Natural slate floor advice!

[parchy99]

Hi,

Im tiling a floor for a friend who has bought some end of line natural slate tiles from a builders merchants. The tiles have been sat outside for some time and they are frankly filthy dirty. So would this be the right way of laying them;

1) Clean them down and let them dry thoroughly. Ive been told to let them dry for a couple of days to make sure the moisture is completely out?

2) Seal them before tiling. Can anybody recommend a decent sealer that doesn't cost the earth

3) Lay the tiles, then grout the tiles.

4) Re-seal the floor again once they are down.

Any advice would be appreciated, pitfalls etc. The tiles are 300 x 300 x 10 approx.

Cheers guys.

 

[bugs183]

Hiya.
Make sure the customer knows that these have not been supplied in good condition and that any staining on the tiles is not your responsibility.
Give them a good brush off with a still brush, wipe them clean and leave to dry.
Unless you are a messy worker there is no need to seal before tiling, just make sure the tiles are washed thoroughly as you work, you don't want any adhesive stuck to the tile face.
Seal them, either with LTP sealers or Fila, allow to dry then grout.
Allow overnight for the grout to dry then seal again as necessary.

 

[parchy99]

Hi Bugs,

thanks for the advice, it seems sound to me. One question though, when you said "just make sure the tiles are washed thoroughly as you work" do you mean that I should make sure all adhesive drips etc are cleaned immediately, or are you talking about something else?

thanks for replying

 

[bugs183]

Hiya!
As you tile you'll always get splodges of adhesive either on the tile or squeezing up through the joints. Just wipe these off with a damp sponge, that'll shift them.
Just remember to fix with a 10mm notched trowel at least, and back butter the back of the tiles as you lay, as slate is rarely flat and needs thoroughly bedding in.

 

[DHTiling]

Also if the tiles have algae etc on them from being outside so long, then you will need to neutralise that as well.

Other than that, a large bucket like a gorilla tub and scrub the tiles on both sides with clean water to remove soiling etc.

Then as above keep clean as you work whilst laying..

As for sealer, then choose from a natural finish or maybe a colour enhancer... this is personal choice..

 

[swanman]

Or maybe get a pro tiler in to do the job

And give you less hassle

 

[parchy99]

hi guys,

this all sounds like sound advice. I'm at the stage where im cleaning down the tiles getting them ready to lay on the weekend.

As Im washing them, a rust like liquid is coming off the tiles? Most of the tiles have what is like an orange staining/dust across them.

Is this normal for slate? Does this need to be removed before I tile?

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[bugs183]

I take it these are multicoloured Chinese or African slates??
Slate is a sedimentary rock and is made of whatever drifted down and formed the layers at the time, so you can get alsorts of weird and wonderful colours and formations within it.
Pictures would be more helpful, but often you get a kinda of muddy residue in these as they are not as dense as the dark grey slates, but i am only guessing at the moment.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

As long as the backs are clean then the fixing can proceed. The surface will clean up as you work, but make sure the tile is thoroughly dry before you try to seal the surface and don't allow any seal to remain on the tile after 10/15 minutes.

 

[parchy99]

I take it these are multicoloured Chinese or African slates??
Slate is a sedimentary rock and is made of whatever drifted down and formed the layers at the time, so you can get alsorts of weird and wonderful colours and formations within it.
Pictures would be more helpful, but often you get a kinda of muddy residue in these as they are not as dense as the dark grey slates, but i am only guessing at the moment.

Hi,

these are the tiles in question. Any further advice would be gratefully received.

thanks

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Looks like a selection of Indian Multicolour and Sahara - lots of light beige and greens.
They are pretty clean but any grey adhesives will show on surface unless you wipe them as you go.
I'd grout them with either sand/cement or sandstone and thoroughly clean before leaving to dry and then seal.