Tiling A Conservatory Floor

[landofdan]

hi, can anyone give me some advise of how i should go about tiling a conservatory floor?

I had a horrible spongy carpet on it when we moved in. so i've ripped this up and exposed the concrete floor with the intention to tile it.

the floor seems solid enough but its a slightly rough surface, so i thought about a floor levelling compound - but after searching the many bits of advice on the interent im not sure which is the best way to go about it.

i was hoping it would be as simple as mixing a certain amount of stuff up and pouring it out on the floor and then let it level out by its self?

or would i be better off being abit more generous with the tile adheasive to make up for the rough surface?

its not a massve area 2.7m x 2.7m. i will get some photo's when i get home and put them up for a better idea.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Richard C]

How rough is it? A rough surface is generally not a problem for tiling over as long as it’s flat. What size tiles are you proposing to use? The larger the tiles the flatter the tile base needs to be.

I would advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts before doing any more work or buying materials, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. It’s important to use only quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base; cheapo own brand & DIY stuff is mostly crap.

 

[landofdan]

here are a couple of photos of the floor. thanks for the reply i have read through the tilng topic - and like you say i need to find out if its actually flat rather than it looking flat.

planning on using 600x300 slate tiles, but staggered so it looks like a brick wall.

this is the first thing i've ever tiled, so i little bit nervous about doing anything really!

 

[Richard C]

What is the square pattern about? Is it just marks from carpet tape or something about the construction of the floor? Otherwise it looks OK as long as it’s reasonably flat; use a large format trowel: 20mm round notches, 13mm deep, at 28mm centres which should take care of it. Cement powder adhesive only for floors not tub ready mix.

If you intend tiling brick weave with large format tiles, you need to check the manufacturing tolerance on the tiles you intend using before you start. If they “bow” (cup) too much, this can very apparent as lippage on the tiled floor (the ends of the tiles will not be flush with the centre of the adjacent tile). It’s possible for this to be significant & still be within limits but obviously if the tiles are laid in conventional fashion the bowing does not notice.

 

[landofdan]

i think the squares from the glue, there was a plastic underlay stuck down to the concrete and then a carpet on top of that.

thanks Richard, i've read up on lippage and bowing now and i think i understand it now, more things to worry about! no as simple as i thought it would be this tiling lark

seems people have alot of problems with porcelin tiles, due to them bending when they are cooked.

do slate tiles get cooked? would i get the same bowing problem with slate?

from what i can gather best way to avoid it is make sure floor is level, make sure the adheasive is level and make sure all your tiles are flat before putting them down. use bent ones for the cuts or send them back.

 

[tictic]

seal the slate before fixing or use a pre grout sealer. then get your set out sorted
sbr up the room then across it
then use a ptb adhesive
work clean at all times
then seal again twice just follow mfr instructions

 

[tpt]

Slate is a natural product, it is just quarried out of the ground. Make sure you buy a calibrated slate and then it should all be close to 10mm thick.
as tic tic says, you'll need to seal it (before and after you grout.)

 

[Richard C]

do slate tiles get cooked? would i get the same bowing problem with slate?

Sorry that didn’t register in my feeble brain; if it’s natural slate then you won’t get the problem but you should still check tile accuracy carefully before you lay them.

Follow tictic’s advice re priming, addy & sealing tiles.