Installing ceramic tile in a 2000 Itaska horizon

the first thing I would do was to check the carrying capacity of your RV.
bumpy

Thanks for the response Bumpy, I have calculated the weight of the tile,thinset and groute to be approximately 450 pounds and do not believe this to be a problem as it will spread over the entire length of the coach. Am I wrong? My concern was flex cracking.

I'm probably wrong on this but I always thought coach builders used a "lighter" tile product than what you typically see in retail tile stores. Same with granite counters. Regardless to your question I have heard of tile cracking issues in motor homes. But there are far more that have tile and have no issues at all. I personally wouldn't do it based only on the weight.

33 Ford wrote:
Thanks for the response Bumpy, I have calculated the weight of the tile,thinset and groute to be approximately 450 pounds and do not believe this to be a problem as it will spread over the entire length of the coach. Am I wrong? My concern was flex cracking.

If your concern is flex cracking, then you do not want to use thin-set. Thinset is a concrete type mix which is great for stick built homes but I would use a flexible acrylic tile adhesive as well as a flexible grout in a coach installation. I have seen tile installed using silicon as the grout which is certainly flexible and available in many colors.

rgatijnet1 wrote:

33 Ford wrote:
Thanks for the response Bumpy, I have calculated the weight of the tile,thinset and groute to be approximately 450 pounds and do not believe this to be a problem as it will spread over the entire length of the coach. Am I wrong? My concern was flex cracking.

If your concern is flex cracking, then you do not want to use thin-set. Thinset is a concrete type mix which is great for stick built homes but I would use a flexible acrylic tile adhesive as well as a flexible grout in a coach installation. I have seen tile installed using silicon as the grout which is certainly flexible and available in many colors.

When touring the Winny plant last year, I watched several crews laying tile with thinset. I doubt that the very large tile that is currently popular would do well in a thin layer of adhesive. Modified thinset BTW, is stunningly flexible. I once built a stove mat of 2" tiles over a layer of 1/2 Hardie board. This assembly sat on a berber rug with padding under. The whole assembly was flexible enough that you could feel it give and rebound as you stepped on the edge, much like a stiff rubber mat. In several years of use there were a few cracked grout lines, but the tile held tight.

Before you install ceramic you should check out some of the high end vinyl plank/tile available. The product looks good, is durable and will not crack.

High end vinyl is not cheap. The top end vinyl products can be as much as twice the cost of installed ceramic but for a motorhome application I think you would be doing yourself a dis-service if you did not at least give it consideration.

Used flexibile grout in an application where I knew there would be some flex and fibration. Held up fine, 3 years going stong. It's more expensive but in the small space like a MH easily affordable. You can buy it in pre mix tubs at HD or Lowes. it's basically a layer of glue-like urethane liquid that you blend with the grout. It's a little tougher to work with and you have to be more vigilent with your cleanup but works well. Snapstone comes to mind. Laticrete 333 ad-amix can also be added to your thinset. It's used in place of water for your thinset mix and makes it flexible.

I would sure check out Duraceramic by Congoleum-- looks very much like ceramic, much lighter and more forgiving.

Thanks for all of your input. All good things to consider. I'm waffling between the two types of tile because I had been warned about the slides marking the linoleum type material, which is happening to my kitchen area. Perhaps I need to find out what is scrubbing . Good to hear from all of you.

Porcelan is used a lot as it flexes. They use it outdoors on condo decks on Gulf. Make sure you do not have a height issue with your slides as you change materials. Going from carpet to non-carpet requires change to rollers on some. I know people who put a light piece of acrylic on the floor when slides come in to protect the floor from scuffs. Just enough to cover the track area.