Tile underlayment?

1585 Views 6 Replies 2 Participants Last post by gizzygone, May 18, 2016

gizzygone

Discussion Starter · May 17, 2016

I'll be tiling over a flat concrete slab in my basement with 6"x36" wood-look tile.

I understand Ditra to be one of the pro-favorites out there, but cost seems a bit high to me....

Does anybody have any experience with the alternatives? Strata-mat seems like a very good compromise.... And some people swear by Spiderweb II.

Then I came across Noble EZ membrane which touts itself as better than uncoupling options, but I can't seem to find any reviews.

I'm not concerned about waterproofing, but vapor management is something I'm interested in given its a below-grade installation.

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

JazMan

· #2 · May 17, 2016

There is no better company for great products that work exactly as they say. I wanted to use NobleSeal CIS many times, (before retiring) but the cost was too high for general use. Therefore I used Ditra whenever possible. I know this product is cheaper than CIS, but not sure what that means. How large an area do you have to do? Any control joints or is it a monolithic pour? Might have a winner here..........?

Jaz

Save

gizzygone

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 17, 2016

There's about 600-700sq ft.

No control joints: just one single pour. There are some shrinkage cracks, but you couldn't fit a paper in them if you tried.

The appeal of the Strata-mat to me is the even more reasonable price.

Then, Noble also has their Noble EZ membrane which is cheaper still!

Save

JazMan

· #4 · May 18, 2016

Noble EZ, yes, that's what I'm talking about. CIS was close to $1 more than Ditra last time I checked. EZ sounds real good. You can't beat Laticrete products either. I haven't kept up with pricing for these items though.

Jaz

Save

gizzygone

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 18, 2016

JazMan said:
Noble EZ, yes, that's what I'm talking about. CIS was close to $1 more than Ditra last time I checked. EZ sounds real good. You can't beat Laticrete products either. I haven't kept up with pricing for these items though.

Jaz

Laticrete's stuff is more along the lines of Ditra... But the Noble EZ is a PVC based membrane. I'm having a difficult time understanding how the Noble could be better...

Save

JazMan

· #6 · May 18, 2016

Off the top of my head because you can bridge over control joints. You can use in "partial" method installation. It's a crack isolation membrane, not uncoupling membrane. May be other differences. Do you know the cost?

Jaz

Save

gizzygone

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 18, 2016

JazMan said:
Off the top of my head because you can bridge over control joints. You can use in "partial" method installation. It's a crack isolation membrane, not uncoupling membrane. May be other differences. Do you know the cost?

Jaz

The cost seems to fall between the Stratamat and Ditra.

Although, today I'm realizing that with Ditra I need to use unmodified thin set, which may offset the cost of the Stratamat which allows for modified thin sets.

Granted: I don't know what type I should be using!!!

Save

1 - 7 of 7 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month