Calibrated tiles

[advancetiling]

mrs stone website do a nice brazilian slate,recently did a large job with them,pretty uniform size and brilliant quality for the price

 

[DHTiling]

In the case of natural split slate tiles (or sandstone & limestone ) Calibrated is a term used to describe when the tile or paving has had some form of processing carried out to its back face to reduce the variation in thickness caused by it being naturally split, as opposed to sawn/machined.

It cannot give you totally uniform thickness due to the fact that you still have a natural split top surface (otherwise referred to as a riven top surface).

The 'calibration' of the tile could be as little as the use of a sanding disk to take of the worst of the peaks as in typical Indian or Chinese slates (+/-3mm or more!) or a proper machined flat back surface as in a good Brazilian slate (+/- 1mm).

As far as i am aware there is not a controlled standard of what the thickness tolerance should be on these types of material, always check with your supplier before buying and ideally see the variation yourself to avoid nasty suprises.

Not only our Wetroom guy but a stone importer, so knows his stones..

I would have just laid the slate no probs as quite a few good tilers on here would.. Some calibration can differ quite a bit as stated.. +/- calibration can vary quite a bit depending on material/suppliers and quality.

I think your tiler is being fussy or cannot lay slate..

 

[choffer74]

Hi,

I've just been looking at these brazilian state from Mrs Stone - would you recommend them for a diy'er? this will be the first lot of floor tiles i've laid. Done wall tiles before. We got a sample from mrs stone yesterday and they look fantastic. Would love to lay them but getting a bit worried about all the things that might go wrong!

 

[Del W]

Welcome to TF. Slate can be very difficult unless youve got a lot of diy tiling under youre belt.If you want to have a go ,theres plenty of advice here.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Hi,

I've just been looking at these brazilian state from Mrs Stone - would you recommend them for a diy'er? this will be the first lot of floor tiles i've laid. Done wall tiles before. We got a sample from mrs stone yesterday and they look fantastic. Would love to lay them but getting a bit worried about all the things that might go wrong!

1st of all :welcome:.

I don't know the supplier of your sample slate (ie not dealt with them before) but if I was sending out a test piece it would be of the highest quality.
Then again it's what they have in stock and will send on receipt of your money that counts.
We are at present on a 75sq mt Chinese Slate job the customer purchased off the internet and cost was the ONLY factor. The inside room was tiled with 35sq mts of material chosen for the quality and colour and the remaining 40sq mts to be used outside on a patio (possibly by others!)
IMHO Slate is not a product I would recommend for your first floor tiling experience and a question I often ask is 'will your attempt add value to your property?'
However if you are a competent DIY enthusiast then start a new thread with your questions and you will receive good advice from the Best Tilers Forum.
Good Luck.

 

[widler]

if you lay these,i would take my time,make sure your floor is bob on,mine were laid on a floor which god knows who concreted years ago before i bought it,in a house which was built in 1860ish,i had no choice to lay over this 'concrete' due to heights mostly and money.these are the mrs stone calibrated riven slate tiles which i laid,600 x 600,to be fair they ranged from about 7 to 15mm,but cost me £12.50m2,bargin,and were a challange to lay,but looked then and still look now great(they are in my album,my extreamly lucky daughters house,to have such a wonderful dad)
:smilewinkgrin:

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Hi Widler, is that a closer in the floor?

 

[DHTiling]

Ooow looks like a closer to me.. wonder why..?

 

[doug boardley]

...deffo a closer...

 

[Del W]

Dave, can you check your pms please.

 

[Tabby Cranks]

Hi Widler, is that a closer in the floor?

I'm going for two different substrates and a movement joint.

 

[Ian]

A ply cover over a channel that contains pipes, that's my guess!

 

[widler]

ha ha,well,right,erm,i hoped no one would spot that,you see,what i did,was,erm,right,i also bought some 600 x 300 for the bathroom floor and had a few left over,so being a clever dick as i am,i thought,"well,considering this is going to be the dining room area i think i will split it so its like a differant area":rolleyes5:

the day after i thought,what the blinking hell did i do that for,oh well,the women won't notice,tich,as if the women will notice. well the gob full i got off em all,even the 5year old noticed

im acually sat here waiting for the verbal abuse,im all embarressed:smilewinkgrin:

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

No need mate, I thought there must be a reason as long as everyone is happy:smilewinkgrin: some very keen eyes on here.

 

[choffer74]

i will certainly be taking my time!
Good thing is the kitchen floor seems pretty flat, and its only about 5 sqm with very few awkward spots.
I spoke with someone and mrs stones floors and they said the calibrated brazilian slate should be 10mm with little variation - should i be taking this with a pinch of salt? as you mention 7 - 15 mm

love your floor. Is that white grouting? we were going to go for a grey grout but not sure now.