Do you butter back of tiles

[robbbin]

Friend of mine has had is bathroom walls tiled, large format 50*30 problem was one fell off luckely for him not in the bath or even worse fell on someone when I tapped them they sound hollow, my guess is the tiler only combed the wall. I told him if 1 or 2 come off easily they really should all come off. Point being you should always butter back of large tile do you agree guys

 

[Fekin]

Sounds like the tiler just hasn't got good coverage on the walls to start with if they are sounding hollow, but for large wall tiles, and floor too then yeah I'd always back butter them, ie, comb the walls as normal then a skim on the tile too.

 

[medlar]

comb the wall or floor then back butter the tile.

 

[enduro]

Depends what size trowel you use, most people use 6mm, i prefer 8mm or if tiles are really bad 10mm on walls. What you should do when fixing is every now and then is fix a tile then remove it and see what coverage you have on the back of the tile, this s a good indication that you could be using the wrong trowel if you havent good a good coveage on the tiles.

 

[cornish_crofter]

Or the tiles could be warped and there is no coverage in the middle of the tile. This happened to me with 325x 250mm tiles. I found that I was offering the tile to the wall and removing them to check for coverage. The top and the bottom on a large number of tiles had made contact whereas the middle had not. I then had to backbutter the middle of the tile in order for full contact to be achieved.

 

[burncross]

like enduro says, would be best to use a 8mm or 10mm trowel and just spread the walls on large format tiles.

 

[cornish_crofter]

like enduro says, would be best to use a 8mm or 10mm trowel and just spread the walls on large format tiles.

That's what I tried to do, and it worked well with the better tiles. It was just the crooked tiles that I had problems with.

 

[Alberta Stone]

Aren't crooked and warped tiles a joy???:santa_cheesy:
As enduro said if you increase the notch size you get better coverage.
Sometimes people will use a notch that is too low a profile or they mix their mud too stiff.
You do have to lift your tiles occasionally to insure you are getting the right results.
Backbuttering is a good technique.

 

[cornish_crofter]

I find that when using powdered adhesive, if you get the mix right then you can really make the job easier with larger tiles using a 8 or 10mm notch or round notch trowel. If you're at all concerned check each tile as you go.

 

[White Room]

I like to back skim just to make sure

 

[doug boardley]

I'm with enduro, as long as I have a good solid substrate (I wouldn't tile it if it wasn't lol!) large format tiles.I'd up my trowel to an 8 or 10 and also give back of tiles a skim esp if they have a profiled back:santa_cheesy:

 

[DHTiling]

Do you butter back of tiles

I use tile adesive my good man.......:santa5:

 

[cornish_crofter]

I use tile adesive my good man.......:santa5:

There's always one smarta**!

 

[burncross]

i can't believe its not butter :santa_cheesy:

 

[Grace'sDad]

I generally use a floor trowel for large format wall tiles (aswell as floor) and back butter also. Always back butter when I need to be certain I've got 100% coverage i.e. heated floors.

You'd be amazed how many people simply push the tile onto the adhesive/wall rather than bedding it in properly.

Here's a piccie of a 600x300 porcelain fixed using tubbed gear and a 3mm plastic spreader which came in the adhesive - you know the type!
The tiles started to fall off the (freshly plastered) walls after 2 weeks.

Look at the coverage and be amazed!:santa_cheesy:

 

[White Room]

Thats the reason I back butter when you look at the back of the tile

 

[DS Tiling]

As others have said, use the right trowel for the tile and condition of the substrate then check coverage and backbutter if required but rarely have to.

 

[cornish_crofter]

Look at the coverage and be amazed!:santa_cheesy:

What coverage?

 

[Grace'sDad]

Exactly!

 

[devonmark]

Here's a piccie of a 600x300 porcelain fixed using tubbed gear and a 3mm plastic spreader which came in the adhesive - you know the type!
The tiles started to fall off the (freshly plastered) walls after 2 weeks.

Look at the coverage and be amazed!:santa_cheesy:

can't see the problem myself...lol, how do people manage to get away with it..

 

[Grace'sDad]

It was a DIY effort to be fair. Only using advice from the tile shop.

 

[tile55]

I also use a floor trowel and back butter tiles in large format. I also will occasionaly lift a tile to check on the coverage, this I find most useful and it is a good way to tell if your speading technique is up to scratch.

 

[LM Ceramics]

i personally use a larget 10mm trowel if using any large format tiles if there is full coverage on the wall i will rarely have to back butter tiles everyone has different methods

 

[cmdceramics]

Im with everyone else up the size of the trowel and even then butter the back of tiles. People always think large tiles is quicker and easier but if the plastering is abit rough then you get big problems.:83:

Need a Tiler ? London, Epsom, Sutton and Wimbledon based Tiling Contractor

 

[2Balls]

Hi ,Normaly i don´t butter the back of tiles, with the right prepwork and comb size there is no need. For walls no more than 10 kg adhesive mixed to ensure a good bed,and 4m² in 20mins.However when laying a floor, direckt in sreed, a skim on the back with FLEXY GREEN ADDY helps:8:2Balls