Tile Contractors - sticking tile to a wooden sub floor.?

By not putting them directly to the sub floor. You need a minimum of 1 1/4 " total substrate to insure that the tiles will bond and stay bonded. This is commonly done with the 3/4" sub floor and a 1/2" of cement board or on occasion a extra layer of ply wood . But this must be a special plywood so cement board ( properly installed) is really the best way to go for the DIY er.

All this according to the TCA and ATC tile hand books.

Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar and check my qualifications there. GL

A sealer or adhesive is pretty much a must if you want the floor to last, because raw floors have alot of dust even after sweeping. Just make sure the floor is sound, if not, drive screws every 6 to 8 " especially along the edges. Be sure to fill all holes and the edges with putty and sand smooth. If you don't, your tile will eventually crack and start coming apart at those areas. Armstrong makes 2 products that work great. You can use Armstrong Floor Primer (latex primer, looks like milk, soaks in and settles the dust, makes a nice surface to adhere the tile to, but note, this is not paint, or paint primer, this is made for exactly what you are doing and about $10 a gallon) or even better, use Armstrong Floor tile Adhesive($20 gallon), it states on the can that it makes for an excellent primer for self adhesive floor tile. You must roll or brush the primer on and use a trowel to apply the adhesive. The adhesive must dry tacky before starting, and can stand for 24 hrs should you not finish. the primer only takes a few minutes. Either way everything is on the back of the can. Good luck

(1) Apply unmodified thinset on wood floor

(2) Set 1/4 tile backerboard into unmodified thinset and screw down as recommended on the backerboard.

(3) Apply polymer thinset adhesive(the type you mix yourself) on backerboard and set tile.

(4) let tile set for 24hrs and grout with a polymer grout

Applying tile over wood is not recommended and won't stick forever.