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Floors: A 1/4-inch minimum thickness is needed, but thicker panels are also fine. Walls: Use 1/2-inch or 5/8-inch-thick cement board, not 1/4-inch. The extra thickness is needed when spanning the studs and it provides a solid base for the tile.
Can you use 1/4 inch cement board on floors?
1/4″ USG Durock® cement board is an ideal substrate for floor and countertop ceramic tile installations. The 1/4″ thickness helps eliminate transition trim when abutting carpet or wood flooring and minimize level variations with other finish materials.
Can you use 1/2 inch cement board on floors?
Floors. Both 1/4- and1/2-inch cement board are appropriate for floors. To install cement board on floors, cement board manufacturers mandate a 5/8-inch plywood subfloor or OSB underlayment. Manufacturers also recommend bonding cement board to floors with a 1/4-inch polymer-modified thinset coating.
Can you use 1 2 Hardibacker floors?
We recommend 1/4 in HardieBacker® board for floor applications, unless 1/2 in thickness is needed for transition. On existing structures: Ensure subfloor is not damaged. Replace any loose, warped, uneven or damaged sections of floor.
How thick should cement backer board be?
Cement Board Thickness Cement backer board comes in two standard thicknesses, 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch. The industry standard is to use 1/2-inch-thick backer board on wall tile installations, such as a tub surround.
Can I just screw down cement board?
Screw and Joints Do not use drywall screws as they are not recommended to be used to hold the backer board in place. All of your backer board pieces should be cut before they are placed on the floor. It is important to highlight that screws shall not be installed all the way down to the floor joists.
What is the minimum thickness of cement board when tiling floors?
Floors: A 1/4-inch minimum thickness is needed, but thicker panels are also fine. Walls: Use 1/2-inch or 5/8-inch-thick cement board, not 1/4-inch. The extra thickness is needed when spanning the studs and it provides a solid base for the tile.
Why do I need thinset under backer board?
Thinset is going to create a solid surface under tile and prevent flexing that could lead to cracking. Using thinset between the backerboard and subfloor will create additional strength, fill in any potential gaps that exist and lessen the possibility of movement.
What is the difference between durock and Hardibacker?
Durock is a reliable cement product that contains glass mesh. It is the heavier of the two materials, which means it is more difficult to use and maneuver. HardieBacker is much more light, and it is also the best selling brand of cement board available. It is much cleaner because it does not have any glass in it.
Can you tile directly on subfloor?
Tile can be laid on plywood. But do not install tile directly on the plywood subfloor itself. Use an intervening layer of a sheet of thinner plywood.
Do you have to tape seams on Hardibacker?
For tile backer boards such as Durock, Wonderboard, Hardiebacker, Permabase, and others the seams between the board need to be treated with 2-inch alkali-resistant mesh tape.
What side of Hardie board faces out?
Which side goes up, smooth or rough? Either is acceptable, but we recommend that the smooth side with the nailing pattern of every 8″ on center go up.
What thickness Hardibacker do I need?
Before you get started, you should determine if your floor is suited to HardieBacker Cement Board. That means you should have a minimum of ⅝” thick exterior grade plywood or 23/32” thick OSB with minimum exposure 1 classification.
What is the thinnest backer board for tile?
Fiber cement board is available in 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch thicknesses. The 1/4-inch-thick board is typically used on floors and countertops.
What do you do with a gap between tub and cement board?
Technically, after the tile is installed over the backer board that gap between it and the tub ledge should be filled with an ASTM C920 sealant (caulking e.g. silicone). Although some say you should have weep holes along this gap so any water behind can weep out into the tub.
Do you put thinset under cement board?
Use thin-set mortar when installing cement backer board. Thin-set dries slowly, allowing you to fix and readjust backer board sheets as needed. The ingredients in thin-set mortar ingredients are cement, fine sand and a water retaining agent. It’s used to bond ceramic or porcelain tile and cement backer board.
What thinset do I use for cement board?
An unmodified thinset (Masterblend) is fine between the Hardi and the subfloor. Tara, The reason for the layer of thinset between the cement board and the subfloor is to fill the voids/gaps between the two. It’ll keep the cement board from moving up and down.
How thick should tile mortar be?
Most tile installations require a 3/16-inch layer of mortar beneath the tile. A mortar layer 3/16 an inch thick is accomplished by spreading mortar with a 3/8-inch by 3/8-inch square-notched trowel. This thickness is ideal for most tile installations.
How thick should tile subfloor be?
The subfloor under the tile should be at least 1 1/8″ thick, with a minimum of 5/8″ thick exterior grade plywood topped by 1/2″ cement backer board.
