Floor Tiling advice and are additives necessary?

[Granty]

Granty, your incredibly naive about the job in hand! But i do hope it works out for you.

I'm not naive, I am simply making sure I know what I'm doing and specifically with the additives, the kitchen wall tiles are still up a year on and they look great, to be honest it was like adult lego, stick them and space them, I found it quite straight forward so maybe you could explain why a floor is so much different to walls?
I had to underpin parts of the wall tiles but to me tiling a floor so long as you have advice from a DIY tiling forum or two would be hard to go wrong, like I said I appreciate many here are in the trade but i'm sure plenty of people out there are confident in their own ability and that includes not starting before you are sure you know what is what.

 

[Blunt Tool]

To be fair I did post a thead in an area named DIY Tiling Forum which implies that advice is available without people getting touchy and to the most part that has been the case, your reply reads as though help won't be forthcoming, but you were wrong
Some people are quite able or willing to do trade jobs and learn as they go, some people pay to save the hassle or are not very good at DIY.

If you read your posts from the start you will see you more or less said you know it all and so good luck and hope it turns out well

 

[Granty]

Hi Granty. It's not so much that floors are harder to deal with than walls, more that each has its own techniques and problems to take into consideration. Type of substrate, levelling and prepping, correct adhesive etc are very different when tiling a floor, which is why we're advising you to get a professional to quote the job. Training and experience make all the difference in this field, why spend good money on quartz tiles then skimp on installation?

I'm not skimping on installation, I'm confident I can get close to a trade finish given the right info! If it takes me 3 times as long as it would a trades person then I'm happy with that as these tiles will be down for a long time.
I talked her into spending that much and I told her exactly like I'm sure they'll look great but it might take a full day, she's taking the kids for the night and we'll have money to take them away rather than spend on a job that I can do, sorry I just feel like these forums are more geared to getting custom for trades people than just helping DIY'ers, if the title of the forum I posted in were different then maybe I'd understand but it does say DIY.

I should note that when I did the kitchen walls It was the second time I'd done that, my GF's Dad had helped me do the Bathroom previous and I learned a fair bit from him but c'mon it's hardly rocket science, I would accept an error as part of learning but I do a lot of research and will not start until I feel I'm where I need to be but this time I feel much more confident, I just want to get the details right. Measure in inches you can't go wrong right?

I'll post a pic when It's done

 

[Granty]

If you read your posts from the start you will see you more or less said you know it all and so good luck and hope it turns out well

I certainly don't know it all but I do want to learn by doing, I have done plastering, plumbing, basic electrics, all sorts of other flooring to name but a few, so if the time comes where there is an error then thats on me, my GF's Dad does a ton of DIY and he's quite good, bit too heavy handed for me (Measures in inches only, just not in my house!) and he doesn't know how to use a computer but he's self taught, nowadays with the internet I think its plausible to seek help and advice and at the end of it make an informed decision on whether you yourself are capable, in this case i will be going ahead, I don't mind posting pics for you guys to pull apart at a later date though but so long as the missus is happy at the end of it then I'm good with that

 

[Granty]

Anyway thanks to all who helped, I understand where most of you guys are coming from but this is a DIY forum so please see where I am coming from, I was always going to be doing this myself.
If the adhesive goes wrong and my floor looks something like the yellow brick road during the storm then I'll come back here and admit I was wrong, that is highly unlikely though.
Just one more Question, what tool do I use to push the *adhesive between the tiles?

 

[Blunt Tool]

I certainly don't know it all but I do want to learn by doing, I have done plastering, plumbing, basic electrics, all sorts of other flooring to name but a few, so if the time comes where there is an error then thats on me, my GF's Dad does a ton of DIY and he's quite good, bit too heavy handed for me and he doesn't know how to use a computer but he's self taught, nowadays with the internet I think its plausible to seek help and advice and at the end of it make an informed decision on whether you yourself are capable, in this case i will be going ahead, I don't mind posting pics for you guys to pull apart at a later date though but so long as the missus is happy at the end of it then I'm good with that

Don’t think anyone on here wants to rip apart any DIY persons tiling, wrong forum for that! Just we have seen this many times before, 10 metres of 600mm quartz onto a kitchen floor would have to be like a billiard table for me to do in one day but you are giving yourself this even tho you said even if it takes you 3 times that of a professional.

