Basic travertine help please.

[block]

Hi guys.

Tried not to post such basic questions but I feel I must due to a spinning head!
Bought some travertine for the kitchen floor and I would like to know:-
1) What is 'backfilling'. do I need to do it.
2) do I seal the front and back
3) what adhesive would you recommend to affix to previosly fixed tiles (I know, sorry to all the purists!). There is a small area of concrete to be covered also.
4) If I use white adhesive, would it seep through and cause problems with my proposed biege grout, ie, come all the way though the various small gaps.
5) Does the addy need to be flexible. All the tiles already laid are very secure
6) I plan to use unmixed addy if poss because of the price, name your favourites please.
7) I just read a post about grouting the whole tile and I plan to do this in case it makes any difference to your replies.

I know this is probably all very basic stuff, but I thank you all kindly in advance.

Paul

 

[White Room]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

What are the existing tiles fixed to

 

[jay]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

:welcome:best to remove existing tiles

 

[White Room]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

Hi and welcome

 

[faithhealer]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

Hi guys.

Tried not to post such basic questions but I feel I must due to a spinning head!
Bought some travertine for the kitchen floor and I would like to know:-
1) What is 'backfilling'. do I need to do it.
a lot of trav has voids, if you 'back butter', (spread thin layer of addy on the back of the tile before fixing) this will, fill voids, give a better fix by eliminating dust etc
2) do I seal the front and back
DON'T seal the back
3) what adhesive would you recommend to affix to previosly fixed tiles (I know, sorry to all the purists!). There is a small area of concrete to be covered also. Flexible white adhesive
4) If I use white adhesive, would it seep through and cause problems with my proposed biege grout, ie, come all the way though the various small gaps. Work clean, wipe off as you go
5) Does the addy need to be flexible. All the tiles already laid are very secure Yes
6) I plan to use unmixed addy if poss because of the price, name your favourites please. tub gear wouldn't work anyway, single part flexible white adhesive, I personally use Mapei, but ardex and Bal are good makes, keep away from B&Q and Unibond.
7) I just read a post about grouting the whole tile and I plan to do this in case it makes any difference to your replies. grouting the whole tile fills in the voids, good clean down and seal afterwards

I know this is probably all very basic stuff, but I thank you all kindly in advance.

Paul

Hope thats enough to get you going
ps welcome aboard

 

[block]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

Bought some travertine for the kitchen floor and I would like to know:-
1) What is 'backfilling'. do I need to do it.
a lot of trav has voids, if you 'back butter', (spread thin layer of addy on the back of the tile before fixing) this will, fill voids, give a better fix by eliminating dust etc
2) do I seal the front and back
DON'T seal the back
3) what adhesive would you recommend to affix to previosly fixed tiles (I know, sorry to all the purists!). There is a small area of concrete to be covered also. Flexible white adhesive
4) If I use white adhesive, would it seep through and cause problems with my proposed biege grout, ie, come all the way though the various small gaps. Work clean, wipe off as you go
5) Does the addy need to be flexible. All the tiles already laid are very secure Yes
6) I plan to use unmixed addy if poss because of the price, name your favourites please. tub gear wouldn't work anyway, single part flexible white adhesive, I personally use Mapei, but ardex and Bal are good makes, keep away from B&Q and Unibond.
7) I just read a post about grouting the whole tile and I plan to do this in case it makes any difference to your replies. grouting the whole tile fills in the voids, good clean down and seal afterward

Thank you all.
Faithhealer, when I posted, I dreamed of a response like the above, thank you.
Couple more though!
1) Seal the front and sides once will be enough?. (Dont seal the back, d'oh!)
2) Mapei 20kg bag at b&q, about £20, is this 'single part flexible'? Dont suppose they do a beige addy with grout.
3) I have a notched trowel, not a semi circle one, I presume this would be ok?
4) My trav is a beigey colour, would you use a beige grout?

Thank you again, very helpful.

Paul

 

[faithhealer]

Re: Basic trvertine help please.

Any Tile Giant tile shops near you? They sell Mapei and Mapei 'Jasmine (Ivory) looks good with trav,
Don't seal until you have grout, hence the importance of working clean
Invest in a floor trowel, 10mm rad. Whats the price of a trowel aginst the cost of your floor

 

[block]

Dont seal at all until finished? I sealed my wall tile before fitting as i was led to believe this made it easier to clean.
Is this exactly what you mean?
Keraflex Maxi White 20kg Flexible Floor Tile Adhesive
Ultracolour Plus Jasmine (130) 5kg Flexible Wall/Floor Grout
Sorry to ask so many questions.

Thank you again

Paul

 

[faithhealer]

re question 7 on your first post, if you seal the tile before you grout the whole face the grout might not stay in the 'holes'. To be honest, some tilers do seal first but trav is easy to keep clean. If its good quality trav with no holes, seal first if it helps, just the face though not the sides

 

[block]

Makes sense Faithhealer, thank you.
Keraflex write up says nothing about natural stone but keraquick does. It is the flexi stuff I need though?

Paul

 

[faithhealer]

Makes sense Faithhealer, thank you.
Keraflex write up says nothing about natural stone but keraquick does. It is the flexi stuff I need though?

Paul

I love Keraquick, but don't mix too much up if you are not used to it.
Flexible adhesive is used for it's adhesion properties as well as the obvious flexibility

 

[block]

Faithhealer,

As long keraflex can be used on trav I will bow to your superior knowledge.
Ta.

