What to put on a wet room floor - Tile Advice

[Peter Lee]

Hi

I am about to build a small wetroom (900 x 1850) and will be using an AKW former. The question is what to put on the floor.

The general suggestion is to use mosaics on the floor as it minimises the cutting by follow the fall. Many of the mosaics are made of natural stone which is, as they point out, somewhat porous and will require regular treatment. This does not seem to me to be a good choice for a floor in a regularly wet area. There are some resin/quartz mosaics, a bit few and far between; will conventional adhesive/grout work with these, do they wear ok. Any other suggestions?

The other option is to cut large tiles to fit the contours but this is going to take some time and I'm not sure what the finished job will look like with lots of small irregualar shaped pieces. What about slip resistance in this case.

Grouting - How dirty does normal grout get on a wetroom floor? I think that I would be prepared to give epoxy grout a go on normal tiles but I don't think that I would be quick enough on a mosaic floor. The pro's are like greased lightning.

Having sealed the edges of the former, waste, backer joints etc with Mapeband tape and Mapegum can I just use Mapegum on the tray to get the tile adhesive to stick?

Any comments gratefully received.

Peter

 

[Qwerty]

The former you have chosen requires a sheet tanking membrane rather than a paint on membrane & joint tape system. The membrane is physically clamped into the waste. The membrane will also provide the 'key' for tiling onto. I can highly recommend @Impey Showers waterguard tanking over any AKW system.

As for tiles, if you are set on mosaics there are a fair few suppliers who sell porcelain mosaic versions of their wall/ floor tiles.

As for grout, why not use @ISOMAT UK new epoxy. Very easy to use and perfect for your needs

 

[Flintstone]

With regards the mosaic, stone is high maintenance, and will deteriorate if not propperly maintained and looked after. A matte finish of none slip finish porcelain to match your main tiles might be the best option ? Is this a diy project at your home ? Or a job your on ?

 

[Rookery]

I'm not a fan of mosaics. Too fiddly, too much grout to get dirty, point loading to take into account. I prefer tiles matching the rest of the floor, envelope cut.

 

[Peter Lee]

Thanks for the comments.

OK on the comments about Mosaics, I am inclined to agree for all the same reasons. I also don't think that they give a particularly satisfying result. The point loading was the reason that I opted for a GRP former.

It 's a DIY project; I like to think that I am reasonably competent, don't take shortcuts and take pride in what I do. OK on the non-slip porcelain tiles, I will have a look for some. Porcelain always looks nice when its done even if it is a bit slow in the making. This would make epoxy grout a possibility for me too.

 

[Dumbo]

Most trays can handle mosaics down to 50mm with no point loading issues .

 

[One Day]

You can abrade the tray surface, clean it, and then fix Mapeguard wp200 using Ardex WPC or Schluter Kerdi membrane using kerdi-coll.
In both cases, make sure to clamp the membrane in the sealing ring.