brick flooring, 9"x4"x42mm

[Bryan]

Hey everyone,

I've got a job coming up as described, I was just wanting to know if anyone out ther had done anything similar, as its not you run of the mill tiing job especially the thickness of tile/brick (42mm). Would you recommend floor or wall trowel, rapid or standard set, or any other tips or pointers including setting out as they have to be laid brick bond thoughout ground floor, with them being so small planning out seems to be almost pointless as I'm bound to be left with bad cuts everywhere.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[david campbell]

:welcome:to the forum

this sounds like your laying cobbles......lol
i would be looking at 12/15mm floor trowel maybe deeper for this mate

 

[starmsy]

:welcome::smilewinkgrin:

 

[Alan.P]

If you mean brick as in brick, then yes, done similar but on walls, what size joint are you going for ? you may be able to avoid daft cuts by altering the joint size by a mm in various rooms, you won't notice it and it will give a better finish.

 

[Richard Edwards]

As Alan has said - use the joint width as a means of ending up with 'proper' cuts at the ends of each run.

You need to decide / with client if your going to lay them at 50% joints all the time or vary the bond to go say 66 / 33 etc ie irregular bond.

Get the substrate as flat as you would for fine porcelain i e SLC if necessary

Use slow setting / standard setting adhesive as you wil need to slide them along to 'ease' the joints.

Check the brick - sometimes called 'slip bricks' face and see how your going to grout them. Very rough faces will be a pig to grout and a sponge will last about 30 mins if your lucky. Then ponder the matter of sealing and consider a couple of coats of sealer before grouting and a coat afterwards too.

Setting out - As I see it consider it the same as paviours - check the walls for run out and plan the lines accurately. Nothing looks worst than lines of bricks, all bends and wobbles. I would consider using a straight edge to tile up to - ie 3 or 4m batten that is dead straight.

Go for it with your eyes shut and your customer will need to be visually impaired, go for it with your eyes open and your customer can enjoy the result.

Please post some pictures please of results - interesting.

Attached photo will show why its important to plan it correctly - This central line was layed first - something you might consider Bryan.

 

[Bryan]

Thanks all for the advice this has helped me get my head around some of the obvious problems especially varying my lines to avoid nighmare cuts.

The contractor originally wanted 10mm grout lines Alan but have since told him the amount of grout needed is already crazy an have told him 4mm will keep the cost down, which brings me onto my next problem, estimating how much grout I'll need with tiles so small and deep.

I am in the process of quoting now, I am confident of getting the job as it seems all the local tilers are avoiding it like the plague but I dont want to price myself out. Do you think £** psm is to much? I'm thinking its not enough.

Thanks again,

Bryan

 

[Alan.P]

We're not really supposed to discuss pricing in this part of the forum, without mentioning ££££££'s, it all depends, if your suppling materials etc and you know your speed and how long the job will take, you'll know what profit there is, question is, are you happy with it.

For a grout calculator, see here.

LINK

 

[Bryan]

Thanks Alan, that grout calculator will come in very useful!

Have you ever used hot liseed oil then wax sealer to seal tiles? As this is what is recommended on these tiles. As you can see this job is not what I'm used to but I always like to challenge myself and learn!

Thanks Again.

P.S Thanks to everyone who has welcomed me on the forum.

 

[Perry]

Never heard of that one hot linseed oil lol boiled linseed oil i have heard of bricks treat them the same way as terracotta i hate wax think its the worst thing you could ever use IMO ete

 

[Bryan]

Thanks Pete, how is the wax applied and does it need polished afterwards?

 

[SandyFloor]

I did a similar job earlier in the year with Fired Earth reclaimed stuff. It's the only job I've done where the grouting took as long as the laying and I used as much grout as adhesive. The job wasn't a problem...just took a long time.

 

[Perry]

Thanks Pete, how is the wax applied and does it need polished afterwards?[/QU
its not don't use it