Floor Tiling advice and are additives necessary?

[Granty]

Hi, I am due to tile our Kitchen floor at the weekend, we went all out for the Black Star light tiles at 600mm, the area is around 10M2. This was a fair outlay to us price wise but I am confident I can do a good enough job so long as I have the right information.
I have done the Kitchen walls and people have said it looks good and I figured floors are similar and possibly easier, with gravity on your side?
I'm just unsure on a few basic details

1) Additives - We brought from Topps Tiles, I asked for 11M2 but when she printed a quote it was too much, she'd added an extra meter in there to which I told her I'd already compensated for waste so she didn't inspire confidence when she informed me that the adhesive and grout both need additives to make it stick to those type of tiles due to water content/warping.
3 lots of the floor additive were about £88 with the grout stuff at about £14. I want it doing properly but I assumed adhesive and grout alone would be OK, so do you recommend the use of additives on these type of tiles or was it just sales patter.

2) Would you apply adhesive to the floor or the tile and how thick should this be, around an inch? I guess so long as there are no voids then that is the main aim right?

3) Maybe a matter of preference but I was looking at the Grey/graphite type of grout but then I thought maybe Black/ebony would look better, I figure if it where possible no lines would look better on these types of tiles so black would help it look more streamlines given that the width of the kitchen only allows for 2-3 lines. I guess what I'm asking is would black look good as I've only seen this with the grey stuff?
4) one exit is to laminate but the other is a step down, do I tile right to the edge of this, would it need some kind of protective strip on the edge of it to avoid chipping?
5) Where do you start from, the kitchen has a small recess both ends and I guess walls are not guaranteed to be straight, so I figured starting slightly out and making sure that the tiles run parallel to the side wall and cupboards would ensure it looks right.

 

[Martyn Leeds]

Yes, a 2-part adhesive with Quartz, and I'd presume you'll find it cheaper somewhere other than Topps.

Lots of basic questions though..
I'd get a decent tiler in to quote. ​

 

[Granty]

Thanks Martyn, to be fair thats the only one that I really needed answering, I appreciate Tiling is a trade but I've took on many trade jobs and am yet to regret it, partly due to the money saved but mainly due to the fact that it's the best way to learn and be confident with such jobs in future.
I'm not arrogant, I often ask for help and advice even if questions are basic or silly and i'm happy if a job takes 3 times as long as it should to get as close to trade standard as I am able. I just can't see how floor tiling can be harder than the walls which I've already done.
The other questions are just for peace of mind, If you know what you are doing is right it's much more difficult to go wrong, right?
I'll likely watch a youtube vid or two to be sure but my main problem is i'm a perfectionist, thats why I ask questions on colour of grout etc, I suppose thickness of adhesive and where to start from are major factors but I can't see how you can go too far wrong with those with a bit of research and care.
It's things like the additive where I can see someone could easily go wrong, had she not pointed that out would I have known, that depends on whether someone on a forum such as this would have mentioned it when I said which type of tile I was using. Is the additive essential? I'm still not sure but I will be using it as 2 times told is enough for me.
Thanks again

 

[Blunt Tool]

Thanks Martyn, to be fair thats the only one that I really needed answering, I appreciate Tiling is a trade but I've took on many trade jobs and am yet to regret it, partly due to the money saved but mainly due to the fact that it's the best way to learn and be confident with such jobs in future.
I'm not arrogant, I often ask for help and advice even if questions are basic or silly and i'm happy if a job takes 3 times as long as it should to get as close to trade standard as I am able. I just can't see how floor tiling can be harder than the walls which I've already done.
The other questions are just for peace of mind, If you know what you are doing is right it's much more difficult to go wrong, right?
I'll likely watch a youtube vid or two to be sure but my main problem is i'm a perfectionist, thats why I ask questions on colour of grout etc, I suppose thickness of adhesive and where to start from are major factors but I can't see how you can go too far wrong with those with a bit of research and care.
It's things like the additive where I can see someone could easily go wrong, had she not pointed that out would I have known, that depends on whether someone on a forum such as this would have mentioned it when I said which type of tile I was using. Is the additive essential? I'm still not sure but I will be using it as 2 times told is enough for me.
Thanks again

Enjoy your YouTube videos!

 

[Martyn Leeds]

Last Quartz I did, it had a warning on the box to use a 2-part, can't remember what the name was or where from though..

 

[jimthetiler]

Topps do a single part adhesive called super flex from bal,if the floor is flat use a 12mm trowel if the floor is all over the place use a self leveling compound.work on 4-5 m per bag for tiling.Bond out one row of tiles in both directions to see where you will end up before fixing,to get a pro job you should have a centerline along both width and length of the floor then bond out the tiles to get equal cuts along both perimeters,this takes great skill and means a lot of cutting.

