ceramic tile

[Ralph222]

I want lay tile on my concrete floor should I use glue or cement ? If I use either should I put it on the floor and on the back of the tile? Thank you for any info on the best way to do this project.

[David J Bockman]

Ceramic tile should be layed with mortar.

Dave

[DanG]

Ralph, There is a lot more to a ceramic tile install than you could possibly learn on a text usenet group.

Go to a tile store, not home despot. Tell them you don't know how, but would like to try. Most outfits will help you or sell you a good book, or tell you what book to get at the library.

If you are good with a search engine work on "thinset", "Schluter", "Mapei". This should give you plenty of interesting reading.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

cement ? If I

tile?

[SQLit]

Thinset on concrete.

The mega home stores have classes in this. I suggest you start there.

[gabriel]

Hmmm... Go to Home Depot and buy the book titled "Tiling 1-2-3" (or something like that). It's got loads of information and straightforward explanations with lots of pictures. They also have a "Flooring 1-2-3" book, but it does not go into as much depth as the tiling book.

After you read about your projects in that book and are more sure of what you want to do and how, then go to several tile stores to shop around and to find out all the different tiles that are available.

By following the directions in the 1-2-3 book and using some of the sample designs, I have a great looking floor.

[Lou W]

Another good book is "Setting Tile" by Michael Byrne. I would highly recommend this one for the novice.

[Sligo]

[RB]

Thinset is correct but I add a shear membrane as well because concrete floors have a nasty habit of developing cracks over time that may telescope in to the tile without the membrane.

If you can stand the thickness look at Ditra. It comes highly recommended.

Many libraries have instruction books as well as videos.

[Ralph222]

thanks everyone for your replies , will take your advice . Ralph

[Larry Bud]

I ditto the recommendation on this book. To all due respect to our experts in here, but tile setting isn't brain surgery. You just need to know the order of materials to be used.

I also recommend going to a real tile shop when you're ready to buy. You'll be blown away with all the choices. To me, that turned out to be the most difficult part of tiling my kitchen counter: Deciding on the tiles and the pattern. It truly is limitless.

I will add this: think hard about the type of tiles you want to use. If they are textured and have holes, it can be VERY difficult to get the grout out. I had to use a stiff brush to do that and still didn't get everything out. If the grout color matches the tile, obviously this doesn't hurt as much.

[toras]

recently my kitchen floor tiles have started to buckle and crack. Upon removing some of the broken ones I found the concrete subfloor beneath has cracked and thus have ruined the tile too. (There was no membrane.) I am on the 8th floor of a highrise condo, about 15 years old. Is it any cause for concern about the cracks?

I am planning to replace the whole floor with vinyl tiles instead since I'm afraid ceramic tiles may crack again. I guess I need to put down backer board first?