Old foreman got onto me about staggering my plywood sheets back in 2019

I used to just slap sheets of plywood down on subfloors without really thinking about where the seams lined up. He pulled me aside on a job in Austin and told me I was creating weak spots that'd crack under tile later on. Has anyone else had a super simple trick like that change how they lay out materials?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_linda9d ago

My first year framing houses in Phoenix, an old boy showed me the exact same thing and I honestly still think he was overthinking it for most residential work. I've seen plenty of tile jobs hold up fine over non-staggered subfloors, especially when you use good glue and screws.

nora_walker578d ago

Well now, I gotta ask - have you actually gone back and checked any of those non-staggered floors after a couple of hot Texas summers? I'm genuinely curious because the expansion and contraction down here can be brutal on subfloors. The glue and screws help for sure, but I've seen plywood seams telegraph right through tile when the humidity shifts enough. Not trying to argue, just want to know what you're seeing on the jobs that held up.