Slate Floor

[Woody123]

possibly got a slate floor coming up in the next few weeks, just want to know if it's uncalibirated slate then is it still possible to get a completely flat surface or would you inevitabley have some form of lipping? Just want to be able to advise the customer if the latter applies. I understand that its best to maybe have at least 5mm grout joint and don't use spaces. Is this correct?
Cheers for the info peeps

[kilty55]

hi ive not layed slate yet but advice i have had on uncalibrated slate is to empty the boxes and put it into piles each pile being the roughly same thickness to see what you have got using your flat equal tiles to lay in the centre and you can use a feather splitter/bolster to equal out the thicknesses of this as it is layed so theres no huge lips sticking out the tiles..please correct me peeps if im wrong on this as its only what i have been advised hope this helps

[Dave]

Hi woody.......

any uneven corners etc after you have layed them,,,then just use a hammer and chisel and knock them off.....thats the best thing with slate , you won't be able to tell.......

p.s. this only works with riven slate ..not honed or polished etc....

grout joint width...then i would go no less than 5mm sometimes wider just depends on slate quality and sizing.....

[Woody123]

thanks for the quick replies people. sound like good advice!

[theyomper]

When laying slate as above sort them out into thickness and start with the thickest ones first. As for spacing I normally use either a 5mm or 7 mm spacer. Once layed make sure you seal before grouting and this is probably the only time that I would use a grout gun as it keeps the slate cleaner and easier to clean. After washing down give another seal. If you do have any high spots these can be chiseled off. I have a couple of photos in my album page. The nautral slate ones shown were varying quite alot in thickness and the customer paid me a nice compliment...'I didn't think that they would be this flat'

[Woody123]

Just had a look at them pics yomper and they look really good! Well done mate, just got back from having a look at the job and she says the tiles are all the same thickness and size so it sounds like these are calabirated slate so i think it would make my life a lot easier!! would i still treat this type the same as normal slate? e.g seal before lay/grout then grout then seal again?

[theyomper]

Having just laid some 20m2 of Honister Slate at £200 per metre, which were all the same size and thickness, I would still.....lay.....seal......grout......clean...... seal.
Good luck and when you get the job enjoy it.