New Tiler Questions

[Stef]

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?.....

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.

 

[One Day]

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.

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

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,

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,

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?.....

Oh and it's less than 1mm thick

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.

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??

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

That's definately a bett

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.

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

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.

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

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.

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

 

[One Day]

I know it will "stretch" a heck of a lot more than others before losing bond with the tiles/stone.
Also the air channels allow sweaty screeds to breath so I can fix onto greener screeds.
Price point is so similar to Ditra (unless you can grab an ebay bargain) I don't see the point in using a lesser product really.

 

[One Day]

That's definately a bett


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

Hey I'm all for BAL (more than you realise actually) but they shouldn't have won that award for an "innovative" product. (that's a whole different story though).
It does a job sure - but it's not as good at that job as Ditra. Good enough for 99% of cases? Very probably.

And BAL don't manufacture the Rapid mat. It's very probably made under licence.
Looks very VERY similar to a grey Wedi product actually.

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

yes I see where your coming from where Schluter 25 allows the neutralisation of vapour pressure from the substrate, ......rapid mat doesn't state this and looking into both decoupling membranes again there is a hell of a lot more technical information on Schluter and what its functions are than there is on the Bal rapid mat .......I think bal has its fixing advantages but looking into Schluter again on the design it is a quality product no debating that!.....abit of a contradiction but I can see why you have more confidence in the design of Schluter 25 impish........appreciate your input mate.......got me thinking between the2 agai now .......DOH!

 

[One Day]

Rapid mat is a good product - no doubt. I'm just suggesting that Ditra is better.
If Rapid mat was cheaper, I'd use it more (only used it once). As it stands, I can get Ditra for the same price, perhaps a little more.

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

There are so many on the market now and all different, I tried that tilemaster anti fracture and I just could not get on with it and thought the material / design was poor.......I'm doing some work for another tiling contractor at the minute and they are using a decoupler made by Mapei and the best way I can describe it is like a thin layer of cotton wool!.....it's bloody awful!.....gets wet and starts to fray and takes in all the crap.........

 

[One Day]

I like TM gear but I agree - the anti-fracture mat is too soft and stretchy. Very tricky to lay. It's the old PCI membrane which they are getting from somewhere...
I reckon only Schluter actually manufacture their own matting, everyone else is getting it made for them.
I've never used the Mapei one.although I saw it last week on offer in CTD.

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

I was really disappointed with TM matting as my supplier is stocking all there gear now and I use the lot apart from the grout and now the matting as I'm Mapei ultracolour all the way with grout.......what's your preferred choice of grout ?

 

[One Day]

Got to admit i use a lot of mapei ucp but only as its easily available and colors are good. Tm grout 3000 is the best I've used but harder to get here. I find ucp either too stiff or too wet. Grout 3000 is like soft clay though and doesn't tend to fall off all over the floor!

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

Yeah it's easily available to me too and I like the fact they have the matching sealant and good variety of colours as clients are becoming more and more fussy with grout colour/ shades......i have used the TM grout 3000 once in white which I found easy to apply and firmed up nicely and washed off leaving grout nice and flush easier to work with than Mapei ultracolour however!.......I recently used some TM 3000 mid grey for a slate floor I layed and sealed prior to grouting and again applied and washed off no problem and dried out all uniformed so I was please UNTIL!!.......I was applying LTP colour enhancer as the final finish to the slate and like I always do with ultracolour I sealed over the grout ( checked with TM first and left for 48 hrs as they stated before sealing ).......so the grout turned white!...........some sort of chemical reaction but I never ever have this problem with ultracolour !......so in the end I just added a spot of LTP grout stain remover to remove this white sitting on the surface of the grout and it come back to colour but caused me more work!......so I've sent off a sample to LTP for them to test and currently awaiting results.......so that put me off TM grout 3000........

 

[MW Smith Ceramics]

CORRECTION........a spot of LTP grout stain remover with warm water and worked the LTP claw brush along the joints

 

[Stef]

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.

My thoughts exactly, once you understand how Ditra works then there is no way a mat of 1/2mm thick does the same job.