fixing tumbled marble for first time on my own

[bosco07]

hi folks

i am laying 12m2 of tumbled marble 40x40 onto a new build conrete floor. its been down for months so no worries anout it not being dry.

couple of questions if i may, should i use ditra matting or similar .

should i seal before fixing, and before grouting, the supplier recomended 3 coats but i was chatting to a chap i used to labour for and he said just seal after grouting as its tough to grout those tiles once sealed.

do i have to use rapid white addy, i dont want to rush anything and dont really mind how long it takes me as its an empty house and i have all weekend.

cheers in advance, anything else people can think off please feel free.

bosco

[Rich]

I would definitely seal before grouting and then again afterward with at least a couple of coats. There is no reason to use rapid if you dont want to if the floor isnt going to be walked on or grouted soon but it must be white. Get yourself some standard setting adhesive, prime the screed with an acrylic primer before you start. You will want a half moon trowel to give you a good contact of adhesive under the tile, skim the back of each tile with the flat edge of your trowel to fill in all the voids in the back of the stone before pressing the tiles into the spread adhesive. It is very important to leave no voids in the bed of adhesive under the tile.

[Rich]

P.S make sure you work really clean, clean off any adhesive with clean water and sponge before it sets.

[Del W]

As above. if youve plenty of time,do an A1 job

[whitebeam]

Do you have holes in the face of the tiles, I found I sealed after grouting but kept it really clean.

[bosco07]

cheers guys, thats exactly what i wanted to hear, and what i planned on doing except i was thinking about using a de coupling membrane due to the expansion issues of the screed.

cheers.

the tiles do have holes etc. when you say make sure no voids, what is the best practice on this, without uplifting every tile, i am a worryer and voids under the floor tiles always worry me. i guess just tap them all to listen for hollow areas and back buttering should surfice