Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to view my thread and hopefully you experience gents and ladies if any on here wont mind me picking your brains! :smilewinkgrin:
My names JayJay, I am not a
professional tiler but mainly buy and sell houses. Being that the market has been abit bad over the years I ended up starting a small tiling company to help with money as so far it has been fairly good. I enjoy tiling a lot as its a very skill full job to which you can look at a good completed job and think...'i did that'. I like to think I'm pretty handy at but here's the issue.
I have had the opportunity to price a floor tiling job with honed travertine tiles but haven't really had a go before. I'm sure some of you may end up telling me to leave it alone if I'm inexperienced but what's the best way to actually learn? I think its to have a go, as long as you not a complete cabbage I think it should be okay.
I reckon I know most of the theory in laying natural stone but I'm always happy to receive tips and suggestions from you masters out there. o.k I'm gonna stop rambling and give you the low down on this job. Basically I'm not sure what price to give as I would really like to get this job, it could lead to several other jobs which is always good and I have a few questions regarding the tiling. thanks
1) 48m2 floor which is a mix of screed and concrete which I will latex. How long should I wait before latexing onto fresh screed? theory is it dries at 1mm/day but obviously client doesn't want to wait for 4inches to dry.
2) Price for laying light honed and front filled 600x400 travertine floor tiles, 48m2 inc sealing many times and grout etc - brick effect to letex floor and just me
I've read/heard tilers say travertine costs more due to it being very time consuming due to sealing but how much more? I've read guys pricing £20-40/m2?
3) What's the whole reason behind leaving a 6mm joint all the way around any internal stud/external wall edges?? expansion? Won't this look really bad as the client wants to keep existing skirting down but it's mahogony stained? i could try and convince them to remove skirting,
tile and leave 6mm joints away from walls and Silicon these edges then he can put skirting on top hiding the 6mm gap????
Thanks a million in advance guys...I do have a few more questions but I just want to get these clear for myself first before overloading my noggin!
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youv'e Got some big "Cojones" on you starting a tiling company not quite knowing how to
tile.
But I'm quite happy to give a bit of advice.
48m2 is quite a big area and depending on layout you may need to look at putting expantion strips in approx every 25ft
All stone floors must incorporate provisions for independent movement and having 2 different sub structures makes it even worse.
Concrete expands and contracts at a very different rates to screed and stone
tile. I wouldn't attempt that floor without using a uncoupling membrane, As for drying times you really should carry a moisture meter with you if your trading as a tiler. With the weather we have at the moment you would only be guessing on drying times.
These are just a few basic points, not even getting to the types of adhesives and grouts to use to prevent bleed through.
Have a good think about this one mate before you decide what to do.