How to treat plywood in order to use it as wall tile underlayment?

Tms24855882
by Tms24855882
I need the support for my walls (24" o.c. studs) and want to use plywood to strengthen the wall to support wall tile. Do I need both plywood and concrete board underlayment, or can I treat the plywood with a primer that will then be a good base for wall tile to adhere?

  5 answers
  • Vic Riv Vic Riv on Aug 28, 2017

    just my thought...if your walls are opened add studs in between your 24" centers that will put you 12" centers. If you have drywall, try to remove it, and install your studs. Then install 1/2" durorock cement board and yo will have a real strong surface and wall. good luck with ur project!

    • Tms24855882 Tms24855882 on Aug 28, 2017

      thanks Vic. The walls are open still, but the reason I went with 24" centered studs was to allow more foam insulation to be installed. This is a shipping container with firred walls, so there is only about 3" of space. It needs to be fully foamed to be effective insulating. That's why I wanted to use 3/4" plywood to firm up the wall, but plywood is a poor tile underlayment - UNLESS I could treat the plywood with an effective, strengthening primer????

  • Dianacirce70 Dianacirce70 on Aug 28, 2017

    Don't use plywood, just the cementboard

    • Tms24855882 Tms24855882 on Aug 28, 2017

      thanks Dianacirce, but the reason I need something stronger than cement-board is the 24" spaced studs are too far apart for the cement board to not flex in the middle. Maybe I need plywood AND cement-board

  • Julie M. Julie M. on Aug 28, 2017

    I agree with the other commenters, use cement board. Drywall is a poor choice to hold wall tile unless it is a very small project like a backsplash. NEVER use drywall as a backer in a shower/tub though ;)

  • Kathy Kathy on Aug 28, 2017

    Wouldn't it be easier to just add more studs?

  • Dianacirce70 Dianacirce70 on Aug 28, 2017

    I would do bracer boards in between the studs. Way cheaper, way less labor intensive and gives the support needed