Great post thanks Bri, very helpful, just a quick question, when you say that any deflection should be rectified before laying the Hardiebacker, do you mean by say laying SLC first to even it up?, I have a chipboard floor to do that is out by 10-15mm in places and was thinking of self levelling first then putting the Hardiebacker down onto the SLC with SPF, if this is acceptable would the SBR be ok to prime the chipboard with ready for the SLC (which will be Weber Floorflex)?
The deflection is the movement up and down. By fitting extra noggins between the joists @ 450mm centres this would generally eliminate deflection. Then screw the chipboard back down including fixing to the extra noggins.