my first post, brilliant website!

im laying porcelain down for the 1st time, in 2 of my bedrooms and my living/kitchen.
i have concrete floors, it will be brand new as i am waiting for the place to be built.

ok so first of all the concrete floors need to be bone dry i understand.

2nd i need adhesive specificaly for porcelain as it dries differently becuase of the porcelain is that right?

Make sure you use a good single part flexible adhesive, such as Mapei Keraquick, Bal etc. Follow the instructions whether you have to bond the floor first. I advise flexi grout on porcelain as well.

welcome to the forums rudimm, other considerations to be aware of, are you installig under floor heating? if so, will it be a heat mat (electric) or a piped system? If you give us more info, we'll be able to better advise

bal single part flexi and bal flexi grout should be fine for your job

Hi Rudimm
If your new to tiling may be worth consider the pot life of adhesive.
Keraflex single part flexi has 8 hours and Keraquick rapid set flexi has 30 mins both would be a good choice.
With the Keraflex though it would allow you to take your time and be under no pressure.
Kev

i would use a sigle part flexible adhesive with porcilbond.
what do you other guys think y/n

yes the floors should be bone dry, as a rule of thumb 1 day per 1mm, if there is no way to wait that long a green screed adehsive should be used, single part adhesive look for the porcel bond mark on the bag, means it is good for porcelain or ask in the shop. hope this helps, googd luck

Also even if the screed looks flat, it probably isnt. Get yourself something long and straight and check the floors over for lumps and dips. Basically for a decent job, you want the floor to be as flat as possible. Flatter the better.

If you find its a bit all over the place, you will need to latex the floor before you tile it. (self levelling compound)

If you need advise on latexing, just post up, and we'll all help you out.

(if the floor is not flat, you will get in a right mess and it will never be all that perfect)

hey thanks for the replies, i think i will go for the bal single part flexi or the kerafix flexi with the 8 hours as i havent laid floor tiles before and their not exactly the smallest and easiest floor tiles to lay ( 600 x 600 ) but i do feel confident though.

i wont be installing underfloor heating.( too expensive ) my 1st house so everything is on a budget but i dont mind paying for decent materials.

could any one recomend the cheapest place to get the adhesive and grout from? tile it all, b and q,screw fix or wickes? i fancy having a try at tile it all and ask them if i can get it for trade price.( haggle them a bit )

also its polished porcelain so i understand i need to seal it with impregnator
but do i seal it before i lay it, and also do i just seal the top and sides and not the bottom of it and seal it again once i have laid it?

i will deff check that the screed is flat.
i need a powered tile cutter aswell, any suggestions?
have seen some in b and q ranging from 30 - 60 and same in scre fix
what about this one from screw fix

Erbauer ERB180C Tile Cutter Chrome Top 230V - Screwfix.com, Where the Trade Buys#

and will need a diamond wheel?

thanks for the help every one

Wouldn't say UFH was too expensive, wait till Aaron and Peter from U-Heat see your post, i am sure they will convince you it's not......

Thanks Steve,

If done correctly UFH is very cheap to run and requires no maintenance. The key thing with ufh is using insulation as this will dramatically improve the performance of the system.
However i understand that you are on a budget, please have a look at our website www.uheat.co.uk and i am sure you will be pleasently surprised at the costs and really is a great feature in a room.

Hi Rudimm just another quick tip I know it sounds daft but give the back of the tiles a clean off before you lay them as any dust etc can affect the bond

on the subject of ufh, for my say i reckon hang on and wait till you can afford it esp in your bedroom!!

Originally Posted by bigandy

on the subject of ufh, for my say i reckon hang on and wait till you can afford it esp in your bedroom!!

My thoughts exactly. I'm assuming you're in Britain (although i could be wrong), and i tell you now, tiles on concrete are gonna be bloody cold! Great for the Med in summer, but britain? Unless of course, you have a good pair of slippers.

i know it wont exactly be a warm floor lol
i would probably want it in my living room if anywhere and that would be 19 sqm and that would probably roughly cos about 400 without thermostat and fitting charges.
so what i am gona do is buy me a decent pair of slipper for say £40 and i would save a hell of a lot of money hehehe

do i seal the porcelain tiles on the top and sides before i lay them down?

2nd do i need adhesive specifically for porcelain... as it dries differently becuase of the porcelain is that right?

Just to let you know that something special you do need for porcelain (when cutting holes) is diamond. Only diamond drills are capable of boring holes into very hard stone. The diamond drills are actually grinders (rather than drills) are wear away the porcelain.

Originally Posted by rudimm

do i seal the porcelain tiles on the top and sides before i lay them down?

You can either seal them before laying, or lay first (working very cleanly) and seal after laying. You'll want to seal again after grouting whichever method you choose.

thanks for that beanz. i think i will go for sealing them 1st becuase i will probably kick myself if i stain them.