Please help a Newbie - Tile Advice

[smurf21]

no need to seal the top if using a polymer enhaced adhesive just the edges and underside if you like... but if water gets out of the tray all the sealing in the world wont help if you want it truly waterproof under the tray use a tanking system onto boarding and up the walls where tiles removed before putting tray back down.

 

[faithhealer]

Hows the project coming Les

 

[LesD]

Hows the project coming Les

Hi thanks for asking. The job is underway but as usual with my rate of progess there is already slippage on the plan!

I have the old buttresses down that used to narrow the front for the old 760 mm door so the spaces are ready for new tiles and eventually the new 900 mm door.

I also have the old tray out and the state where it sat was worse than I remembered. I knew the floor would have to be replaced, which is why I got the 18 mm WBP plywood you recommended but there is work to do on the wall that I did not expect as you will see from the pictures I have uploaded.

The things I get myself into. :whistling:

 

[LesD]

no need to seal the top if using a polymer enhaced adhesive just the edges and underside if you like... but if water gets out of the tray all the sealing in the world wont help if you want it truly waterproof under the tray use a tanking system onto boarding and up the walls where tiles removed before putting tray back down.

Hi Smurf,

Not wanting to start from scratch I have been trying to avoid tanking but maybe I should reconsider it.

The new 900 mm square stone resin tray I have bought will be such a snug fit in the in the space between the walls I was hoping to bed it down in Keraquick with Latex Plus and then fill all round its three sides and up under the tiles that are required to make up the space to the existing ones all with the Keraquick adhesive.

That's from a amateur's perspective of Course.

 

[faithhealer]

Seen worse floors/walls les, it'll be alright on the night mate

 

[DHTiling]

Tile on tile i see on the walls.....:smilewinkgrin:

 

[faithhealer]

Tile on tile i see on the walls.....:smilewinkgrin:

Do I hold the record, I took off a FOUR tiles thick wall once.

 

[LesD]

Tile on tile i see on the walls.....:smilewinkgrin:

Yes the original walls had been ok since I moved in and inherited the shower circa 1979 so I took the view that if they didn't leak why disturb them.

That was about two and a half years ago before I found this forum or maybe I would have done it differently!

I think (hope) the wall tiles are OK so providing I can seal the new tray in all should be well.

 

[LesD]

Seen worse floors/walls les, it'll be alright on the night mate

My plan is to take the floor up and let the plywood in but now I have met the next snag.

There is about an inch of joist protruding on both sides making it necessary to cut the old floorboards flush with the walls and immediately above each joist. How to do this is the problem. I can't get in that close to the wall with my circular saw or my jig saw so I have been contemplating lots of drilled holes and then chiselling through between each hole but this is going to very time consuming! Any suggestions?

I tried with my 1" wide chisel without any drilled holes but it is now so blunt after removing tiles, tile cement, grout etc. that it hardly made a mark!

The plywood is slightly thicker than my existing floorboard so will have to fit right up to the walls to support the edges of my tray otherwise I would cut the old boards flush with the joists and fit a sturdy support on to the sides of them to fix the plywood to.

 

[faithhealer]

All I can suggest, unless you want to go out and buy a fein multimaster or the bosch equilvilant is a hand saw, you can buy a handsaw for under a tenner. (use a new one, not one you've a few years) Not easy and a bit painstaking but you should get there

 

[LesD]

I got the old floorboards out using my Black & Decker electric saw that has only ever seen service lopping brances before but it did the job OK.

The 18 mm WBP plywood went in Wednesday evening was primed underneath and round the cut edges with Mapei Primer G and securely screwed down Thursday morning. My brother gave me a very welcome and essential hand the get the stone resin tray out of the garage, up the stairs and into the position you will see in the picture.

It is bedded in nice and level on Mapei Keraquick with Latex Plus and the under layer of plain white tiles set with the same adhesive, which is also packed in as thoroughly as I can on the three walled sides of the recess.

Today I have been to Tile Giant and bought some of the white Keraquick powder and I am going to use this to stick the top layer of the matching finish tile on with. These tiles are 200 mm by 300 mm and I am going to lay the long side horizontal as this reduces the number of vertical grout lines and puts them away from the ones with the plain white tiles.

I am hoping that if I squeeze the white Keraquick out between the tiles that I could grout them with the Keraquick too. What do you reckon to that?

