QUESTION

Flooded Tile floor over wood - I live in Metairie, LA and experienced flooding in my raised house (4 feet outside, 1 foot inside for 2 weeks). A contractor says that I must remove my ceramic tile from the floor (over plywood). Is this common practice?

ANSWER

ANSWER - One of the drawbacks with installing over wood is if the wood gets wet it expands and when it dries it warps causing various structural stress on the floor and to anything attached to it.

There is a chance that the whole floor may need to be replaced. Certain types of wood sub-floors will be more susceptible to damage than others.

You can wait and see, by letting the floor complete dry out for a month or so and then see if there is any damage in terms of cracked grout or tile.

If you have problems then you may have to replace both the tile and wood sub-floor depending on the condition of the wood. Wood does tend to loose some of its structural strength after it has gotten wet. If the wood is determined to be substantially suitable, then you can apply a cementitious mortar bed backer board over it for the installation of your new tile.

Good Luck!