Do I need to use Anti Fracture Matting - Tile Advice

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Hi all. I am looking for some advice on above subject. I am not a tiler but I intend on laying very large format 22mm slightly uneven hard limestone tiles inside on a concrete floor and want to know if I need to use this matting. The floor is 3 inch concrete, 100mm insulation on top and another 3 inches of concrete on top of that. This was done in early 2015 and we've been walking on it ever since. I can't see how it will be subject to movement and don't want to use the matting but I Sally would like some advice please. Many thanks
Lorenzo

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Are there any cracks in this screed?
3 inches then 100mm then 3 inches! Even I have moved on from radiogram.
Is it concrete or sand/cement?

 

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Hi, thank you for your response. Had a hectic day so sorry for taking so long to reply. The concrete came premixed from a cement truck. It was sand, cement and aggregate. It may have even come with fibre reinforcement but that was 4 years ago and I honestly can't remember. The area I want to lay is 6m square hallway which leads to a 14m square boot room. There are absolutely no cracks anywhere or deterioration of any of the concrete. Before I laid wooden flooring in the 36m square sitting room, there was no cracks in that rooms concrete floor either.

 

[ar2ro]

It's two ways to make sure if limestone even 22mm can't crack special if it's there under floor heating. The best way will be lay down Schluter ditra25 matting or self-levelling compound min 5mm with fibreglass mesh. And very important to prime floor before lay any stuff before lay any powder compound including tiles adhesive. PVA is not good!
The best stuff it's this:

Link removed by moderator

 

[widler]

I wouldn’t unless theres UFH, but loads do , so you will get two different opinions.

 

[widler]

Ps blatant advertising from the fellow above , no idea what that primer is , ar2ro, what else do you sell

 

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Hi Wilder. Thanks for reply. There is no underfloor heating. And I'm going to go with your recommendation. I don't want to over complicate my first job unnecessarily.

Been trying for last two days to find this post. I'm new to this site and forums in general so that's why I took so long to reply. I'm rubbish at navigating this stuff.

Could you Also help with the following. I tried to post it but the system told me I need to include at least one valid member and I don't know anyone so can't post it.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a decent brand of tile levelling kit. The tiles are limestone. 22mm thick and some probably thicker, roughly 560mm x 850mm, I will be leaving a 10 to 15mm wide joint. Any recommendations would be very much appreciated. I have searched but I can't find anything that can deal with the specifics of my job.
Many thanks
Lorenzo

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I wouldn’t unless theres UFH, but loads do , so you will get two different opinions.

That’s the answer OP was waiting for!

 

[Bill]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a decent brand of tile levelling kit. The tiles are limestone. 22mm thick and some probably thicker, roughly 560mm x 850mm, I will be leaving a 10 to 15mm wide joint. Any recommendations would be very much appreciated. I have searched but I can't find anything that can deal with the specifics of my job.
Many thanks
Lorenzo

For joints that wide you will not need a levelling kit, just use a 60cm/100cm spirit level. I know in the photos below I am using a 180cm level but for the next row, I start with a shorter level.

If your floor is sub level enough, then you should have no problems getting a reasonably level floor with spirit levels. Grade the stone into thickness as that will help.

 

[widler]

As tom says you won’t really need clips, especially with big joints , you will find with uneven tiles you will get the odd lip here and there , you can’t get uneven tiles lip free as theres always dips or high spots on the tiles .

 

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Hi Tom. Thanks for that. I plan on using a 10mm or 12mm notched trowel for adhesive. Hopefully this will give me enough depth for adjustment. I have just measured the gap between some of the slabs that I layed out just to see them, and the gap is 20mm, erm smaller than this for there slabs just does not look that good but please correct me if this is just too wide. Also do I need a special cleaning product to clean off residual grout from the stone after grout has cured sufficiently or just old fashioned elbo grease.

 

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Actually I think I might be limited to the width of my joint by the brand of grout that I purchased, it says 2mm to 15mm. I wonder could I get away with 20mm?

 

[widler]

You will need to seal the stone before grouting , put it on with a sponge or brush or paint pad, some seal before laying as well, but if you work clean, a bucket of clean water and sponge next to you , you should be ok, or if you’re a messy bugger , seal before laying .
Ps i like the stone , nice colour

 

[J Sid]

lay and let set and completely dry, how long? Depends on adhesive
wash and leave to dry, at least a day
seal, clean off any that doesn't soak in.
let dry, how long? Depends on sealer used
grout and clean off
wash again when grout is dry
seal again

 

[Lorenzo Antolovi]

Happy days. I'm quite clean, at least I'll try be as clean as possible. I've got 10 litres a of sealer so I'll put a coat on first anyway. 're the concrete sub floor. We have hoovered it over the years but never really washed it. How clean does it need to be before I put down a couple coats of primer. Basically do I need to get down on my hands and knees and scrub out all the doggy mess stains, food stains etc.

Also do I need anything more than the following to make any part of installation easier or better.

10/12mm notched trowel
Mixing bucket
Mixing paddle (drill mounted)
Couple sponges
Couple buckets water for cleaning
15/20mm spacers
Long spirit level

I think I will load a heavy duty bag with grout, cut hole in corner and squeeze grout into joints. Will I still need a grout float to smooth it over and do a 45 degree sweep. I think that's it, if I need anything else please let me know.

Also thank you for all the advice and info, it's really encouraging.