First Travertine Floor - Conservatory

[GatesheadCol]

Hi all,

Looking for a few pointers.

Got my first conservatory (been dying for one for my portfolio) and its 600 by 400 travertine honed and filled from Jamies tiles supplied with all the addy and grout and sealer to boot.

Never done travertine yet so just looking for a few pointers.

Laying them brick bond, floor is 3.2 by 2.8 and lovely and square. Laying the brickbond along the longest area if you get what I mean .

Heres wgat I plan.

Im going Thursday night to seal them before I fix, thinking this is best for me to avoid messing them up.

Fix them friday, seqal again, let dry and them depending how I get on grout that afternoon and seal again.

the cuts will be straight as its a square conservatory, do I need to use the wet cutter or can I do straight cuts with a dry cutter with a 10mm wheel. I have the cutter that Darren at NETT sells, the biggest one ( I cant remember what the max tile length is so may have to use the wet cutter if I have to cut the length of the tiles lol. Look sa fairly straight forward job if Im honest, nice and easy for my first go at trav.

Anything else I have to watch for, any other adivce you can give me, do I need to polish them or anything after grouting and sealing.

Cheers in advance for any advice offered.

 

[GazTech]

Are they unpolished or polished ?

 

[DHTiling]

Hi col........

You will have to use the electric cutter on these mate........

I would just lay them and grout then seal afterwards.......they wash off really easy and the grout won't hurt them......

I would also think about an isolation membrane in a conservatory as there can be quite a bit of expansion in the subfloor due to the heat in there.......

What sealers does jamies use now..?...

 

[wetdec]

Hi Col

If you intend laying these tiles on Friday and you will need to wet cut them you should be looking at not sealing them until Mon. The reasons are if I can explain. Travertine is rarely fully dry from cutting when it gets to the customer, if you add to this the water used in adhesive, grout, cutting, wiping down then there is a lot of moisture to escape before you can properly seal.

To combat this I would not seal until the end and everything is dry following this process. Lay uncoupling membrane & fix Thursday, grout Friday pm, seal after inspection Monday. A long process I agree but thats why we get paid more for stone m8.


tiler

 

[GatesheadCol]

Bloody hell, more than I thought there.

hadnt given the membrane a thought TBH.

Only quoted £250 for it, should have uppe dit, would have if I knew about laying an uncoupling membrane.

What would you guys suggest then??

Unsure if they are polished or unpolished.

Thought I could just lay them and grout them without much else.

DAve can you give me a step by step using your expertise?? Pm me if you want

Also the concrete on the conservatory floor has a red paint on it? Should I just prime over this or would any other prep be needed?

 

[wetdec]

You will have stone under your belt tho, use it to learn and dont rush the next time you will know. Try to enjoy it m8 good stone fixers are hard to find.

If I can help you further then shout


tiler

 

[GatesheadCol]

Cheers wetdec,

I may have priced a little low at £250, but its a. My first Conservatory and b. my first travertine so im happy for the experience. If it takes me 2 days Ive still earned well in my opinion and as you say its good experience for me.

Just want to make sure its a good job at the end of the day. Plus im doing his brother in laws kitchen later.

Ive been dying for one of these so I can get it under my belt

 

[Varley]

Just one other thing to bear in mind col seen as how this is your first conservatory, it will probably be quite warm in the conservatory so be carefull when mixing your addy, don't mix tto much first till you suss out how quickly it is drying, on a hot day you'll be lucky to get 10mins playtime with a mix. Best of luck to you.

 

[wetdec]

Just one other thing to bear in mind col seen as how this is your first conservatory, it will probably be quite warm in the conservatory so be carefull when mixing your addy, don't mix tto much first till you suss out how quickly it is drying, on a hot day you'll be lucky to get 10mins playtime with a mix. Best of luck to you.

 

[DHTiling]

Hi col..varley is right........switch to a slow setting........something like BAL SPF or similar from mapei.......longer bucket life is what you are after.........and for an isolation membrane if you go down that route then wetdec can usually get you some out ther next day.......

 

[GatesheadCol]

Cheers guys as usual for the excellent advice.

Unsure still as to whether or not to do an uncoupling membrane with such a small conservatory.

so in conclusion.

long bucket life,, just 1 part flexi for this project??

wet cuts

seal seal and seal lol

take my time as usual.

clean, clean and clean lol

just one pointer top note. should I grout the same day or should I give it a day drying time before grouting and applying the final sealer.

Im planning on sealing the tiles Thursday night, laying Friday, and had originally thought about grouting and sealing at the end of Friday but as wet dec stated a bit of drying time should be left . is that correct?

 

[wetdec]

just one pointer top note. should I grout the same day or should I give it a day drying time before grouting and applying the final sealer.

Im planning on sealing the tiles Thursday night, laying Friday, and had originally thought about grouting and sealing at the end of Friday but as wet dec stated a bit of drying time should be left . is that correct?

Yes I will try to explain this again.

Tiles on arrival are most never dry if you seal then it could blow on you if it doesnt blow then it will hold in all the water used in cutting, wiping, adhesive etc. This is not the object you want them as dry as possible when you seal. Honed trav shouldnt need protection from grouting its a nice surface to work off.

By leaving your grouting until the day after laying you are allowing trapped moisture to dry out further.

You are dealing with Trav it will suck up every bit of moisture you throw at it except through the honed surface.

Your asking to speed up the process on the first lay the pics wont make your portfolio if you get it wrong, go slow understand it and it will make you confident!!

tiler

 

[GatesheadCol]

Cheers wetdec,

I should have added that the tiles are being delivered today and im laying Friday.

Thanks for adding that the honed surface wont be too affected by the grout, thats a great tip and something I didnt know.

I had said to the customer that I would probably be coming back to grout and re-seal on the Saturday morning to cover all eventuialities.

Like you say, its no good in my portfolio if its screwed up.

Im planning the whole friday to lay, its only small at 8M2 so easily accomplished in a day even mixing small amounts up at a time.

Im planning using a 5mm grout line unless it would look better with a smaller grout line? What looks best with these any ideas anyone?

 

[wetdec]

Um I would say 3mm but it depends a little on quality of the Trav and knowing how to juggle if it gets tight so I would go with the 5mm this time m8. (check with the punter)

As they are coming early have a good sort through them to find the best marked ones. Conservatories tend to end up with a table in the middle and chairs around the sides, if you drop a nice one by the doors about a pace in then i'm sure it will be apreciated



tiler