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Help With Ditra Pls

4K views 17 replies 3 participants last post by  MJM1972 
#1 ·
Hello,

I'm new here and am in need of some serious help, and I hope I'm posting in the correct place. Ill start this of by saying I'm not a professional at the work I’m doing on my home but I have been told my work is very good, and not by my mother, questionable but good or works. I am in the military up here in Alaska, I bought a home 2 years ago and have been doing upgrades to it. I am having trouble with the kitchen floor, here's where it gets all jacked up.

The sub floor is plywood with a 16” on center joists give or take a little, its also over a crawl space, warm and dry under the house. What I had to do to get this floor level is another story. I put durock over it with thin-set screwed in and taped the joints, some are not taped now.

Then I bought Ditra-XL/175 and tried to install it last week and had to take it back out the next day, It did not stick at all It came up way to easy. I think the thin set (unmodified) was old, as it had been in the garage for a year, so it may have had moisture in it. When it dried I could break it like a cookie, and smash it into powder. I did the lift the corner test on the Ditra and had very good coverage, I used the float to push the Ditra into the thins set. The thin set was moist and a little thinner then peanut putter but able to leave the troul marks. I spent the next few days cleaning the dried up thin-set off the Ditra, it looks like new Ditra again so it cleaned up well and easy, telling me even more that the thin set failed ( I think?).

So round two I got new Thin-set from Home depot, around 7 dollars a bag so I need feed back on this thin-set too that sounds too cheap to me? Name brand of thin set is LATICRETE / Floor adhesive economy grade and it meets ANSI A118.1. So before I go through all that hell again I want to make sure its going to work, so I took a small piece of Ditra and mixed a small amount of the new Thin-set and put in on the floor. Again the same thing happened almost 24 hours later It pulled up like it had nothing holding onto it? I have watched and read many forums and videos and so on on how to install and am a fan of Mike Holmes T.V show. I know this post is as long as a book but I am pulling my hair out and the kitchen needs to get done soon, as its been in shambles for over a year.

Please help.. Im going to try and post pics...

Michael J.
 
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#2 ·
Home Depot sells Laticrete???

DO NOT install your DITRA with that thinset product.

DO NOT use (unmodified) thinset to install DITRA in this case.

DO USE (modified) thinset to install DITRA in this case.

A fifty pound bag of thinset that costs only $7 IS NOT modified thinset.

Stay away from Mike Holmes.:)
 
#3 ·
I'm confused(again)
According to the Ditra handbook, you use unmodified thinset over concrete and gypsum concrete and modified thinset over wood substrates.
Why would you use modified thinset over concrete board?
Ron
 
#4 ·
I'm confused(again)
I understand. This nonsense is confusing but I think maybe you could be over-thinking it also.:)

So....I'm going to ask you........?

Do you want to fix this issue, or do you want to argue about it for weeks on end?:)


So here we go.............: (again)
Modified thinset will work great under all KERDI/DITRA products and over any acceptable substrate without exception. The (possible) issue may be that the modifieid thinset could take much too long to dry. This is why unmodified is suggested. Modified must have air circulation to dry the thinset, unmodified will dry on its own, this doesn't mean you can't use modified.

Had you left well enough alone...you would be down the road by now. No matter which thinset you convince yourself you should use, DON'T be tugging and pulling on it the next day. Don't ever tug on it, there is no reason to do that.:)

This is Bud's Handbook, you do what you want with it.:)
 
#7 ·
I am experiencing a little DE JA VU.

YOU have this same identical thread going somewhere else on a forum and you are using a different User Name. Am I Correct?

Where is the previous thread?

Yes I do, I did not know what site to use for info and did not know people respond to these things as fast as I got already. Hope thats not going to be an issue, If so Ill remove one or two of them as I have a one more post floting out there :whistling2:....
 
#6 · (Edited)
Thanks Bud,

Just so I understand Bud, why Modified when they say unmodified over the Durock? I was thinking going this way just for the sound mind for the extra grip is that why you say use modified? And yes Laticrete thinset I got from Home Depot, is there an issue with it, I know its cheap I was not going to buy it but im in a hurry with this to get it done, but not at the cost of doing it wrong.

And Ron you are correct, unmodified thinset over concrete and gypsum concrete and modified thinset over Plywood or OSB.
 
#9 ·
Yes I do, I did not know what site to use for info and did not know people respond to these things as fast as I got already. Hope thats not going to be an issue, If so Ill remove one or two of them as I have a one more post floting out there :whistling2:....
Same people on all the sites, basic same responses on all the sites. This work doesn't pay that well for me to want to run around cyberville repeating myself all the time.

Why do you use different User Names and title your questions differently? What's the point?
 
#11 ·
Thanks Bud. will return the cheap UnModified and buy good Modified I was not feeling good with the 7 $ bag anyways.
GOOD, now I feel better!:)

But I will need UnModified to apply the Tile to the Ditra
HOLY COW! Just when I thought we getting somewhere. (O-M-G) Use modified!:)

I am going to look for a better brand.
There is no "better brand". There is nothing wrong with the Laticrete thinset. Seems like I've heard that somewhere before also.

ARE YOU MILITARY ???
 
#12 ·
Bud,


On the North American site It said my name was being used so I had to change it, and I was bouncing around all day looking this over, waiting for the test piece to dry.

I posted on 3 web sites to try and get answers fast thinking it would take some time, as I now know people respond to these fast. And you get paid for doing this? You go to other web sites and answer people questions? I can remove a post.
 
#15 ·
LOL,


Yes I am in the ARMY.


And not questioning you but just want to make sure of things, the reason I said “But I will need Unmodified to apply the Tile to the Ditra”

in the Ditra directions it says not use Modified in between two water proof type products, one being the Ditra and the other being the tile, they said because of the drying time?

But I tend to trust the professionals who do this type of work all the time​
:thumbsup:
 
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