Wood accent in tile floor

[heyscott3214]

Recently, I put down a wood floor (Virginia Vintage hand-scraped maple) in my living room. I am preparing to tile my foyer which is adjacent to it. I thought it might be a nice accent to the tile to put squares of leftover wood floor in the place of tiles at appropriate places in the tile pattern. The wood accents would probably be 4" by 4" or smaller.

My question is this: Is this a good idea? Specifically, I was thinking I'd be attaching the wood and the tile each with the same thinset compound, and grouting around it just as if it were tile. Does anybody know what effects the grout or thinset might have on the wood?

Thanks, Scott

[Charles Spitzer]

the wood will suck the water out of the thinset, discoloring the wood and making the thinset extremely weak. the grout you use will do the same.

prefinish the wood, and use mastic.

regards, charlie

[ed_h]

I have a similar similar arrangement in my entryway. It looks very nice, but the wood will pull away from the grout due to seasonal changes. This leads to grout failure over time. I've had to regrout twice around the wood while the grout around the tiles is still solid.

[e-mail] wrote:

[ed_h]

I have a similar similar arrangement in my entryway. It looks very nice, but the wood will pull away from the grout due to seasonal changes. This leads to grout failure over time. I've had to regrout twice around the wood while the grout around the tiles is still solid.

[e-mail] wrote:

[GeeDubb]

Have you tried sanded caulk? Sanded caulk is made in just about every color that grout come in. It moves with the wood so it might eliminate that grout failure.

Gary

[ed_h]

Good suggestion. I might try that next time.

[Charles Spitzer]

no it doesn't. the sand is to prevent cracks in thick grout lines. grout of any type doesn't move. if you want it to move, most tile places will have colored silicone which is the same color as the grout. use that.

[GeeDubb]

Yes it does...I didn't say to use sanded grout but to use sanded caulk usually made of acrylic plus silicone with a sand content (and color) to match the texture of the grout.

Gary

[Charles Spitzer]

oops, my bad. you're right. sorry.