Basic adhesive technique and maintaining level tiles

[MrInteractive]

You need to look at what the area is for - is there anything getting fitted to the floor that needs it to be level, i.e. a WC pan or pool table :lol:
I don't think you need worry too much about being 2mm out of level :smilewinkgrin:
Just get the floor flat without lipsIf your concrete is flat and you use a good serating trowel you will be OK - just make sure you keep your trowel at the same angle when spreading

And the most important thing is - DON'T PANIC.....

I am getting calmer

What do you mean by lips?

Presumably if I want 8mm ribs then I can get that from a 12mm trowel by angling at about 45 degrees? As 12*Sin(45) is approximately 8!

 

[kilty55]

lips are lippage,,where tiles are not flat and edges stick up mate.

use the 12mm trowel matethat bed shd be heavy enough for your tiles using an decent adhesive

 

[Sean fsy]

if the total area is only 4m2 i would suggest you dry fit all the tiles first, ie lay them without adhesive and do all cuts. then when you start laying them you can adjust the tiles as your laying them without a major difference in the time scale, that way you can still use the adhesive you have got as time will be on your side when laying. just remember to mark floor with pencil or crayon or something similar where the tiles were. also if you havent got one already i suggest you buy a small paddle mixer to put in a electric drill and mix the addy with it, keep checking and adding water till it gets to the right consistency so it doesnt just fall off the trowel.

Sean.

 

[DHTiling]

I had never realised what a skilled job this was!

:smilewinkgrin:...At last recognition for tilers...

 

[tfs]

Hi mate,

Based on my personal experience, I think slower setting adhesives are best would be best for you mate as you are just starting out. Adhesive I would suggest looking into would be Keraflex maxi and Adisilex p9, both are Mapei products. If you dont have a trade account though, you will get charged an arm and a leg.

The two adhesives I mentioned are not as versatile as Keraquick but they are slower setting with a pot life of up to 8hrs. Just means you will need to wait longer before you grout etc which isnt always ideal for you or the customer.

 

[merlecollins]

Keraflex maxi and Adisilex p9

Both are excellent adhesives

 

[Colour Republic]

if the total area is only 4m2 i would suggest you dry fit all the tiles first, ie lay them without adhesive and do all cuts. then when you start laying them you can adjust the tiles as your laying them without a major difference in the time scale, that way you can still use the adhesive you have got as time will be on your side when laying. just remember to mark floor with pencil or crayon or something similar where the tiles were. also if you havent got one already i suggest you buy a small paddle mixer to put in a electric drill and mix the addy with it, keep checking and adding water till it gets to the right consistency so it doesnt just fall off the trowel.

Sean.

are you saying do all your cuts at the dry laying stage?

 

[tfs]

I would also put in the exact water ratio as reccomended by the manufacturer, this will esnure you get the correct mix without the need to try and guess consistency as consistency varies from product to product.

 

[Sean fsy]

I would also put in the exact water ratio as reccomended by the manufacturer, this will esnure you get the correct mix without the need to try and guess consistency as consistency varies from product to product.

.

we all know this never happens in real life, discretion is better in my opinion. as for the dry cuts, yes do them first for the amount of tiling that is to be done. remeber this guy is no professional and after good advice so whats the point in telling him how a pro would do this job in a couple of hours. best to give him advice that will help him and not for him to waste more time and exspense on adhesives etc.

 

[tfs]

.

we all know this never happens in real life, discretion is better in my opinion. as for the dry cuts, yes do them first for the amount of tiling that is to be done. remeber this guy is no professional and after good advice so whats the point in telling him how a pro would do this job in a couple of hours. best to give him advice that will help him and not for him to waste more time and exspense on adhesives etc.

sorry mate, but it is the correct advice when Im telling him to mix his adhesive to the correct measurements.

Get a grip! it doesnt matter if your a pro or not if you dont mix the gear correct you aint it ain going to perform as it should. (they give you instruction for a reason)

Also, I didnt tell him how to do it in a few hours

read the post accuratly and get your facts right pal

I actua;y suggested he looked into keraflex and adisilex p9 (THESE WOULD MAKE THE JOB LONGER! NOT QUICKER)

 

[merlecollins]

sorry mate, but it is the correct advice when Im telling him to mix his adhesive to the correct measurements.

