Half-bath reno

[duaner]

So on Thursday of last week my wife noticed water dripping down in the laundry area after I flushed in the half-bath. One thing led to another and now it's a nearly full on bathroom reno. The closet flange is warped and cracked and the plywood immediately around the flange isn't so good either.

Not having done any plumbing, other than replacing faucets and wax rings, I need to replace the closet flange. And instead of the bottom of the barrel cheap laminate that was in there, we are going with 12" x 24" porcelain tile and extending the extra 5 feet or so to the back door.

I'm comfortable working with wood but I've never tiled before. We are going to use DITRA and I'm nervous about the consistency of the thinset and then same for applying the tile.

We've borrowed a wet saw from her father and we're going to go get what we think are appropriate sized trowels for the DITRA (3/16" x 1/4" V) and tile (1/2" x 1/2" round).

Any tips and tricks would be appreciated. The tiling won't start until next weekend. If I remember, I'll post before and after pics.

[C_Dave45]

Ditra is a great product but not necessary for such a small area. What is the current sub-floor? If you ARE going to use ditra, don't use a V-notch. It's too small. Use a 1/4" notch.
Thinset should have the same consistency as peanut butter. A little softer for installing the ditra. The thinset on top of the ditra should be NON modified, but modified for the Ditra-to-floor application.

[duaner]

Originally posted by C_Dave45
Ditra is a great product but not necessary for such a small area. What is the current sub-floor? If you ARE going to use ditra, don't use a V-notch. It's too small. Use a 1/4" notch.
Thinset should have the same consistency as peanut butter. A little softer for installing the ditra. The thinset on top of the ditra should be NON modified, but modified for the Ditra-to-floor application.
Current sub-floor is 5/8". My wife feels the sub-floor is too unstable in this place (1980 townhouse) and wants more structure for the tile. Not to mention that whenever we can get around to putting in hardwood, the height of that will be 5/8" to 3/4", so the Ditra will add some needed height to even things out or at least get it close enough.

Thanks for the tips on the thinset. We are trying to decide whether or not to go premixed for the tile application. My wife is going to go to Ames on Monday and get things sorted. All the literature makes it sound straight-forward enough but then we get into Home Depot and things got very confusing for us first timers.

[C_Dave45]

Normally we put 3/8th's plywood on top of the 5/8th's. Together with the tile, that will give you a perfectly smooth transition up against 3/4 hardwood. If you want to use ditra instead of the plywood, (perfectly acceptable) it will be too low. Use the "Ditra XL" instead. Same product only a little thicker. That will bring the tile up higher to match your hardwood better.
But remember to use the two different types of thinset. Modified and non-modified. Unfortunately you'll have to buy two bags. Ames might carry the 25 lb bags. Do NOT, whatever you do, use the PRE-mixed thinset Home Depot sells. It's nothing more than mastic. Also don't listen to anything HD tells you. Don't even ask them. Ask me or talk to Ames.

[duaner]

Haha, yeah, we won't listen to HD. Having worked there one summer in a seasonal position, I saw that most didn't have a working knowledge but get information passed on through other employees and product literature, whether true or false. We did notice the pre-mixed at HD was a mastic and we know enough to stay away from that.

I guess if there isn't an actual premixed thinset, then we'll mix it. I did buy the tool to do it so I should put it to some use.

Thanks for your help, it's very appreciated.


On a side note, my wife had helped a brother-in-law of mine with his tile and hardwood selection last year and recommended Ditra (he did do a large area). He had some left left over and we picked it up yesterday. My wife just measured and it's XL. :)

[duaner]

C_Dave45,

What are your thoughts on something like SimplePrep Pre-Mixed Floor Patch to fill some holes and level things out a bit? We have a few large knot hole divots (not all the way through, just the first layer of ply or so), as well as some other imperfections, including a slight ridge in one spot. Can thinset cover some of this?

The total area we are doing at this time is about 60 sq ft. I'm trying to figure out if larger tile is any better or worse when there is a chance of a lack of proper support. Maybe we're making much ado about nothing.

[C_Dave45]

You have plenty of support, so don't even worry about that. Any holes or imperfections will only add to the bonding qualities of the thinset. If you have a "ridge" or high spot that's less than 1/8th of an inch it won't be a problem. If its higher than that, just gouge it down with a chisel or even the claw of your hammer. Taking one or two layers of the plywood lams out won't even be an issue. It doesn't have to look pretty.