Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board please!

[Scholester]

Hi,

I am tiling a shower cubicle and am a bit of a novice - certainly with glass tiles as I have not had to use these before!
A few questions if I may.........

• Am I correct in thinking that it is best to tile the boards in their entirety bfore fitting the cubicle or is it best to fit the tiles up to the cubicle once in place? I understand that it will be difficult to do the former as I will need to drill through the 25mm squares to hit the [plasterboard type] fixings in the wall.
• The tiles are 4mm thick and I would like confimation of the best way to lay the bed of adhesive. I have a 6mm square notch combe but I guess this is no good as the adhesive would ooze through the tile gaps not allowing me to get any grout in? I will obviously buy any kit that I need to do the job properly.
• Once we have determined which is the best way to stick the tiles, when do I remove the brown paper sheeting that holds the mosiacs together as they are not on a mesh backing?

If there are any further pointers then I am all ears!
Many thanks in advance.

 

[White Room]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

Have you thought about getting someone in to do it for you....

 

[peckers]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

I would fitt the cubicle over the tiles, you can get drill bits from 365 drills that cope easily with glass, You need good quality adhesive too with glass i use bal mosaic fix but there are plenty off others too!
Trowel size i use a 4x4mm for 4mm thick glass mosaics, firstly spread adhesive on the wall enough to do what you can cope with in one go. then combe threw the adhesive using the notched side and then flatten out the combe ridges by using the flat blade on the trowel, dont use too much pressure just enough to flatten the ridges!(you could try a practice area first)
Then apply your mosaics sheets pressing them into the adhesive using a grout float! now here comes the tricky bit! you have to remove the paper that is on the face off the tiles so as you can move/adjust any piece off mosaic that isnt quite true with the others! However timing is very important here! the adhesive still has to be wet enough so you can move the pieces off mosaic but also dry enough so as when you peel off the paper that it doesen't pull all the tiles off too! To remove the paper you get a damp sponge in warm water and wipe over the paper you need to do this until you can see threw the paper and see individual pieces off mosaic(hope that makes sense) and the paper starts to slide side to side on the mosaics! then you can gently peel the paper off, I sometimes use a grout float pressed on the tiles below/above the area i am peeling off and i tend to peel the paper off at a 45 degrees to the sheet. sometimes a tile will stay on the paper, you can stick this back in just add a bit off addy to it and press into place, align any tiles that need moveing and remove any exess addy when the addy is dry enough to remove with out upsetting the individual mosaic pieces.

It sounds hard to do and it is, if you aint use to it but you got to start somewhere, timing is everything on this type off tile.
hope this helps..

 

[nybor62]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

this is not a job for a novice imo, im with whitebeam employ a pro tiler

 

[Brinkley]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

we used to do loads on swimming pools and always grouted each sheet just before fixing

 

[Scholester]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

I would fitt the cubicle over the tiles, you can get drill bits from 365 drills that cope easily with glass, You need good quality adhesive too with glass i use bal mosaic fix but there are plenty off others too!
Trowel size i use a 4x4mm for 4mm thick glass mosaics, firstly spread adhesive on the wall enough to do what you can cope with in one go. then combe threw the adhesive using the notched side and then flatten out the combe ridges by using the flat blade on the trowel, dont use too much pressure just enough to flatten the ridges!(you could try a practice area first)
Then apply your mosaics sheets pressing them into the adhesive using a grout float! now here comes the tricky bit! you have to remove the paper that is on the face off the tiles so as you can move/adjust any piece off mosaic that isnt quite true with the others! However timing is very important here! the adhesive still has to be wet enough so you can move the pieces off mosaic but also dry enough so as when you peel off the paper that it doesen't pull all the tiles off too! To remove the paper you get a damp sponge in warm water and wipe over the paper you need to do this until you can see threw the paper and see individual pieces off mosaic(hope that makes sense) and the paper starts to slide side to side on the mosaics! then you can gently peel the paper off, I sometimes use a grout float pressed on the tiles below/above the area i am peeling off and i tend to peel the paper off at a 45 degrees to the sheet. sometimes a tile will stay on the paper, you can stick this back in just add a bit off addy to it and press into place, align any tiles that need moveing and remove any exess addy when the addy is dry enough to remove with out upsetting the individual mosaic pieces.

It sounds hard to do and it is, if you aint use to it but you got to start somewhere, timing is everything on this type off tile.
hope this helps..

Peckers, that was a great reply - thanks.

Having read how difficult for a novice it will be, I have decided that I am not goint to use the glass tiles for this job! I will keep them and use them for an easier wall in a toilet or something but for now I will use some suitable tiles I have on Standby. I will save Peckers post and trial it when I have finished the shower with the easier get-out!

Many thanks again.

 

[John Benton]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

As Whitebeam and Nybor said this is not the ideal tile to be practising with. They are not cheap and your alignment of the sheets and timing has to be spot on otherwise the different joint sizes will stand out you probably wouldn't be happy with the result (or the wife wouldn't be, could you live with that? :incazzato

Either choose the other tile that gives you a bit more 'workability' or get a pro in.

Good luck

BTW. Great advice Peckers, nailed it in one

 

[MTiler]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

Ive re-done many jobs where so called 'tilers' mess up fixing paper faced mosaics, get a pro in with experience in mosaics. Use white adhesive and if theyre translucent glass its best to skim a coat of adhesive on the board to give it an even finish. I'd use a 3mm trowel. If the paper has a grain lay each sheet the same way (vertically) as when wet the sheets can slightly expand.

missyT

 

[kilty55]

Re: Paper faced sheets of 4mm thick glass tiles - best way to fix to cement board ple

as miss tiler this is a job for a pro if you want it looking good imo