Noob-Need some advice on tiling concrete pad to match hight of adjacent drycore floor

[Shanksworthy]

I have a walkout basement, and I want to tile the entrance area. Right now it's a 5x8 area of concrete. The complication is that I need to raise it so that it's the same height as the adjacent main room area, which is about 1.25" higher due to a drycore and laminate.

Somebody advised me that my best bet would be to go the mud bed route, and so I've ordered the book Tile Your World. Unfortunately the book hasn't arrived yet, and I have some free time so I was wondering if someone could at least help me make a shopping list for what supplies I need to buy in the mean time...

[Mountain Tile]

You can bond the mud to the slab using thinset, your slab must be older then 30 days and if there are any cracks or expansion joints you will need to deal with them. So far you'll need thinset to bond the mud and tile, sand topping mix will work for the mud.

[Shanksworthy]

Thanks for that. I also have that blueish paint on the concrete (I assume it's some sort of treament for waterproofing etc.). Do I need to take it off somehow?

[Shanksworthy]

I'm still in the planning stages of making a mud bed to raise the height of a 5x8 section of my basement slab, which I then plan to tile over. I bought Tile Your World and read through the relevant sections last night, but I still have some questions:

1. After I form mud screeds, how long do I have to wait until they're dried before I can use them? (Or can I even use them without waiting for them to dry?) Seems like they might compress a lot if I don't wait long enough...

2. While we're at it, after pouring and screeding the mortar bed, how long does it need to dry before I can kneel on it?

3. This question sounds dumb to me, but here it goes: Do I have to put a layer of thinset under the mud screeds?

4. Most people recommend layering a decoupling membrane like Ditra between the mortar bed and the tiles. However, since my 6-year-old concrete slab has no cracks whatsoever, can I get away with eliminating the Ditra? If not, then can somebody recommend a much more inexpensive membrane that I can substitute?

Hey, my title said I'm a noob, didn't it? Thanks.

[Davy]

Hi Brian, I go ahead and mud the middle right after getting the screeds in place. You have to be careful not to cut down too deep with the straight edge, digging into the screed. Yes, i would spread thinset under the screeds and then the middle just before putting the mud on it. Start at the far end and back out. Slick it down as you back out with a flat steel trowel. This will give it a hard crust on top. Let it set over night, at least. If there are no cracks, stick the tile right to the mud.

[Brian in San Diego]

Brian, I merged your two threads on this project. Please ask all questions for this project on this thread. We can change the title for you if you want to call it something different.

[Shanksworthy]

Thanks Davy. But what confuses me is if the mud screeds are not dried before I begin screeding, then how are they going to hold up against a straight edge? I know you said to not put too much pressure on the screed, but if I'm applying enough pressure with my straight edge to level out the mud I've just poured in the center, then what keeps the mud screeds from also being scraped away (or scraped down) really easily?

(I'm not sure if that made any sense, but I couldn't think of another way to word it)