Case Study: Tile Installation
Before and After
The Assignment:
Prepare subfloor, apply tile.
Planning:
The floor is solid but not completely level, with a 3/8" variance.
The walls are not perfectly square.
Planning and Preparation
About 2500 screws were put in to secure the new 3/4" tongue and groove plywood subfloor.
My job starts now.
Scraping any dirt and vacuuming the surface completely and carefully is an important step before the thinset is applied, as it doesn't stick to dust, etc..
Taking levels
A wide-angle self-leveling laser is used to measure the height variance at many points across the room.
Dry-Fitting Ditra
Ditra adds expense, in materials and labour, but extends durability significantly.
Here the ditra is cut and dryset, with a slight excess to be trimmed later.
The Schluter-DITRA is a polyethylene membrane with a grid structure of square cavities, each cut back in a dovetail configuration, and an anchoring fleece laminated to its underside.
Applying Thinset.
Mixing well, removing lumps, letting the thinset slake, are equally important preparations.
Thinset is a portland cement with additives, with one type meant for porous surfaces. The anchoring fleece on the underside of Schluter-DITRA is fully engaged in the thinset mortar to provide a mechanical bond to the substrate.
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