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4.5
Using the roll of the Ditra does create challenges, but if you apply the thin set properly and then roll it, you will be fine. If novice, then I would recommend you use the small sheets of this product.Using a decoupling membrane is a great way to add stability to the floor you install. In this case, it is a mosaic marble tile. This type of tile is going to crack if you don’t have a stable base.In this case, this is meant to carry the wire for the heating element. Installs the same as the regular Ditra, but has the channels for wiring.Top tip: this ships in a roll and likes to keep that shape. Lay it flat and install will get a lot easier.What attracted me to the DITRA-HEAT system was that it gives a lower total Z-height when compared to traditional backer-board-plus-heating-mat solutions. This was important because I needed to match up with existing hardwood floors. As you can see from the photo, it worked absolutely perfectly to within a millimeter.I am an amateur at this, but there's plenty of great "how-to" resources both on Schluter's website and on Youtube. Routing the heating cable was a little tricky, having to pay attention to all the rules (3-stud spacing minimum, 7" from any floor registers, etc etc) but nothing too bad.Protip: when you lay the matting, you do need a roller of some sort to flatten and bed it into the thinset mortar. Schluter offer one, but for about 1/4 the price I picked up a hardwood roller from the local big box DIY store, intended for installation of vinyl flooring. Works perfectly. Also, be sure to have plenty of heavy objects to hand ready to press the membrane down while the thinset hardens! I used the boxes of tiles I subsequently installed.I now have a hallway and bathroom floor that are pleasantly warm underfoot. 10/10, will buy this again when I remodel the other bathroom!This has some minor flaws and takes some practice getting used to.The membrane is much thicker than Ditra's 1/8 membrane for non-heated areas. Thus, the concept of mixing this with there other product should be nixed in your thinking. For a large area, say a kitchen/open space, where you don't need heat for some of the floor (say where counters go, or where you know furniture will be semi-permanently) you should still use this more expensive membrane and not mix with the "standard" 1/8.because it is thicker, it wants to pop off the floor as it retains its roll. You need to weigh down the ends to make it stick.If your mortar underneath is uneven, it is very hard to smooth this out on a large floor. You really do want a way to squeeze this out.The seams combined with the kerdi strip will be significantly thicker. This is a bit of a pain if you are using thin set mortar that is "loose" as it is hard to keep the tiles even across the strip.The membrane, in my experience, seems to accentuate any floor uneveness, not smooth it out as you would expect. If I had it to do over again, I would have put a 1/4" hardboard on top of the subfloor.It works well with NuHeat cabling, which I think is superior to the Ditra heat cabling. Note that the NuHeat cabling calls for a 3" and 2" staggered or all 3" staggered layout of the cables. The Ditra membrane has spacing that is a bit different than that, so you want to use the 3 and 2 staggered just to get to the same 3 inch all layout that is recommended. This is not a criticism of the product, just an installation note if you use NuHeat.The installation instructions are "OK" but not great. They seem to combine the instructions between their standard product and the Heat product.Overall, this is a good product, but it was not the no brainer I wanted it to be . Be careful on large areas and remodel floors versus new floors.Shipping was slow but it came as advertisedWife will never allow unheated tile in our house again! I am a professional floor guy so I have a bit of a head start but nonetheless, if you’re handy and can watch a YouTube video you can install this product. Make sure you use the correct mortar and correct trowel or it WILL fail. Pro tip: after pre-cutting the entire floor, roll back half way, apply mortar, embed membrane firmly into mortar with a grout float or roller and then, the step nobody mentions - Place boxes of tile, bags of mortar, lazy teenagers (or any other dead weight you have lying around) on top of membrane especially around the edges until the mortar cures. This will prevent the membrane from curling up and releasing from the subfloor.I'm doing a bathroom remodeling project. One of the updates is adding floor heating. This item fills the requirements for a floor heating mat for its respective heating wire. If you are going to use this company (Schluter) floor heating system (i.e. heating wire) then you need this as the mat for holding it in place. I'm using a 3-2-3 pattern. The company has updated its requirements for the old standard of just a 3-3-3 pattern. That I liked.This Schluter heating system is awesome. I was aware they say it is not a room heating system but i feel the warmth radiating up. It is an easy system to install and the whole family thinks I am a magician now. I suggest you go to Schluter and watch as many videos that pertain to your install and follow up on youtube. It is just as easy as they show to install all of the components. Thanks Schluter.I had grout lines crack in bathroom in wooden house structure (even with using cement sheets). Bathroom floor was always cold too. So I learnt about this product and installed floor heating myself.Works well and I hope no more grout line cracks!!
