood stain to darken the rest to match. But since then I have put down an oak floor on top throughout the downstairs.
So although it sounds a shame to loose the block flooring sometimes its not practicable to keep it but I would not put tiles on wood. Unless you are a pro and or spend a lot of money doing it right it will move and crack.
she needs more persuading to keep the oak, warmer than tiles will be, and cheaper to do.

Odds · 7 May 2024

Perhaps a compromise of tiling around the edge of the floor, leaving the revarnished oak panels in the middle could be done? How large is the floor area?

cdbe · 8 May 2024

Nave you considered LVT? Plenty of tile effect.

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Ceramic tiling on woodblock floor

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