Porcelain tiles on floors / wall.

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Hi , I have purchased some porcelain mosaic floor tiles for my bathroom. 33cmX33cm sheet tiles with 25 small tiles on them. I plan to tile the floor, a small way up the wall in place of a skirting board, about a foot above the bath and a small splashback above the sink worktop, all with the same tiles if this is possible. The shower is going to be done with wetwall panels.

The floor is 18mm tounge and groove softwood floorboards which has been covered with 6mm ply for the previous floor (Karndean lino type floor tiles)

My plan is as follows.

1. Put another sheet of 6mm ply screwed onto floor then seal it with pva or tank it if recommended.
2. Fix the tiles with flexible adhesive suitible for porcelain tiles. Suggestions please.
3. Grout the tiles with flexible grout. Suggestions please. Also as I will be grouting the same tiles on the floor and wall would it look best to use the same colour of grout all over?
4. Seal the tiles? Will I need to seal the tiles after installation. There are quick fitting instructions on the back of the box and it does not mention sealing them. The have a mid-glossy finish. Can it do any harm to seal the tiles anyway?

Also I believe porcelain tiles are much harder to cut than ceramic ones. I have a diy electric tile cutter with diamond blade, will tihs be suitable for cutting them?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks
 
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1. Take up the old 6mm ply and put bown at least 12mm ply, one layer of 12mm will be firmer than two 6mm

2. BAL Rapidset flexible, BAL mosaic fix or Granfix single part flexible, white would be a good idea with mosaic tiles. Pat the tiles down level with a grout float, Mosaic trowel to apply the adhesive.

3. Same coulor grout all over, BAL Superflex widejoint grout white or coloured, you will need a lot of grout, I have just done some 50x50 porc mosaics and was using 10kg of grout for about 2.5m2

4. I don't usually seal

A good manual cutter or DIY electric cutter will be fine, just watch the water does not affect the glue holding the tiles to the mesh ;)

Jason
 
I agree with all of the above except the Granfix - only time I had a floor fail (the customer ignored my advice about BAL and insisted on Granfix to save a few quid :rolleyes: ). Always use BAL flexible gear for tiling onto ply floors people.
 
Thanks very much for your replies. Will take up the 6mm ply, probably wont be that much more for 12mm ply anyway. BAL seem to be the tradesman's choice so I will try to get their adhesive and grout. Will waterproof PVA be OK to seal the ply before laying the tiles or should I go the whole hog and tank the floor. Also as I am fitting wetwall panels for the shower I just wondered if I should tank the plasterboard (it green water resistant plasterboard) behind the wetwall or if this is not necessary with wetwall.
 
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NO PVA the BAL adhesives can go straight onto the ply, though you may want to seal the underside of the boards with BAL Bond SBR.

Walls should be OK if you seal all the board edges.

JAson
 
My wife has now decided she wants different tiles and the porcelain ones have to be returned. She now wants travertine brick mosaics with about 60 small tiles per sheet.

I take it the laying procedure will be the same except that these will need to be sealed?

The tiles are a dull matt finish just now, once sealed will they look the same or will they be glossy, or does it depend on the sealer used?

Are there any other things to know about travertine tiles before laying them?

Thanks again.
 
Use BAl mosaic fix and BAl superflex wide joint grout, will take a lot of grout approx 4kg per sq mtr.

Seal the stone a couple of times before grouting and the same afterwards. An inpregnator type seal will keep the matt look, an enhancer will bring out the colour and give a sheen much like wetting a piece of the stone, I use Lithofin sealers.

Will need to be cut with a wet electric cutter.

Jason
 

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