To start, I am brand new to this forum and have little to no experience in the tile/flooring department so any help is very much appreciated.

Just finished demoing a bathroom and looking to move forward with tiling the floor (among many other items that this room will need). I've attached a picture of the subfloor that is currently in the room. The joists are 16 inches apart from one another.



What are my options to move forward with this sub flooring? Do I place plywood down onto the joists? If so what thickness am I aiming for? I have some concerns that if the sub flooring is too thick I won't be able to lay down a backer board and tile before I am over the floor duct and toilet drain. Or do I attempt some kind of mortar bed?

I appreciate any advice/direction with this project and I can provide more details if needed.

 

That kind of subfloor is made that way for a dry pack mortar bed. (Lay #30 felt between joists first) IMO, that is the obvious choice. If you choose not to go that route, you will need to lay a 3/4" tongue and groove subfloor, followed by cement board. Floor ducts and toilet flanges can be easily changed to accommodate any changes in the finish floor height.

Almost forgot... welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for the response XSleeper! I'm going to do some searching on the Internet for some clarification but would you mind walking me through the recommended process you gave?

How thick of a mortar bed should I be looking to make? What is the best product to use to create a dry pack mortar bed? I'm sure other questions will pop up as I do some searching but I'd appreciate any additional information you can provide that I haven't asked or thought about.

Thanks so much!

 

Google the words: floor elf mortar. You will find nice suggestions that apply to making a dry pack mortar subfloor.

Others here will want to know your joist size and span. A plywood floor may be thicker but it will be less weight on the joists if they happen to be undersized or overspanned.