Wood looking tiles on basememt

2/20/2017 at 2:10:25 PM

Hello Eric,

That is correct. Ditra is the way to go - it will provide you a vapour, moisture barrier and help with cracking and deflection.

Do you know if there is Ditra on the other tiles (bathroom etc) meaning, that if there isn't, then even with the thin Ditra, you might have a small height difference. You will find out once you remove the carpet and do dry test or measurement. The thickness of the tile will be also important, but I'm sure you know that. That being said, tile is cold, the Ditra will help, but still. In a perfect world some in floor heat would be nice (but expensive) or insulation first before dirt - but then you have the height issue again.

What I suggest to people in the basement (depending on the intended use) is to insulate it to protect from the cold, moisture etc, and then use luxury vinyl planks - the quality has gone up in the last few years and they look and feel amazing, Easy to install, a bit pricy - but comparable to tiles prices - however even laying on concrete - they are so much more warmer then tiles. For the thick luxury ones - Such as from Centura Tile - they provide a 25 year + residential warranty. Some people think vinyl and right away assume linoleum, but it's far from it. Look up Luxury Vinyl Planks and you will see what a difference they make. Many of them are a simple install such as Drop and Done and all you have to do is glue the perimeter - Easy maintenance, easy install, great warranty, plus many other benefits.

2/22/2017 at 7:32:33 AM

Hi Eric,

Ditra uncoupling membrane is definitely the route to take to ensure your tile and grout assembly never cracks in the future.

There are two thickness of ditra which would help with ensuring your various flooring is at the same height. We have been using it for years in all of our tiling applications on all levels of home to ensure home owners years of long lasting tile flooring.

Thanks,

Dave

360renos

2/22/2017 at 7:57:07 AM

Wood looking tiles are good, but I think you can go with plywood flooring, they are cheap compared to tiles.

2/22/2017 at 4:01:57 PM

@velid, thanks for your input. Forgot to mention that I will be also putting a new tile on the bathroom. I'm planning to insulate the basement floor with delta fl but I searched online that you cannot put tiles with delta fl even after adding a subfloor. I'm looking for something that I can put both on the bathroom and other part of the basement floor.

@dave, thanks also for your input. Do you have any insulation under that tiles on your pictures or just ditra and tiles.