i like butt jointing tiles

[sus]

Hello chaps
thinking of re tiling my kitchen using some B & Q 600X600 (porcelain) which I have left over from a job lot I bought for about £5 per meter, any way I want to butt up the tiles i.e. no spacers (I don’t know the correct term) I have seen this done many times but on a few jobs I have seen floors butt jointed with a few cracked tiles. Can you suggest why this has happened and how I should go about this on plywood base going straight on to 600x300 porcelain? I am not taking up the old tiles I have some costly devimat underneath that I do not want to kill (unless you can suggest something else). Thanks in anticipation
sus

 

[DHTiling]

where's the punch line....:lol:

 

[david campbell]

i'm with dave on this!

just to start with if your tiling onto ply then it must be a flexi adhesive-

this is to allow movement ,now if your tiling without spacers whats going to happen when there is movement

 

[Prem Tiler]

i read this and thought... hmmm I'll wait till some one qualified to comment

£5 m2 tiles from B&Q and your trying to save money on grout!!!!! I didn't think the credit crunch was that bad!!!!

 

[wetdec]

I have seen this done many times

ye right ............. :dizzy2:



..

 

[grumpygrouter]

Take it easy guys, this may well be a serious question as the poster doesn't know better. Lets point them in the right direction eh! We are supposed to be a friendly forum!!

 

[Prem Tiler]

GG your very right but I think by the replys sus will see its not a good idea.

 

[david campbell]

ok then!
firstly this really isn't a great idea,ideally you should strip back everything thats alredy down and start again,then the idea of "butt jointing" will only cause you problems later on as i previously said if your going to lay the tiles on ply there will always be movement therefore using a flexible adhesive and a flexible grout is the only way you can guarentee the tiling work will last for many tears to come

 

[Grace'sDad]

Butt jointing should never be done on timber or any floor which is likely to expand and contract. In the UK thanks to out beautiful climate, even asphalt and concrete floors are likely to move enough to upset butt jointed tiles (given the right combination of events).

Butt jointed tiles are seen mainly in warmer, more stable climates.

Not a very good idea in my opinion, even if it does look good (at first).

 

[faithhealer]

Hi suss, don't think you'll get much heat through two layers of tiles and a sheet of ply mate

 

[Grace'sDad]

Hi suss, don't think you'll get much heat through two layers of tiles and a sheet of ply mate

Very good point - I missed that!!!

 

[Leatherface]

Hi Mate,
Sorry, rip it up and start again, recommend at least 2mm spacer with flexi grout. Butt jointing floor tiles always increases the risk of tiles popping or cracking when expansion occurs. The flexi grout lines act as a barrier.
Regards

 

[kilty55]

if you butt joint them the end product will be like crazy paving,,b and q specials are all different sizes:dizzy2:

 

[Leatherface]

if you butt joint them the end product will be like crazy paving,,b and q specials are all different sizes:dizzy2:

I agree Kilty
No disrespect to guy who started this thread, but best place for B & Q tiles is in a skip, buried 200 miles underground in the Sahara Desert :hurray:

 

[sus]

some one has re tiltled my post i think. it should have read "i like butt" anyway now thinking about it the butt jointed tiles i have seen are mostly on concrete, one was defo in wood floor but that is one of the ones with cracks. Secondly the flooring had new joists at 300mm centers, plywood 10mm + 18mm, then devimat then flexi adhisive (bal i cant remember whitch one) then 300x600 and i was intending to put the 600x600 on top with flexi (mapai) but now i will use spacers. I dare not take the old tiles off in case i break the UFH. I didnt mean i have seen loads of butt jointed tiles on wood substrate i mean i have seen lots of butt jointed tiles. i have them in my bathroom and they have been there for about 120 years