Hi all,

Just got my tiles as i am having my house re-done. (Getting a tiler in but i am getting all the materials).

1 job: Bathroom, I am in need of adhesive + grout (grout needs to be a cream colour), I am having to go tiles on tiles so adhesive will need to be quite strong? Also, the tiles will be used for a backing for my shower so waterproof is a must Tiles are aprox 8mm.

2 job:

Kitchen floor covering 32 square meters.Tiles are going onto hardwood ply-like material which I presume are sitting on the floorboards. I need adhesive + grout with grout being same colour as in bathroom (cream). Tiles are aprox 9mm.

What would be good if I could order the same materials and type for both jobs to avoid complications. I have herd good things on this site about mapia p9 and I have a 'tile giant' near me. Do the same brand do grout?


3 job.

My woodburner. I have sections of granite surrounding my burner for heatproofing. I need an adhersive + grout which is heatproof to allow granite to be stuck onto the plasterd walls.

Many thanks,

firstly imo i would remove tiles in bathroom if poss , how well are they fixed.

as for the floor you say a hardwood ply like material, could you be more specific as to what it is, please any pics would help

Welcome to the forum.

As above tiling on tiles is bad practice, is your tiler aware that you want to do this? if so he should be advising you against it. It makes no difference how strong the adhesive is because the old adhesive which you cant see or possibly know how well it is performing will be supporting the old and new tiles. A couple of days prep would sort out that issue.

You cant presume what the make up of the floor is, you have to investigate and prep accordingly. If its floorboards then is it a raised floor, is there any deflection?

You are not at the tiling stage yet, you are very much still in the prep stage.
Not doing it right now could result in lots of wasted time and money.

Have you checked out your tiler? Have you seen his work and checked directly with past happy customers?

Many thanks for help,

No, tiler has not advised me yet. He is a friend of my parents who has done work for them in the past and are pleased with it. I have not shown him this job yet, he knows I have work lined up but has not inspected yet but will be coming over for a view hopefully this week.

The old tiles have been on the wall (bathroom) for aprox 20years so I can see now tiling over the top might not be the best thing. Luckily only part of the wall is tiled so perhaps not a major job re-plastering it?



Currently there is nothing above the floorboards. I was presuming that sitting the tiles on top of a plyboard would be best. What would you suggest?



Finally a picture of the fire alcove where the fireburner will go:

You dont need to plaster the walls, plasterboard on its own will hold more weight per square metre so just reboard the walls, its cheap quick and effective.

Your floor needs to be strengthened with extra noggins to eliminate bounce, the ply should be 18mm and then over boarded with 6mm backerboards, this will give you an ideal tiling surface.

The tiles around your wood burner will be fine, they have already been in an oven that was far hotter.

Please make sure that this tiler knows all the relevant info, ask a few questions about his fixing methods and put them on the forum, we can advise you if he is doing the right things.
I always find that asking him if he will be using pva to bond the substrate works, his answer will confirm a lot.............

as all above, after your tiler has been let us no was he advises you please

Many thanks for replies,

Never thought about plasterboard, that will make the job quicker. Will see what he says though and keep you lot updated.

I may as well go on and get the adhesive + grout though and leave the other materials for him to sort. Is that Mapei p9 stuff from tile giant a good 'all-rounder' and be ok for my flooring + walls? I see it comes in different colours (adhesive) is this only applicable for glass type tiles?
Any recommendations on a decent grout?

Kind regards,

you will probably be cheaper leaving it to the tiler to supply your materials,it saves you any hassle and confusion also and he may prefer certain brands

Hi Rich Tile and all the advice above is spot on, if you follow it you won't go far wrong. If at any time you are unsure about anything just log on here and ask. Good luck

Well done on your part seeking professional advice before any work has been carried out.

Thanks again for help. My builder/tiler has still not been over but I've spoke to him and I can go ahead and get the adhesive + grout. He has worked with Mapei stuff before and is happy to use it.

What I need:

Adhesive to cover a 32sq/m area where my floor tiles will go in kitchen area. They are aprox 10mm thick.

