Hi there,

I have an interesting project for my own home I'd like some advice on.

We have a small (6'6" wide x 8'0" long) foyer we want to replace the flooring. It's currently a tile floor directly on top of a concrete slab. I really cannot add a plywood subfloor due to height (thickness) concerns. I will use unfinished oak for the flooring and finish it to match the wainscoting in the same room.

All that sounds pretty straightforward so far. Here's the rub...we have decided to inset 12"x12" (3/8" thick and perfectly square) marble tiles in this floor. There will be a total of 15 tiles used (3 'columns' of 5 'rows'). There will be approximately 8-9" of wood all around the perimeter and about 4.5" of wood seperating each tile.

I have seen pictures of this before (likely over some kind of wood subfloor) and it's beautiful (or at least can be!).

The house was built in the late 70's in the Dallas, Texas area and the slab is flat and dry (as far as I can tell at this point). The top surface of the slab is higher than the surrounding ground. The area is small enough to do whatever it required to prepare it for the installation.

Any recommendations to install this system? I have considered glueing down the wood and rabbiting a ledge to 'set' the tile in. I can provide a backer of appropriate thickness to support the tile. I think that any way I set the tiles will almost demand I use a glued down wood floor (since the tiles aren't going to move once installed).

I have no problem making whatever is required out of wood to make this work. I will likely 'frame' each tile with a mitered frame (say 1" - 1-1/2" wide) and fill in the remaining areas as required. What I envision is pretty much like a cabinet face frame laid on the floor and secured in some fashion.

Any comments on a vapor barrier under this floor? I can put 6mil poly over the entire area.

I look foward to the comments (yes even the 'are you nuts' comments!)

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Why not use a engineered floor that will be the thickness of the tile? If your tile is 3/8" and with thin set, the tile height would be about 1/2". There's lots of engineered flooring between 3/8" and 9/16" thick. I would do this. Determine approx how high the tile would be after installation. Find a wood floor (engineered and prefinished) that matches the wainscot. Layout the floor the way your want the design to be. You could cut temp. tiles out of 1/2" plywood to help your wood flooring install. Install the wood first and allow to dry (adhesive cure) Then install the tile inserts using the surrounding flooring as a height guide. There is also unfinished engineered but all unfinished flooring will require some sanding. Seems like a good prefinished would be the way to go. Either way, use an engineered to glue directly to the slab. Your idea is used all the time. We call it mixed media and it can look great.

Thanks for the reply Gary.

Would you recommend using a vapor barrier under the entire system?

How would you recommend 'framing' the tile? I don't think just running the flooring all one direction would be an acceptable solution.

Thoughts?

You can do a weave or you can come to 45º angles and the intersections.

Yeah, that's what I'll do. 45 degree angle the intersections.

Any thoughts about a vapor barrier?

You need to test the slab. You might not need to do anything.