How To Install Ditra Mat On Plywood

Ditra has a fleece on the back side that becomes embeded into the thinset.

How to install ditra mat on plywood. I want to install 12 porcelain tile with ditra on our foyer. For use over concrete floors it says to put the ditra down with unmodified thinset then used unmodified to put the tile down as well. Install the ditra heat mat one day and install the electric heat wire a different day. This is what creates the bond between the ditra mat and the plywood or o s b.

I think i m going to be cutting it close but will be okay assuming that thinset raked with a 1 4 square notch trowel will wind up compressing to about 1 8 after setting the tile and a 1 4 v. Time to install the mat i grabbed the schluter ditra xl and carried it upstairs this was much easier than carrying up the 20 or so bags of concrete it would have taken for the other option the 175 sq ft roll of schluter pad we had weighed about 10 pounds. Step 4 embed the ditra mat into the thinset. Now for use of ditra over plywood subfloor it says on the package to use modified thinset to put the ditra down to the plywood and unmodified to put the tile down.

As mentioned when you have to pick a tile up and re install it you will have to do this more than once the suction of the tile can pull up the ditra mat causing it to break the bond to the plywood. Lay the ditra mat on the thinset that you just troweled onto the substrate. Again i think this is a bad idea. The joists are 2x6.

The floor is 16 oc with a joist span of approx 65 with about half of it resting on the foundation. The problem is i only have enough room to install 1 4 ply over the existing subfloor.