Slate floor problem

[pam woodhouse]

Hi,

Can anyone advise?

My builders have just laid a slate (actually it's quartzite) floor in our kitchen/diner. The tiles are 600mm by 300mm and 12 mm thick. They are laid on a concrete sub-floor, on which is underfloor heating and finally a top screed.

I don't feel the tiler has done a very good job - a number of tiles are broken in the corners and have flaked along the edges. They are also a bit 'up and down', so the grout may be flush with the tile on one side, but sunken on the other. The tiler claims the tiles must be sub-standard in some way since the broken corners occurred as he was applying the grout.

Today, I was told that the adhesive he used was only 2mm thick. the tiles supplier insists it should be at least 10mm thick, which would be compressed down to 6mm. The tiles suppliers also claim that had the adhesive been thicker, it would have 'wrapped around' the tiles and stabilised the corners/edges so no damage would have occurred.

I don't know who to believe - is 2mm of adhesive inadequate? Will it come loose and potentially shorten the life of this floor (it was fairly expensive - the tiles cost £3000 to cover a room of 28 feet by 10 feet) ?

hoping you can help.

pam

 

[Smiths]

Hi,

Can anyone advise?

My builders have just laid a slate (actually it's quartzite) floor in our kitchen/diner. The tiles are 600mm by 300mm and 12 mm thick. They are laid on a concrete sub-floor, on which is underfloor heating and finally a top screed.

I don't feel the tiler has done a very good job - a number of tiles are broken in the corners and have flaked along the edges. They are also a bit 'up and down', so the grout may be flush with the tile on one side, but sunken on the other. The tiler claims the tiles must be sub-standard in some way since the broken corners occurred as he was applying the grout.

Today, I was told that the adhesive he used was only 2mm thick. the tiles supplier insists it should be at least 10mm thick, which would be compressed down to 6mm. The tiles suppliers also claim that had the adhesive been thicker, it would have 'wrapped around' the tiles and stabilised the corners/edges so no damage would have occurred.

I don't know who to believe - is 2mm of adhesive inadequate? Will it come loose and potentially shorten the life of this floor (it was fairly expensive - the tiles cost £3000 to cover a room of 28 feet by 10 feet) ?

hoping you can help.

pam

Pam, your tile supplier is correct. I would have used a 10 or a 12mm notched trowel or even a large u-notched trowel to achieve a solid bed.
Sounds like your tiler had no idea, sorry.

 

[UKTT Darren]

100% solid bed, 10mm round notch floor trowel should have been used, 2mm is nowhere near enough for slate, multiflex adhesive as well, even though its a concrete floor

 

[L & R CERAMICS]

Hi,

Can anyone advise?

My builders have just laid a slate (actually it's quartzite) floor in our kitchen/diner. The tiles are 600mm by 300mm and 12 mm thick. They are laid on a concrete sub-floor, on which is underfloor heating and finally a top screed.

I don't feel the tiler has done a very good job - a number of tiles are broken in the corners and have flaked along the edges. They are also a bit 'up and down', so the grout may be flush with the tile on one side, but sunken on the other. The tiler claims the tiles must be sub-standard in some way since the broken corners occurred as he was applying the grout.

Today, I was told that the adhesive he used was only 2mm thick. the tiles supplier insists it should be at least 10mm thick, which would be compressed down to 6mm. The tiles suppliers also claim that had the adhesive been thicker, it would have 'wrapped around' the tiles and stabilised the corners/edges so no damage would have occurred.

I don't know who to believe - is 2mm of adhesive inadequate? Will it come loose and potentially shorten the life of this floor (it was fairly expensive - the tiles cost £3000 to cover a room of 28 feet by 10 feet) ?

hoping you can help.

pam

unfortunately i think this one could be down to your tiles if they are slate, you do get a lot of imperfections but this is mainly because they are meant to look like that,also as for the corners breaking off have a look and see if its not just a layer of the slate that has crumbled off , again this does happen with slate and they are also meant to be uneven anyway regarding grout gaps

 

[L & R CERAMICS]

what u reckon pht

 

[Concept PHT]

I agree with all the above advice there. Sorry to say Pam, your tiler shouldn't be tiling.

Did he use a sealer on the tiles too?

 

[Leatherface]

A good solid bed is reqiured - at least 10mm, sometimes more on the thinner tiles. Much care needs to be taken in grading and matching the slate so that corners fit nicely.
The beauty of slate is that some edges and corners that are proud can be chiselled off to fit.
Careful grouting with a washboy is also essential.

 

[weesammy]

doing a slate job next week in a downstairs loo.sanitay will be removed.any suggestions about cuttin round waste pipe neatly.rest of job straightforward.first time doin slate.any other tips welcome

 

[yrag1964]

This is how I cut out for waste,
also I have a big diamond cutter which works on natural stone but not on ceramics or porcelaine View attachment Cutting out for a toilet waste.doc

the drawing is not very good but I am sure you get the idea