I have laminate over plywood right now in a bathroom. I‘d like to peel that off and lay tile down. Do I need the cement board or can I just put the tiles right on the plywood? It would save a lot of time and energy if I can just lay the tiles on the existing wood.
U can tile over counter top, have u decide how to tile around the wash bowl area. If that is not a problem.this is what u to do. First, put a piece felt paper over ur counter top. this is to keep the water to seep in going underneath. Second, put on wire screen over, that is for ur thinset to set ur tiles. Three, have ur tiles all lay out and fitted . Now u r ready to tile. Have fun , not an easy job, at the end u admired what u had accomplish
You can tile right over the plywood. It may be difficult getting the laminate off, but if it is 40 or 50 years old, it will be easier. Take an old knife and stick it under the edge of the laminate and see how easily the laminate comes loose. If it's easy, go for it. You may end up with some gouges in the wood, but that won't hurt anything if you're tiling over it. The thinset tile adhesive will fill in any gouges. Good luck! It's fun, and remember this: Grout takes away the sins of the tile, so if the tile looks rough once it's down, the grout will fix it beautifully. Have fun, too.
If the laminate isn't peeling you can tile right over that. Sand with coarse sandpaper....clean with TSP.....prime with oil-based kilz-it. Let that dry and start tiling. Don't use a premixed adhesive and grout all in one. It won't stand up to the moisture. Get the correct thinset for the tiles you will be using.
