Help!: Unfilled Travertine.

[armada plumb]

Hi all, im newbie to this site so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am a bathroom installer with loads of tiling experience, however never done travertine and this is a high cost massive en suite with walkin shower, free standing bath, and basin on a timber plinth.

I have read every travertine related post on this site and have spoken in length to the supplier, however often seem to get conflicting advice.

The room floor is being bordered with 4"x4" tiles, the main floor with 12"x12" tiles, the aqau dec underfloor tray and rear wall of walk in shower with travertine mosaics 12x12 sheets, and the basin plinth in mosaics also.

The floor is also laid with warmup electric underfloor heat mat.

The floor is 6 inch joists with noggins and 18mm t&G flooring, topped with glued and screwed no more ply boards, primed with the warmup primer supplied.

the heating mat is laid but not screeded

The Wall to the back of the shower is unplasterd screwed 12.5mm plasterboard

The Plinth is 18mm moisture resistant MDF

Materials supplied are
tiles
Mapei keraquick 1 part flexi adhesive
Mapei Ultracolour grout
Sealer/colour enhancer

My plan is/questions are

Dry cut
Do not seal prior to laying
Lay
Slurry grout
Seal twice
Floor first then wall and plinth

However the tile supplier suggest wet cut and seal once before grouting, however as it is a wetroom i am concerned that the grout wont suitably bond to any holes etc and it appears from forum that wet cutting can stain.

What do i need to prime the plasterboard and timber with, and also can the mosaics be fitted with the same adhesive or will they slump?

Sorry to have posted an essay, however their is so much conflicting opinion in all the threads and i wanna make sure i get this right first time.

Thanks in Advance

Armada

[Dave Ramsden]

I use Mapai Keraquick with all the slate I fit and it works well for me.
I wouldnt bother sealing before fitting but try keep everything clean during the installation.
I generally dry cut but some prefer wet cutters. If dry cutting be sure to have a sturdy bench or something to cut on. It pays to own a rubbing block.
Tile the walls first then the floor then the plinth. Be sure to check if the client wants joints running in anywere.
Dont slurry grout but use a good conistant mix. If it the same colour grout everywhere I would personally do all the grouting at once.
Be sure to clean and dust off properly with plenty of clean water... I add a residue remover which helps.
Are we stain stopping or colour intensifying?
stain stop - colour insensify - sealer (try make sure the room as is durst free as possible)

Hope this helps and sorry its a bit rushed...

Dave

[Oli]

Hi Amanda, What colour is the trav, I try to seal before laying, but when its impractical i work really cleanly and seal after laying before grouting then again after grouting, I've never had any problems with grout not bonding to the tiles after sealing. i use Lithofin sealers and have always found them to be excellent.

Oli

[armada plumb]

tiles are white travertine, grout is limestone i think

[wetdec]

Hi all, im newbie to this site so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am a bathroom installer with loads of tiling experience, however never done travertine and this is a high cost massive en suite with walkin shower, free standing bath, and basin on a timber plinth.

I have read every travertine related post on this site and have spoken in length to the supplier, however often seem to get conflicting advice.

The room floor is being bordered with 4"x4" tiles, the main floor with 12"x12" tiles, the aqau dec underfloor tray and rear wall of walk in shower with travertine mosaics 12x12 sheets, and the basin plinth in mosaics also.

The floor is also laid with warmup electric underfloor heat mat. Have you used tile safe / there is a max wattage of 100 if using heating

The floor is 6 inch joists with noggins and 18mm t&G flooring, topped with glued and screwed no more ply boards, primed with the warmup primer supplied.

the heating mat is laid but not screeded
Better surface to work off and if you have mosaic over it it's a must really, self leveler be cool

The Wall to the back of the shower is unplasterd screwed 12.5mm plasterboard
Will need a tanking membrane such as Dura-wp over this ye


The Plinth is 18mm moisture resistant MDF

Materials supplied are
tiles
Mapei keraquick 1 part flexi adhesive White
Mapei Ultracolour grout jasmin imo
Sealer/colour enhancer lithofin stainstop plus sealer/enhancer

My plan is/questions are

Dry cut
Do not seal prior to laying Correct acts as a release on unfilled
Lay
Slurry grout Yes to get in all hole not too wet tho
Seal twice When dry min 24 hours on unfilled for grout to dry
Floor first then wall and plinth Other way abouts or you are walking your floor to get to plinth area

However the tile supplier suggest wet cut and seal once before grouting, however as it is a wetroom i am concerned that the grout wont suitably bond to any holes etc Correct and it appears from forum that wet cutting can stain. Water wont stain keep it clean drys back

What do i need to prime the plasterboard and timber with, and also can the mosaics be fitted with the same adhesive or will they slump?

Sorry to have posted an essay, however their is so much conflicting opinion in all the threads and i wanna make sure i get this right first time.

Thanks in Advance

Armada

Above hope this helps



..

[armada plumb]

Thanks for all your help guys, final question do i need to prime the plinth ? its 18mm moisture resistant mdf?

Ta

[Daz]

I agree with Wetdecs.

Mapei will only guarantee addy on plinth if you prime first with their Primer G product and use Keraquick addy for fixing.

[michel]

i dont think mapei will gaurentee keraquick on M.D.F!!!!

[doug boardley]

I'm with michel on that one!

[Grace'sDad]

No don't use MDF - even so-called moisture resistant.
Also no need to prime NoMorePly - priming this will actually lessen the final bond strength.

Sounds like a handful of a job for you, as a first foray into the world of travertine.
Don't rush it!

[Daz]

I had a job at the beginning of this year where customer had covered most of his bathroom with "green" MDF. I explained the issues and eventually resorted to speaking with Mapei tech support.

They guaranteed it!

[doug boardley]

I had a job at the beginning of this year where customer had covered most of his bathroom with "green" MDF. I explained the issues and eventually resorted to speaking with Mapei tech support.

They guaranteed it!

very surprised at that one captain

[armada plumb]

Many thanks for your help guys, im pretty confident with all the advice given, plan is to take it nice and slow grout in small sections and work clean, will post some pics when alls done, its gonna look fab, thaks so much for your time and advice

j.