Adhesive to cover the floors and walls of my bathroom, wall tiles will be used as a backing for my shower unit so obviously fully waterproof. Wall area is 19sq/m with floor being 5sq/m. Bathroom floor tiles are 10mm and wall 8mm.

Finally I would like to use the same colour (cream) for the whole job. So if you can recommend a decent one that would be great.

I went to TileGiant this morning and seen they had a large variety of Mapei bags and tubs. I take it the tubs are ready mixed? I have been told to not get this and use the self-mix stuff. There is no need for rapid-set or anything. Just looking for a decent adhesive for the job above.

Really would appreciate you help guys,

Many thanks,
Rich

Please guys

Any help is very much

Tiles, tile adhesive and grout aren't waterproof, just water resistant. So water can pass through the grout and soak into the adhesive and then into your substrate which will then cause problems.

So you want to get your "Tiler" (builder) to 'tank' the shower area using a tanking system. It's basically a sort of liquid you paint onto the walls, and in the corners there's a sort of tape/webbing, which you paint onto the wall in the corner, and then again onto your bath/showerto ensure when water runs down the back of the tile, it runs back into the bath/shower and not further down where there may be no tanking system and therefore again it's affect the substrate and cause problems in the future.

So you need:-

A cement-based adhesive by the sounds of it (not read through all the posts)
Plenty of cream grout (mapei have loads of colours and they perfectly match their silicones too! - bonus!)
A tanking kit/system

Take the tile quantities into Tile Giant and they'll sort out the amount you need of each. Make sure you tell them what you're tiling onto in each area, and mention the thickness of the grout line you want, double the thickness is clearly double the grout required.

Minimum british standard is 2mm for walls, 3mm for floors. That's a good sized grout line too though some like them thicker (there's no reason to go thicker though which can cost a little more).

Sorry I can't give actual qty's, I don't actually tile any more myself. Perhaps somebody else will be along in a moment to give you actual product names and the likes.

Many thanks for your help Dan,

Never knew about the 'tanking system'. That Mapei tub solution seems just the job so will put that on the list. So that would be used instead of the adhesive I will use for the rest of the bathroom - the waterproof kit only needs to be used where the 'shower tiles' will be? I'm ok using the same grout type though?

"mapei have loads of colours and they perfectly match their silicones too!" - Is the silicone used for the 'edging' around the outskirts of the end tiles?

Never gave the thickness of grout much thought! Good point. Thought there was a standard 'spacer' size. Is a thinner line of grout better for stability?

Just need to know which mapei type I should use on:

Bathroom wall (not including the area I will be using the waterproof kit on)
Bathroom floor.
Kitchen floor.

If someone could let recommend a mapei variant of those that will be great. That way i'll be more clued up when I get it from tile-giant tomorrow,

Cheers guys!

You'd tank the two walls around the shower/bath first. And then tile over it with adhesive.

Silicone should be used in all internal corners, and where the tiles meet the bath etc. Perhaps around the window reveal if he's tiling inside it. And maybe where the walls tiles meet the floor tiles too (depending on skirting situation).

The minimum british standard thickness for grout, I think, and don't quote me here, is due to the expansion and retraction of all materials that are used. You can pretty much go as thick as you like within reason (and the grout's capabilities). There's no need to though. a standard spacer size for floors will be 3mm, and walls 2mm.

As for adhesives, onto the wood in the kitchen you'll need a two-part flexible cement-based adhesive. Not too sure what the name of it is myself. And for the plasterboard you'll need the standard (or rapid) setting cement-based adhesive.

And the same adhesive you use on the plasterboard should be fine for your area around your burner. A flexible adhesive doesn't have as much tolerance with the heat I believe (I read that, I'm sure,on here, the other day - double check that with tile giant or mapei directly on their tech help line 0121 508 6970)

If you call mapei on 0121 508 6970 they'll not only advise you of the products names, they'll also give you quantities you need. So you then just need to check the store has the stock and go pick it up and pay for it.

I could not of asked for better help Dan Many thanks,

Will let you know how it goes and keep you updated.

Before and after shots win your brownie points and kudos.