Slate

[Big Rick]

Hi Guys,

A newbie to this forum.

Im shortly going to be tileing my ensuite wetroom (impey aquadec system)
I have ordered 50 x 50 slate for the shower floor and then 600 x 400 for the rest of the floor and walls.

All is from Mandarin stone.

I have had a panic at whether I should have paid the extra £10 m2 for calibrated?? the uncalibrated is 8 - 12mm
Total purchas is 16m2

What are your expert views please?

Im thinking maybe just change to calibrated for the floor?

[wetdec]

You should of for ease of working, look and upkeep. Bare in mind it will never look like it does as a sample...............



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[Big Rick]

Thanks for that prompt reply wetdecs. Presume you mean that the sample will be "hand-picked"

The onlyy thing I would be worried about would be the callibrated and uncallibrated looking different?

[grumpygrouter]

Slate is heavy stuff, please make sure your walls are capable of holding the loading that these tiles will impart.

Check out this info for guidance - Tiles and Adhesive Weight Per Square Metre - THE TILE SOURCE

[diamondtiling]

They wont look different because they are uncallibrated, it means you have to use the thickest first and add more adhesive under the thinner ones. As Grumps has stated they are so heavy on walls. What is the wall structure?

[Big Rick]

2 of the walls are external, that need the plaster repairing on - after taking the old tiles off took off some of the old skim. plasterer booked to re-skim.
The other wall is a new stud wall, the shower area will be in aqua panel from wickes, the rest will be in moisture resistant plasterboard - unskimmed.

[grumpygrouter]

Your plastered walls will probably not be sufficiently strong to hold the weight of the slate/adhesive/grout. You might want to consider removing the plaster and overboarding with aquapanel instead.

[Big Rick]

What does it classify as "render" in the weight guide? is it effectivly the backing plaster?

[doug boardley]

render is usually referred to as sand and cement coat, not to be confused with gypsum basecoat ie bonding, browning etc

[Dave]

£10 extra per mtr for calibrated rather than natural split is expensive...

Which slate is it.?

[Big Rick]

uncalibrated (what we have ordered)

Classic Nero Riven Slate Stone

calibrated (considering for the floor)

Nero Riven Slate Stone

opinions welcome!

[Dave]

Prices are ok for slate... go the calibrated if i was you..

[brian c]

good luck with the job.

[wetdec]

Its looks Brazilian which means it is lightly riven as oposed to a coloured African / Chinese like you see in the bigger outlets. Your walls will take the calibrated better than they will take the other as its quite heavy in thicknesses.

I would use the calibrated throughout as it only afects the ease of laying in your case. Your sample will be pretty close to what you get............