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Anyone with experience laying a tile floor?

Discussion in 'Questions and Answers' started by Fishweiser, Sep 24, 2014.

  1. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

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    Im trying to tile on my bathroom floor. Its my first time laying tile, and its definately not going as smooth as it does on the youtube videos. I started off picking out the wrong thinset,..I chose the fast set, and it cured by the time I got 1/4 of the way across the floor, and as I went, the thinset became kinda dry but I tried to make do with it on a few more tiles before I broke down and went and got some good standard premixed thinset to finish it up. Well, the next day , I noticed that the tiles I tried to get by using the half cured thinset were all out of whack and sounded hollow when I tapped them with a screwdriver. I ended up breaking them up and scraping the dried thinset up and redid it all with new tile and the new thinset. This time I made sure the then set was spread evenly, used the trowel with the 3/8 or 1/4 inch (cant remember) notches like I did with the other tiles...laid the tile new tiles, tapped on them and they sounded hollow again like there was an air bubble in them. So I pulled them up, redid the thinset and tried again with the same outcome,...finally, I redid the thinset and then put some thinset on the back of the tiles and laid them, and they still ended up sounding hollow. I decided to let it sit over night and see if the hollow sound went away...well, it almost sounded worse this morning. Ive checked over and over again, theres nothing thats obstructing the tiles, they are clear in the middle and the sides of anything obstructing the contact. I know the acoustics are going to sound differently when you tap between tile on fresh thinset vs tile thats already cured to the floor, but the tock TOCK,TOCK,TOCK compared to the light tap,tap,tap I get using the same screw driver on the tile concerns me. Im torn between either Im just doing it wrong, or that its probably just what tile sounds like on on thinset thats not dry and it will get better. I just dont want to wait til its dry to find out its wrong and then chisel up anymore dry thinset mortar. ya know? Any tips, tricks or good advise?
     
  2. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

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    better add that Im tiling over a concrete slab
     
  3. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    I've laid thousands of sq. feet.

    Over concrete: make sure its clean, especially from any oils. After cleaning I always rough it up a bit with some light sanding with a belt sander with Zirconia Aluminum Oxide belts. No need to go crazy in your sanding but just enough to rough it up. CLEAN IT AGAIN and vacuum thoroughly. Leave NO DUST.

    Now find a non modified Thin Set if you can and its additive(not water) Mix according to directions in a 5 gal bucket with a mixing paddle you attach to your drill. This step is crucial!
    Hand mixing simply wont get the right consistency and its really not mixed properly. Slightly moisten the concrete area with water.

    Trowel on the floor and butter the tile. Use spacers of your choice but only spread out as much on the floor as you can lay tile in about 15 minutes. Take your time.

    Basically its all in the prep, and never use cheap products unless you plan on doing it over again.

    Grouting with sanded/unsanded will depend on what size spacers you've chosen.
     
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  4. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    Fishweiser likes this.
  5. Everything bigbry is spot on but in all honesty your best bet is to hire a good tile guy.

    If you want to save money volunteer to do his laborer work. There is no way to teach you basic things like turning your tiles or how to get your wet saw cuts right over the internet. It takes experience. Find a good tradesmen and pay him. In the long run you will save money and get a better end product.
     
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  6. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

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    I pulled up the tile again yesterday, I can see where the air pockets were in the texture of the mortar. I can see where some of it was bonding, and parts in the middle looks like what it did before I put it down. Im beginning to get the hunch that when I work the trowel, I might be digging deeper in the middle than I am on the sides making a bowl like shape. Also, I talked to a guy at lowes, apparently, another mistake I made was that when I tried to butter the back, I put the groves on both the tile and on the floor. He said to butter the back, you just put a thin layer, just enough to cover the little square ridges and thats all you do. Im going to give it one more try, this time make sure the morter is even,..maybe even a little more built up in the middle where the air pockets tended to show, and then see what happens. Its frustrating that I can lay 30 tiles and they all go down solid as concrete right off the bat and these 3 are giving me all kinds of fits. Its like a bad joke!! LOL@! Ive got some friends who just had their floor done by a guy that was pretty good, they said that if the materials are already bought , they charge 2 bucks a sq ft, ....theres probably a minimum to come out, so Id hate to pay 50 or what bucks for 6 dollars of work, but if it comes down to it...thats what Ill have to do...
     
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  7. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Why does the tile guy have to be named Antone?:tongue2:
     
  8. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Is that Antone Bry or Bry Antone?
     
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  9. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    thanks antone you're the best
     
  10. Fishweiser

    Fishweiser New Member

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    Yeah, somebody swapped my "y" and "t" on my keyboard!!LOL!!
     
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  11. McLovin

    McLovin Resident Pats fan.

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    i'm only good at laying hard wood
     
  12. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    Or so they say at the truckstop.

    Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk
     
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  13. McLovin

    McLovin Resident Pats fan.

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    You're never going to get over that night, are you?
     
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  14. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    Hijacking complete!
     
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  15. unluckyluciano

    unluckyluciano For My Hero JetsSuck

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    [​IMG]
     
  16. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    Don't use the ferrets as an excuse.
     
  17. McLovin

    McLovin Resident Pats fan.

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    do we have to do this here?
     
  18. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    Yes
     
  19. McLovin

    McLovin Resident Pats fan.

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    k
































    ...unzips
     
  20. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    [​IMG]

    that's it, Tony, let it out....let it out buddy. :console:
     
  21. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    HEY!! What did you do with my black friend?! Give him back. NOW.
     
  22. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    I fixed it for ya
     
  23. ToddPhin

    ToddPhin Premium Member Luxury Box Club Member

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    :lol:
     
  24. bigbry

    bigbry Huge Member

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    I want to see pics of Antones work.
     

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