Solid bed/ back buttering/notched trowels???

[John the tile]

Hey up

Did a small floor for a friend the other day. Used 400mm 400mm ceramics.

What is back buttering? Should I have back buttered the tiles? What is its purpose?

Is back buttering another term for solid bed?

I used a 10mm square notched trowel, but having read on here that I would of been better using a round notched trowel, is this true and is it just for the purpose of coverage? What is the purpose of the square notched trowel for then?

Thanks for any answers

[whitebeam]

If the tiles has deep profiling on the back of the tile then a back skim would be needed, back buttering is more of a deeper bed of addy to make sure there is more of a solid bed on the floor.....

[Bri]

The round notch is what is referred to as a solid bed trowel, giving 100% coverage of adhesive (this can be achieved with a square notch but it is much more time consuming). Back buttering or back skimming is where adhesive is applied to the back of the tile aswell as the floor/wall. I would call back skimming, using the flat edge of the trowel and back buttering using the notched edge, some people will say that both are the same, either way it is so that the rear of the tile has any holes (travertine) or patterns/grooves filled with adhesive before they are fitted for a better contact.

[Del W]

If you put some pressure on the the tiles when fixing ,you should be ok.but as whitebeam says,if you back butter on deep profile the bond will be better.

[pjc]

I always use a square notched trowel and always skim the back which gives me a solid bed on floors unless I am using PTB which I would on larger floor tiles 60x60 and also skim wall tiles if porcelain or larger format on Walls

[John the tile]

cool, nice and quick,

so when you say a deep profile or pattern on the back of the tile, what kind of depth should i be looking out for?

So solid bed is the same as 100% coverage?

Off to get a round notched tomow then....

[whitebeam]

If it has any profile back skim anyway..

[Alan.P]

If it has any profile back skim anyway..

Yep, seen it many times, fixers thinking that the 1mm profile won't harm, when you go back and fix ( their problems ) you'll see no addy on the tile ( very little )

[pjc]

Even skim it if it's flat backed IMO

[John the tile]

wow thanks.

I didnt realise this,... so to confirm you spread the addy over the surface (walls and floors) and then prior to fixing EVERY tile you skim the back EVERY tile???

Ive not seen a tile without some form of albeit very very shallow pattern on the back?

When/where is a square notched trowel best used?

[grumpygrouter]

wow thanks.

I didnt realise this,... so to confirm you spread the addy over the surface (walls and floors) and then prior to fixing EVERY tile you skim the back EVERY tile???

Ive not seen a tile without some form of albeit very very shallow pattern on the back?

When/where is a square notched trowel best used?

Correct!