Dricore And Ditra Matting

MAD Renovations

Hey Guys I am walking into a project that is about 80% completed...The HO has asked that I come in and complete the flooring in their basement. The flooring situation is that a dricore system has been laid everywhere (including the bathroom). The HO would like a 12x12 ceramic tile installed in the bathroom (approx 8x12 area). The bathroom will also have a steam shower... I have not seen under the pan in the shower yet to know what has been installed there.

The question I have is .... if we can install Ditra matting over the dricore floor. My concern here is that dricore is a type of floating floor system that is snapped together......so will there be any movement issues....and if a modified or un-modified thin set will bond properly to it.

We typically bond our Ditra matting directly to the concrete but the Dricore is alreay installed here. Any thoughts would be appriciated.

Cheers

SLSTech

From Dricore instalation manual

Tile - DRIcore is designed to act as a floating subfloor. It is not recommended that ceramic tile be directly attached to DRIcore as the movement of the floating subfloor will cause tile and grout lines to crack.

In the case of a ceramic installation, prepare concrete floor by applying liquid concrete leveling compound to the concrete floor surface to eliminate concrete floor height variances. Fasten each DRIcore panel with four, flat head and countersunk, concrete fasteners to the permanent concrete floor to prevent movement or shifting of the finished ceramic tile floor. Dab silicone in the fastener openings to seal these holes.

DRIcore panels must lay perfectly flat without bounce or deflection. Install a ¼” underlayment or ½” cement board suitable for ceramic tile installations on top of DRIcore. Follow the underlayment manufacturer’s installation guidelines for fastening to a subfloor.

Please note that we also do not recommend gluing underlayments or other wood flooring materials to DRIcore.

__________________
Alabama Full Service Remodeling, Renovation, and Preservation by SLS Construction
Certified Energy Efficiency Audits, Ratings, Modeling, Verifications, & Consulting
Residential, Commercial, & Industrial Infrared Thermography Scans

orange Garrison

I would pull the dri-core and use the method you are used to.although they say you can use dri-core under tile,I've not had any luck with it ,infact have had dri-core replace tile for me on 1 occasion when it went all wrong!

MAD Renovations

Thanks guys... After googling this I see that it is not a good idea .... I will pull the dricore for the bathroom area and just use Ditra directly on the concrete floor as I normally do.

Cheers