First Travertine Floor - Conservatory

[GatesheadCol]

Hi all,

Looking for a few pointers.

Got my first conservatory (been dying for one for my portfolio) and its 600 by 400 travertine honed and filled from Jamies tiles supplied with all the addy and grout and sealer to boot.

Never done travertine yet so just looking for a few pointers.

Laying them brick bond, floor is 3.2 by 2.8 and lovely and square. Laying the brickbond along the longest area if you get what I mean .

Heres wgat I plan.

Im going Thursday night to seal them before I fix, thinking this is best for me to avoid messing them up.

Fix them friday, seqal again, let dry and them depending how I get on grout that afternoon and seal again.

the cuts will be straight as its a square conservatory, do I need to use the wet cutter or can I do straight cuts with a dry cutter with a 10mm wheel. I have the cutter that Darren at NETT sells, the biggest one ( I cant remember what the max tile length is so may have to use the wet cutter if I have to cut the length of the tiles lol. Look sa fairly straight forward job if Im honest, nice and easy for my first go at trav.

Anything else I have to watch for, any other adivce you can give me, do I need to polish them or anything after grouting and sealing.

Cheers in advance for any advice offered.

 

[GazTech]

Are they unpolished or polished ?

 

[DHTiling]

Hi col........

You will have to use the electric cutter on these mate........

I would just lay them and grout then seal afterwards.......they wash off really easy and the grout won't hurt them......

I would also think about an isolation membrane in a conservatory as there can be quite a bit of expansion in the subfloor due to the heat in there.......

What sealers does jamies use now..?...

 

[wetdec]

Hi Col

If you intend laying these tiles on Friday and you will need to wet cut them you should be looking at not sealing them until Mon. The reasons are if I can explain. Travertine is rarely fully dry from cutting when it gets to the customer, if you add to this the water used in adhesive, grout, cutting, wiping down then there is a lot of moisture to escape before you can properly seal.

To combat this I would not seal until the end and everything is dry following this process. Lay uncoupling membrane & fix Thursday, grout Friday pm, seal after inspection Monday. A long process I agree but thats why we get paid more for stone m8.


tiler

 

[GatesheadCol]

Bloody hell, more than I thought there.

hadnt given the membrane a thought TBH.

Only quoted £250 for it, should have uppe dit, would have if I knew about laying an uncoupling membrane.

What would you guys suggest then??

Unsure if they are polished or unpolished.

Thought I could just lay them and grout them without much else.

DAve can you give me a step by step using your expertise?? Pm me if you want

Also the concrete on the conservatory floor has a red paint on it? Should I just prime over this or would any other prep be needed?

 

[wetdec]

You will have stone under your belt tho, use it to learn and dont rush the next time you will know. Try to enjoy it m8 good stone fixers are hard to find.

If I can help you further then shout


tiler

 

[GatesheadCol]

Cheers wetdec,

I may have priced a little low at £250, but its a. My first Conservatory and b. my first travertine so im happy for the experience. If it takes me 2 days Ive still earned well in my opinion and as you say its good experience for me.

Just want to make sure its a good job at the end of the day. Plus im doing his brother in laws kitchen later.

Ive been dying for one of these so I can get it under my belt

 

[Varley]

Just one other thing to bear in mind col seen as how this is your first conservatory, it will probably be quite warm in the conservatory so be carefull when mixing your addy, don't mix tto much first till you suss out how quickly it is drying, on a hot day you'll be lucky to get 10mins playtime with a mix. Best of luck to you.

 

[wetdec]

Just one other thing to bear in mind col seen as how this is your first conservatory, it will probably be quite warm in the conservatory so be carefull when mixing your addy, don't mix tto much first till you suss out how quickly it is drying, on a hot day you'll be lucky to get 10mins playtime with a mix. Best of luck to you.

 

[DHTiling]

Hi col..varley is right........switch to a slow setting........something like BAL SPF or similar from mapei.......longer bucket life is what you are after.........and for an isolation membrane if you go down that route then wetdec can usually get you some out ther next day.......