Ditra under Laminate Floor?

HECO · Jan 24, 2008

We have just completed construction of our new home. We hired a local flooring company to install all of the flooring (Carpet, Tile and Laminate). The house is built on a slab and there were some cracks in the concrete. The flooring company advised that they needed to install Ditra under all of the tile and laminate floors, even the ones with no cracked concrete, and we let them. The tile and laminate was installed by the same crew. The tile looked fine but the laminate didn't look so good. There were several pieces that the laminate had seperated on and the butt joints were not tight. You could almost stick a quarter between them. I have also noticed that the laminate is loose in the corner of one room and appears to be buckling in the corner of another room. You can tap on the floor and in some spots and you get a hallow sound, which would indicate to me that that spot was not glued down properly. They installed the Ditra then installed thinset on top of the Ditra and let it set for 24 hours before they installed the laminate with glue. I contacted the flooring company and they sent someone out and replaced the pieces that the lamination had turned loose on and put caulk or putty in some of the gaps between the butt joints. I called the flooring manufacturer Armstrong (Bruce) and they advised that the laminate floor should have been glued directly to the concrete floor with a piece of sheet vinyl placed over the cracked part of the concrete. I called the flooring company and they came out to the house with two people that were suppose to be the local representatives of Armstrong and Ditra. Both of the reps said that they didn't see a problem with installing Ditra under the laminate floor. When I told the Armstrong rep what I was told when I contacted their help line, she said I probably spoke with someone that didn't know better.
Has anyone ever heard of installing Ditra under laminate floors?
Does anyone see a problem with it being under laminate floors?
The flooring company wants to send soneone out to repair the corners that are loose and buckling, replace the boards that are hallow underneath and install more putty in the butt joints. I am afraid that the expansion and contraction of the laminate floor will cause it to turn loose and start buckling and the gaps between the boards will open up. Then I will have to pay someone to replace the floor and demo the Ditra that is underneath.
Any advise?

mike costello · Jan 24, 2008

You mean Engineered Hardwood I am assuming.

Boy, thats an interesting situation.

While Ive never heard of it under an Engineered floor , I gotta think if its thinset, Ditra , and thinset the floor should have stuck.

Only one way to find out, pull up a few boards and look at the back of em.
Youll tell by layers where the faliure is.

For the record, putty or caulk is a shoddy way of repairing a new wood floor

ratherbefishin' · Jan 25, 2008

:huh: Never heard of such a thing before........that did, however, make me re-read the Ditra manual. I find NO reference to any application of that sort.
I agree with Mike's comments. The Ditra won't cause the other problems, but that's an awful lot of expense if their plan was to just use it as a vapor barrier, which is the only thing I can imagine they were thinking. I think the putty repairs tell the whole story about their knowledge and ability.....:whistling2:

joecaption · Apr 30, 2012

Are you sure it was lamininte flooring and not engineered flooring, Even then I've never heard of using thin set to attach either one to a floor. ANd as the others mentioned using any kind of filler to fill the cracks is just not done.
Both could have been installed as a floating floor with the only glue used would be in the seams to hold the piece together.
Laminite should never be glued down to any underlamant, it will just pull it's self apart at the seams when it expands and contracts.
Even just hitting it with a nail by mistake when installing the 1/4 rd. can cause it to open up.

Ditra under Laminate Floor?

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