Get a grip! it doesnt matter if your a pro or not if you dont mix the gear correct you aint it ain going to perform as it should. (they give you instruction for a reason)

Also, I didnt tell him how to do it in a few hours

read the post accuratly and get your facts right pal

I actua;y suggested he looked into keraflex and adisilex p9 (THESE WOULD MAKE THE JOB LONGER! NOT QUICKER

Uh oh!! :lol::lol:

 

[Colour Republic]

.

we all know this never happens in real life, discretion is better in my opinion. as for the dry cuts, yes do them first for the amount of tiling that is to be done. remeber this guy is no professional and after good advice so whats the point in telling him how a pro would do this job in a couple of hours. best to give him advice that will help him and not for him to waste more time and exspense on adhesives etc.

I'm not trying to argue with you here, as everybody’s opinion is valid

But could you explain how you dry cut and why it would be simpler? I've never done it that way so I can only assume how you would go about it. In my mind it would be near impossible to do right as you'd be walking over unfixed tiles which would move and when you come to lay them you'd have to get them back into the original place spot on. Which would make it very difficult? Am I missing something here?

I'd agree that it's rare to get a measuring jug out and mix to exact specs, as I’m sure we all mix it to a consistency that feels right regardless of instructions (I sometimes wonder if water hardness can affect the consistency??) But as you say he isn't a pro so the best place to start would be to mix to instructions as he doesn't know what consistency it should be as he's already stated.

As I say, I’m not saying you’re wrong just interested in your dry cut methods that would make it easier for him? Are you assuming that skirting is going on top of the cuts?

 

[Sean fsy]

hes tried doing it by the book or do folk not read properly, obviously by the book is not the way to go in this situation. and anyone who says they always exactly do measuring to the nearest cls are talking utter nonesense. dry fixing the tiles is the only way to do jobs some times when you only have a single way in and out of a job(recent topic on this somewhere.) as said previous i would put my house on the fact i can dryfit a room then stick it down faster that mixing,cutting,mixing,cutting,mixing ,cutting etc etc. we are not talking 10,15,20,25m2 here we are talking 4m2!!!!!!!!!!! so wind your necks in and stop reading the tiling bible of excellense and use a bit of common sense.

 

[Colour Republic]

hes tried doing it by the book or do folk not read properly, obviously by the book is not the way to go in this situation. and anyone who says they always exactly do measuring to the nearest cls are talking utter nonesense. dry fixing the tiles is the only way to do jobs some times when you only have a single way in and out of a job(recent topic on this somewhere.) as said previous i would put my house on the fact i can dryfit a room then stick it down faster that mixing,cutting,mixing,cutting,mixing ,cutting etc etc. we are not talking 10,15,20,25m2 here we are talking 4m2!!!!!!!!!!! so wind your necks in and stop reading the tiling bible of excellense and use a bit of common sense.

It seems you are looking for an arguement, I thought I was perfectly polite to you.

Have a nice day won't you

 

[Sean fsy]

sorry mate, but it is the correct advice when Im telling him to mix his adhesive to the correct measurements.

Get a grip! it doesnt matter if your a pro or not if you dont mix the gear correct you aint it ain going to perform as it should. (they give you instruction for a reason)

Also, I didnt tell him how to do it in a few hours

read the post accuratly and get your facts right pal

I actua;y suggested he looked into keraflex and adisilex p9 (THESE WOULD MAKE THE JOB LONGER! NOT QUICKER)

hes tried doing it by the book or do folk not read properly, obviously by the book is not the way to go in this situation. and anyone who says they always exactly do measuring to the nearest cls are talking utter nonesense. dry fixing the tiles is the only way to do jobs some times when you only have a single way in and out of a job(recent topic on this somewhere.) as said previous i would put my house on the fact i can dryfit a room then stick it down faster that mixing,cutting,mixing,cutting,mixing ,cutting etc etc. we are not talking 10,15,20,25m2 here we are talking 4m2!!!!!!!!!!! so wind your necks in and stop reading the tiling bible of excellense and use a bit of common sense.