Can Tile Be Used In A Tiny House On Wheels?

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Can I Use TilePros And ConsWill It CrackRepairing Tile

Not all tiny house flooring is created equal, and many people wonder whether using tile in their tiny home is a good idea. The major concern is often that the tile might crack when the home’s trailer hits the road.

It’s a valid concern, but let me assure you —tile flooring can be installed in a THOW using a tried and tested way that keeps it from cracking.

Hi, I’m Ryan

I built my own tiny house 10 years ago, and I still live in it today. I have tile in several places in my home and have taken precautions to never have to worry about the tile cracking!

Can I Use Tile In My Tiny House On Wheels?

I use tile in my tiny house without being afraid of it breaking. I have tile in my tiny house bathroom, my tiny house kitchen, and in several spots on my backsplash, and I haven’t ever had any huge issues with cracks.

Can I Use Tile In My Tiny House Bathroom?

Can I Use Tile In My Tiny House Kitchen?

Tile is also a quality material to invest in for a tiny house kitchen for many of the same reasons. Tile is easy to clean when ingredients spill in the middle of cooking a meal or when the kids inevitably have spills and accidents.

Tile flooring is also extremely durable. Porcelain tile is less porous and even harder than classic ceramic tile. It is available glazed or unglazed in a wide array of colors and textures, and so is ceramic tile. I have some ceramic tile across the backsplash of my kitchen, which I really love as well.

Can I Use Tile In My Tiny House Bedroom?

It’s easy to use tile flooring in a tiny house bedroom as well, but since this room is usually central in a tiny house trailer, it may not be the way to go.

It’s pretty common for carpet to be a main go-to in a bedroom because it’s warm, cozy, and emulates the feelings that make the most sense for a bedroom. Carpet is pretty hard to clean though, so wood is also a common option.

Pros And Cons Of Using Tile In A Tiny House On Wheels

At the end of the day, there are lots of options for tiny house flooring materials. Tile is really just one way to go, and there are certainly pros and cons to using it as flooring.

Will Tile Crack In A Tiny House?

Generally, tile cracking in a mobile tiny house isn’t as huge of an issue as people might assume.

However, there are a couple of specific causes that may lead to a tiny house tile floor cracking. Either the tile is too large, or the tiny house weight is unevenly distributed from the back to the front of the trailer.

Tile Can Crack If It Is Too Large

If the tile in a tiny house on wheels is too large, it may have a higher likelihood of cracking. This is a super easy fix. Just use smaller sized tiles when building a tiny house and this shouldn’t be an issue. If smaller tiles are used, the flooring will have more joints where the grout can absorb movement and therefore it won’t crack as easily.

Tile Can Crack If It Is Too Heavy

If the tile in a tiny house is too heavy for the trailer, consider ways to lighten the load. Weight distribution really isn’t an issue if two things happen:

Buy A Trailer That Can Handle The Load

Distribute Tile Weight Evenly

I didn’t know a lot about evenly distributing weight when I first built my tiny home, but this is something that’s important to understand. The goal with weight distribution in a tiny house is to keep the weight pretty much even from front to back and left to right.

There isn’t a ton of work that goes into making sure of this except just being aware during the tiny house building process. As far as distributing the tile evenly, the biggest issue to keep an eye on is the weight distribution in the bathroom.

In a tiny house on wheels, the bathroom is typically located on one side of house. If I put a heavy tile bathroom on the left, I could put the water heater or something else that is equally as heavy on the right side of the trailer to balance it out.

Full bathtubs and showers can also get pretty heavy quickly. The way I deal with this is by keeping my tile concentrated closest to the water source, or in the area where the water will be most likely to splash.

I have tile directly near my shower and tub, but not further out on my bathroom floor. For the rest of the bathroom floor, try installing lighter materials like metal or shiplap, which can be easily picked up at a local hardware store.

Steps To Repair Cracked Tile In A Tiny House On Wheels

If the tile in a tiny house does crack, have no fear. There are several simple methods that can be used to repair cracked tile easily and quickly. When I was originally installing tile in my tiny home, I made sure to save some of the extra tiles and keep them on hand should I ever need to replace a tile in my flooring.

Steps To Repair Cracked Tile

• Use epoxy to patch the tile, if possible
• Remove broken tile with hammer and chisel
• Mix small batch of quick set mortar
• Apply mortar to back of tile with trowel
• Set the replacement tile in place and press
• Add grout to new tile after mortar dries

In a nutshell, tile is a fine flooring choice to use for many rooms in a tiny home. As long as the weight of the trailer is as balanced as possible, there shouldn’t be many problems using tile flooring in a tiny house on wheels.

Your Turn!

• Where in your tiny house will you use tile?
• How can you keep your tile from cracking in your tiny home?