Hello all.
When I joined back in January, I explained that I had a self-build project with 150m2 floor tiling ahead of me.
It's now getting close to the point at which I've got to get stuck in.
Firstly, it's unfair to single out individuals from a site so full of great advice, but I've got to say many thanks to both Ajax & sWe in particular for their posts on anhydrite screed & tiling guides respectively.
Having no doubt unwisely upset the rest of you who should also have had plaudits, here's what I plan to do - I'm really looking for any hints & tips to make the project a) easier to complete and b) more likely to deliver something that's going to look good and last (plus any "No! - don't do that!"'s).
It's a long post, so thanks in advance for those with the willpower to get to the end.
The floor tiles I'm laying are Italian porcelaine - Rondine Naples Nola, 45x45 and 34x34. I'll use the large ones for the larger rooms, and the small ones for small rooms & maybe as a visual break between rooms. The rooms vary in size from 20m2 to 40m2 for the larger rooms, and 6 to 9m2 for the small ones. The walls are very thick, so there's a 60 to 90cm long corridor between rooms. I plan to lay the tiles in the large rooms on the diagonal.
The picture is of the smaller tile. You can see the edge is square, but the surface is "chipped". The tiles are much lighter than the photo.
The tiles are to be laid on an anhydrite liquid screed, so the surface should be ultra level. The screed is on top of a wet underfloor heating system which has not yet been commissioned. The plan is that this will be commissioned & gradually brought up to temperature before I start, with it switched off 2 days or so before I start. The edge insulation put down when the UFH was installed is sticking up above the level of the screed, with gaps between it & the stone wall.
Q1 - do I cut the insulation down to the level of the screed, or tile to the insulation (would leave large gaps between tiles & the wall - not very pretty)?
Q2 - any suggestions on what I should use to fill in the gaps between the insulation & the stone wall (up to 5cm wide & perhaps 15cm deep)?
The adhesive proposed by the tile shop is ParexLanko 556 Prolifluide Anhydrite, and according to the technical sheet, I can lay it without priming the screed, using a 20mm half-moon trowel, without needing to back butter the tiles.
I'm thinking of using BAL Superflex Wide Joint grout, limestone or sandstone coloured.
I have a paddle I've used in the past for mixing plaster. It's 10cm diameter on a 60cm shaft. I also have a BAL thick bed solid bed trowel (20mm round notches with a 10mm depth & 28mm centres).
Q3 - bearing in mind that I'm going to be much slower than you guys, and will therefore be mixing smaller quantities of adhesive, will my paddle do, or do I need to buy one of the 20cm paddles from TT?
Q4 - when I use the trowel to spread the adhesive, do I press down to make sure that the edge of the trowel scrapes the screed, and what angle should I hold it at?
I plan to put expansion joints in the doorways - I think I can avoid any in the middle of the rooms. The large rooms are 5m wide, and vary from 4m long to 8m long.
Q5 - should I use silicon for the expansion joints (I was thinking that BAL Microseal Champagne might be a close match) or one of the Schluter expansion joints?
Q6 - is a 3mm grout line OK? (I'm hoping that the "chipped" edge will be forgiving of my lack of experience) - I would rather avoid a wide grout, if I can.
I plan to get the following bits & pieces (courtesy of TT):
Washboy
Nippers
Rubbing block
Circular cutter
Tile pencils
Angle finder
scribe
Q6 - what am I missing? (I've got some Nailers knee pads, so my knees should be OK)
If you got this far, many thanks. I'll be posting another epic shortly on my plans for the wetrooms & walls.
