Tile Floor Uncoupling Membrane

It s much thinner than a two inch mud bed.

Tile floor uncoupling membrane. They can also offer waterproofing and channels for evaporation or heat exchange. If tile is laid directly on top of concrete this expansion and contraction will cause stresses that fracture or delaminate the tile. Plywood isn t suitable because it s too flexible and it isn t waterproof. Ditra is an uncoupling membrane designed for ceramic and stone tile installations on floors.

It is made of polyethylene creating a waterproofing layer protecting the substrate. Uncoupling membranes seem like they would prevent cracks also. Schluter systems ditra 150 sq ft orange plastic waterproofing tile membrane. Further ditra performs all these functions while still providing adequate support load distribution for the tile covering.

It provides uncoupling to prevent cracked tile and grout. Ditra can be installed over a variety of subfloors including concrete plywood osb and radiant heated floors. Item 634203 model ditra150. Look at this youtube video of ditra in action.

Concrete contains a relatively large amount of water and will shrink and expand due to humidity and temperature changes. Stephen paul for hunker if you re going to install floor tile you need some kind of underlayment like cementboard tile backerboard or an uncoupling membrane. Uncoupling membranes absorb any substrate movement and eliminate the transfer of that stress to the tile layer which helps to prevent loose or cracked tiles. Most commonly uncoupling membranes are used when laying tile over concrete.

Designed specifically for ceramic tile and dimension stone installations ditra serves as an uncoupling layer waterproofing membrane and vapor management layer that accommodates moisture from beneath the tile covering. Uncoupling membranes are usually used to uncouple the tiling layer from the substrate and thus reduce the stresses built up between substrate and tile. But the fact is that they haven t been officially tested as crack isolation membranes. The powers that be in the tile industry want uncoupling membranes to be their own classification separate from the cis membranes.

Uncoupling membranes such as ditra work to let the tile layer move independently of the substrate.