Adhesive

[Degsy]

Hi I am tiling a large Kitchen doing the floor and the walls in the past I have done the small jobs and got professionals in for any large work.
Can you advice on the best way to apply the adhesive to the ceramic wall and floor tiles as some tilers apply the adhesive to the tile and then lay onto the wall or floor and some apply it direct to the floor and walls what is the best way and is there an advantage with doing one or the other?

 

[diamondtiling]

Hello and :welcome:

The adhesive should be applied to the surface thats being tiled, this should give a uniform level of adhesive to press the tiles into, putting it onto each individual tile is time consuming and will create hollow areas. Sometimes tiles have to be back buttered for walls or floors that are not even or level but in those cases you would apply a skim of adhesive or a SLC to the floor
I would be very wary of a pro tiler that worked in the way you have described.

 

[garretridge]

always apply to the floor or walls first only apply to tile if its in an ackward place were you cant get the trowel in or if the floor is uneven apply to the floor and tile (backbutter)it as well gives you better adhesion!

 

[Dan]

As above really. You might need to bed out the tiles on the walls or floor which is when you'd want to 'backbutter' the tile, though in general if it's a flat surface you'd only need to apply the adhesive to the surface. Work from a few boxes of tiles (just in case they are slightly different sizes/shades) and do a small area at a time, about a meter or so is often enough which you'd then make sure is all level and plumb (walls) or flat and square (floors).