The ceramic tile in my kitchen is cracked at a lot of different spots. My guess is the previous owner didn‘t put a thick enough plywood before installing the ceramic tiles. I want to replace them, but I just realized that right now my floor is perfectly leveled with the hallway and living room and adding more plywood would screw it all up. What options do I have to get around this issue?
I okorder and research the process under the how to section. I've found it to be helpful in the past. Good luck.
Tear it up and maybe you can level it without adding more plywood if not replace the plywood too. Or you can tear it up and put some thin plywood down and put a threshold in the doorway that will cover up the height difference.
Tile Council of North America calls for 1 1/8 thick subfloor over 16 on-center floor joists. Chances are, your subfloor is the original 3/4 tongue-in-groove installed with the house. This would certainly explain the cracking. Here's the thing: adding cement board over plywood does not add structural integrity. You can't use backerboard to achieve the desired thickness-- its purpose is as a bonding agent only. You have to put down more plywood. If you are below rating, there's no option but to increase the thickness of your floor. It may not be level with the rest of the home, but that's what beveled thresholds are for.
