50mm thick french limestone ? - Tile Advice

[bluesky]

hi all , ive been asked to quote for 21 m2 of 50 mm french limestone ,- not tiled anything that thick in my 14 years - any advice ?

 

[Dan]

How even is it? You want to go through it and find the thickest ones to start the floor with, as you can always build up the rest with adhesive, but doing it the other way around you can run into issues.

If it's quite even it shouldn't be too much of a problem from that point of view.

 

[Dan]

Also, what are you tiling to? You might need some schluter ditra down.

 

[bluesky]

just a tender on paper at the moment , got a site visit soon to meet the builder etc although not sure there is a lot to look at yet . ditra is not on their spec but would be on mine !think they want an estimate to give themselves an idea

 

[Dan]

A tender for 21sqm - Seems a bit fishy. Is it somebody you work with often that's putting in the tender? If not I'd suspect they haven't got a clue and want you to price it all up, so they can then go in with a price themselves and spec that'd sort it out.

If it's nobody you've dealt with before, pinch the customer yourself and spec it properly and explain why. Tell them a price 3 times the one you're putting in and put them off lol

 

[J Sid]

internal or external?
if different thickness would be best to fix in sand and cement.
if similar thickness fit as normal but leave plenty of time to dry before sealing.

 

[bluesky]

not worked for the builder before - i dont generally work for builders - prefer to go direct to client and explain everything ( like tanking showers , decoupling etc)
might give this one a swerve!)
cheers

 

[Dan]

You could do with perhaps getting as much detail off of the builder or the customer and coming back with everything you can. Then see what the score is from there. There could be money in it. But don't spend too much time messing around for somebody teaching them how to do it themselves if they're possibly just going to ditch you and stick a price in themselves.

 

[Flintstone]

Why would you want ditra under a 50mm thick tile?
I've tiled internally with 50mm thick stone and it's just like any other tile but heavier! I'd bet they will be uniform thickness.

 

[Dan]

I simply asked what the substrate is and said he might need Ditra. Limestone isn't the toughest stone by a country mile. Doesn't matter what thickness it is, if it's going to split the first 5mm, the rest is going to follow suit perfectly.

 

[Dan]

273 forum threads about limestone cracking

Google - https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=site:tilersforums.com+limestone+cracking

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@bluesky - 50mm thick is only one aspect! Tile size is required and substrate as asked by others. Bit more info then advice can be given.
Good luck.

 

[Flintstone]

I just think 50mm thick is substantially thicker than most stone, Like 4 times thicker, and a lot tougher

 

[Dan]

Like a quarry though, you only need to have a crack in the first bit and the rest will follow. It's like the biscuit on the back of a ceramic. Doesn't really matter how thick it is.

To be fair it sounds to me like external kinda grade if it's that thick? Does the builder just have some left over from a patio or something?

 

[Dan]

Jesus christ I didn't realise there were so many types!

Limestone Tiles | Limestone Floor Tiles | Limestone UK - http://limestoneuk.com/

You're probably right mate, maybe it's a super solid one at 50mm thick. When I'm picturing limestone, I'm picturing the kinda stuff walls are made from that weather away after a few years. Crumbly weak stuff.

Perhaps my lack of skill and experience are showing through on this one matey.