Concrete Overlay On Plywood Subfloor

Plywood substrate in a kitchen.

Concrete overlay on plywood subfloor.

The nwfa recommends plywood with a minimal thickness of. For metal lath a stucco grade material is fine. In this project tom had to remove old tile and install another layer of 3 4 thick plywood. Concrete floor video on how to install concrete over an existing wood subfloor.

Metal lath stapled over plywood substrate. It lays down ultra flat. Cut plywood panels by 2 foot by 8 foot or 4 foot by 4 foot sections. It s best to place the underlayment over 3 4 inch thick plywood fastened with screws at 12 to 16 inch intervals to help decrease deflection and add stability.

I have seen anything from chicken wire to concrete wire mesh used successfully. Score the back of the panels half of the thickness on a 12 inch by 12 inch grid. When installed correctly your concrete over plywood floor will not permit moisture through will not warp or buckle and will come with all the benefits of concrete in an easy to care for floor. Overlap adjacent pieces of lath approximately 1.

Find interior concrete overlay products. As with a floated subfloor nwfa recommends a vapor retarder for glue down subfloors when installing wood flooring over concrete. The following project was executed by tom zilian of madstone floors from boston ma who created a polished concrete floor over a plywood substrate. Duraamen s param 5500 goes on thin in a 3 8 to 1 2 thick application.

For example if you install resilient tiles or sheet flooring over a subfloor any bumps dips or voids in the subfloor may be evident in the finished flooring. After installing a vapor retarder if necessary cut your plywood panels into 2 x8 or 4 x4 sections. After priming install 3 2 or 3 4 galvanized expanded diamond metal lath mesh to the wood or plywood subfloor stapling approximately every 6 inches to prevent the mesh from floating. Underlayment covers subfloor flaws for the best possible results.

The subfloor must be free of deflection l 360 considering both live and dead loads. Find concrete resurfacing products. Plywood underlayment is typically needed when a floor material must have a very smooth flat surface. A cement based waterproofing mortar is also a good option.

Materials include a minimum of 3 4 inch cd exposure 1 plywood subfloor panels 4 foot by 8 foot sheets. The installation of calcium aluminate cement based self leveling concrete param 5500 along with expanded metal lath for reinforcement is a successful fast track method to convert a plywood subfloor into a beautiful concrete floor.