Tiling ceramic tiles onto tongue and groove wood?

[julianf]

Im wanting to tile behind out kitchen sink. The tiles selected are travertine 2"x2" which come on mesh 1' squares.
The timber has been there for decades, is covered in a lot of layers of limewash (which i can remove if required), but will always move with weather conditions.

We only want the usual 14" high strip along the back of the worktop.
Whats my best way to affix them, taking into account the substrate (timber)?

Thank you.

 

[Pond frog]

I would screw hardiebacker board to the wood then tile onto that

 

[mike os]

as above, screw a tile backer board to the wood.

i would also suggest you use a mosaic tile support / backer

 

[Blue Chips]

Whats my best way to affix them, taking into account the substrate (timber)?

I've done quite a lot of tiling over the years in various homes that we've renovated, and I'd suggest installing waterproof tile backer board over the T&G boards before tiling. Even though the T&G boards may be 'seasoned' wood, they're still going to expand and contract to some degree. A poor compromise might be to use an elastomeric mastic/adhesive on the wood to affix the tiles, but I would not recommend it, partly because even if the tiles are well adhered to the wood, any expansion and contraction of the wood could affect the grout joints.

I would screw hardiebacker board to the wood then tile onto that

I use James Hardie products a lot. The current tiling job that I'm doing uses Hardie 'HydroDefense' technology.
https://www.jameshardie.com/products/hardiebacker-cement-board/hydrodefense?loc=refresh

 

[julianf]

Thank you.

As it's only a 14" strip, it would be nice not to bring the finished surface out a whole load.

The link above says it's just under half an inch. That's not exactly ideal but if it has to be, it has to be.

I've not looked at all, but what's the best way to cover the edge of this stuff? I didn't really want quarter round edging as it all gets a bit more fussy than the basic look that we like.


Finally, we live about 25 mins from a small town and about an hour from anywhere major. Can someone tell me where I could get this stuff mail order in small amounts? I've only got a strip 7 foot long by 14" high to do.

Thanks to all!

 

[Blue Chips]

The link above says it's just under half an inch. That's not exactly ideal but if it has to be, it has to be.

You should be able to get thinner backer boards, down to about 1/4" thick.

 

[Blue Chips]

I've not looked at all, but what's the best way to cover the edge of this stuff? I didn't really want quarter round edging as it all gets a bit more fussy than the basic look that we like.

You might look for a minimalist-looking square-cross-section trim. Whatever trim you use, it should be adhered to the backer board with the tile mortar, and to seal it against the wood, you should use a flexible silicone (or similar) caulk that will allow some wood movement. You might be able to find an L-shaped trim that would overlap the edge of the backer board, or if you have access to a tile saw, you could cut a notch/rabbet for the backer board.

The edge trim I'm using on my current tile project is basically a square cross-section, but with two bevels. It's mortared to the edge of the backer board, but has a bead of silicone caulk down the edge. The silicone caulk color matches the grout color exactly (it looks darker in the photo, but that's just because it's in a shadow).

Just a hint: As I'm sure you know, if you use a caulk that's not paintable, you need to be careful not to get it on a surface that you plan to paint. I usually use masking tape to form both edges of a bead of caulk, and then pull the tape off while the caulk is still wet. To make sure that you have a clean edge when you pull the tape off, the caulk should be scraped/formed right down to the edges of the tape before pulling the tape off. One way to do that is to file or grind a radius in the corner of a putty knife blade that will just touch the edges of both strips of masking tape and use that to form the bead cross-section. An alternative to that would be to experiment with wooden dowels of different diameters to scrape the caulk before removing the tape.

 

[Blue Chips]

I've not looked at all, but what's the best way to cover the edge of this stuff? I didn't really want quarter round edging as it all gets a bit more fussy than the basic look that we like.

If you have 'solid-color' tiles (i.e., color all the way through the tiles, rather than a surface glaze on a different color body), then you have more options for finishing the edges. Here are a few options for creating a clean-looking exposed edge, which should be self-explanatory. I also included my method for getting a clean caulk bead with masking tape and a wooden dowel. Note: If you don't have solid-color tiles, a mitre joint like the fourth option below would work nicely.

 

[roblane65]

If your only intending to tile a smallish area get a trade grade flexible adhesive for floor tiles they'll go nowhere , no backer needed or if you want to err on the side of caution with minimal build up just use use 4 or 6mm ply once again with flexi . Be aware travatine is a natural material and as such needs to be maintained not fit and forget .

 

[brightspark]

as above fit some 4.0mm ply screwed back and there going nowhere.its good enough for tiling on tongue and groove flooring so fine on the walls. no need to over engineer it

 

[Blue Chips]

no need to over engineer it

I suppose it depends on one’s definition of over engineering, and I think many people would agree that I do tend to over engineer things a bit. I will say, though, that the tiles that I installed in my first house renovation project back in 1979 are still in perfect condition, and I haven’t had a failure yet.

I don’t know much about the tongue and groove boards above his sink (what kind of wood, how they’re mounted, how much moisture might be penetrating through the wall, or how much they’ll expand or contract), so I thought it best to recommend the most conservative approach to help assure a long-term solution, even though admittedly, it may be a little more work.

 

[Onoff]

Think I'd thin ply the board's then use Ditra mat.

 

[Blue Chips]

Think I'd thin ply the board's then use Ditra mat.

I think that would work pretty well, as long as there’s not too much moisture coming through the wall. If there’s enough moisture, it could cause the plywood to swell. The way I look at it, it’s no more work to install a piece of backer board than it is to install a piece of plywood, so why not go with a piece of waterproof backer board?