How to relay these tiles ?

[schakal]

Hi all , I am after a bit of help in order to restore my Edwardian hallway tiles. As seen in the photos I have an area of missing tiles and I would like to relay reclaimed tiles on here to restore this section. The old bedding seen in photos are fairly hard and sturdy. Could you recommend what to use for sticking the missing tiles back on ?
Pva glue , SBR , some kind of tile adhesive ?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[Andy Allen]

Tile Adhesive !!

 

[Qwerty]

Vacuum and then prime with SBR at correct ratio for priming. Then relay with cement based bagged tile adhesive.

 

[schakal]

Vacuum and then prime with SBR at correct ratio for priming. Then relay with cement based bagged tile adhesive.

Thank you

Do you mean to prime with SBR slurry (SBR + CEMENT ) What is the correct ratio ?

Also will the tile adhesive not create a higher bedding for the tile which will make it sit higher than the original ?

 

[Qwerty]

No, there is no need for a slurry. Just prime the substrate underneath.

Only you will know if it will increase the height....but looking at the picture it possibly will as it looks like the old cement is still there as I can see the indentations left by the tiles. You may need to remove the old cement first

 

[schakal]

No, there is no need for a slurry. Just prime the substrate underneath.

Only you will know if it will increase the height....but looking at the picture it possibly will as it looks like the old cement is still there as I can see the indentations left by the tiles. You may need to remove the old cement first

This is the problem. The 100 year old “cement” is only 10mm thick underneath is ash and rubble and ideally I don’t want to disturb it if I don’t have to.
Hence I was hoping for a flexible glue that is strong and thin enough to do the job.

 

[Qwerty]

Then try using a thin notch trowel

 

[Andy Allen]

Those tiles were probably set into the wet cement when the floor was originally tiled...... All you can do is fix the tiles using a thin bed of tile adhesive........ Only other option is to rip it all up and start again.

 

[Wolfie9878]

Hi
You could try grinding the ridges on the back of the tiles, this would give you an extra 1mm or 2

 

[schakal]

Thanks for all the replies. Very good points made there ^

Also the tiles are butted up to each other with no set amount of a gap and grouted with something that looks like pure cement.
Trying to separate tiles from each other is almost impossible without breaking them.
Am I correct thinking I can grout whatever the tiny gaps are left using cement mixed with water only ?
Any other tips for grouting ?