Is tile a good flooring alternative for people who are highly allergic to dogs, cats, dust, cockroaches, grasses, etc.?
A. You are absolutely right. Tile is generally referred to as a hypo-allergenic floor covering. Q. I’m installing ceramic tile on an upper level of my home and currently there is a carpet on the floor with a 3-4 plywood underlayment. When installing ceramic tile, should I use a Hardibacker or DuroRock type layer below the tile or another layer of 3/4-inch Plywood? A. You have a couple of options. You must have a minimum thickness of 1 1/4 inches of exterior plywood as your subfloor before installing ceramic tile so you can add a 1/2-inch thick piece to your existing 3/4-inch piece to reach the required 1 1/4 inch thickness. You can then either: 1. install the ceramic tile directly over the 1 1/4-inch thickness of exterior plywood; or 2. install HardiBoard, DuroRock, Wonderboard or a similar substrate over the 1 1/4-inch thick plywood for added stability. Those substrates are excellent surfaces for ceramic tile.