 

[Granty]

Don’t think anyone on here wants to rip apart any DIY persons tiling, wrong forum for that! Just we have seen this many times before, 10 metres of 600mm quartz onto a kitchen floor would have to be like a billiard table for me to do in one day but you are giving yourself this even tho you said even if it takes you 3 times that of a professional.

Thanks I know that, I said to my GF if I was in a trade I'd prob be the same, i'm sure you guys have seen your fair share of bad jobs in your time.
The kitchen cupboards run the full length one side and half length the other so theres a lot of plinths along the kitchen perimiters, in fact 3 600mm tiles will reach under each side with about 2 cm to spare (inc Grout lines) so theres not so many cuts as you may think.
I thought a full day would be about right, got the following morn early aft if needed but if it takes longer than that she'll understand, my point is it won't be rushed, I've refused help on this job from a friend simply because I think he'll get frustrated working at my pace and also to ensure I get the finish that I believe I am capable of. Honestly if this job were to go wrong it would be based on the adhesive but I now have enough advice on that thanks to you guys and the shop.
My (Yes Limited) experience with tiling is that you have to work at a reasonable pace to ensure the adhesive stays fresh even when you make it up it reasonable quantities.
Thats kind of why I thought plastering would be my downfall as it's a job that needs a certain pace about it, I'm more slow pace make sure it's right but it worked out ok, nevertheless when it came to the landing stairs and hallway I paid a trades man as that was too big and daunting with the height of the ceilings over stairs for me to even consider attempting.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

Anyway thanks to all who helped, I understand where most of you guys are coming from but this is a DIY forum so please see where I am coming from, I was always going to be doing this myself.
If the adhesive goes wrong and my floor looks something like the yellow brick road during the storm then I'll come back here and admit I was wrong, that is highly unlikely though.
Just one more Question, what tool do I use to push the *adhesive between the tiles?

do you mean "grout" between the tiles?, if so you'll need a grout float. Good luck.

 

[Julian 'Farmer' Bonsall]

The adhesive I have used for a similar job was :
Mapei Fast Setting Flexible Quartz Tile Adhesive Grey 2 Part Granirapid

I am a DIY person who does some tilling now and again for friends, friends of friends and so on and have done for over 25 years. I am slow, always learning and those quartz tiles were almost the end of me. Was a different universe than laying some ceramics.

Granty. These guys are trying to help you (it may not seem it) and when they wish you the best I am sure they mean that. They are highlighting its not a simple job. Keep us updated with how you get on.

 

[Granty]

The adhesive I have used for a similar job was :
Mapei Fast Setting Flexible Quartz Tile Adhesive Grey 2 Part Granirapid

I am a DIY person who does some tilling now and again for friends, friends of friends and so on and have done for over 25 years. I am slow, always learning and those quartz tiles were almost the end of me. Was a different universe than laying some ceramics.

Granty. These guys are trying to help you (it may not seem it) and when they wish you the best I am sure they mean that. They are highlighting its not a simple job. Keep us updated with how you get on.

I will and thanks for the advice, I appreciate all advice, thats why I'm here, just I don't want talking out of a job I am sure I am capable of doing. I'm happy if theres a learning curve but as I said I've tiled my kitchen walls and bathroom from top to bottom and had no problems so you can understand why I want to do the floor.
It's generally an easy layout and I suspect as I have measured to the mm that there will be minimal cuts for the size of the room, that was one reason I went for the 600mm as opposed to the 300mm, it was a close call but the 600mm fit perfect across most the width of the kitchen.
As for the Granirapid I saw that stuff a couple nights ago on the tile magic website and was planning on calling them today, seems a fair bit cheaper than the Bal Fibreplus with the Admix that Topps want to supply, though they did knock some money off their web prices it still came to around £200 just for those though I predict I'd have a bag to return.
Once I know I got the right stuff at a reasonable price I'll be happy.