Ditra laying methods

[Peter]

What do you all use for laying Ditra? Usually use a float and my feet but have a big area to lay next week so looking something a bit more efficient. Was thinking of making up a Karl Dahm style roller, then today seen a water filled lawn roller which looked like it might be an idea. Anybody use a roller system?



Order No. 11599 Karl Dahm® underlayment roller PLUS - Karl Dahm Shop, Construction equipment Tile wet saw Diamond tool Ceramic flooring saws installation cutter Tiling Rubi tools

 

[Spud]

150 bucks :yikes:

 

[Peter]

Bit optimistic with price I thought. Got all the bits to make it for about £3 from the local builders merchants. Thick brush shaft, shaft clip and brackets. Just unsure what to use for the actual roller itself. Any ideas? Brush shaft cut off or rolling pin perhaps.

Failing that, might have to give Karl Dahm a weeks wages for one. :lol:

 

[Spud]

Extendable Hand Roller Vinyl Flooring Karndean Tools | eBay

 

[Dougs Third Go]

I use a length of 2 x 1 pse batton, still have to get on your knees but seems to slide over and embed it better than a steel trowel imo

 

[nybor62]

i use a labourer

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

whats wrong with just dry troweling over the top with a plasterers trowel and body pressure ??

 

[Spud]

nothing wrong with that Dave all you have to ensure is full coverage on the fleece ,I tend to loosen my adhesive up and use a block of 4x2 to rub it down with

 

[jonnyc]

I bought a steel vinyl roller couple of years ago.i cannot recOmmend enough.we use on dukkaboard as well.
it is probably only worth it if using ditra on regular basis.,

 

[Peter]

Would be interested to know the coverage difference. Not entirely convinced that Ditra rubbed down by hand gives as good coverage as it would do if it's rolled and the adhesive is squashed more, even when mixed a bit looser. Ever notice there are some patches lighter than others? One for the testing team perhaps?

 

[suave]

steamroller :hurray::hurray::lol:

 

[Dougs Third Go]

whats wrong with just dry troweling over the top with a plasterers trowel and body pressure ??

only being a featherweight that's why I use a length of batten Dave, seem to be able to get more pressure onto mat without skidding but still be able to move it along

 

[jonnyc]

Well this brings another question up. I have always covered the top of mat with adhesive at same time as fixing mat.the reason for this is two fold.one is that when you quote the amount of adhesive you will need to fix tiles it is based on a flat subfloor not a ribbed surface that needs to be filled in . The other is the extra time needed to fill in the voids. When you fix a lot of metres in a year bothnthesevfactors make a big difference

 

[peteablard]

I use a karndean vinyl roller. The handle means you can get plenty of pressure on it, works a treat!

 

[John Benton]

Well this brings another question up. I have always covered the top of mat with adhesive at same time as fixing mat.the reason for this is two fold.one is that when you quote the amount of adhesive you will need to fix tiles it is based on a flat subfloor not a ribbed surface that needs to be filled in . The other is the extra time needed to fill in the voids. When you fix a lot of metres in a year bothnthesevfactors make a big difference

That's very true Jonny, you're effectively putting a solid bed of approx 3-4mm when you take into account the addy under the mat and then filling the depth of the voids on top, before you've even put your addy on to fix tiles. Like you say, doing it on a regular basis uses up hell of a lot of addy, and someone has to pay for it