Forget the tiler, pearls of tiling wisdom required instead

[John Benton]

There'll be a few guys on here who hate the Mapei grout and most have there own preference of manufacturer. I personally like it and don't have any issues.

What colour are your tiles?

 

[Sarah Rowley]

There'll be a few guys on here who hate the Mapei grout and most have there own preference of manufacturer. I personally like it and don't have any issues.

What colour are your tiles?

Ok, good. The tiles are the Scintilla tiles on walls and floors so they are like a very pale grey colour with a black star pattern. Here's a picture,

I have considered grey grout, I'm not sure which would look better, plus there are quite a few shades of grey to choose from.

 

[John Benton]

Either Moon White (103) or Black (120) will suit these tiles IMO

 

[J K Tiling Cornwall]

Looking at the pic and seeing that the tile is 45cmx45cm, I'm guessing there are 4 stars per each individual tile? To keep the effect of individual smaller tiles it looks like you could get away with a cement grey coloured grout, personally I think black would be too stark against anything other than a black tile. I'm based in Cornwall but at the moment just so stacked out to take anything else on (will already be working Good Friday and Bank holiday Monday, plus have smaller jobs to fit in when I can). Sounds like could all be pretty much done in a day. If you were really stuck and could hang on I have some outside tiling during April. If the weather's really bad might be able to do it then.

 

[Sarah Rowley]

Looking at the pic and seeing that the tile is 45cmx45cm, I'm guessing there are 4 stars per each individual tile? To keep the effect of individual smaller tiles it looks like you could get away with a cement grey coloured grout, personally I think black would be too stark against anything other than a black tile. I'm based in Cornwall but at the moment just so stacked out to take anything else on (will already be working Good Friday and Bank holiday Monday, plus have smaller jobs to fit in when I can). Sounds like could all be pretty much done in a day. If you were really stuck and could hang on I have some outside tiling during April. If the weather's really bad might be able to do it then.

I think you might be right, now I'm considering silver grey or manhattan grout. I think we'll probably do it ourselves, I'm breathing, sleeping and eating tiling at the moment so I can't imagine going back to blissful ignorance as just a client now.
Could you comment on my plan of events? I'll recreate it below so you don't have to scroll back:-

I'm thinking we sand back paint to 90% gone,
apply Bal Prime APD or BAL bond SBR or Mapei primer G (anyone got any thoughts on picking between these, is price a good enough reason?) to surface,
cut tiles,
use a 10 mm (would 12mm be better?) notched trowel to apply Mapei Keraflex Maxi Flexible S1 adhesive,
stick tiles on, probably turn air blue in process,
regret ever beginning this, lose will to live, drown sorrows.
Wait until next day for adhesive to set,
Mix and apply Mapei Ultracolour silver grey or manhattan grout while wearing gloves and make sure to clean it off super good using endless buckets of water and a normal sponge? Or some kind of special, magic sponge?

Does that sound right? Should ceramic tiles and grout be sealed with something afterwards? If so what would you suggest (brand name etc?) I was led to believe by other thread that it should be Keraflex Maxi S1 and not Keraquick because of the size of the tiles, is this correct?

Thanks a lot.

 

[Mark Frost]

Ok thanks, is it a good black grout or do you prefer any other?

mapei is a good grout shake the bag before you open it as well.. good luck

 

[J K Tiling Cornwall]

That all sounds fine.. I always use a dilute SBR to seal nothing wrong with the others and I have used them alot but I just buy the 5ltr containers. As its a one off it might be better getting a 1ltr container of Mapei primer G. No need to seal if ceramic, unless crackle glazed.. which I doubt at that size. Good luck with it all.

 

[Sarah Rowley]

Thanks everyone who's commented, now the only thing left to do is start.....

 

[Mark Frost]

good luck

 

[Qwerty]

Maybe not just yet, I would prefer to get someone from the forum if possible. Thanks though.

The offer to post it up on our social media pages is still there

 

[Sarah Rowley]

The offer to post it up on our social media pages is still there

Nah, I feel suffused with the glow of all of your tiling knowledge and support and I'm pumped to do this thing! High five!

Just gotta remember to be careful and not to stick any tiles to my person, the cats or my lunch and we should be away, now where's my butter knife and sledgehammer?

 

[Mark Frost]

Nah, I feel suffused with the glow of all of your tiling knowledge and support and I'm pumped to do this thing! High five!

Just gotta remember to be careful and not to stick any tiles to my person, the cats or my lunch and we should be away, now where's my butter knife and sledgehammer?

13lb lump hammer will do but you'll need a steak knife

 

[Qwerty]

Nah, I feel suffused with the glow of all of your tiling knowledge and support and I'm pumped to do this thing! High five!

Just gotta remember to be careful and not to stick any tiles to my person, the cats or my lunch and we should be away, now where's my butter knife and sledgehammer?

Ok. Do share the finished article with us. We love pics too!

 

[Sarah Rowley]

So I've finally got some time and all the gear but still not all the ideas. I have scraped all the paint off so the surface is back to 100% bare plaster and I have Mapei Primer G waiting to be put on but I just have a few questions I was hoping someone could help me with:-

should I abrade the plaster surface before priming?

also, should I loosen the sockets before priming so the stuff can go under them a bit? Or is that mental and the stuff is too runny for that?

also also, how many coats of Primer G should I do, it says to put it on neat with a brush to gypsum so that's what I was going to do, but it doesn't specify number of coats.

If anyone can help me out that would be great, thanks.