tile
I have a small utility closet that is 28" wide and 78" long. I have never tiled before, so I wanted to try my hand at a hidden away place. I have two questions:
There is some glue from the carpet padding that could be scraped up, but do I need to put a backer board down or can I tile directly onto the cement. Most of that is paint on the floor.
We are putting down 6×24" tiles. What is a good layout of the tiles? I came up with this, but any suggestions?
Thanks for the tips!
Assuming you want to do this right and don't mind a little elbow grease.
Remove the ceramic tile, and strip the floor down to the bare concrete. Technically you don't have to do this, but not doing it is, IMO, just lazy. Building up the floor is convenient but not the best work you can do.
Now that you're down to bare concrete, install Dri-Core tiles or something similar for subflooring, making sure you add ventilation as per manufacturer instructions. This product protects itself from moisture (except in a flood of course) and will likewise protect the tile from small moisture accumulations.
There are a number of interlocking carpet tile products available that allow you to do a floating style installation.
The grout question is a non issue if you remove the ceramic, as you should.
The reason for cement board is to give a good adhesion surface and to increase stability. When a floor flexes from the weight of people walking, or from movement of the house, grout and even the tiles themselves can crack. For a temporary platform intended for a cat box, you're not looking at a lot of weight causing flexing, so I doubt there'd be much cracking. For adhesion, just check the product you're using to make sure it will adhere to wood, but I believe most thin sets and especially any mastic will work without issue.
Best Answer
Direct to concrete would not require backer board, just make sure you use the right tile set thickness and back butter the tile, ensure the proper gap, and lay the tile any way that looks good to you. Factor in waste from cuts and make sure you get enough in case you break any.