This is Keraquick with Latex Plus, which I am led to believe is flexible and waterproof. If this is correct it makes the job that bit easier from my point of view. I mentioned doing this to the guy in Tile Giant and his reply was," you certainly won't be the first to do it but we wouldn't recommend it as there is a degree of porosity"! Afterwards I though, all I bought was the powder from this guy and he would not know that I was using the Latex Plus additive to mix it with instead of water so maybe I will be OK. The advice from the forum would be very much appreciated.

 

[TJ Smiler]

Les DO NOT GROUT THIS JOB WITH KERAQUICK, IT IS NOT GROUT AND KEEP THE GROUT LINES CLEAN AND CLEAR OF ADHESIVE WHILE YOU ARE WORKING, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE ADHESIVE OUT THE SIDES HOPING THIS WILL GROUT IT TOO. THIS IS VERY LAZY AND WRONG!!!!!!!

After spending this much time on your job don't cut corners now, you have used Mapei all the way through this job so now go get yourself some Mapei grout or BAL grout and finnish the job off properly.

PS NEVER EVER EVER LISTEN TO A SINGLE WORD ANYONE IN A TILE CENTRE EVER SAYS TO YOU ABOUT TILING, THEY ARE NOT TILERS AND HAVE NO HANDS ON EXPERIENCE!!!!! apart from a few of course but you would never know who they are cos you wouldn't know if they were right or wrong. Always ask a professional tiler about tiling not someone who sounds like thay know a bit!!

I just love shouting in this post it's great

NICE WORK SO FAR MATE SO KEEP IT UP AND NO CUTTING CORNERS AT THIS STAGE.............. BANG AND THE DIRT IS GONE LOL

TJ

 

[LesD]

Les DO NOT GROUT THIS JOB WITH KERAQUICK, IT IS NOT GROUT

I just knew this would be the answer.

AND KEEP THE GROUT LINES CLEAN AND CLEAR OF ADHESIVE WHILE YOU ARE WORKING, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE ADHESIVE OUT THE SIDES HOPING THIS WILL GROUT IT TOO.

I just wish I had the skill to manage the clean lines and not squeezing the adhesive out of the sides. Maybe I use too much adhesive per tile!

THIS IS VERY LAZY AND WRONG!!!!!!!

OK OK I will grout with grout. I did intend to but found working with the Mapei Keraquick a messy process with my lack of skill.
The grout I intended to use I bought from Homebase and is:

Unibond, TILE ON WALLS, Waterproof Anti-Mould Grout

Described as ideal for power showers, bathrooms & kitchens
Interior & exterior ceramic tiles & mosaics
Superior mould resistance.

Should I forget this grout and buy one of the others that you mention?

 

[TJ Smiler]

LOL..... Yes mate, go get yourself some proper grout, it wont cost much for that little shower area.

Mapei do some lovely grouts and they are a highly regarded company with us tilers. Personally i always use BAL. What you need is a flexible grout, BAL's Microban is very very good used iot loads without any probs. Mapei Grout is also very good but you have to mechanicaly whisk it to a certain texture but some of the other lads on here swear by it like i swear by BAL and these guys use it all day long and know their stuff so thats good enough for me. Either of these 2 would be perfect for your job. Also WEBBER & ARDEX are very good grouts. Whatever you do just make sure it is flexible and work it right into the joints when you grout, don't be lazy on the grouting cos if you get this right it could last you many many years without any problems but get it wrong cos your in a rush (OR USE B AND BLOODY Q LOL) and you run the risk of getting it wrong which could cause major problems in the future.

BAL, MAPEI, WEBBER, ARDEX FLEXIBLE GROUT FOR USE IN POWER SHOWERS!!!!

By the way enjoy it mate and well done for seeking professional advice before you start, the job is looking good so keep us posted on how it's going.

TJ

 

[LesD]

LOL..... Yes mate, go get yourself some proper grout, it wont cost much for that little shower area.

OK the BAL sounds easier to mix and I need easy!

I found this at Topps Tiles, "Bal Microfles Wall Grout White 3.5 KG"
but I can't find the BAL's Microban that you mention. Could this be the same stuff but for retail?

Can I use this sort of flexible grout between the bottom row of tiles and the tray?

I have gone off silicone sealant since my first disaster. I have spent over 2 hours today with a Stanley Knife blade between my fingers scraping off the generous application I used to seal my first attempt with the plywood buttresses that rotted in under 3 years!. :yikes: