I wanted to use the Ditra, but cost made me choose Hardi-backer. I did the thin set and used a roofing nailer. The key is to make sure whatever fasteners you use don't go all the way through the wood or you lose fastening strength.
Screws are better, but when you're doing over 1,200 square feet you try to find a shortcut.
Now you suggest it five years later!
Phase one down.
Tile came up in 30 minutes. Cake.
I finally got all the Luan up and taller bits sanded, and staples hammered flush. THAT part took almost 4 hours.
So here I sit, beer in one hand, TENS controller in the other, waiting for the fam to go to bed so I can lay down the underlayment primer so that it can dry overnight.
The worst part? My handy dandy weighted floor scraper was useless for most of the floor. The abundance of screws stopped it cold except for one pass. I want to kick that staple happy MOFO in the nuts right now. But the scraper attachment to my Rockwell multitool was awesome for the last thin layer of luan that stayed stuck to the subfloor.
You don’t have a ceiling in the laundry room?
sounds like you chose the hard way huh?