Laying 30m2 of 900x600 slate tiles ourselves -- are we insane?

[veryfluffy]

I'm a bit frightened of rapidset, in case of a problem it seems safer to have some working time to prise it up or adjust. On the other hand, is it the case that the regular adhesive isn't good for thicker beds, ie will slump before it dries. I was going to aim for an average 6mm or so of adhesive, 10 mm seems like alot? I guess you also have to clean off excess as it goes off, so slow setting is harder to keep track of...

Concrete is generally very flat with some area just having a sort of textured surface with 1-2 mm indentations or chips, and a couple of small areas of about 3 mm too low that I will use levelling in.

 

[Andy Allen]

even if the floor was spot on i'd be using a 20mm trowel and back skimming every tile and making sure theres no dust on the backs, so much to consider, 6mm trowel far to small, you wont get 100% coverage..

 

[widler]

fluffy,make sure you open every box 1st and sort from thick to thin,calibrated may say calibrated but there will be a few MM difference, easy:mad2:
start with the thick ones and make your way down,you could use a 10MM trowel on the thick(backbuttering with the flat edge) and either a 10MM trowel backbuttering with the serrated edge or a bigger trowel as they get thinner as andy suggested

You must sort the tiles 1st,don't lay them from box to box,it will go FUBAR up if you do,this is a massive must

 

[henrywillicombe]

you can tell this site is sponsored by tile suppliers.people will be saving the money on tilers and spending more money on tiles and laying them themselves. 900 x 600 slate, first time laying a floor. have fun. dont let guests take their shoes off.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

you can tell this site is sponsored by tile suppliers.people will be saving the money on tilers and spending more money on tiles and laying them themselves. 900 x 600 slate, first time laying a floor. have fun. dont let guests take their shoes off.

????, yet everybody is recommending veryfluffy get a professional in

 

[Gazzer]

Cam - I have tried to reply, but I apparently need 15 posts before I am allowed to reply to PMs! Not sure what the point of that is, but tried contacting Admin with no success...

Earls Barton is on the other side of Northampton from me, about 15 miles I guess. I am just near the A5 in the Daventry area.

I never received any messages ????

 

[Gazzer]

you can tell this site is sponsored by tile suppliers.people will be saving the money on tilers and spending more money on tiles and laying them themselves. 900 x 600 slate, first time laying a floor. have fun. dont let guests take their shoes off.

Eh ??? That make no sense ????

 

[Dougs Third Go]

Eh ??? That make no sense ????

Phew!! I'm glad it wasn't just me getting up early not being able to get my head round it:lol:

 

[Bubblecraft]

Is that for or against? I don't get it!

 

[veryfluffy]

Just an update -- and thanks for all the replies! I did in the end get it done by a pro (specialist in natural stone!), and I'm glad I did. Two big blokes, and it was still a job for them to lift these bloody things (18 mm thick slabs!) into position. They wore out three cutting blades doing it...

Looks fantastic too.

 

[Bubblecraft]

Glad your happy with the end result!

 

[AliGage]

Well done Fluffy. Not being funny, sensible choice in the end and you're obviously very pleased with the result. Just goes to show in the long run the professionals are worth the money.

Can we see a few pistures?

 

[AliGage]

you can tell this site is sponsored by tile suppliers.people will be saving the money on tilers and spending more money on tiles and laying them themselves. 900 x 600 slate, first time laying a floor. have fun. dont let guests take their shoes off.

Yeah i'm a little confused here. I think i read this as FOR getting a Pro in. But yeah, it might be sponsoured by suppliers but the advice given here is from professional traders etc.
Most have suggested getting a pro in for this job, fluffy has, and without even seeing a picture i'm glad she did. Happy customer has got a floor they're very happy with, and a good craftsmen has earn't a wage. Win win.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

Just an update -- and thanks for all the replies! I did in the end get it done by a pro (specialist in natural stone!), and I'm glad I did. Two big blokes, and it was still a job for them to lift these bloody things (18 mm thick slabs!) into position. They wore out three cutting blades doing it...

Looks fantastic too.

just finished a 35m2 job this week, mine were 900 x 600 x 22mm thick.....on my own and I'm only 10.5 stone wet through:8:

 

[henrywillicombe]

what is there not to understand. 900 x 600 slate is challenging for any tiler. people were giving advice and i was in a bad mood. just thinking whats the point of being a tiler when complete novices will lay slate floors themselves with advice from this forum.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

what is there not to understand. 900 x 600 slate is challenging for any tiler. people were giving advice and i was in a bad mood. just thinking whats the point of being a tiler when complete novices will lay slate floors themselves with advice from this forum.

...but we all said to get a professional in, that's how I read the posts anyway. Sometimes though people can't afford to get a pro in and that's where we'll try and talk them through the procedure.

 

[Gazzer]

you can tell this site is sponsored by tile suppliers.people will be saving the money on tilers and spending more money on tiles and laying them themselves. 900 x 600 slate, first time laying a floor. have fun. dont let guests take their shoes off.

This is what confuses me, It doesnt fit in to any of this.

 

[veryfluffy]

Dog added for scale!

 

[jlktiling]

doesnt look too bad!

 

[Dougs Third Go]

nice dog too, is it a Slovak?

 

[veryfluffy]

nice dog too, is it a Slovak?

Bedlington x whippet

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some of the older popular (sometimes not so popular) threads. Probably wont be current discussion these days but I just need to do it. So just ignore the thread if it's not current for you.