mosaic question?

[pursedog]

was wondering what you guys use to pack out mosaics that are used as a border when being used with thicker tiles?

say the mosaics are 4mm thick and the tiles are 8mm?

cheers.

[faithhealer]

Saw some 'plastic mesh' of varying thickness somewhere, if no one posts an answer I have to go surfing !

[whitebeam]

Put your face tiles on leaving a gap for your mosaics then make a gauge for the gap and fill with rapid powdered addy, spread the addy into the gap then run the gauge, which should be a couple mill deeper than the mosaic and run between the face tiles and the gap. Leave to dry then put addy into the gap then apply your mosaics and use a grouting tool to tamp the mosaics in using the face tiles so the mosaic are flush.

[faithhealer]

Once did a window sill using self leveller to create 'islands' where I had a mixture of tile heights

[Dave Ramsden]

I picked up some plastic meshed packer material from my suppliers the other week. Havent got round to using them yet but they look like they will do the job so long as the depth difference is contistant. The depth was all over on the job Im on so I mixed up some addy and whittled a depth gaughe to "screed" it to the correct depth!

[davy_G]

Ive used thin ply screwed onto walls before to pack out behind mosaics

[R Montgomery]

I'd go with Whitebeam's technique but use a beating block and a rubber mallet to set them.

[rhyd4]

i buy some cheapo bnq white 6" tiles, cut them to the width required and carry on witht he field tiles, once thats done just go around witht he mosaics

[Dave]

Gauging the adhesive in is the cheapest and best method, but if this is beyond your abilities at present then as mentioned cheap thin tiles are good or a very thin backerboard.

Don't use thin ply or hard board , it will swell or expand and blow the mosaics off..

[lucius]

And cheap tile backers dont work on a radius.
Lucius

[Leatherface]

Gauging up with addy is by far the easiest, cheapest and quickest method. However requires a bit of practice. One tip, this is the way I do it....
Set your tiles above and below border & allow to dry.
I have a number of gauging trowels /scrapers cut down to width to apply adhhesive,
then use a piece of wood notched out to required depth & scrape along gap when addy sufficiently hardened. Give a final clean and scrape before adhesive has fully set.
It is all about timing !
Apply adhesive and fix tiles ( again I have made a few suitable sized notched trowels for this purpose out of gauging trowels ) cut notches out with angle grinder !

[pursedog]

thanks for the advice guys.
still trying to get my head round it. kinda makes sense in a way but at the same time its hard to get that perfect finish. ok if ya got all the time in the world but when its a paid job and ya wanna get in and out its a different matter.

[Mrs Tiler]

what is addy? :88:

[whitebeam]

Adhesive

[Mrs Tiler]

I'm too posh to know slang

[Dave Ramsden]

When we did the costa coffee;s we got the contractor to fix the mosiac border to 2mm hardboard. Fixed against a straight adge and clamped down tight untill set, then we just fixed these fabricated strips with silicone or liquid nails. ANyone think this is "rough"?

[Dave]

Hardboard is compressed paper....so not something i would do..

[lucius]

I would say rough and not the way i would do it but if it stays on the wall for the next 30 years with no problems it will then be a proven method.
Lucius

[david campbell]

i use 2 options here,
1-use rapid set to pack out th 4mm to make everything flush
2-(my prefered option)use a thin ply,thus making the mosaic protrude the actual tiling and stand out further than intended making it more of a feature!

[brian c]

pack out with cheap 6mm tiles cut to size..allow to set then insert mosaic and pad into place with a grout float.

[2Balls]

Hi, 4mm Wedi,or similar. NO WOOD!! 2Balls

[timeless john]

Just picked up on the mosaic question.
If the border is at the top edge of the tiling i.e. half height - try building out as previously suggested or use thin brazillian or 100mm tile which are very thin to build up. To fix tiles use a cut down mosaic trowel to the width of the border and the required depth allowing for adhesive and then flatten with grouting float.

[faithhealer]

Sorry to drag an old post up but did a mosaic today with whitebeams method, used mapei P9, perfect result, chuffed to bits!