Mosaic mesh mishap!

[Dionne]

Hi there! Can anyone help me with a potential disaster? I am a mosaic artist and have just completed a mosaic commission designed for the bathroom. My problem is that I have fixed all my mosaic pieces to fibreglass mesh with PVA glue. I have since been told that if too much pva glue has been used then it will prevent the adhesive from sticking to the tiles and potentially my tiles will pop off if exposed to too much moisture.
One option I have been given is to put tile tape over the whole mosaic, right side up, flip it over and dampen the back of the mosaic to release some of the pva, then this will leave room for the tile adhesive to grip to the tiles. Is this the only option I have? If this is the only option can anyone tell me where I can buy tile tape in the UK? My piece is roughly 60cmx80cm and made up of glass and ceramic tiles. It will be fixed to wedi and then placed on the wall. Surely, the grout and adhesive will protect the tiles and the pva mishap wont be a problem ?!?!

 

[merlecollins]

Never heard of 'tile tape' but I suppose you could carry out the same procedure with any sticky back sheeting which would give you something comparable to paper faced mosaic as opposed to mesh backed.
You cold try the sticky backed plastic used to protect carpets - Wickes do one 500mm wide but that cold be a bit TOO sticky. Try a stationers for just run of the mill 'Blue Peter' type sticky back plastic sheets.
Lay the plastic sheets down with the sticky face up, flip your mosaic over good side down onto the sticky face and rub well on. I would then try carefully to remove the PVA with a combination of very little solvent and a sharp stanley blade-making sure the solvent doesn't get through to the glue on the sticky back plastic... Once you've done that fix the mosaic, wait a couple of days to make sure the tile adhesive has reached it's full compressive strength and remove the plastic sheet - use a highly modified adhesive such as Mapei P10.

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

hi dion it sounds to me like ,you need to paper face your work from the seen side with brown paper coat this with gum arabic or giorgum wallpaper on to your work ,let it dri out for a couple of days carfully turn over and IMO scratch off the PVA thus keeping your work dri ,beacause the gum you will use is also water soluable& if you flood it,it we breakdown!!! soz about the spelling im dislecsick