Help!: slate of different thicknesses

[tim h]

hi need some help, laying a slate floor soon and the slate is different thicknesses from 10mm up 2 25mm any ideas how to go about it!

[brian c]

hi m8,first of all you need to get them in order of thickness and when fixing,use the thinner tiles on the perimeters of the room and the thicker ones in the areas where there will be more foot traffic.Seal them before fixing and again before grouting and even after grouting when the grout is dry.Good luck.

[Dave]

Also with slate that varies in thickness like that it would be advisable to use a thick bed adhesive.....

[enduro]

You need to sort the slate out into thin, medium, thick, piles start by fixing thicker tiles and then medium and use the thinner ones around the outside of the room. Hope that helps

[garythetiler]

if you have got the depth lay them with sand and cement you will get a better finish and the thickness problem doesnt matter as you will be tapping them into the bed

[whitebeam]

Could stick a bit of sbr with the sand/cement

[garythetiler]

Could stick a bit of sbr with the sand/cement

can do white beam but its not needed with slate or over 25mm bed thickness i generally use sbr in my sluury when laying porcelain on sand and cement and in the mortar when going thinner than 25mm

[whitebeam]

You use a fair amount sand/cement for the tiling. Where about in herts are you Gary

[tim h]

thanks 4 that

[tim h]

what is sbr

[whitebeam]

Styene butatide rubber The spellings may be iffy

[GazTech]

hi need some help, laying a slate floor soon and the slate is different thicknesses from 10mm up 2 25mm any ideas how to go about it!

This adhesive is formulated to accommodate variances of thickness, and can be used up to 25mm in bed thickness....Gaz

BAL PTB (Pourable Thick Bed) Flexible
A highly polymer modified, flexible, rapid-setting, water-resistant, frost-resistant floor tile adhesive, especially suitable for fixing tiles, including fully vitrified and porcelain tiles to low porosity backgrounds and bases. Sulphate-resistant, cement-based, pourable, thick-bed solid-bed floor tile adhesive suitable for fixing ceramic tiles, quarries, natural stone and terrazzo in interior and exterior situations. Its consistency makes it particularly suitable for fixing large tiles and those with profiled backs. Back-buttering is not necessary. Suitable for use on concrete, cement:sand screeds, ceramic/quarry tile/terrazzo/hard natural stone, plywood overlay, vinyl tiles/sheet, mastic asphalt. BS EN 12004 C2F Adhesive

[GazTech]

what is sbr

SBR is Styrene-butadiene copolymer. It has a wide variety of uses within construction industry, used mainly as an admixture and bonding agent for cement and concrete applications. Once cured the polymer is water and frost resistant......Gaz

BAL Bond SBR
BAL BOND SBR can be used as a slurry coat when mixed with hydraulic cement or gypsum plaster, as a multi-purpose admixture for cement:sand mortars, concrete and gypsum plaster; as a brush applied primer, sealer or dustproofer.

Suitable for use on cement:sand screeds, toppings or renderings, plastering, waterproofing, bonding, concrete repair, priming and sealing.

[wetdec]

Because of the structure of slate it should not be fixed with sand & cement unless you use a fodifier.

Slate does not absorb as it is made up of layers sheet upon sheet like a laminate these layers dont absorb well, think of roofing slate.

The trick with slate is to get the adhesive to squeeze up between the tiles (not to high obviously) this gives a grab all around where there is more tug available.

Another thing you cant use Lithofin slate seal outside, again because of the structure moisture crawls in from the edges between the surface and the sealer blowing it.

My 2p's worth.


tiler



..

[wetdec]

hi need some help, laying a slate floor soon and the slate is different thicknesses from 10mm up 2 25mm any ideas how to go about it!

My way.

Find your start point mark it up, then go look for your highest point and mark that.


Now transfer your start point by laying tiles dry to your highest point. This means you will start at your high point but will look like it should because of the transfer/

Use your thinest tiles at the high point and then grade them off, this gets rid of the thin ones and prevents lippage. ( building up hill = lippage)

I do this with all tiles, you have to bare in mind that flat floors is what you are after level floors rarely exist because of threashold hights.


tiler


..

[TilingLogistics]

My way.

Find your start point mark it up, then go look for your highest point and mark that.


Now transfer your start point by laying tiles dry to your highest point. This means you will start at your high point but will look like it should because of the transfer/

Use your thinest tiles at the high point and then grade them off, this gets rid of the thin ones and prevents lippage. ( building up hill = lippage)

I do this with all tiles, you have to bare in mind that flat floors is what you are after level floors rarely exist because of threashold hights.


tiler


..

Very interesting and informative post

[eyebeetiling]

Make sure your customer is aware that some lipping will occur due to tha slate not being even all the way through as it is a natural product, at least they will be prepared or change their mind and use a different tile.

[Dave]

The good thing about slate is that you can just knock off any high lips with a hammer and bolster.....and it doesn't show......

[wetdec]

The good thing about slate is that you can just knock off any high lips with a hammer and bolster.....and it doesn't show......

Thug

..

[Wylie]

The first bit of slate i laid was about 6mm to 25mm or so thick it felt like stone laying as i layed one at a time putting the edges thick to thick thin to thin helped,next day stood on each one and went round the edges with a sharp bolster,it was nice work but slow going
Stephen

[whitebeam]

Would'nt use sbr or anythink as an admix for any gypsum plaster, Could alter the setting process.

[garythetiler]

Because of the structure of slate it should not be fixed with sand & cement unless you use a fodifier.

Slate does not absorb as it is made up of layers sheet upon sheet like a laminate these layers dont absorb well, think of roofing slate.

The trick with slate is to get the adhesive to squeeze up between the tiles (not to high obviously) this gives a grab all around where there is more tug available.

Another thing you cant use Lithofin slate seal outside, again because of the structure moisture crawls in from the edges between the surface and the sealer blowing it.

My 2p's worth.


tiler



..

i was suprised to see that you dont think slate can be fitted on sand and cement how was it fitted 40 years ago before tile adhesive and modifiers were invented.i respect the fact you are extremly knowlegable tiler and would like you to have a look at this link which gives some good information on slate and installing it with sand and cement www.wincilate.co.uk/flooring.htm

[wetdec]

i was suprised to see that you dont think slate can be fitted on sand and cement how was it fitted 40 years ago before tile adhesive and modifiers were invented.i respect the fact you are extremly knowlegable tiler and would like you to have a look at this link which gives some good information on slate and installing it with sand and cement www.wincilate.co.uk/flooring.htm

he preferred side of the slate tile should be uppermost and the reverse side covered in a neat, Portland slurry of trowelable consistency.

I know what you are saying and I have read the page you pointed me to, the above is a quote from the fixing instructions which as you can see states a neat portland slurry be used. They are using a portland slurry to grab the slate as its a difficult surface effectively a bonding agent. If you lift a tile layed on slurry it will often take a chunk out of the screed.They also use this method when plastering difficult substrates and have done for donkeys years. Sand and cement does not have the viscosity to correctly deal with the surface of slate


tiler


..

[garythetiler]

slurry is essential when fitting all tiles on sand and cement i wasnt specific in my post as how to fix them as i thought it was common knowledge this may help .
1.wet the substrate with clean water dont over flood it
2.pour slurry over the substrate to bond the new bed to the substrate
3 throw your mixture of 4-1 sharp sand and cement on top
4 the bed must be semi dry , so it keeps its shape when grasped in you hand
5. coat the back of the slate with your slurry mixture
6.beat the tile into the bed with a rubber mallet to the required finish floor height
7.the slurry mix is neat cement and water mixed to the consistancy of wall grout
8.when fixing uniform thickness tiles it is possible to screed the floor and tile the same day using neat cement slurry as your bonding coat replacing the need for tile adhesive a retarder is advised to put in your screed mix as the bed dries out quite quickly if you are not careful hope this clears up any confusion with any of my earlier posts

[wetdec]

Hey no problem thats exactly what is says on the site you sent me to. You use a slurry which is best practice as sand and cement is not sufficient.



tiler

,,