Advice Needed On Using Mosaic And Large Format Wall Tiles

[DaveM]

I'm going to be tiling this week in my bathroom, it's been bashed off back to the brick and plasterboarded and tanked and the walls are pretty much square and plumb, but there's a small amount of concaveness to one of the walls, it's only a few mm, but someone mentioned to me that I may struggle with large format tiles (250x500), so did a bit of reading and people seem to recommend a 10mm notch trowel for this? I've also got some mosaic tiles to make a border round the room, but again, I did some reading and it seems that I need a much smaller notch trowel for these? How would I get around the difference in height? The mosaics are 6mm and the tiles are 7mm.

Thanks for any help

 

[macten]

I would just straighten the wall out with some rapid set before tiling. When you do the tiling fix all the large format field tiles and what I do is cut chocks of wood to width of mosaic border and this allows you to continue tiling above the border. Here's a pic of the last one I did so you get the idea:

Once all the field tiles are done you can get cracking with your mosaics. I tend to use the dog tooth method to bed the mosaics flush with field tiles. In cases like the above you can cut your own 'comb' out of an old credit card, window packer or even an off cut of tile.

So something like this:

So if your mosaics are 7mm thick then cut your comb at about 5mm. Now you can just trowel in your adhesive into the blank border, comb it and this will leave you a perfectly flat bed of adhesive at the correct depth to 'pad' in your mosaics flush with the field tile. If loads of adhesive is oozing through the mosaic mesh then your comb is too short if there's not enough adhesive then the comb is too long. A couple of mm short of mosaic tile thickness tends to be just right.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks mate, much appreciated, some great info there, the little wooden blocks thing is perfect!

Do you think I should dump the 10mm notch trowel for a smaller one then? 6mm?

 

[macten]

6mm is likely to be too small for that size tile - remember you're after 100% coverage in wet areas.

 

[Italy]

[Quote = "Davem, posta: 821.746, membro: 46760"] Grazie compagno, molto apprezzato, qualche grande informazioni là, la piccola blocchi di legno cosa è perfetta!

Pensi che dovrei scaricare la cazzuola tacca 10 mm per una più piccola, allora? 6 millimetri? [/ Quote]

 

[DaveM]

6mm is likely to be too small for that size tile - remember you're after 100% coverage in wet areas.

OK, got it now, thanks again!

[Quote = "Davem, posta: 821.746, membro: 46760"] Grazie compagno, molto apprezzato, qualche grande informazioni là, la piccola blocchi di legno cosa è perfetta!

Pensi che dovrei scaricare la cazzuola tacca 10 mm per una più piccola, allora? 6 millimetri? [/ Quote]

grazie mate!

 

[DaveM]

I have another question, my tiles arrived today, 250x300, ceramic 7mm thick, but I've opened 3 boxes and so far all of them are not flat, they seem to have a slight bend at one end by about 2-3mm making them kind of concave. Is this going to cause me problems, or is this pretty normal?

Thanks again

 

[WetSaw]

A bit of both! It's not unusual and can cause you problems depending on your layout. Brick bond will show up any irregularities so is best avoided if the tiles aren't flat.

 

[DaveM]

I was going to do the brick pattern, yes. OK thanks for the info, I'll get them sent back.

 

[WetSaw]

Lay some out on a flat surface and you'll get an idea what you're up against.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks, I've just done that and if you push down on one side, the other side lifts up by a few mm. Would a tile leveling kit help with this?

 

[hmtiling]

Doubtful with ceramics

 

[Stef]

It's not a very big tile to try & pull with clips. Sit the tiles face to face & you will see how much they are out.
There's a lot of tiles like that out there, stack them & it won't be as noticeable.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks.

OK, so if I put 2 tiles face to face and grip at one end and hold up to the light, there's a 3-4mm gap. But, if I gently push the gap together while holding the other end together, the gap closes, they seem quite flexible. Does that mean I could fix the bend with the levelers?

 

[WetSaw]

The idea of the levelling systems is to get the edges of the tiles perfectly flat, not to try to bend them into shape. As Stef says, changing from brick bond ( which is sooo last year darling..) to stacked will reduce the problem considerably.

 

[Flintstone]

If the tiles are curved and your going brick bond, your gonna have problems no may get what you do. I would stack them. Dare I ask, are they cheap tiles off the internet?

You can get a product called mosaic mesh, I use this when doing any mosaic strips. Gives them some rigidity and stops them moving about.

 

[DaveM]

The only problem I have is that the Mrs really wants the brick pattern, but she understands that she will have to wait to get new tiles to have it. I could live with them stacked.

As for cheap, not the cheapest, but around 20 a sq/m. Wickes replica they are called. There were a couple of reviews stating that they had bowed tiles, but I wrongly assumed it was just a bad batch.

@Localtiler I saw a vid on youtube where a tiler applied the adhesive to some stuff that he called membrane, then pressed the mosaic onto that, and then left it to harden and then cut the mosaic into strips and stuck them on the wall. is that what you mean? Thanks for the info!

 

[macten]

Stack'em Dave M - listen to the pros! We see the trends and can confirm half bond is going out of fashion.
If the Mrs is insistent then you could compromise and put them on the 3/4 bond. This will also reduce the problems caused by the bowed tiles somewhat.

 

[Sean Kelly]

To get over the difference in thickness of the tiles and the mosaics you can introduce a bit of bling to your bathroom. In the above picture I have tiled a shower with a large tile, then a 10mm chrome trim, then the mosaics, then a 10mm chrome trim and then a large tile. The picture may be a little fuzzy as camera flash is bouncing off the chrome trim. The mosaics are recessed by a couple of mm, but the trim hides the sides of the large tile.

Good luck.

 

[DaveM]

Stack'em Dave M - listen to the pros! We see the trends and can confirm half bond is going out of fashion.
If the Mrs is insistent then you could compromise and put them on the 3/4 bond. This will also reduce the problems caused by the bowed tiles somewhat.

I'm listening and I've shown the Mrs this and we are going with stacked! Thanks.

 

[WetSaw]

Excellent choice. Your wife is a wise woman!

 

[Italy]

Stack'em Dave M - listen to the pros! We see the trends and can confirm half bond is going out of fashion.
If the Mrs is insistent then you could compromise and put them on the 3/4 bond. This will also reduce the problems caused by the bowed tiles somewhat.

ahahha you are great.!!!

 

[DaveM]

View attachment 83094 To get over the difference in thickness of the tiles and the mosaics you can introduce a bit of bling to your bathroom. In the above picture I have tiled a shower with a large tile, then a 10mm chrome trim, then the mosaics, then a 10mm chrome trim and then a large tile. The picture may be a little fuzzy as camera flash is bouncing off the chrome trim. The mosaics are recessed by a couple of mm, but the trim hides the sides of the large tile.

Good luck.

Yes, that makes sense, looks great too, I'll run that idea past her too, thanks for the info

 

[hmtiling]

If you go the trim route put it behind the big tiles not the mosaics as it can kick the edges out slightly

 

[Flintstone]

Stacked looks way better and much more modern, the amount of people I talk aut of brick bond and they love it. Just gotta ditch the horizontal boarder now ;-)