Please check my shopping list (kerdi/ditra)

[Bill Beyer]

I am not new to tile, but could really use some help to verify materials. I installed 400+ sq ft of tile in my kitchen/laundry room/hallway/half bath about 5 years ago. People on here really helped me out then. Now working on master bath and soon the other full bath.

Purchased ceramic tile (not porcelain) for bathroom floor and shower walls (base is prefab). I plan to use Ditra on the floor and Kerdi on the shower walls. Floor is supported by 2 x 10 with a 13.5 ft span. 5/8" tounge and groove plywood. I put 1/2" plywood over that per recommendations found here. I'm confident up to here...

I have access to Laticrete 272 and most other Laticrete products (was surprised to hear that 272 can be hard to find).

Materials List

Floor:
Latex modified thinset (317?) for Ditra to Plywood.
Unmodified (272?) for tile to Ditra.

Shower walls:
Unmodified for both under and over Kerdi (272?).

Questions:

1. Does the above list look right? Could I reduce the number of products I buy and just use Versabond? As indicated, I have acces to Laticrete products as well as HD and Lowes. Is the 272/317 modified the best I can do? For this small area I'm not concerned about the cost of the thinset.

2. For Ditra to plywood and Kerdi to drywall, I use 1/4" x 3/16" v-notch trowel. For tile to Ditra I use 1/4" x 3/8" square notch trowel. What do I use for tile to Kerdi?

3. I finished the drywall and primed it with latex primer. Guess I screwed up there... Think this will be OK?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Kman]

Both 272 and 317 are unmodified, so you would have to buy some additive to make one of them modified. You can use Versabond for the whole thing (Ditra and Kerdi) if you're not concerned about Schluter's warranty.

If you do want the warranty, go with modified under Ditra, and unmodified for everything else. The brand you buy will be determined by where you shop and what's available there. Laticrete Multipurpose and Mapei Ultraflex are good modified thinsets, and Laticrete Megabond and Mapei Kerabond are decent unmodified thinsets, as well as the 272 and 317. Most here are not fans of the one unmodified thinset that HD offers, hence the use of Versabond for everything by some.

Use the same trowel for the tile, regardless of whether it's going on the wall or floor. The trowel you have for installing Ditra will work fine.

What brand of primer did you use for the drywall?

[Bill Beyer]

Thank you Kman.

Yes - sorry, I was thinking I would use additive with the 317. Any reason to buy both 272 & 317? Could I just buy one and use additive where I need modified?

I don't really care about the warranty. A few more projects to go and I will sell this house. Don't read into this... I want it done right and am willing to spend the money on the best products, but I plan to sell in less than a year, so I don't think the warranty is worth worrying about.

I used Behr Premius Plus New Drywall Primer No. 73.

[Kman]

I wouldn't bother getting the unmodified if I was going to have to get the additive. Since the warranty is of no concern to you, save yourself the headache and just use Versabond for everything. That way you won't have to worry about which one to use at a particular stage.

I would probably just do a little light sanding on the primer to rough it up a little, then wipe it down with a damp sponge immediately before combing the thinset on the wall.