Basic adhesive technique and maintaining level tiles

[merlecollins]

I would like both of course, the floor is really quite level and flat except for the odd 2mm rise. I paniced when I realised the tiles were not flat and aborted the whole lay and had to clean up one hell of a mess. Again, no DIY book or on-line help I have seen has mentioned the issue of level vs flat. I am much calmer about this issue now. I presume when you mean flat you do mean that a spirit level cannot rock whatsoever.

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.....

 

[Colour Republic]

I would like both of course, the floor is really quite level and flat except for the odd 2mm rise. I paniced when I realised the tiles were not flat and aborted the whole lay and had to clean up one hell of a mess. Again, no DIY book or on-line help I have seen has mentioned the issue of level vs flat. I am much calmer about this issue now. I presume when you mean flat you do mean that a spirit level cannot rock whatsoever.

Thanks very much for the concise and informative comments. 🙂

You'd find it very hard to find a perfectly level floor, most will go out by more than 2mm, pefectly flat yes, perfectly level no

 

[MrInteractive]

hi you may need to level floor prior to tiling as kitty mentioned change adh and mix thicker you also need to back butter tiles 12mm trowl hope this helps:8:

I think I will go for that slower adhesive.

Thanks for the back buttering advice, I presume I do this in addition to the adhesive on the floor? I think that will help me a lot.

I am definitely going to get a bigger trowel!

Though I am confused then by the instructions on my adhesive which suggests 8mm ribs, as I quoted above. Presumably to get 8mm ribs one should use an 8mm trowel. Presumably you are suggesting creating 12mm ribs?

 

[MrInteractive]

hi mr,,as merle says it may well be a pourable adhesive they have sold you which i would personally take back to the shop.

before starting check your floor with a spirit and if as you say there are only discrepancies of 2mm then a 10 or 12mm trowel will suffice but if there are bigger dips then you may want to self level these first to make it easier.

dont start tiling in a corner,,what is the room is it a kitchen floor? if it is find your focal point or centre,,you need to do something called laying out,this is where u find your centre of the room(measure wall to wall both sides. then draw a mark on the floor and using a tile mark where every tile lands this is to make sure when you come to the edges you dont have impossible or nasty cuts to do.

you want decent sized cuts especially to the door at least half a tile in size so they arent weak and look asthetically good to the eye

I have spent a day laying out this floor to ensure that there are no small tiles required of less than half a tile width, and to ensure that all the edges are symmetrical and the maximum number of whole floor tiles are used and that the view from the door way looks good. It nearly drove me bonkers. I have dry layed out many of the tiles in critical areas and linked them together and checked right angles etc and I am reasonably confident I have at least got the layout right. That was difficult enough!

 

[jay]

I think I will go for that slower adhesive.

Thanks for the back buttering advice, I presume I do this in addition to the adhesive on the floor? I think that will help me a lot.

I am definitely going to get a bigger trowel!

Though I am confused then by the instructions on my adhesive which suggests 8mm ribs, as I quoted above. Presumably to get 8mm ribs one should use an 8mm trowel. Presumably you are suggesting creating 12mm ribs?

yes back butter all tiles and spread floor 12mm rib recomend laying a 1.5 m strait edge on floor first to see how bad bomps are:8: before laying 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.