depressed - need a pro's advice

[stubertio]

Hi all

I was a bit too enthusiastic with my kitchen refurbishment. I feel I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew.

I ripped up the old ceramic tiles and proceeded to lay the new ones. We went for natural slate tiles. Two things about these buggers:

1) They're not all the same thickness, so I'm trying my best to match them up as best as possible. This isn't the worst thing in the world.
2) They're not all perfectly square. They're supposed to be 30cm x 30cm, but some of them are 30.5 one side and some are 30.2 etc etc. This is going to make obtaining nice straight grout lines almost impossible. Is this to be expected with natural slate tiles?

The other thing is that I started tiling in the corner of the room, not by laying a straight edge down the centre of the room from the doorway. This means that at the doorway, the grout line runs off to a slight diagonal. My girlfriend thinks I'm being fussy, but I fear it will look crap once it's all done.

So, my main question:

Could someone please either post here or PM me a complete ballpark figure to rip up what I've done so far (2 sq M), level the floor (if necessary) and tile the thing properly? The room is just over 3 metres by just over 2.5 and is almost perfectly rectangle in shape. No funky curves or anything like that. Could you also advise if you will be able to use my not perfectly square slate tiles, or if you will have to source your own?

Many thanks

Stu
(depressed)

 

[AndersonC]

Sorry to hear about your state of affairs, can you not use a coloured grout to help disguise the minimal offsets?

 

[tilerman]

When laying slate i first find the largest and thickest tile in the whole batch. When i set out the floor i set it out using the largest tile and cut my gauge rod to suit. I lay 2 courses wide at a time always against a straight edge and 'shuffle' tiles until you get acceptable joint sizes. They will all be of different sizes but as long as you use a straight edge every 2 courses will be straight. As for the different thickness's you need to butter up all the thin tiles to match the thickest. always cover the complete back of the tile as slate can be quite brittle and the adhesive gives them strength. Hope that makes sense! Oh, and always mix the tiles. Good luck.

 

[stubertio]

thank you so much guys. I still have my dodgy line to contend with, but I will persevere with trying to obtain square lines....

Still might call in the pros if it turns out horrible though!

Stu

 

[toptec]

Stubertio.

You will never get perfectly straight grout lines with these type of natural slate tiles. I've laid similar ones in my hallway and kitchen. Once they are down and grouted, I would recomend a darker coloured grout, they will not seem so bad as you expect. My hallway is about 10 metres long, the lines are not straight but it adds to the "naturalness" of them.

Starting in a corner though.... not so good. Bite the bullet and start again if it is that bad. By the way you need to seal them before and after laying.

Don't give in - you learn by your mistakes.

 

[DoctorC]

in future, ask for 'fully rectified' tiles. All will be the same size.

even with man-made tiles, be it ceramic or porcelain, the firing process changes the shape of tiles that went into the kiln identically sized.

The rectification process cuts them all to size. Most often seen with quality Porcelain

 

[stubertio]

Thanks, DoctorC, I'll remember that when it comes to the bathroom!!!

Well, I sealed them a couple of nights ago and have started grouting small bits at a time. So far so good, it looks a lot better than I imagined. Will post pictures once it's all grouted and done!

Thanks for the encouragement and the tips. It's such an art form, I have so much respect for the pros.

Stuart

 

[james2008]

Hi Please explain sealing.
Regards j

 

[toptec]

James - Lots on here about sealing. Do a search. Sealing is for natural stone or slate tiles, which are porous. Lots of products about.

Jetfoss n Gcol, (The Tile Guru's ) have recommendations. It also makes cleaning off adhesive or grout easier.

Seal before and after laying

 

[james2008]

Thank's for reply. J

 

[jefoss]

[quote="toptec";p="988826"
Jetfoss n Gcol[/quote]


who is this jetfoss?


looks like a cartoon double act, tom / jerry, itchy / scratchy, maybe bert and ernie?

no no no of course

to you to me, to you to me!

 

[toptec]

Purely a slip of the finger my friend.

 

[jefoss]

Purely a slip of the finger my friend.

not to worry i dont mind i get allsorts on the poker sites, not always nice too ..... lol