Hi all
I am about to tile my kitchen floor with 10mm calibrated slate tiles. It has a sand and cement screed floor over UFH. It is very level - I don't think adding SLC would improve it. I just want to make sure I have got the plan right. Any responses to questions or other comments would be much appreciated! This is planned for the bank holiday weekend. There is 18m2 of tiling to do, which is considerably more than I have ever done before.
Thursday night.
1. Clean floor, presumably mop it to get as much dust up as possible and leave to dry overnight
Friday night.
2. Prime with Mapei primer G. Leave for 2 hours or until dry.
- Not sure about how much to dilute - think it is 1:1?
Saturday
3. Put down ditra mat, with rapid set flexible adhesive, with 3mm or 4mm square-notch trowel.
- Are there any cheaper alternatives to ditra mat? I find it a bit of a pain to fill in all of the holes, and it costs a bomb but there are some small cracks in the screed and I don't want to risk it.
- Adhesive: I assume I don't need latex?
- Adhesive: I have only used BAL, Mapei or Ardex before, but is there any reason why I shouldn't use a cheaper adhesive for fixing the ditra mat? Kerakwik is £20 a bag, but I can get other stuff at about £10 a bag.
4. Work out layout. I am having brick-bond with 600 x 400mm tiles.
5. 3 hours after fixing the ditra mat, Fix tiles to ditra mat using flexible adhesive. Need to push adhesive right in to all of the little squares. Use 10mm square notch trowel. Leave 4mm grout lines, using spacers. I won't be able to do it all in a day.
- Should I really be leaving it 24 hours before tiling on to the ditra mat?
- Do I need to use an expensive adhesive like Kerakwik, or any reason I cannot use a cheaper alternative? And is there an alternative with a longer working time? Do I need latex?
- I want it to be really level. Can I use lash clips as well as 4mm spacers? And if I use lash clips, I think I need to back butter each tile as well as putting down the bed of adhesive on the floor. Is that right?
- Cutting: I have a cheap wet tile saw. Is it worth me hiring a better one for the weekend? Cost would be about £40.
- Is it sensible to leave a small expansion gap at the edges? The skirting boards are all off the walls and I will install them over the tiled floor, and silicone along the bottom.
Sunday
6. Continue fixing tiles as above.
Monday
7. remove spacers and clean the tiles. Seal with LTP Mattstone.
- do I need a special product to clean the tiles before sealing?
- do I need more than one coat of sealer?
8. A few hours later, grout tiles with Mapei Ultracolour Plus (grey). Clean with a sponge, a lot.
- Do I seal again after grouting?
That's it (!). Any comments appreciated. Apologies for the length, but I want to be as precise as possible.
I am about to tile my kitchen floor with 10mm calibrated slate tiles. It has a sand and cement screed floor over UFH. It is very level - I don't think adding SLC would improve it. I just want to make sure I have got the plan right. Any responses to questions or other comments would be much appreciated! This is planned for the bank holiday weekend. There is 18m2 of tiling to do, which is considerably more than I have ever done before.
Thursday night.
1. Clean floor, presumably mop it to get as much dust up as possible and leave to dry overnight
Friday night.
2. Prime with Mapei primer G. Leave for 2 hours or until dry.
- Not sure about how much to dilute - think it is 1:1?
Saturday
3. Put down ditra mat, with rapid set flexible adhesive, with 3mm or 4mm square-notch trowel.
- Are there any cheaper alternatives to ditra mat? I find it a bit of a pain to fill in all of the holes, and it costs a bomb but there are some small cracks in the screed and I don't want to risk it.
- Adhesive: I assume I don't need latex?
- Adhesive: I have only used BAL, Mapei or Ardex before, but is there any reason why I shouldn't use a cheaper adhesive for fixing the ditra mat? Kerakwik is £20 a bag, but I can get other stuff at about £10 a bag.
4. Work out layout. I am having brick-bond with 600 x 400mm tiles.
5. 3 hours after fixing the ditra mat, Fix tiles to ditra mat using flexible adhesive. Need to push adhesive right in to all of the little squares. Use 10mm square notch trowel. Leave 4mm grout lines, using spacers. I won't be able to do it all in a day.
- Should I really be leaving it 24 hours before tiling on to the ditra mat?
- Do I need to use an expensive adhesive like Kerakwik, or any reason I cannot use a cheaper alternative? And is there an alternative with a longer working time? Do I need latex?
- I want it to be really level. Can I use lash clips as well as 4mm spacers? And if I use lash clips, I think I need to back butter each tile as well as putting down the bed of adhesive on the floor. Is that right?
- Cutting: I have a cheap wet tile saw. Is it worth me hiring a better one for the weekend? Cost would be about £40.
- Is it sensible to leave a small expansion gap at the edges? The skirting boards are all off the walls and I will install them over the tiled floor, and silicone along the bottom.
Sunday
6. Continue fixing tiles as above.
Monday
7. remove spacers and clean the tiles. Seal with LTP Mattstone.
- do I need a special product to clean the tiles before sealing?
- do I need more than one coat of sealer?
8. A few hours later, grout tiles with Mapei Ultracolour Plus (grey). Clean with a sponge, a lot.
- Do I seal again after grouting?
That's it (!). Any comments appreciated. Apologies for the length, but I want to be as precise as possible.
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