Will be moving in to my new home soon and I will have 5 rooms (floors) to tile. It will be a DIY project. I have done many walls before but never a floor so will take it easy and go slow and be very careful. I'm trying to save a few bob so will just start with the bedroom En-Suite and if I mess it up I'll get someone in.

1. The Kitchen and downstairs toilet has a concrete floor and we will most likely be using a very light coloured Porcelain tile or a light marble/travertine.

Would the Mapei Rapid set be ok for concrete floor ? and this will be all I need ?

2. The 3 rooms upstairs are a bathroom and 2 En-suites. They are all floored with Ply (I think, its a new build house) one will be doe with the Prestige Stone Cappuccino Marble and the other two rooms with a Prestige Stone Radiant Travertine.

Would the Latex Plus with Keraquick be suitable/the best on the floor ? and this will be all I need ?

For the downstairs (1.) do you think the Mapei Silver Grey or Manhattan 2000 coloured grout would be ok, with it being a Kitchen area I would like to try and stay away from white so that the grout doesnt get dirty easily (does that make sense)

For the upstairs (2.) do you think the Mapei White or Jasmine coloured grout would be fine ?

Totally appreciate any advice, thanks.

hi kev, if your floors are ply you want to over board then with 6mm hardie backer or similar. Kerraquick aould be my choice for all floors. Jumping the gun with the grout colours, wait til its tiled then decide

Originally Posted by faithhealer

hi kev, if your floors are ply you want to over board then with 6mm hardie backer or similar. Kerraquick aould be my choice for all floors. Jumping the gun with the grout colours, wait til its tiled then decide

Thanks, when you say Keraquick for all floors, I assume you mean Keraquick without the Latex Plus for concrete, only use the Latex Plus for the wooden floors ?

you can use keraquick without the latex plus, but there is a cheaper alternative if you dont need to, it called Mapeker. exactly the same uses as keraquick however you cant add the latex too it. but tbh if yuo can price in the latex then it would be worth using.

as its a new house then a de-coupling membrane would be a very good idea all round. and backerboard upstairs too.

Originally Posted by dilz000

you can use keraquick without the latex plus, but there is a cheaper alternative if you dont need to, it called Mapeker. exactly the same uses as keraquick however you cant add the latex too it. but tbh if yuo can price in the latex then it would be worth using.

as its a new house then a de-coupling membrane would be a very good idea all round. and backerboard upstairs too.

Use the membrane on the concrete floor ? even with how good the adhesive is ?

If so, I imagine its ply flooring to start with, then adhesive, then membrane then adhesive then tile ? and the same for the concrete floor ?

anyone ?

hi,just tile direct to the concrete you wont need a membrane for that,if using light coloured stones etc use white adhesive

If I decide to use the membrane, would this be suitable ?

Schluter Ditra Matting

If not, anyone have any advice on which to buy ?

Originally Posted by kevg

If I decide to use the membrane, would this be suitable ?

Schluter Ditra Matting

If not, anyone have any advice on which to buy ?

That matting would be more than adequte. it is also a tanking membrane. There is another decoupler that is cheaper by the m. My local CTD have it on offer but you have to buy a 30m roll I believe. They're selling it for around £150 plus VAT, which works out £5 per metre. I don't know if that is actually waterproof as the Shluter is.

As Kilty says, the decoupling membrane is only necessary if you go for underfloor heating or if your screeds are very new. In my case the screed was only a week old and the concrete underneath was only a couple of weeks old. After consulting on here I was advised to use it and it worked out quite economic to use the Ditra as I could buy it by the m and it doubled as a tanking membrane. It is for a wetroom.

In your case, I assume the concrete will be over 7 weeks old, in which case it will be over the thermal shock etc, and hence any screed on top, whilst it may have hairline cracks in it, will hopefully have finished moving. Hence no decoupling membrane will be necessary.

Moving onto the wooden floors upstairs. As well as fitting the 6mm hardibacker onto it before tiling, it is essential that the floorsare well screwed down. To this end it would be worth looking for any loose boards etc. In fact, I may go so far as to say that if they are nailed, it would be advisable to screw them down as well, minding pipes etc.

If you are tiling a bathroom, you will need to look at a tanking method. The cheapest is something like the Weber tanking kit. If you want to go for a membrane then there are a number of options. Ditra do one, and so do Dural/Tilux etc. The decoupling membrane probably won't help here assuming you tile onto the Hardibacker 6mm board.

I wouldnt use Mapie rapid set for you porcelain, I would go for Mapeker flexi, Keraflex maxi, Adislex p9 or Keraquick downstairs.

Kev

Unless I'm confused, you live in the South West, near Plymouth. If that is the case, go and have a chat with Will at CTD.

Originally Posted by cornish_crofter

Kev

Unless I'm confused, you live in the South West, near Plymouth. If that is the case, go and have a chat with Will at CTD.

I'm in Glasgow. thanks for your reply though, very informative.

Originally Posted by kevg

I'm in Glasgow. thanks for your reply though, very informative.

In that case I'm confused.com!

I must have got you mixed up with another Kev from a Land Rover forum!

Originally Posted by cornish_crofter

That matting would be more than adequte. it is also a tanking membrane. There is another decoupler that is cheaper by the m. My local CTD have it on offer but you have to buy a 30m roll I believe. They're selling it for around £150 plus VAT, which works out £5 per metre. I don't know if that is actually waterproof as the Shluter is.

As Kilty says, the decoupling membrane is only necessary if you go for underfloor heating or if your screeds are very new. In my case the screed was only a week old and the concrete underneath was only a couple of weeks old. After consulting on here I was advised to use it and it worked out quite economic to use the Ditra as I could buy it by the m and it doubled as a tanking membrane. It is for a wetroom.

In your case, I assume the concrete will be over 7 weeks old, in which case it will be over the thermal shock etc, and hence any screed on top, whilst it may have hairline cracks in it, will hopefully have finished moving. Hence no decoupling membrane will be necessary.

Moving onto the wooden floors upstairs. As well as fitting the 6mm hardibacker onto it before tiling, it is essential that the floorsare well screwed down. To this end it would be worth looking for any loose boards etc. In fact, I may go so far as to say that if they are nailed, it would be advisable to screw them down as well, minding pipes etc.

If you are tiling a bathroom, you will need to look at a tanking method. The cheapest is something like the Weber tanking kit. If you want to go for a membrane then there are a number of options. Ditra do one, and so do Dural/Tilux etc. The decoupling membrane probably won't help here assuming you tile onto the Hardibacker 6mm board.

Thanks.

So for upstairs I wouldnt use the Schluter Ditra matting ? If its a tanking membrane, I would have thought that would be ok ?

i.e. I would have my Hardie Backer on top of the flooring, then something like white Keraquick with Latex Plus, then the layer of the Ditra matting, then another layer of the Keraquick with the tile finally on top ?

Or am I way off ?