Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

We are in the process of deciding what to do for the the waist high galley worktop area in our 'Simple' teardrop.
My daughter likes the idea of Ceramic Tile.
I've done tons of tile work, so that is no issue.

My question is this: Will the tile hold up? Does having it bounce around in a trailer become too much and cause cracking or the loosening of tiles?

This tile would be mounted on 3/4" ply.

Any real world experiences would be deeply appreciated.

I researched it. When I saw how difficult it was to adhere tile to wood I threw the idea out in a hurry. Very heavy, and very expensive in a small area.

You can look at the adhesive smart tiles that are going around. Those are basically sheets of rubber.

Good luck.

I'm sure aggie79/Tom will pipe up. I'm pretty sure he did tile in the Silver Beatle. IIRC, the trick is to use a soft bedding and grout, something flexible like caulk instead of cementitious grout.

As KC said, I used tile on my galley counter. Instead of ceramic, I used glass mosaic tile. Instead of thin set, the tile is held to the 1/2" plywood counter using PL Premium construction adhesive. It is applied the same way as thin set with a notched trowel. For grout, I used epoxy grout. Everything has held up well. It does add considerable weight over a laminate surface though.

I'm a tiler for a living and have tiled a multitude of things from containers ship galleys to every forsevable substrate going In the past 30 years or so

I've tiled the back wall of my galley and almost did my galley counter In porcelain tiles 2 foot square.
I opted out due to weight.
If you want to tile ply you will need to use polyurathane adhesive or something or a better option for durability is how I did mine.
I waterproofed the ply with the same membrane that I use at work in bathrooms.
Its acrylic and seals the ply completly but also keys verry well to ply.
Then I used an acrylic premixed wall adhesive and notched it up and layed them as usual.
Youll need to get a flexible grout and I added primer/grout additive to it to take the vibration.
It also makes it twice as waterproof.
I'm actualy tiling some more of mine with glass mosaics in the next few days if you want to hold off I'll happily photograph and describe the process
A foot note... moisture cure tile adhesives witch is almost all should NEVER be applied directly to timber.
I'd imagine it would work over the mix if you were being thrifty and wanted to exclude waterproofing.
Hope thats of some help

ukewarrior wrote:We are in the process of deciding what to do for the the waist high galley worktop area in our 'Simple' teardrop.
My daughter likes the idea of Ceramic Tile.
I've done tons of tile work, so that is no issue.

My question is this: Will the tile hold up? Does having it bounce around in a trailer become too much and cause cracking or the loosening of tiles?

This tile would be mounted on 3/4" ply.

Any real world experiences would be deeply appreciated.

My work counters were done in 4 " ceramic tile in 08. They have gone thousands and thousands of miles and fixed hundreds of meals. They look as good today as they did when installed. I have made no repairs and never a problem. I used 100% silicone caulk making an "X" under the tile and bedded the grout line with the same caulk. It has stayed soft enough to absorb the road shock and impact during prep work. I did no use it in a vertical application but I think if it is supported for a few days in a clamped situation it just may survive as well as my counter has.

Counter in action.... It was done as an insert to allow a spot to place hot pots and a scorch safe place for the cook top.

aggie79 wrote:As KC said, I used tile on my galley counter. Instead of ceramic, I used glass mosaic tile. Instead of thin set, the tile is held to the 1/2" plywood counter using PL Premium construction adhesive. It is applied the same way as thin set with a notched trowel. For grout, I used epoxy grout. Everything has held up well. It does add considerable weight over a laminate surface though.

Tile after installation before upper cabinets;



Finished installation:

aggie79 wrote:

aggie79 wrote:As KC said, I used tile on my galley counter. Instead of ceramic, I used glass mosaic tile. Instead of thin set, the tile is held to the 1/2" plywood counter using PL Premium construction adhesive. It is applied the same way as thin set with a notched trowel. For grout, I used epoxy grout. Everything has held up well. It does add considerable weight over a laminate surface though.

Tile after installation before upper cabinets;



Finished installation:

I am struggling with what to use for a counter top on my build and your good looking work makes a good case for tile. But I think I will continue to search as I want something that I can easily remove should I need to do repairs for what is under them.

Lamanex is a good option Irrowe,
Its what ive used on my tops and its easily stuck with contact adhesive and removeable when needed

dales133 wrote:Lamanex is a good option Irrowe,
Its what ive used on my tops and its easily stuck with contact adhesive and removeable when needed

I have not seen this product before. Is it an Australian only product?

I'm not to sure.
Its verry thin and light for its size but once stuck down its also incredibly strong.
Formica is a similar product.
This is the best pic I have on hand but theres more in my build thread