Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - installing mosaic tile?
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Lecpho
11-29-07, 07:26 PM
We are renovating a 3/4's bathroom from the 60's. It had a stall shower, which is all there is room for, and we ripped out the formica wall boards and are tiling instead. Got some beautiful tile off of Craigslist:) Two different types and thicknesses. We have some French made ~4" tiles installed up to about 2/3 from the floor. Next we will do a 12" high band of glass mosaic tile and we will finish out above the glass with more of the 4" ceramic.
We used morter to attach the ceramic tiles, per the advice of the local HD tile pro, but are wondering if morter is appropreate for the glass mosaic tiles? They are all mounted on paper in 12" sheets (with the backs of the tiles up. I was told that you put down your adhesive, arrange the tile with the paper backing facing out and that after the tile is set you dampen the paper with a sponge and peel it away so you can do the grout. So is morter the correct product to use or should we use adhesive for the glass tile area? My fear is that the glass tiles are so thin that the morter will fill into thickly where grout should go, and that the morter might not hold and set fast enough to keep the sheets from sliding and therefore protruding a the bottom of each sheet. The tiles are 1" squares if that matters, and 1/8" thick. We used two different thicknesses of concrete board for mounting so that the finished thickness of the shower wall would be the same for both the tiles used.
Another question.... just how thick should tile morter be mixed to. I saw a video on line and they mixed their morter much thicker than we did!:wall:
Thanks!!!
We used morter to attach the ceramic tiles, per the advice of the local HD tile pro, but are wondering if morter is appropreate for the glass mosaic tiles? They are all mounted on paper in 12" sheets (with the backs of the tiles up. I was told that you put down your adhesive, arrange the tile with the paper backing facing out and that after the tile is set you dampen the paper with a sponge and peel it away so you can do the grout. So is morter the correct product to use or should we use adhesive for the glass tile area? My fear is that the glass tiles are so thin that the morter will fill into thickly where grout should go, and that the morter might not hold and set fast enough to keep the sheets from sliding and therefore protruding a the bottom of each sheet. The tiles are 1" squares if that matters, and 1/8" thick. We used two different thicknesses of concrete board for mounting so that the finished thickness of the shower wall would be the same for both the tiles used.
Another question.... just how thick should tile morter be mixed to. I saw a video on line and they mixed their morter much thicker than we did!:wall:
Thanks!!!
md2lgyk
11-30-07, 07:06 AM
I have no direct experience, but have read that the chemical(s) in thinset mortar will cloud glass tiles and shouldn't be used to install them.
HeresJohnny
11-30-07, 01:12 PM
Glass tiles require a good quality modified thinset. Under no circumstances should you use mastic. Glass tile manufacturers will list the thinsets that can be used for their products on their websites so you should check there. While you are on their website, download their installation instructions and follow them to the T. It's different than setting ceramic tile.
erkleboy
11-30-07, 08:33 PM
and it must be white!