Ditra subfloor problem

Bad plywood install stops tile installers dead. Another Homer Simpson moment.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Schluter
• ditra
• fein
• multimaster
• tile
• marble
• New
• Ravenna
• mosaic
• pennyround

[allistairave]

such a shame!!!! All that work for naught. Love the work you did in the shower, just beautiful tiling! this video really made me laugh too, especially the end. :) 

[gueuzeman]

@allistairave Not for naught, put a few hundred screws in it and set the stone. Been well over 3 years now with no callbacks.

[1968DartGTS]

@gueuzeman Good call and good catch. At least you owned up to your mistake and fixed it. Good integrity! There's a lot of people out there that just don't care. I bet you'll be in business much longer than others. Take care.

[gueuzeman]

@1968DartGTS - Thank you for the kind words. I try hard, some days are better than others.

[nguzmn]

you skimped out on the material and you got two different dye-lots of tile HEHEHE

[gueuzeman]

@nguzmn ahh, now I get it, you're a dummy! There aren't 2 different lots, the tiles set the day before are still holding moisture from the thinset!  Don't you know the marble turns dark when it gets wet, takes a few days to cure.

[gueuzeman]

@Klingon128 Well, I'm just a hot shot human tile installer, an inferior life form. We all are not so lucky to be born Klingon.

[gueuzeman]

Dice- you are of course entitled to your opinion. There was no old subfloor to remove, it was new 3/4" advantech with 1/2" ply on top, all new, joists, etc. all new. Ditra does not suck. Sheet and liquid membranes also work. So does setting direct on the ply, IF you do everything right. Happy new year, now go get drunk and wrap your car around a telephone pole.

[manuelito489]

I'LL remove all the floor re -nailed and start all over you are just at the begining there be a lot of spots that you wont be able to see at the moment,nice shower.

[Hagfan789]

The shower turned out nice but if you over looked something as important as the integrity of your subfloor, (especially with 20" tile) I mean floor movement is on this top of the list to check before you even think of installing tile. I would have to question your ability to create a water tight & long lasting shower pan installation. And I just hope it's the camera that is showing shade contrast between those shower tiles..cuz if I'm the HO on this job..you guys might be doing this job for free

[saturnianspire]

Oh my god that shower is gorgeous.

[lrd9999]

@lrd9999 I'm sure even the CB is no guarantee; a really aggressive bulge in the top layer of plywood could conceivably flex the CB enough to cause trouble. But the dimensional stability and compressive strength of the CB will at least help prevent downward deflection. I don't know if Ditra and CB are ever combined, except to correct a mistake. It will probably be fine alone on your concrete, but if the vinyl has too much give, it might have to go; maybe some real experts will weigh-in on that.

[lrd9999]

@bpitsenb I can't claim to be an expert, but from what I've read, the sole purpose of Ditra (or similar products) is to allow the tile and the subfloor to "slip" a little, so they can expand at different rates without cracking and/or buckling. On concrete this would seem like just what's needed. On plywood, there's the added risk of large tiles cracking as the subfloor flexes vertically, enough layers and screws might prevent this, but I'd prefer a layer of mortared/screwed cement board.

[bpitsenb]

@lrd9999 I am confused... I am an absolute beginner and am trying to get an idea of how to do this. When putting tile over a concrete subfloor with vinyl installed: is the ditra a replacement for cement-board, or is it an additional layer you install once the cement board is down?

[lrd9999]

This is what always bothered my about Ditra; without the compressive strength of supposedly non-structural cement-board it doesn't do anything to stiffen the sub-floor. Having gotten this far, can you just screw&mortar cement board onto the Ditra?