Advice for mosaic and porcelain

[Sludd]

My wife would like the shower cubicle (2 walls inside a quadrant enclosure) tiled with porcelain tiles but with a central vertical strip of glass mosaics.

Is there an adhesive that would be appropriate for both?

The substrate is waterproof cement boards (Abacus elements brand) with all joints and screws waterproofed with tape and compound.

Thanks in advance for any advice...

 

[Dumbo]

Most white powder flexible adhesives are suitable for this you really want the classification of c2 te s1 .
If you have time it may pay to mix up some of the adhesive and spread on one of the mosaic segments and let it dry to make sure it doesn't attack the colouring on the back of the glass tile .

 

[MTiler]

If the mosaics have a coloured backing Mapei P10 is usually suitable, and can be used with other materials. If the mosaics dont have a backing then most decent white cementicious adhesives will be fine ie. Mapei Keraflex Maxi, Kerakoll Bio Gel No Limits, Ardex X77 to name a few. Make sure adhesive used is white.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

There could also be a difference in the thickness of materials!

 

[TheAofT]

As above...
If you have difference in the thickness you can use mosaic backing mesh which makes mosaic sheets more rigid so easy to handle and install.
Also, it will help you to pack out mosaic to match a thicker tile.
Good luck!

 

[Stu Lilley]

Mapei P10 with isolatic

 

[Sludd]

Thankyou all.

The mosaic (not bought yet) are 300 x 300mm and have a mesh back. Is Mapei P10 appropriate for such a mosaic?

I've thought about maybe using a flat metallic edging strip to run down both edges of the mosaics to accommodate the thickness issue and also any slight irregularity in alignment at the edges of the mosaics. I'd them tile the porcelain against that edge. My wife saw something similar in Porcelanosa and liked the effect.

I think it might be worth screwing some of the cement board up in the garage and fixing a few mosaics just to check there's no effect on the colouring of the glass.

Thanks again

 

[Wayne Brown]

Did this one a few years back and used mapie white flexible adhesive with their jasmine grout one thing I would say beware when fitting them the weight of the mosaics can slip and close the grout gap up which spoils the look , carpenters plastic packers can help to keep it nicely spaced best of luck . Kop

 

[On one]

Mixing the adhesive on the stiff side, using an appropriately sized notched trowel and having spot on perfect adhesive ridges(no missing adhesive) for the mosaics should help keep them in place

 

[Wayne Brown]

And the proper prep bud them little bits can sink aswell as slip then look dreadful and difficult to correct , i use a rubber grouting float to gently push into the adhesive some good advice from wrighty . Kop

 

[MTiler]

Use a decent adhesive and mosaics wont slip. If mosaics are thinner than field tiles use a thin sheet of backer board to bring substrate out so mosaics end up flush. Those plastic backer sheets are a pain and can make it messy.

 

[MTiler]

Thankyou all.

The mosaic (not bought yet) are 300 x 300mm and have a mesh back. Is Mapei P10 appropriate for such a mosaic?

I've thought about maybe using a flat metallic edging strip to run down both edges of the mosaics to accommodate the thickness issue and also any slight irregularity in alignment at the edges of the mosaics. I'd them tile the porcelain against that edge. My wife saw something similar in Porcelanosa and liked the effect.

I think it might be worth screwing some of the cement board up in the garage and fixing a few mosaics just to check there's no effect on the colouring of the glass.

Thanks again

P 10 should be fine, it can be used with different materials. Just check spec sheet on Mapei website.

 

[Sludd]

So - a change of plan.

We were at Porcelanosa at the weekend to buy the tiles and she saw these ceramic tiles she wants instead of the mosaic & porcelain plan.

She now wants these ceramic tiles that are 1000 x 333mm, so basically, on the walls of the quadrant enclosure, I would only need one tile (horizontally) per wall as it's a 1000mm quadrant.

Given this very large format, the fact that they are ceramic and no need to consider mosaics any more, is there now a different adhesive that I should be considering for the job?

Also, each of the walls has a slight dip towards the middle. So half way from the corner to the outside of the 1000mm enclosure, the wall dips inwards by about 5mm on one wall and about 3mm on the other.

Should I be considering using some adhesive to "flatten" the walls and letting it set before fixing the tiles, or can I just catch this dip with the adhesive at the time of tiling the walls?

 

[Dumbo]

No , you still should use a good quality flexible adhesive . It would be best for you to try and skim some of the dip out with adhesive .

 

[Sludd]

Thankyou

Just use a plasterer's darby to skim the dip?

And I assume, once that adhesive dries, it won't affect the adhesion of the tiles being laid on top of that dried adhesive?

A skim layer might also help a little to make sure I get full adhesive coverage anyway, from a waterproofing point of view - or am I overthinking now...