V
veryfluffy
I'm about to order the slate for the kitchen/breakfast room, and need to know whether this is even remotely feasible before I go ahead. We were planning on getting a tiler to actually lay it, but the one recommended to us has (like so many tradesmen seem to do) come along to look at the job, promised to give me a price, and never been heard from again. I have also just had a look at some of the experiences of people on this forum, and it seems that hiring a professional tiler is no guarantee of getting a decent job anyway -- there are some horror stories. So The Man and I have decided we may as well lay the floor ourselves, even if it takes us a while. I've successfully tiles my fireplaces hearth with small slate tiles, and He has done a brilliant job on ordinary ceramic tiles in another kitchen. He's handy with cement and a spirit level generally.
So the room is about 30 m2. I would like to use the 900 x 600 calibrated slate tiles.
The floor is concrete -- all major holes have been filled in, there are still some little chips of maybe 1 to 3 mm. It is otherwise level. Previous floor was woodblocks, which left some bitumen resider in places after being removed.
1 - I've been advised that the floor should be sealed with Aquaprufe bitumen sealer, as it almost certainly doesn't have a DPM, even though it is sound and dry, although is a bit dusty/flaky in places. Does this bitumen sealer act as a primer or would I need to prime on top of this? Or just PVA?
2. Are these big 900 x 600 tiles going to be harder or easier to lay than smaller ones (eg 600 x 400)? I expect them to be heavy to wrangle, but there will be fewer of them, so less grouting...
3. Which adhesive? I would like to bed the tiles quite thickly -- probably about 10mm average to give flexibility for different thicknesses of the slates. We'll probably only be laying a few at a time, so won't need to be able to walk on and grout very quickly, and it sounds as though the rapid sets are harder to work with? What sort of trowel?
4. If this is remotely possibly to do DIY, what else should I consider? (I know about cleaning, sealing before and after, and massive amounts of rinsing off the grout). We will either get a wet cutter or use an angle grinder to cut...
5. If I did decide that it's too insane for us to do, what should a reasonable tiler charge for laying these? (East Midlands, rural...). and I could probably manage the grouting myself anyway...
So the room is about 30 m2. I would like to use the 900 x 600 calibrated slate tiles.
The floor is concrete -- all major holes have been filled in, there are still some little chips of maybe 1 to 3 mm. It is otherwise level. Previous floor was woodblocks, which left some bitumen resider in places after being removed.
1 - I've been advised that the floor should be sealed with Aquaprufe bitumen sealer, as it almost certainly doesn't have a DPM, even though it is sound and dry, although is a bit dusty/flaky in places. Does this bitumen sealer act as a primer or would I need to prime on top of this? Or just PVA?
2. Are these big 900 x 600 tiles going to be harder or easier to lay than smaller ones (eg 600 x 400)? I expect them to be heavy to wrangle, but there will be fewer of them, so less grouting...
3. Which adhesive? I would like to bed the tiles quite thickly -- probably about 10mm average to give flexibility for different thicknesses of the slates. We'll probably only be laying a few at a time, so won't need to be able to walk on and grout very quickly, and it sounds as though the rapid sets are harder to work with? What sort of trowel?
4. If this is remotely possibly to do DIY, what else should I consider? (I know about cleaning, sealing before and after, and massive amounts of rinsing off the grout). We will either get a wet cutter or use an angle grinder to cut...
5. If I did decide that it's too insane for us to do, what should a reasonable tiler charge for laying these? (East Midlands, rural...). and I could probably manage the grouting myself anyway...
And if you're willing to give it a go, I'm sure you'll get the advice you need.
