I am working on an addition to our house and so far have played the roles of carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter, cabinetmaker and well you get the idea. My current role is tile installer. I am installing 12×12 ceramic tile in a 9’x10′ second floor bath. The floor is 16″ web joists on 12″ centers and 5/8″ subfloor. Aside from some floor levelling compound what needs to go down before the tile. I would like to minimize floor thickness if possible. Any and all help is greatly appreciatted. So much of what I have already completed is thanks in a very large part to the incredible (and often comedic) advice I have gleaned from this site. So I also want to thank all those who have unknowingly helped me in the past.
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wire lath
Google TCA, Tile Council Of America. They have online guides
Even better, Google John Bridge tile forum.....everything you always wanted to know about tile.
The old "Jersey mud job" i.e. tarpaper, diamond lath, and mud is probably where you'll end up.......
johnbridge.com is an excellent tile site. They are very happy to help rookies, especially if you explain the situation fully and don't have an attitude.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Edited 11/2/2008 8:35 pm ET by FastEddie
Span of the I-joists (or floor trusses)?
"Aside from some floor levelling compound what needs to go down before the tile."
Assuming that your deflection is OK - 1/2" cement board.
Jeff
Add another 1/2" of subfloor. You should have minimally 1 1/8" down to avoid any deflection in the floor. Nice that your joists are 12 oc. that sure helps a lot.
You might consider using Ditra instead of cement backer board. Google it. It's also easier and better in a lot of instances...just more expensive in materials. Easier to install though.
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit". abbie
"Give them what they want" abbie
Exactly what I was going to say. Ditra's great. Its a lot easier to carry up a flight of stairs than a bunch of sheets of cement board.
It is quite a bit more expensive though but if you need a lot and have to carry it any distance at all Ditra is the way to go being it's light...can be cut with shears or a knife and no need to bother with fastners. Plus it adds crack resistance.
Some people think backer board adds to the integrity of the floor which it doesn't.
Matter of fact if I end up using either Wonderboard or Hardibacker I probably shouldn't even bother with 1/2". Just use 1/4". Probably'll go with Hardi being thats so much easier to deal with then Wonderboard and I think as good for dry areas of the bathroom floor.
edit: I think when i was at HD last week I priced Ditra and Wonderboard and figured Ditra was about 2-3x more $
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit". abbie
"Give them what they want" abbie
Edited 11/2/2008 11:39 pm ET by AbbieHoffman
I trimmed a house on LBI a couple of years ago. The tile guy used the Ditra on the floors there.
The top floor was BIG. And completely tiled. If he had to carry up cement board to cover that, it would have taken forever.