Advice on laying 600 x 600 Quartz please

[4x4]

Hi I need to lay 20 metres of 600 x 600 egineered Quartz tiles,

the and adhesive & grout have been supplied
the addy supplied is Mapei keriflex maxi flexible S1
with Keracolour grout + fugolastic liquid
are these suitable?

its a concrete kitchen floor which will have "Warm up" UFH going down

can you also recommend a SLC to go over the UFH, it needs to fill around 10mm depth

any tips and advise would be greatly appreciated as I have not laid this size tile before

many thanks Dave

[Phil Hobson]

Hi Dave, is the 10mm depth due to the shape of the floor?

[Ken Bruty]

If these are resin quartz tiles, I wouldn't do anything until the manufacturer has put in writing to you that these tiles are suitable over ufh, there have been lots of curling up problems with resin tiles in the past through incorrect adhesive being used and issues with ufh.

[4x4]

hi height is due to client wanting it to match hallway floor level which is about 25mm higher than than concrete kitchen floor which is not that flat anyway,
also I'm not sure if they are resin filled I have not seen them yet but I no they are called "Miraton" Egineered stone made of quartz. cheers

[doug boardley]

will you be laying some insulation boards under the ufh?

[4x4]

the concrete floor has seem to have like white polysterene insulation around 15 mm beneath the surface does this sound normal?

[whitebeam]

A floating floor

[4x4]

no its not floating,
its seems to be solid concrete but the client told me it had been insulated with what looked like white polysterene somewhere beneath the surface I'm not sure how far down now, actually could have been alot more than 15mm, it was visable where a big chunk was out the floor from where the last floor was taken up, does this sound strange?

[whitebeam]

Must be insulation under the concrete base

[4x4]

any recommendations for a SLC for this installation,
when would you use a 2 part latex as opposed to just a water mix
many thanks for any tips

[kaharrison9]

Was recently asked to instal 600x600 quartz on top of a wet underfloor heating system but after talking with the client he realised it wasn't worth the risk of the possibility of shrinking and curling of the tile and the tile supplier who earlier had said there would be no problems with ufh would not guarantee the tiles.
Also don't think the Keraflex maxi adhesive will be fine either.Needs to be keraquick with latex added or if you want a latex based addy with a slightly longer pot life then elastorapid which isn't cheap.Once quoted on usng it and it was around £70

[4x4]

many thanks kaharrison, this is the addy the tile supplier recommended same old story aye,

on the tile website it states Miraton is produced with quartz that reaches 7 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness (Diamond 10, Sapphire9, & Topaz 8) making it stronger than natural and other artificial stones.
also its Low porosity makes it highly resistant to extreme temperature conditions.

if this is the case I wonder how it can be affected by the heat of UFH?

this tiling lark is getting harder where those kitchen splashback jobs gone!

[Daz]

Keraflex Maxi is fine for this.....

Cement based adhesive for thicknesses from 3 to 15 mm, with good deformability, good adhesion strength and no vertical slip for ceramic tiles and stone materials.
Applications:
Interior and exterior bonding of ceramic tile and natural stone floors and walls (as long as they are not absorbent) on conventional substrates such as:
• Cement screeds and underfloor heating installations.
• Cement renders or lime and cement mortar.
• Gypsum boards.
• Brick walls and blocks.
• Concrete with more than
4 months curing time.
Keraflex Maxi is suitable for bonding small and large sizes on uneven substrates without having to smooth the flooring beforehand and for the installation of tiles (even heavy) with no vertical slip.
Also suitable where tiles have to be laid onto existing tiles on floors and walls and for bonding of insulating materials such as expanded polystyrene, expanded polyurethane, rock and glass wool, Eraclit® (wood-cement panels), sound-deadening panels, etc.Coverage
1,2 kg/m2 per mm of thickness.Packaging
25 kg bags.

I would contact the tile manufacturer via email for confirmation regards the UFH, that way you will have a written proof.

As for the slc, you could use Mapei Fibreplan or Ardex Arditex NA or really any slc that is specified for use with UFH.

Good luck,

Daz

[Dave]

You will have to check that the conglomerate tiles are suitable for UFH first then also i would recommend a none water based adhesive to prevent dishing from the wetting of the adhesive...

Mapei grani-rapid is one i would recommend..

[4x4]

as I have not been supplied a pourable adhesive am I still back skimming these 600 x 600, and what trowel would be most suitable?
cheers for any advice

also does the dewalt 24000 cut a 600mm length tile in one pass

[tfs]

no less than 12mm trowel mate, be sure to lift every few tiles that you lay to ensure goo coverage/bond to the floor. Get a prybar or some old chisels to help lift these tile when checking for good coverage as the suction created when laying these is pretty strong.

I dont own the dewalt 24000 but, Im sure it would cut through these tiles with ease mate.

[tfs]

I would also reccomend using insulation boards as even though your concrete has a insulation board it still takes time to heat up etc and the boards will help your heat up time as well as give you more efficiency with the UFH by reducing heatloss etc.

[Phil Hobson]

as I have not been supplied a pourable adhesive am I still back skimming these 600 x 600, and what trowel would be most suitable?
cheers for any advice

also does the dewalt 24000 cut a 600mm length tile in one pass

Yes with ease I have cut 1m with mine

[kaharrison9]

When looking into fixing the quartz tiles i earlier mentioned Keraflex Maxi was the adhesive i was hoping to use.
Have used it often,it's an S1,ideal for large tiles and great for the bed depth it can go to.
I rang the Mapei technical department who were very helpful and they were adament it had to be a latex based adhesive-keraquick with latex,granirapid or elastorapid-in the mapei book both of the later it clearly says is for conglomerate marbile and resin tiles.
Elastorapid appealed to me as it has an exstended pot life of 60-75 mins.
The concerns of Mapei were the water in Keraflex and also the keying of the adhesive to the back of the quartz tile why they were reccommending it had to be a S2 addy

[kaharrison9]

Also 4x4 take into account as well on which adhesive your tile supplier has reccommended as well.
Good luck
Kev

[4x4]

thanks Kev for your help,
can the "Latex Plus" additive be added to the Keraflex Maxi I've been supplied with I wonder, Latex Plus 6kg Additive For Use With Keraquick - Floor Tile Adhesive - Tile Adhesive & Grout

when I read what the keraflex maxi could do, I failed to read on the spec on the granirapid or elastorapid, but as you say these 2 may sound more suited,
I feel a bit out my depth on this job really, theres just so many adhesive products it can be become mind boggling for a newbie

any other opinions from other members would be greatly appreciated

cheers mate

[4x4]

right this is the spec on the tiles, sorry to sound a bit dense but does this clear up whether keraflex maxi is ok or not?

Miraton is virtually unaffected by heat, freeze-thaw, and acid.

Superior strength compared to other products making thinner tiles possible
High resistance to impact, abrasion, and chemicals
Low porosity makes it highly resistant to extreme temperature conditions

Installation methods

• Traditional laying method using mortar(Cement/Mud) : Not permitted for Miraton
• Cement based adhesives (Latex modified portland cement thinsets)
• Rapid set liquid latex / acrylic modified thinsets
• Epoxy

[jay]

Our Products

a good read

[kaharrison9]

Unfortunatly latex cannot be added to the kerraflex maxi.
The customer in the end decided with having a floating floor,wet ufh,quartz tiles and the exspense of the correct adhesive to change and go for polished porcelain and not face the possibility of future problems.
I do know of where quartz has been put down using an S1 type adhesive(without ufh) and they appear totaly fine but that's a risk you've to decide on