limestone bathroom

[williams]

I am finally getting round to doing my bathroom and en suite, i am considering doing the work myself as i am struggling to find someone decent to do the job- i either get people quoting £400 a day or sensible rates but a lack of trust, i am a paver and have done lots of stone work over the years so maybe i find it hard to trust people as i know i,m fussy...

Anyway one guy who i may use i am still a little unsure on though, i,d like to know whats the correct procedures for limestone tiles 600x400 - not sure on exact stone as yet but i want something very plain and white.

so....

floor: is currently chipboard= is a 12mm layer of hardibacker ok? does it need to be screwed and stuck? if so what adhesive? (no ufh)

walls: aquapanel on bath wall and shower wall, hardibacker the rest? do the joints need taping and jointing?

12mm notched trowel?

backbutter the tiles? why do people recomend this?

tiles will be honed tiles- how are the cut edges made into the same finish? what machine to use?

r.e sealing the stone: i guess i would seal first and seal after grout, but what sealer to retain the natural finish and do the backs need sealing, sure i saw that mentioned somewhere.

what adhesive?

One of the walls is concrete block- whats the best way to address this? i thought maybe dot and dab hardibacker board to get the wall flat and then plug and screw.

which grout? i want the joints flush with no recess if that makes a difference.

Oh and if anyone is in essex and can recomend please pm me. each room is about 20m2 and imo quite straightforward. I am very happy to pay a generous sensible tradesmans rate! but dont want to hear that is £400 a day or £150 a day and it will take 10 days.

am i right in thinking this would be 3-5 days work for a pro?

sorry for the huge post and thanks in advance

 

[david campbell]

for an experienced tiler that should be bout 4/5 days work,it will be slower than ceramics and porcelain due to all the sealing and everything must be wet cut.i'm sure someone will get to you shortly

the back-buttering is to ensure better coverage of adhesive on the tile due to the size and weight of them

 

[kilty55]

hi williams, you cant dot and dab hardiboards but you can screw and plug them on, make sure your adhesive is white and cement based flexi

seal before and after grouting..some limestones take a good few coats
if fixing cement boards to the floors use 6mm boards on a bed of flexi cement based addy and screwed as well on top of this.

backbuttering gives better coverage with large format tiles
if you are after the egges to be bullnosed or honed finished in the bathroom this may incur an extra charge with most fixers as well as a sq meterage rate or day rate for the job

personally id opt for limestone grout

if using stone i would also condider tanking th wet areas first also,

cant give you prices on here but i would say that job would take most tilers in the region of 4 to 5 days for a good quality finish with finished edges etc as well

 

[grumpygrouter]

Each room? How many rooms at 20m2?

 

[kilty55]

think its 2 grumpy,a bathroom and an en suite

 

[grumpygrouter]

think its 2 grumpy,a bathroom and an en suite

Ok cheers. Maybe 4 days would be pushing it a bit for limestone then with all the work involved with sealing etc? I haven't fixed limestone yet but was under the impression it attracts fingerprints and stains like no other stone and needs to be sealed before anything else is done to it. Is that right?

 

[kilty55]

i seal it 1st before fixing it grumpy,have alsdo heard it can take on grease etc from fingers,i just hold it from the base then seal,

that job would prob take me 4 to 5 days but everyones speeds are different some may be faster some slower

 

[williams]

Thanks for the help.

Yes its 2 seperate rooms, the bathroom is about 20m2 inc the floor and bath panel and the en suite is 18m2 inc floor, the bathroom is a rectangle 2.5mx1.7m and the ensuite is a little more involved due to shower recess and a sort of extra rectangle upon entering the main area iykwim.

r.e the dot and dab for the hardibacker i only thought that i would dot and dab and then plug and screw in order to try and make the laying surface perfect, if its just plugged and screwed will the wall not potentially have a couple of humps in it? when i say dot and dab i don't mean a couple of dabs i mean maybe 25 dabs per board, the guy who did my plastering in the other rooms dot and dabbed like this and its ridiculously strong.

what machine do i need to polish the edges.

am i right in thinking the whole tile (front and back) need sealing first so as to stop any staining?


i also am able to get 900x600x 15mm limestone but part of me worries that it will be awkward, part of me thinks it will be easy though as theres so many less tiles to lay.

unless i get someone to do the job soon i,ll have to give it a go. i,m pretty confident but still a little wary. i have laid patios with all sorts of stone and driveways with 100mm granite setts in random lengths and widths but going vertical is something alien to me :yikes:

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

what area are you in mate?

 

[DHTiling]

You can't tile those 2 rooms in 4 to 5 days doing it right..

Limestone especially the whiter limestones are not as straight forward as say a travertine.. They are susceptible to staining easily if not handled properly or sealed correctly.

You need to work very clean and they can take upto several coats of sealer..

So IMO you cannot do it in that time scale with the amount of work involved.


