I’m planning to put tile on a 2nd story bathroom floor (currently carpeted – house built in 1997 with carpet in the bathroom). I’m still in planning stages, but want to check my plan so far.
I think the bathroom has only a subfloor, I’m assuming 3/4” plywood (at the top of the stairs, the subfloor is 3/4 inch), nailed 16” OC, not sure about joists but most likely, built to code (everything else in the house seems to at least meet code). Floor is very level (don’t seem to be any dips) & seems solid. Short of cutting a hole in it, I can’t check joist details.
Bathroom is L-shaped, 92 inches x 83 inches on long sides. Toilet at one end of L (L is 30” wide there), shower at other end of L (L is 34 1/2 inches wide there). See diagram below.
I’m going to use a porcelain (not ceramic) tile, probably 1 foot x 1 foot. I’ve thought about 1 foot x 2 foot, but am a little worried there may be a bigger risk of problems (cracking, grout issues) with the larger tile. Or am I worrying too much? If I use the 1 foot x 2 foot, how should they run? There’s a large-ish (4 foot x 4 foot) closet off of the 83” wall with a large window; entrance from the bedroom is through the door in the 92” wall. From what I’ve read, it would be best if they ran parallel to the 83” wall (so the 2 foot side is against the wall) – the claim is this would make the bathroom seem larger.
In another thread, it says with 24” between joists, you should put down (as an underlayment?) 3/8 or 1/2 inch subfloor rated plywood (above the existing subfloor). What’s the thinnest underlayment I could get away with? Adding any height to the floor is going to make it a higher than the bedroom.
That thread also mentions to install plywood so seams do not line up with joists below; nail every 4 inches on edges & 6-8 inches in field. Do I also install the plywood so the grain runs perpendicular to that of the subfloor below (I think I read that on here a few years ago), or does it not really matter in a space this small?
I did a bathroom(in another house) with Schluter-Ditra previously and was thinking I might use HardieBacker this time, but as I’ve looked at everything I’ll need to buy if I use HardieBacker, the difference in price is getting fairly small. The problem, as I recall, is that Schluter-Ditra specifies a kind of thinset for between the tile and the Ditra which doesn’t meet the specifications for porcelain tiles. What do people do in this case?
I used Mapei on the other bathroom (granite tile) – people on here said it was a good product. Any suggestions as to which Mapei products to use if I go with Ditra (I guess I can read the bags, too)? When people use porcelain tile, do they use the same product under the Ditra & between the tile & Ditra? (I need to re-read the Ditra instructions; I haven’t recently.)
The Ditra will cost me about $85 & if I can use the same thinset under it & between the Ditra & the tiles, that would be a nice bonus.
If I go with Hardie Backer, it has the following specifications:
Under HardieBacker:
(anyone have favorite brands for the things below?)
I think the bathroom has only a subfloor, I’m assuming 3/4” plywood (at the top of the stairs, the subfloor is 3/4 inch), nailed 16” OC, not sure about joists but most likely, built to code (everything else in the house seems to at least meet code). Floor is very level (don’t seem to be any dips) & seems solid. Short of cutting a hole in it, I can’t check joist details.
Bathroom is L-shaped, 92 inches x 83 inches on long sides. Toilet at one end of L (L is 30” wide there), shower at other end of L (L is 34 1/2 inches wide there). See diagram below.
I’m going to use a porcelain (not ceramic) tile, probably 1 foot x 1 foot. I’ve thought about 1 foot x 2 foot, but am a little worried there may be a bigger risk of problems (cracking, grout issues) with the larger tile. Or am I worrying too much? If I use the 1 foot x 2 foot, how should they run? There’s a large-ish (4 foot x 4 foot) closet off of the 83” wall with a large window; entrance from the bedroom is through the door in the 92” wall. From what I’ve read, it would be best if they ran parallel to the 83” wall (so the 2 foot side is against the wall) – the claim is this would make the bathroom seem larger.
In another thread, it says with 24” between joists, you should put down (as an underlayment?) 3/8 or 1/2 inch subfloor rated plywood (above the existing subfloor). What’s the thinnest underlayment I could get away with? Adding any height to the floor is going to make it a higher than the bedroom.
That thread also mentions to install plywood so seams do not line up with joists below; nail every 4 inches on edges & 6-8 inches in field. Do I also install the plywood so the grain runs perpendicular to that of the subfloor below (I think I read that on here a few years ago), or does it not really matter in a space this small?
I did a bathroom(in another house) with Schluter-Ditra previously and was thinking I might use HardieBacker this time, but as I’ve looked at everything I’ll need to buy if I use HardieBacker, the difference in price is getting fairly small. The problem, as I recall, is that Schluter-Ditra specifies a kind of thinset for between the tile and the Ditra which doesn’t meet the specifications for porcelain tiles. What do people do in this case?
I used Mapei on the other bathroom (granite tile) – people on here said it was a good product. Any suggestions as to which Mapei products to use if I go with Ditra (I guess I can read the bags, too)? When people use porcelain tile, do they use the same product under the Ditra & between the tile & Ditra? (I need to re-read the Ditra instructions; I haven’t recently.)
The Ditra will cost me about $85 & if I can use the same thinset under it & between the Ditra & the tiles, that would be a nice bonus.
If I go with Hardie Backer, it has the following specifications:
Under HardieBacker:
- Thinset under HardieBacker (per their instructions): Latex or acrylic modified thinset if finishing with tile (complying with ANSI A118.4)
- Dry-set mortar (for use between subfloor and cement board only) (complying with ANSI A118.1)
(anyone have favorite brands for the things below?)
- 2in. wide high-strength alkali-resistant glass fiber tape
- Minimum 1-1/4in. long corrosion-resistant roofing nails
- Minimum 1-1/4in. long No.8 x 0.375in. HD self drilling corrosion resistant ribbed waferhead screws