Laying tile

[EatenByLimestone]

The house is getting resided. Project creep necessitated that the 42” wide by 30” deep entry be redone too. After I broke out the 3” of concrete (I thought it was only going to be 1/2”! I kept moving up in hammer size.) I put in 3/4” ply down to level and then the 1st layer of Hardybacker.

I noticed that the floor tips back toward the house ever so slightly when we got a hard rain last week. I’d like to correct that before covering everything up and forgetting about it until something exciting happens.

Gutters will soon be installed and that will effectively increase the overhang by 5-6” so it might not be an issue, but water being pushed back at the house is bad practice.

I will be laying another layer of Hardie down to cover a piece of trim I forgot about when I put the first layer down. Should I fix the slope with some thin set before I put the new Hardie down, or should I put the Hardie directly down on the old one, then add more thin set (thicker in back, thinner in front) under the tiles themselves?

All my previous tile work has been inside and I didn’t care if there was a little pitch to the tiles.

 

[Prometeo]

it would be better, much better,
correct the cement first,
the base for the tiles.
Dosing the glue is only good for a few millimeters,
but here I think you have at least 2 centimeters to reverse the slope, is very inadvisable to act in that way

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is there a preferred way to correct the board pitch? The pitch is only off a little bit. Probably only a few millimeters over the span. I figure it’s only off 1/8”, google tells me that’s 3.17mm over 30” or 76cm.

 

[Prometeo]

you can easily do it with the tile mortar, 3 millimeters, but I imagine you have to add another 3-5 millimeters, to make sure that the water goes away, so about 10 mm in total. to make it easier, you can use a metal profile, that acts as a guide, to be placed on the side that must be higher, you can use a metal tube or a plastic tube to pull the tile mortar onto the guide, and on the external entrance end. Obviously the mixing must not be too liquid or too hard, let's just say slightly softer compared to the amount of water indicated in the package. Do everything in the best possible way, any imperfections you can scrape away when the tile mortar is dried, but not completely. This is how I would do and did, last time, on a balcony

 

[NHWS]

Cement board flexes under load, which might eventually crack the tile.

Perhaps a layer of self-leveling compound (easy to work with) to get a flat base. Set up boards or equivalent closer and further from the house, with the closer one slightly higher, and then screed thinset to get the slope. Laying the tile on the flat (slightly sloped) thinset would be simple.

 

[Ovationcs257]

I think some pictures would help but some things don't sound right. I might be misreading this, but is this an exterior application, what kind of plywood did you use? What is it sitting on? You are in NY so freeze-thaw is a concern, everything material (tile, mortar, grout, self-leveling) you use needs to be exterior rated. Using a self-leveler would make me nervous as it is going to a feathered edge that and movement could cause it to delaminate. Don't forget that most grout will like water through it so may need some kind of waterproof membrane. The thing that is most important with tile is making sure you have as little deflection in the substrate as possible. If this is wood framed check out .Deflection calculator
Check out this video on setting tiles. Tile setting

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ok, pics. Here’s the demo.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Build up.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

PVC trim and 1 layer of Hardie. I drew the tiles out to get an idea for how much I’d need. The original plan was to put another layer of cement board down over this one so I could cover that PVC trim edge. A bullnose for tile would go over that, and I’d lay tile back to the door. I noticed the slight slope toward the door and stopped here to figure out how to correct this.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

After the gutters get put on, the slope might be a non issue as rain would have trouble hitting it. I had the fascia built out 1 3/4” to better support the gutters, which will go out another 5-6”. I’m doubling my overhang. It’s just worth it to correct a small issue now vs dealing with excitement later!

 

[stoveliker]

I'd take that hardiebacker out, use mortar to create a slope under that, then put the hardiebacker back, sloped correctly

 

[Ovationcs257]

I'm not crazy about the patching of the substrate. I would cut out that diagonal 1x T&G back and use a full piece of plywood so you didn't have different deflection between the ply and the T&G. You may have to add some blocking to pick up the edge of the ply and to have something for T&G to attach to. I agree that leveling between the ply and backer makes sense. You could set a small strip of wood at the door that will give a 1/4" per foot slope to use a screed rail. An exterior-rated self-leveler might do the trick. If you have not used this before I would still screed this it is not that self-leveling and make sure everything is sealed before pouring as it is liquidity and will run to any gaps (work quickly once you start pouring). Then the backer board. Remember Hardie is water-resistant and waterproof. I would do a waterproofing over this that runs up the wall ideally under the siding and and door sill (this is just ideal but may not be worth the effort to you). Extend the waterproofing over the vertical PVC trim to try to keep any water from getting to the ply.

 

[EbS-P]

I'd take that hardiebacker out, use mortar to create a slope under that, then put the hardiebacker back, sloped correctly

I would have done with sack Crete. I don’t see how that plywood won’t eventually rot away. Probably not I your life time. But if it get wet how will it dry?