Butt joining white quartz 600 by 600 floor tiles

[littlecookie]

Hi il be laying some White quartz 600 by 600 10mm deep polished floor tiles on to a concrete kitchen floor ,what I'm wanting to do if possible is butt join them so they have the look of an almost solid floor ,also what adhesive is best to use local place has bal n own branded stuff

 

[Richard C]

My advice is don't do it; you will never get it to look like a power sanded & polished floor. The tile base will need to be dead flat & your tiling technique absolutely perfect, even then the slightest irregularity will show as lippage between the tiles & the tile corners will kick up. Additionally, all tiles have a very small manufacturing tolerance & are not exactly the same size; butt jointing will accentuate this tolerance as you tile over the floor & show as misalignment & gaps between the tiles. Even very small gaps between the tiles will allow water from spills/cleaning into the tile base which will become damp & clog with all sorts of crud, making a very nice home & breeding ground for silver fish; very unhygienic in a kitchen. Only place I ever tile (or advise tiling) without grout is high heat fire surrounds & then I use silicone.

If you must have small grout lines, use 2mm spacers but IMO wide joint 4mm + looks better on floors especially large format tiles. Never use white or light coloured grout on floors especially kitchens, it will look pretty grubby pretty naff in a very short time.

Use only quality trade tiling products not cheap DIY, it’s generally crap; BAL is second to none IMO & I would never risk own brand; use white addy with white tiles. Only prime if addy manufacture recommends it; not usual with powder addy; never use PVA.

Read tiling sticky & forum archive posts for more info & to avoid making potentially disastrous & expensive mistakes.

 

[mypetearthling]

Well said
Some smart ar$e decided to butt joint 450x450 Polished Limestone in our showroom ... Even though it was onto a perfectly flat floor it still looks like carp

K

 

[littlecookie]

Cheers for the info what colour grout would be best for a kitchen ,is iit possible to seal the grout,if not mite use quartz grey tiles in stead

 

[mypetearthling]

I wouldn't use anything lighter than a cement grey grout in a kitchen, there are grout sealants available from HG (and others) but in my experience they are not that effective and the grout will still darken over time.
The only thing I would expect to stay true to its original colour would be an Epoxy grout, Mapei have a wide range of colours (with and without glitter!)
http://www.mapei.com/GB-EN/product-detail.asp?IDMacroLinea=0&IDProdotto=141&IDTipo=1613&IDLinea=1


The minimum joint size for many Epoxy grouts is 3-4mm.


K

 

[Richard C]

As posted by MPE, nothing lighter than grey which will go with most tile colours. Or go with a darker contrasting colour sucha as light/dark brown or even charcoal I’ve used; in a kitchen, the darker the better really. Personally I would go for a darker tile in a kitchen, hall or cons; even if the tiles themselves don’t stain, white/light colours will show the slightest marks & you will be washing them every other day, especially if you have kids &/or animals!

 

[tictic]

re:tile adhesive

it will need to be WHITE

and a rapidsetting flexy one

with those tiles you may need to use a latex based adhesive or use an adhesive thats doesnt use as much water Bal PTB,...check with tile mfr or adhesive mfr.. most now will advise latex or PTB)...

imo.. prime the concrete floor with sbr/acrylic primer,by using one off these you will help seal the floor,so no dirt/dust will contaminate the adhesive and also helps the bonding process of the addy.

DONT butt them tiles AT ALL...