Tile and Deflecto questions

[cmoore]

Hi everyone,

New member here (my name is Chris) but I have been lurking on the website occasionally. Anyway, I have a few questions for the board.

A little background on my situation. I am building a new house and will need about 650 sf of floor tile + the plan is to do all of my countertops. I will be able to start tiling in 2-3 weeks and am fortunate enough that one of my best friends is A) laid off for the winter B) experienced with laying tile.

My questions are:

1) on the deflecto there is no listing for engineered floor joists (that I could find). My joists look like a wooden I beam and are approx 12" tall with a maximum span of around 13' if I remember correctly. On top of that is 3/4" OSB.

2) I am scared to use cheap Lowe's tile but to poor to use the $4.50 Crossville mountain stone tile that I really like. Does anyone have any advice on high quality lower priced tile?

I appreciate any advice. I plan to live here long term and want something that will last.

[cx]

Welcome, Chris.

Originally Posted by Chris

I plan to live here long term and want something that will last.

OK then, no "approx" and no "around." We need to know the manufacturer's name and model number of the joists, along with the actual size, spacing between joists, and actual unsupported span.

You're correct, the Deflecto won't tell you diddly about manufacturered joists, but we can look them up on the internet or axe Injineer Bob. You can look them up, too, if you wanna, but first you gotta know what they are.

In your tile selection, keep in mind that natural stone tiles require twice the rigidity in the floor structure as do ceramic tile. Your joists may qualify for both, but we won't know until you give us more info.

[cmoore]

OK CX I think I have the info.

The joists are hard to read but they look to be:

APA EWS
11 7/8 x NI-40X
PRI 40/PRI 400
CCMC 13032-R
mea 204-01-E Vol II

The span of the kitchen area is 16'6", but the span over my foyer is 17'4".

The floor feels very solid if it matters.

Thanks

[bbcamp]

We also need the spacing between I-joists. The span were interested in is the distance from the wall or beam supporting the I-joist to the next supporting wall or beam. Room size on top of the I-joists is a no-nevermind.

[cmoore]

I am 99.9 percent sure they are 16" on center.

I will double check tomorrow.

Thanks

[cmoore]

Well I finally remembered to check and the joists are 16" OC.

I would appreciate any deflection the board can give me.

Chris

[bbcamp]

Both of your floor areas exceed L/480 (I don't know by how much, though), so ceramic tile is a go. Your 3/4" OSB will work with any underlayment method you choose. It will need more plywood if you want stone, and I will have to crunch a bunch of numbers to verify the I-joists will work.




OK, I crunched the numbers, your I-joists won't work for stone without a lot of help.

[cmoore]

Thank you Bob.

[cmoore]

Originally Posted by bbcamp

Your 3/4" OSB will work with any underlayment method you choose.

Does this mean I can use 1/4" CBU? I was planning to use 1/2" because my carpet guy said that is all they ever use (unless it's on a slab). The thinner backerboard would look better with my carpet.

Also, anyone use Daltile Travata tile?

thanks

[John Bridge]

Hi Chris,

Use the quarter-inch backer board if you like. It's made primarily for floors.

Don't know about the tile. That would be decorating, at which I'm not too great.