Your help would bec appreciated:
I am trying to re-tile my bathroom and wish to use the mosaic glass tiles as a break in the wall of White tiles.
Do I remove the plastic sheet on the back?
How do I get them flush since they are thinner than the main tiles?
Do they require a special adhesive or is the standard tile adhesive sufficient, it must be applied thicker than for standard tiles?
Regards, Peter.
Only laid them once, so for what its worth-
If its a plastic mesh then no. it holds the sheet together. If its non permiable then probably.
By increasing the thickness of the adhesive bed.
I used standard adhesive. The adhesive bed has to be just right, too little & they won;t be flush, too much & it oozes through the sheet & fills up the gaps between the individual tiles so grouting is a problem. I'd buy a couple of spare sheets for practice.
Absolutely not! If you look closely, you will realise that the tiles are all actually clear glass, with the colour coming from the backing sheet
Correct.
When I had my bathroom done, the tiler did a reasonable job of the contrast row of glass tiles, but still found them very difficult, and surcharged the main contractor.
One of the problems was that it didn't seem possible to use the plastic spacers, and they kept drifting out of position.
Chris
Dave, thankyou for the suggestions, the whole thing looks very daunting to the uninitiated!
Regards, Peter.
Chris, I appreciate your comments, slight misunderstanding.
The backing sheet I referred to is a plastic membrane that covers the mesh to which the glass tiles are glued. I tried leaving it on but then the tiles and their backing fell off! I just couldn't figure out the purpose of the plastic.
With hindsight, the comments and a nights rest from the frustrations it appears that I shall have to construct a small scraper that can rest on the main tiles either side and leave a level of adhesive of the correct, or near as dammit, to the thickness of the glass mosaic.
Thanks again, Peter.
If adhesives squeegeees up, use a sponge patntbrush to clear the lines and a wet sponge to remove from tile faces. wash sponges in water every wipe.
Use correct spacers wherever needed to equalise tile grout lines. Do not rely on the mesh for perfect alignment.
OK, my technique. Do the tiles above and below the mosaic border first. Measure carefully and use battens etc. Leave to dry/set etc. Then, I use gaffer tape to hang the mosaics from the tile above (a vertical piece of gaffer tape every few tiles), and align them as well as I can. I then pull up the mosaic strips and hold with more gaffer tape (the underside of the mosaics will now face you), to leave space for the tool that is described next. Then, I make a tool that rides on the tiles above and below the border, with a projecting flange just shorter than the mosaic tile thickness (e.g. plywood with piece of metal screwed to it) . I then spread the adhesive full depth into the gap and use the tool to remove just the right amount of adhesive, as preset with the flange. I then carefully lower the mosaic strips and press gently into the adhesive bed. If the flange was just right, you get just a small amount of sqidging into the gaps between the mosaic tiles. The gaffer tape holds them in just the correct place, and any minor tweaking is done pushing nails into the adhesive (to be removed before it sets). You can scrape any excess off with a match or a plastic tile spacer and/or sponge it off. It's worked for me on 2 bathrooms, and I can't think of an easier way to accomplish the job. The usual trouble is once you start trying to slide the mosaics around, you end up in a hopeless mess. You need to position them correctly in the first place. Simon.
Absolutely correct and that is just the mess I got myself into!
Frustration reigned for some hours but I did eventually get them fixed even though a few strips look a little odd! (They will at least be hidden!)
Followed your advice almost to the letter but cut the adhesive squeegee so that it fitted between the upper and lower tiles, worked a treat!
Have today, grouted the other tiles using a disposable icing bag, brilliant and so quick!
Regards, Peter.
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