Granite Tile install

[Robert Gammon]

Lets just imagine for a moment that we are constructing a 3500 sq ft living space home and the floors will be natural stone throughout. Granite in some areas, travertine in others, marble in a few spots. Budget is not a concern here

One of the installation hints I have seen elsewhere is to have a slip surface between the tile and a concrete slab or wooden floor joists.

The main living room is 20x30ft. In this I intend to construct a home theatre. One useful tool in this effort appears to be Acoustiblok. Applied behind sheetrock, and lining enclosures where speakers go it TIGHTENS up a room considerably, giving far more PUNCH to the soundtrack while reducing bleed through to the rest of the house, cutting apparent sound level elsewhere by 10 db or more (50% apparent reduction)

It seems to me that this stuff could go under the tile, creating the slip layer that will allow the tile and the subfloor to expand and contract at different rates without creating undue stress in the tile (cracking it)

At about $2 sq ft plus installation, it aint cheap!!!

[wayne]

I would use this stuff for that purpose it is made for it!

Lets just imagine for a moment that we are constructing a 3500 sq ft

[Robert Gammon]

Agreed this is THE solution in many many ways.

I think that I can have the slab age for more than 28 days prior to tile installation.

AcoustiBlok solves a DIFFERENT problem.

I have saved this link and will use it for discussions with the builder.

[Robert Gammon]

The PE waffle is a good, maybe even excellent choice for granite tile underlayment

Cork is also a good choice

There are several other engineered products that work well.

Sound reduction is a major goal in addition to decoupling the tile from the slab

Again, I'll have a good talk with my contractor about how we approach this problem, and I will push hard to get the slab poured before mid-July, so that we get 45-60 days of slab cure time before the tile gets installed.