How to Tile on Chipboard Floors

Go over the floor with a hammer and spiral flooring nails. Hammer the nails every foot along all edges of the chipboads, and then on any parts of the board that appear loose.

Slowly pour liquid floor leveler over any gaps or holes in the chipboard, letting it fill those areas and level out. Let it dry for 12 hours.

Snap two intersecting lines over the center of the floor with your chalk snapline to divide it into four quadrants. The lines should intersect right at the middle of the floor.

Apply mortar over the middle of the floor with a notched trowel, covering a few square feet at the intersection. Press your first tiles into place at the intersection, bordered on two sides by the lines.

Build off the first tile with additional tiles, lining them up edge to edge with spacers between them. Begin building out toward the edges of the room in a grid pattern, applying more mortar as needed.

Cover the whole floor, cutting the tiles around the edges as needed on your tile cutter. Let the mortar set for 12 hours. Pull out the spacers.

Apply grout to the floor, spreading the grout over the surface with a rubber grout trowel, pressing it into the lines while scraping it off the surface. Wipe up the excess grout from the surface with a damp sponge.