Hardie Backer Floor 6mm

Product Details

Either 6mm or 12mm HardieBacker can be used on floors, walls or worksurfaces, but HardieBacker EZ Grid™ 6mm is primarily used on floors, because these thinner boards reduce the transition to other adjoining floor levels. If additional height is needed, HardieBacker® 12mm can be used.

HardieBacker is made of Portland cement, ground sand, cellulose and selective additives – it does not contains any undesirable elements such as asbestos, formaldehyde, gypsum or glass fibre.   This product composition makes HardieBacker cement board water resistant, it is immune to water damage, it won’t rot, swell or warp, providing an ideal flat surface to tile on.

Comprehensive fitting instructions can be downloaded, but abbreviated instructions are outlined below.

1. Verify the sub-floor is structurally sound on existing floors, replace any loose, warped, uneven or damaged sections of the floor and then ensure the sub-floor has a clean and flat surface.

2. For all floors use a minimum of 18mm T&G flooring grade chipboard. Ensure floor satisfies requirements of local building regulations, excessive flex will cause the tiled floor to crack.   Also note that joist spacing does not exceed 600mm centres.

3. Determine the layout of the HardieBacker® boards by staggering all HardieBacker® joints in a broken bond or brick pattern.  They should not be aligned with the subfloor joints. It is vital that all four corners of boards do not meet at one point. A 3mm gap should be left between floor and wall edges, vanities, baths etc. and fill with a good quality bathroom sealant.  Score-and-snap HardieBacker boards to the required sizes and then make necessary cut-outs.

4. Install HardieBacker® to sub-floor and apply a gap filling bed of non-flexible tile adhesive to the sub-floor using a 6mm notched trowel.  Embed the HardieBacker® with a sliding motion firmly and evenly in the wet tile adhesive and use the EZ Grid® fastener pattern as a guide. Fasten the HardieBacker® with specified nails or screws every 200mm over the entire surface keeping the  fixings between 15mm from board edges and 50mm from board corners. The heads of fixings should finish flush with the surface – do not overdrive.

5. Tape all joints prior to tiling. Prior to setting the tiles, embed 50mm alkaline resistant Fibatape across joints and feather tile adhesive to leave a 150mm wide joint.