What kind of tile are you putting down? Curious why you are worried about the floor when the rest of the bathroom is 1950s too? Just seems like a lot of work on only one part of a cosmetic issue.

I throughly you were going to have more gap than it looks like you do, it looked like 4-5 inches but in reality much less?

For that small of a space, I'd do 2 sheets of 3/4 inch ply for sure it's not that much more and that second layer will really help insure the subfloor never moves. Plus you should have the room.

I've never used ditra, but cement board is pretty easy. It's be 3 sheets or less so $30 for that entire floor for cement board.

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Posted by DavidTheGnome

Monroe

Member since Apr 2015

31392 posts

Posted on 5/13/18 at 6:11 pm to baldona

Large tile, haven’t picked out yet. I may paint the wall tiles white for the time being and then rip the walls out at a later date. Put in a new floor, vanity, and toilet for 5he time being too.

This post was edited on 5/13/18 at 6:13 pm

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Posted by Doubledown11

Member since Jun 2017

48 posts

Posted on 5/13/18 at 9:24 pm to baldona

You really want Ditra if you are not laying on a concrete foundation. Ditra does its job and decouples the thinset bed and tile from the wood below - it will move. Cement board doesn't really provide anything. Most pros use purple board or fiberglass faced drywall for shower enclosures now with Kerdi. No need to mess with inferior cement board products. They have their applications but wet areas and structures with movement are not where you want to challenge Schluter products vs cement backer board products. its not a fair fight.

No reason to not use it on any raised wood structure or second floor. Also good to use on slabs with some movement/cracks after cracks are dressed with appropriate membrane. not a guarantee but fairly cheap insurance in south Louisiana.

This post was edited on 5/13/18 at 10:04 pm

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Posted by DavidTheGnome

Monroe

Member since Apr 2015

31392 posts

Posted on 5/13/18 at 9:57 pm to Doubledown11

Thanks. Do I just put plywood down, mortar (?), ditra, more mortar, then tile?

ETA: it’s not sheets of plywood that’s down now, it’s planks of wood. Which should I use?

This post was edited on 5/13/18 at 9:59 pm

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Posted by Doubledown11

Member since Jun 2017

48 posts

Posted on 5/13/18 at 10:03 pm to DavidTheGnome

Planks of wood are fine if in good shape, that was the old way of doing it, but too expensive in modern times. While you have it up, you should really pry some of those subfloor boards up (or do you have good access from below) and double check the joists. It is extremely likely that over the years in a bathroom that some rot has occurred and that some plumbers and electricians have butchered things. Now is the easy time to replace bad wood.

But yes, follow the ditra videos and use the approved thinset for the ditra to the wood. Schluter has all of their videos available....

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Posted by Tiguar