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adam skitt

hi all! I wondered if I could get some opinions on somethings? Firstly, I am looking to buy a good quality tile cutter. I was thinking a rubi ts66? Good choice or should I go sigma? I have only ever used rubi. Now the other thing concerns ply lining floors. At college we were taught to use 3/4 inch marine ply on all wooden floors screwed @ 150 centres but to me this seems well over the top! Is it? I spoke to a family friend who is a tiler he said he uses 9mm what do other people use? And also he said instead of screwing the ply he uses a compressor powered staple gun with 1 inch staples every 150 which is much quicker. Does this sound like a good idea to you guys or should I just stick to screwing? Thanks very much for any info!!!!
 
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S

Stef

British standard for ply is 15mm, primed underside & sides, did they teach you that in college? To prime underside.
Stick around here & keep asking questions, you will learn more technical data here than u ever will in college.
I only fix to Hardie or thermal as you have minimal height build up with them both being 6mm.
You also get 12mm Hardie & various sizes of thermal boards to cover different scenarios.
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

adam skitt said:
hi all! I wondered if I could get some opinions on somethings? Firstly, I am looking to buy a good quality tile cutter. I was thinking a rubi ts66? Good choice or should I go sigma? I have only ever used rubi. Now the other thing concerns ply lining floors. At college we were taught to use 3/4 inch marine ply on all wooden floors screwed @ 150 centres but to me this seems well over the top! Is it? I spoke to a family friend who is a tiler he said he uses 9mm what do other people use? And also he said instead of screwing the ply he uses a compressor powered staple gun with 1 inch staples every 150 which is much quicker. Does this sound like a good idea to you guys or should I just stick to screwing? Thanks very much for any info!!!!
Click to expand...

Hi mate,

Yeah I have always worked with a TX 700 & TX 900 , I find the breaking mechanism breaks the hardest of porcelain with the right rubi wheel, cracking machines!......

Regarding tiling directly onto ply I just don't full stop!..( seen too many problems over the years! ).any wooden substrate for that matter!......if I can I'll cover with cement board or insulation boards glued & screwed and get a decoupling membrane in there too if a real problematic area ( bal rapid mat for me ) all depends on the installation........get the prep right and you'll have yourself a long lasting tiling installation.
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

adam skitt said:
Oh ok, insulation board? What is that like king span or something? when you say cement board is that the stuff I think it's called hardibacker I've seen in some builders merchants? How is that fixed? Still screwed? What about the rolls of plastic I have seen de coupling membrane? Is that something I could use on say caberboard floor? Thank you all for the help!
Click to expand...


Hi Adam,

For me this is the best decoupling matting on the market today

View: http://youtu.be/cTn8cj6PZ2o
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

Hiya Stef ,

Yeah I used ditra for years , cracking stuff don't get me wrong but I,ve been using this bal rapid mat for a while now and find it quicker and easier to work with than Schluter.......but never had any problems with it sticking.......bonds like a dream in my opinion as its lightweight.......the heavier thicker stuff like dural durabase I came away from for that reason.......bal rapid mat the decoupler of choice for me now.......have u used it much yourself?.....
 
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S

Stef

MW Smith Ceramics said:
Hiya Stef ,

Yeah I used ditra for years , cracking stuff don't get me wrong but I,ve been using this bal rapid mat for a while now and find it quicker and easier to work with than Schluter.......but never had any problems with it sticking.......bonds like a dream in my opinion as its lightweight.......the heavier thicker stuff like dural durabase I came away from for that reason.......bal rapid mat the decoupler of choice for me now.......have u used it much yourself?.....
Click to expand...
I haven't as I heard issues about it when 1st released.
I don't use a lot of decouplers as I'm normally over boarding with Hardie or thermal & think it's over kill to fit a decoupler as well.
I'm moving more & more to thermal as I believe that the foam slightly decouples the board from the floor.
If I'm fitting stone then I will decouple.
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

Stef said:
I know one guy that's having trouble with the BAL rapid mat not sticking as at the end of the roll the mat is twisted.
I don't think you can beat Ditra for a decoupler,
Click to expand...

Stef said:
I know one guy that's having trouble with the BAL rapid mat not sticking as at the end of the roll the mat is twisted.
I don't think you can beat Ditra for a decoupler,
Click to expand...
MW Smith Ceramics said:
Hiya Stef ,

Yeah I used ditra for years , cracking stuff don't get me wrong but I,ve been using this bal rapid mat for a while now and find it quicker and easier to work with than Schluter.......but never had any problems with it sticking.......bonds like a dream in my opinion as its lightweight.......the heavier thicker stuff like dural durabase I came away from for that reason.......bal rapid mat the decoupler of choice for me now.......have u used it much yourself?.....
Click to expand...
Oh and it's less than 1mm thick
impish said:
Bal rapid mat fits a purpose but no way at all does it work the same way as Ditra.
Those dovetails are what make it so much more effective as an uncoupler.

Use whatever works for you. For the price difference though I'll go with Ditra every time.
Click to expand...
hi impish.....

When you say dovetails are you talking about the cut back cavities that locks the adhesive into the schluter 25 that makes it more of a quality decoupler??
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

That's definately a bett
impish said:
Bal rapid mat fits a purpose but no way at all does it work the same way as Ditra.
Those dovetails are what make it so much more effective as an uncoupler.

Use whatever works for you. For the price difference though I'll go with Ditra every time.
Click to expand...

Don't they do the same job tho even tho the design with Schluter 25 is different with the cut back cavities bal rapid mat has been specifically engineered to accommodate for lateral movement and contraction/shrinkage in new screeds/under tile heating??

Reading up on
impish said:
Bal rapid mat fits a purpose but no way at all does it work the same way as Ditra.
Those dovetails are what make it so much more effective as an uncoupler.

Use whatever works for you. For the price difference though I'll go with Ditra every time.
Click to expand...
 
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M

MW Smith Ceramics

impish said:
Bal rapid mat fits a purpose but no way at all does it work the same way as Ditra.
Those dovetails are what make it so much more effective as an uncoupler.

Use whatever works for you. For the price difference though I'll go with Ditra every time.
Click to expand...

Can't be that bad can it......

image.png
 
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