 

[Porcelainwood]

"Synthetic stones are agglomerates from natural stones, which are bound with cement or resin. These synthetic stones enjoy growing popularity, as the range of designs due to optical versatility in form and colour appears to be endless. This high quality material excels as a rule through high levels of durability. A few of these materials have pronounced expansion, so that long term exposure to moisture can lead to so-called “curling“. As a rule they can be laid with a highly polymer modified thin-bed adhesive with rapid crystalline water binding technology. A few of these materials, especially those with high serpentinite components can “curl“, which can only be prevented by installing with a reaction resin adhesive"

 

[Flintstone]

Granty, your incredibly naive about the job in hand! But i do hope it works out for you.

 

[Tilergal]

Hi Granty. It's not so much that floors are harder to deal with than walls, more that each has its own techniques and problems to take into consideration. Type of substrate, levelling and prepping, correct adhesive etc are very different when tiling a floor, which is why we're advising you to get a professional to quote the job. Training and experience make all the difference in this field, why spend good money on quartz tiles then skimp on installation?

 

[Granty]

Enjoy your YouTube videos!

To be fair I did post a thead in an area named DIY Tiling Forum which implies that advice is available without people getting touchy and to the most part that has been the case, your reply reads as though help won't be forthcoming, but you were wrong
Some people are quite able or willing to do trade jobs and learn as they go, some people pay to save the hassle or are not very good at DIY.

 

[Granty]

Granty, your incredibly naive about the job in hand! But i do hope it works out for you.

I'm not naive, I am simply making sure I know what I'm doing and specifically with the additives, the kitchen wall tiles are still up a year on and they look great, to be honest it was like adult lego, stick them and space them, I found it quite straight forward so maybe you could explain why a floor is so much different to walls?
I had to underpin parts of the wall tiles but to me tiling a floor so long as you have advice from a DIY tiling forum or two would be hard to go wrong, like I said I appreciate many here are in the trade but i'm sure plenty of people out there are confident in their own ability and that includes not starting before you are sure you know what is what.

 

[Blunt Tool]

To be fair I did post a thead in an area named DIY Tiling Forum which implies that advice is available without people getting touchy and to the most part that has been the case, your reply reads as though help won't be forthcoming, but you were wrong
Some people are quite able or willing to do trade jobs and learn as they go, some people pay to save the hassle or are not very good at DIY.

If you read your posts from the start you will see you more or less said you know it all and so good luck and hope it turns out well

 

[Granty]

Hi Granty. It's not so much that floors are harder to deal with than walls, more that each has its own techniques and problems to take into consideration. Type of substrate, levelling and prepping, correct adhesive etc are very different when tiling a floor, which is why we're advising you to get a professional to quote the job. Training and experience make all the difference in this field, why spend good money on quartz tiles then skimp on installation?

I'm not skimping on installation, I'm confident I can get close to a trade finish given the right info! If it takes me 3 times as long as it would a trades person then I'm happy with that as these tiles will be down for a long time.
I talked her into spending that much and I told her exactly like I'm sure they'll look great but it might take a full day, she's taking the kids for the night and we'll have money to take them away rather than spend on a job that I can do, sorry I just feel like these forums are more geared to getting custom for trades people than just helping DIY'ers, if the title of the forum I posted in were different then maybe I'd understand but it does say DIY.

I should note that when I did the kitchen walls It was the second time I'd done that, my GF's Dad had helped me do the Bathroom previous and I learned a fair bit from him but c'mon it's hardly rocket science, I would accept an error as part of learning but I do a lot of research and will not start until I feel I'm where I need to be but this time I feel much more confident, I just want to get the details right. Measure in inches you can't go wrong right?

I'll post a pic when It's done

 

[Granty]

If you read your posts from the start you will see you more or less said you know it all and so good luck and hope it turns out well

I certainly don't know it all but I do want to learn by doing, I have done plastering, plumbing, basic electrics, all sorts of other flooring to name but a few, so if the time comes where there is an error then thats on me, my GF's Dad does a ton of DIY and he's quite good, bit too heavy handed for me (Measures in inches only, just not in my house!) and he doesn't know how to use a computer but he's self taught, nowadays with the internet I think its plausible to seek help and advice and at the end of it make an informed decision on whether you yourself are capable, in this case i will be going ahead, I don't mind posting pics for you guys to pull apart at a later date though but so long as the missus is happy at the end of it then I'm good with that

 

[Granty]

Anyway thanks to all who helped, I understand where most of you guys are coming from but this is a DIY forum so please see where I am coming from, I was always going to be doing this myself.
If the adhesive goes wrong and my floor looks something like the yellow brick road during the storm then I'll come back here and admit I was wrong, that is highly unlikely though.
Just one more Question, what tool do I use to push the *adhesive between the tiles?