Williams.. Fixing tiles is a total different ball game to patios or laying sets.. You need zero lippage on that type of stone as shadow lipping looks horrible.

You will not get a true stone fixer for peanuts...

 

[kilty55]

sorry i didnt type this correctly i meant 4 to 5 days per room,,not the 2 seperate rooms..hope this didnt confuse things peeps:lol:

 

[williams]

I meant 4-5 days per job :santa_wink: i believe thats being generous and allows for a good job to be done- i,m literally talking fixing too, i will seal the stone, board the walls out (they will be bang on) floor prepped etc. i cant really see how it could be more that 4 days, but i am understanding and i know the crack.

I know what sort of money i,m prepared to pay and i think its very fair. £400 a day is a joke though, we are in recession and MOST trades have been affected, i have had to drop my rates quite a bit, it makes no difference if i do a good job which i do when theres 20 morons quoting the same job for half the price albeit its half the job but the general public conveniently forget that when the prices come in- money gets the better of most people and most people want to pay nothing! Its hard out there in my game believe me! But thats a totally different subject :incazzato:

I,m in Essex btw near chelmsford.

Lipping does worry me i assure you i am aware of that

 

[williams]

btw this is me
www.williamspaving.co.uk

any questions on paving i will gladly answer

I have turned my hand to everthing in my house so far only leaving the plastering to someone else and some of the electrics so i can turn my hand, i just take my time and research as much as possible.

However i would rather pay someone to do the job as

A. i know it will come out better (if hes a good tradesman)
B. it means my rooms will get done a lot quicker, my bathroom currently looks like a bomb has dropped in there :lol:

 

[DHTiling]

We have some first class stone fixer on here..

I can ask some if they are interested in your job if you like..

I will get pm their names in case others read this and pm you..

Dave..

 

[williams]

We have some first class stone fixer on here..

I can ask some if they are interested in your job if you like..

I will get pm their names in case others read this and pm you..

Dave..

If you could dave that would be great

 

[doug boardley]

a tad confused williams, fixing stone is a helluva lot different to laying paviors, I've done both so believe me I know what I'm on about We don't discuss rates in an open forum either timewise I would expect a decent professional tiler to do a limestone bathroom in 5 days, working clean, wet cutting, sealing and grouting. Now wether you pay £2k or £750 is between yourself and the fixer you go with

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Williams, your work looks great. Limestone walls are a very different animal, get a pro mate. You will get a top job imo

 

[williams]

Oh i appreciate its not the same, i just want to get the rooms done and if it comes to it i,ll have to do it myself, take my time and do my best.

My problem is getting someone to do it and do it right. the guy who was going to do it has stopped answering my calls, he came round gave me a price which i accepted then he dissapeared? he was recomended but i am still not 100% sure if he would use the correct sealer etc etc. i have no doubt he can lay and cut in well as i have seen his work, its whats underneath i was worried about hence me asking here so if he ever does call me back i can specifically ask for sealer 'X' and grout 'X' etc etc.

I have been straight honest saying i can't pay £400 a day thats just crazy and if thats what tilers earn then i,m in the wrong game :lol:

the guy who quoted £400 a day also seemed un knoweledgeable and showed me about 6 pictures of jobs which looked like they were from 1986 :lol:

another really nice guy came round, quite an old boy and sort of talked himself out of the job, kept saying he wasnt geared up for natural stone and that he was a ceramic tiler, he did give me a very reasonable price but he didnt inspire confidence- however i appreciate his honesty, something a lot of tradesmen just don't have unfortunately which worries me as i know what the paving game is like, lots of people talk the talk but can't deliver aq properly pro job.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I would take Dave up on his offer, to get a local member to give you a price. I'm to far away unfortunately, but there will be top guys in your area

 

[Pebbs]

Williams
What is the limestone your thinking of having? 900x600x15mm?!! I already see problems ahead.

Pebbs

 

[williams]

Williams
What is the limestone your thinking of having? 900x600x15mm?!! I already see problems ahead.

Pebbs

i would like the 900x600 but will more than likely just go with 600x400 x 12mm

basically a clean relativly blemish free stone, got a few places to go and have a look

 

[Spud]

try moleanos its fairly clean and fairly white another alternative for the walls apple stone not as uniform as moleanos but still a lovely stone

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

try moleanos its fairly clean and fairly white another alternative for the walls apple stone not as uniform as moleanos but still a lovely stone

Apple stone, really nice stuff

 

[Spud]

Apple stone, really nice stuff

nice stuff for walls bit soft for floors but would probably be fine in domestic bathroom floors

 

[DHTiling]

Apple-stone is fine for bathrooms.. looks well..

The whiter the limestone the purer it is and more expensive it gets...

Moleanos is a good alround one but has more markings than white limestone.

Apple-stone has quite a few markings..but does look well..