Ceramic Tiles on Floor Boards

[McP77]

Grout will be fine.

Fastflex powder comes in grey and white. White is a lot more expensive.

 

[petergft]

McP77,
Thanks for your reply and, advise. I'm still screwing floorboards down (carefully) to ensure the base is firm as can be. Should boards then be coated in Bal Bond?

 

[McP77]

Boards should be primed with 2 coats of BAL APD. Second coat at right angles to the first

 

[petergft]

Thanks, Oh my knee's !!!!
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Bal APD ? how soon after applying can you cmmence Tiling? How much downward pressure should I exert on the Tiles when laying?
Thanks,
Pete

 

[McP77]

You can commence tiling when the APD has dried.

You need to apply the tiles with a twisting motion as well as downward. The object is to get 100% coverage. Best thing is to put one down, then lift it up again to check coverage. If you're getting 100% you've got the technique.

(As for knees don't normally have too much problem. Having a week's break and one of them has started playing up. What's that about then?)

 

[petergft]

Thanks again for the advise. Sounds like your knees are having withdrawel symptoms!
So be back at work though.......
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Just purchesed my Fastflex, the liquid's dearer than vintage champagne! £32 for 5ltr !!
My total bill for Fastflex 7.5 kg x2, Liquid x2, APD and Grout remover tool is, £133 !!
:sad_smile:

 

[Bixley Tiling]

It's not cheap stuff is it.:wink_smile:

But it is good, and you're better off using this as you don't want to lift it all up and start again when cracks start appearing in the grout lines after 6 months.

Also, if you're knees are killing you, wear kneepads, if you already are, double them up or get a gardening mat or similar.

Mark.:happy:

 

[petergft]

Thanks for the reply Mark. Your right of course I don't want to have to take them up.
I think the knees are a legacy from my 40 years in Engineering however, I am wearing knee pads and using a Garden mat!
I'm just finnishing off checking floor level before 'Dry Laying' the tiles. I've also bought a box of 'damaged tiles' from B&Q for a quid! I thought these might assist me in trial cuts on my new wet cutter and also, usefull for marking out wall shapes.
I'm gratefull for the excellent advise given out by you guys on this forum. I have a cousin in the Reading area whose been tiling for over forty years however, my hard drive crashed a few months ago and his address and phone numbers were on there!

 

[Bixley Tiling]

Good idea with the damaged tiles. For a quid you can't go wrong

Take it easy with the knees mate, all part of the fun with tiling...lol.

A little tip with the wet cutter if you haven't used one b4.
The 1st time i used one i overfilled the water tray and spent the rest of the day working with soggy nads, not pleasant. Haven't done it since then though..lol.

Good luck with the final lay.:wink_smile:

 

[DHTiling]

good luck pete....and post some pics of finished job........dave..

 

[petergft]

Hi Guys,
I've not yet layed my Tiles has I had the weekend off and, running my business has taken up unexpected time. I did manage to put a couple of coats of APD down yesterday and was wondering if I needed to apply more, due to the fact I wont now be Tiling until tomorrow (Wednesday) ?
Did some cutting wth the Plasplugs 'Tilemaster Plus' wet cutter. There is a flimsy steel bracket, supporting the Slashguard, and it is really a nuisance trying to align the bracket with the cutting wheel. I was continually stopping to carry out alignment, poor cheap design. Another anomaly is the ' adjustable' straight edge, my Tiles are 333 sq and I could'nt make a cut of 198mm using the straight edge due to the curved corner shape of the cutting table. There are serations along the top and bottom edges of the table to lock the straight edge, in place for cutting. I inverted the straight edge and 'G' clamped it to the underside of the table which, enabled me to attain the desired dimension.
Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[CJ]

Good idea with the damaged tiles. For a quid you can't go wrong

Take it easy with the knees mate, all part of the fun with tiling...lol.

A little tip with the wet cutter if you haven't used one b4.
The 1st time i used one i overfilled the water tray and spent the rest of the day working with soggy nads, not pleasant. Haven't done it since then though..lol.

Good luck with the final lay.:wink_smile:

Been tiling for a few years................and still get soggy nads

Tend to drape an old towel over me bits when cutting now

 

[petergft]

Just ready to mixing Fastflex, what does my 12mm notched trowel constitute i.e.; a) Thick Bed solid, b) Large format trowel, c) Solid bed topped Trowel ?

The area I'm Tiling require's 47 Tiles, 23 of which I've cut to size from dry laying. I plan to mix maybe a third of the bag to start with and see how this 'dreaded' Fastflex goes.
----
Hi Guys,
I started laying my Tiles on wednesday. I decided to follow advise and mixed a third of the powder and liquid. I prepared well having a bowl of clean water and plenty of cotton cloths and a couple of sponges. The advise to work quickly and cleanly was well founded has the Fastflex does begin to cure after about 45 mins. I'd already 'dry layed' and cut the Tiles to size which, again was good advise. Keeping the grout joints clean is also a timely task! I used a plastic spatula for removing the excess Adhesive and the following day I went over them again using an Engineers scriber with an hooked end, I found this to be the ideal tool after little success with grout remover tools! Not having used the Grout type before I found this to be also time consuming and, used my finger to apply rather than the squegee I'd purchased. I dont know if I'd quite got the mix right has the instructions were vague and it was dryer than I'd expected.
I'm extremely pleased with the final result although it was hard work and I can understand why pro Tilers don't choose to use 'SLOWFLEX' . The floor has a real solid feel and look however, time will be the judge of the product and my skill!
To assist other poster's who, like me come here for expert advise ,I would say; use Fastflex if you don't want a step between rooms, as I didn't, however make sure you follow the advise given to me on this Forum!!
I have taken a couple of Pics of the finnished room and I'm now plumbing the fittings back in place, I'll take some more when this task is complete. I'm off on my Hols on Wednesday, to rest my aching KNEEs !
Thanks again to all of you who took the time out to advise me.
Pete

 

[DHTiling]

no probs mate...pleased it went well.....dave....

 

[McP77]

You're more than welcome Pete