Paul

 

[DJS]

Keraflex Maxi (S1). Here comes the science bit from the MAPEI products catalogue.

Where to use:
Interior/Exterior wall and floor tiling. Bonding all types of ceramic and porcelain tiles, mosaics and natural stone on conventional wall substrates, render, plaster, plasterboard, marine ply and other board types. Floor substrates include cement screed, anhydrite screed, concrete and marine ply. Particularly suitable for large sized porcelain tiles and moisture stable stone materials and underfloor/undertile heating.
Bed Thickness : 3-15mm
NB. Gypsum plaster and anhydrite screeds must be primed.

Pot Life : Over 8 hrs
Open Time : approx 30 mins.

The main difference with keraquick is it's a rapid set and it can be mixed with latex additive to make it even more flexible (S2).

I'm off to work today to go and mix my last bag of it. Was really nice to work with. Don't mix it too sloppy, keep it stiff and it will stay on your trowel better :smilewinkgrin:

 

[block]

DJS, thank you.
Another couple here for you!
I plan to do the floor in 2 days, first day all uncut tiles, let it go off overnight then the cut edge tiles the next day. This makes sense to me, but does it you?
Also, any tips on cutting these tiles. Will a standard diy electric cutter do this ok? They are quite thick. Do I cut from the bottom?
Thank you.

Paul.

 

[faithhealer]

DJS, thank you.
Another couple here for you!
I plan to do the floor in 2 days, first day all uncut tiles, let it go off overnight then the cut edge tiles the next day. This makes sense to me, but does it you?
Also, any tips on cutting these tiles. Will a standard diy electric cutter do this ok? They are quite thick. Do I cut from the bottom?
Thank you.

Paul.

don't give yourself time limits, if it takes two/three/ four days, so be it.

I like to do cuts as you go.

Depends on which diy cutter you buy, you might scrape through with the std wheel you get on those things.

You don't turn the tile upside down if thats what you mean. cut from both ends if you find the tile constantly chips

 

[DJS]

Depends on size of floor. I used the keraflex on walls because of the extended open time, as I was doing the cuts as I went along.

With keraflex maxi on floors, you have to leave them 24hrs, before it's ready for light foot traffic. So if you lay the last one at 3pm, strictly speaking you should leave it until 3pm the next day before you can start to finish!

I used keraquick on the floor, as it's good for light foot traffic after 3 hrs. So I had enough time, I cut & dry laid all the tiles first. Then I mixed up the addy and stuck them all down with one mix. Then I knew I could confidently walk on it next day. Was 3.5m2 in brick bond.

How big is your's (ahem!) floor I mean? :lol: If its small enough go with a rapid set. But if you want to play it safe, and go with an extended open time adhesive give it 24hrs or whatever it says on the bag instructions.

 

[block]

Only 4.5m so I might get the quick variety and get all the cuts done first. Just went to local b&q for Mapei and they didnt have it. Going to Donny morrow so will get some from Tile Giant or somewhere. B&q do a Mapei Buildfix which I read somewhere is the same like an 'own label'. Is it or should I just get the genuine stuff. Dont know the price but I presume it would be cheaper.
Ta.

 

[White Room]

The B&Q stuff is made by mapei but is slightly down graded for the large wharehouse group but still usable

 

[block]

Thank you all.
Bought the Buildfix Mapei and made a start but have a question regarding mixing it. I dont have a proper mixer for the drill so I did it by hand. Read somewhere the mix needs to be thick enough for the trowel to stand up and slowly fall over. Did this but it didnt go off after about an hour when I finished. Im guessing it needs to be thicker but how much? It doesnt say on the bag.
Thank you.

 

[DJS]

Do you mean there are no mixing instructions at all on the bag? Should be somekind of guidance as to what ratio of water/powder. I always try to steer clear of the warehouse stuff, overpriced for what it is, your just paying for the convenience. And I'm not just talking about adhesive.

I guess your just mixing small amounts and not a full bag at once then? I found it hard to judge like that at first too. About 2 years ago when first learning, and before I put my first mix on, I used measuring jugs, measuring cups and conversion tables to work out exactly what the right ratio would be for smaller mix's. Even then I still got it wrong, and have only improved with time and experience.

If you have no experience with powder stuff it can be hard to tell how stiff, stiff should be!! Some adhesives recommend the use of a paddle mixer, and there are different type's of addy too. It wasn't until I worked with a real tiler, until I got it right myself - about 18 months down the line from my first steps! My only tip I can put into words is that when you scoop it up with your bucket trowel, you should feel some resistance and it should be firm enough to stay on the bucket trowel, yet loose enough to be worked off the notched trowel.

Hope that helps. I'm out, you said the B&Q word 😛rrr: :lol:

 

[block]

Ha!!!
The Buildfix version of Mapei from %^& was bought for a few reasons. It was cheaper but also gave a longer 'pot' life of 30 mins which I thought might be helpful, I was right. The price difference bought my grout.
There is mixing instructions but it gives you amount of water for a full bag which obviously would not have been a good idea! I think I mixed it too thin as it hadnt gone off after about an hour. Nice and solid today though.
Just finished although 2 tiles cracked so gonna redo them asap.
Thanks for all your help, very much appreciated.

Paul