Before I start, Jaz, if you have high blood pressure or chest pain you should stop reading this because it is probably going to make it worse....
After numerous successful tile projects I'm finally tackling the most complex and difficult one--marble tile in the foyer.
I started by ripping out all the old tile and underlayment, we calculated deflection and added 3/4" plywood over the subfloor so the floor was stable. Then came the task of leveling. Being an old house, the floor was pretty bad. I am covering about 180 square feet and after pouring in the neighborhood of 9 bags of SLC over Mapei Mapelath, my level was reading pretty good.
I just installed the Ditra today. I laid some of the tiles onto the Ditra (no thinset beneath them--doing the layout) and when the 16" square tiles are laid in certain spots, they will toggle when you press on a corner or two. Obviously, that means it is not perfectly flat.
I tried to level that floor forever and felt I had done a good job so this is disappointing. I guess the tiles are more sensitive to small differences than the level was picking up. So, at this point:
1) Is this always abnormal? I know toggling means it is obviously not dead flat, but can you have any toggle and still be level enough?
2) If I lay the tile as the floor is, are the tiles 100% going to crack and fail? Is this a "may get by" deal or is failure inevitable?
3) Aside from ripping it all up and starting over leveling, is there anything I can do to compensate and mitigate issues? For example (this is where purist may get chest pain), a bigger notched trowel?
4) Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
I am honestly not sure how I could get the floor any more level than I did. Perhaps tiling was a poor idea from the start given the significant floor problems. I'm not sure how I could have made it more level than I did. I'm depressed....thoughts, comments, and suggestions are appreciated.
After numerous successful tile projects I'm finally tackling the most complex and difficult one--marble tile in the foyer.
I started by ripping out all the old tile and underlayment, we calculated deflection and added 3/4" plywood over the subfloor so the floor was stable. Then came the task of leveling. Being an old house, the floor was pretty bad. I am covering about 180 square feet and after pouring in the neighborhood of 9 bags of SLC over Mapei Mapelath, my level was reading pretty good.
I just installed the Ditra today. I laid some of the tiles onto the Ditra (no thinset beneath them--doing the layout) and when the 16" square tiles are laid in certain spots, they will toggle when you press on a corner or two. Obviously, that means it is not perfectly flat.
I tried to level that floor forever and felt I had done a good job so this is disappointing. I guess the tiles are more sensitive to small differences than the level was picking up. So, at this point:
1) Is this always abnormal? I know toggling means it is obviously not dead flat, but can you have any toggle and still be level enough?
2) If I lay the tile as the floor is, are the tiles 100% going to crack and fail? Is this a "may get by" deal or is failure inevitable?
3) Aside from ripping it all up and starting over leveling, is there anything I can do to compensate and mitigate issues? For example (this is where purist may get chest pain), a bigger notched trowel?
4) Any other suggestions on how to handle this?
I am honestly not sure how I could get the floor any more level than I did. Perhaps tiling was a poor idea from the start given the significant floor problems. I'm not sure how I could have made it more level than I did. I'm depressed....thoughts, comments, and suggestions are appreciated.
