Newbie here - be gentle, please....

I have chosen 60cm x 60cm composite stone tiles for my bathroom floor. The bathroom is in an attic conversion: I know that this was very well-built - and the chipboard floor in the bathroom certainly seems very solid. But the house itself is a hundred years old, so is prone to a bit of movement from time to time.

Having trawled through this forum, my present plan is to put 12mm ply on top of the chipboard (ideally, I'd prefer to avoid the extra 'step' which 18mm would create). My tiler reckons that this is all I need. But the tile supplier says that the manufacturer would want me to use Ditra matting (with Ardex AF200) as well - not because of moisture (it's not a wet-room, just a regular bathroom), but to minimise the risk of future movement doing terrible things to the tiles.

So what should I do? The tiles are only 6mm thick, if that makes any difference. The bathroom itself is small - the tiled area of floor will only be about 2.4m by 1.1m. If it makes sense to spend the extra on Ditra, then I'm certainly prepared to do so. But I'd also prefer not to second-guess my tiler without a good reason!

Thanks in advance for any advice....

At 6mm thick..?..what composite stone is please..?


Oh and welcome..

A 600x600x 6mm tile ???

regardless of tile thickness, I'd use hardiebacker 250, rather than plywood.

Originally Posted by Sir Ramic

A 600x600x 6mm tile ???

never seen anything that large so thin a mistake ?

i would use hardibacker screwed at 200mm centres and then self level....

600x600 is large format and 6mm is REALLY THIN!!!
i used a composite once that was 4mm composite and 4mm crema marfil,
light weight stone tiles they called them.....on the floor though... belt and braces!!!

best wishes

Dagger

Hmm, yes, it really is 6mm - I have a sample sitting right beside me. The product blurb on the website also says 6mm and under 'applications' it says 'bathrooms, commercial floors, domestic floors, showers'. It is, apparently, 'a conglomerate of limestone and resin'. An architect friend (?!) suggested it. The attraction (for me) was range of tile sizes: I can have 600x600 on the floor, 600x300 on the walls, and 20mm-deep slabs around the basin and the bath. But if I'd known 6mm was scary....

you say 20mm thick slabs around the bath and basin thats a lot of weight make sure your walls can cope with that before you start and hardibacker is your best bet for the floor no need for ditra if you use a good adhesive and butter the back of the tile 6mm thick shoud not be an issue!