I'm re-tiling for the first time. It's just a small powder room. After I took out the tile, I discovered that who ever had laid the tile had done it directly over vinyl. I removed the vinyl and it looks like there is a layer of plywood in most of the bathroom except for around the toilet area,which has a small section of Ditra underlayment.
My question is, should I remove the underlayment and replace it with cement board (or something) or is it possible to reuse the Ditra underlayment if I clean it out properly (clean out the thinset from the holes and reattach it to the subloor). The Ditra was attached to the subfloor, but the corners came out as I was cleaning the corners. Here is a pic of the area.
Best Answer
I regularly use Ditra. You can reuse it if you can get the corners down flat and co-planar.
Its not necessary to remove the old thinset, if it's well adhered. A new coat of thinset will bond to the old. A coat of concrete admix or bonding liquid (latex) the day before, will ensure old and new will adhere.
Schluter doesn't recommend using latex modified thinsets over Ditra and under porcelain tile. This is due to Ditra being impervious, porcelain being impervious and latex modified needing to 'dry'. Straight Portland cement thinset will chemically cure faster. If you have small format tiles (4x4 or smaller), you can use modified.
Ditra, in addition to being a water/vapor barrier, is an excellent crack isolation membrane. If you are using natural stone tiles or large format tiles (> 12x12), you should consider filling the whole power room area with Ditra.