Facing tiles have been present on the building materials market for a very long time, but to this day it does not lose its relevance. With its help, the surfaces of rooms for various purposes are finished, this should include bathrooms and bathrooms.
This material is so popular with consumers not by chance, because it is aesthetically attractive, durable and practical. Laying tiles is no more difficult than gluing wallpaper. There is no need to rush in this matter. In addition, some rules must be followed. This is the only way to achieve a positive result.
Varieties of tiles
Having visited the store, you can find many varieties of facing tiles that differ in characteristics and composition. For example, ceramic tiles can be pressed and extruded. It is made from a dough of clay materials, and the raw material is shaped into the required shape during the production process and passed through an extrusion head. At the final stage, the products arecalibration device. Such a tile is made from mixture, which is first compacted and then formed by a press under high pressure.
Tile can also be glazed or without enamel. The latter variety is the simplest, it usually does not have a decorative pattern, it is dyed with pigments and has a shade that is uniform in thickness. As for glazed tiles, before the last firing, they are covered with enamel, which allows you to create gloss, decorative pattern and color. The pores of such products are impenetrable, and the finish itself is hard.
If you plan on tiling your floor, you can choose a solid or porous base finish. Moisture absorption will be higher with increasing porosity. Dense or solid tiles have water-repellent properties. Monocottura is produced using single firing technology. It is a new technology finishing that consists of drying the pressed clay mixture, applying the glaze to the dry surface and firing in one go.
Double fired are bicottura products that provide a finish made according to the traditional method, which makes it possible to obtain tiles with enamel. During the production process, the clay mixture is pressed and fired, and then glaze is applied to the surface and a second firing is carried out.
Porcelain stoneware is made by pressing dough from kaolin, feldspars and quartz. It has a homogeneous structure, which is close toglass. Floor tiling can be carried out with clinker products, which are made from several types of clay with the addition of:
- fireclay;
- flux;
- dyes.
This finish has low porosity, high wear resistance and strength, as well as inertness to chemicals. On sale there is also a brick-colored tile without enamel, which is a kind of cotto. Products are 3 cm or less thick and are made from clay using the extrusion method.
The material is quite porous, it requires constant care, because it is not resistant to pollution. Finishing of single firing - metlakh tile. It is an unglazed tile made by pressing. The material has high strength, wear resistance of the pattern and durability, because the coloring occurs through and through.
Wall Cladding Technology
After the preparation of the surface of the walls, you can immediately start tiling them. A surface pattern should be laid out on the floor, determining a suitable location for it. If the dimensions of the surface are proportional to the size of one product, then trimming the material may not be required. Laying material on the wall is carried out from the far corner, which is most visible at the entrance.
At the first stage, a vertical row is installed on one of the adjacent walls, after which you can move on to the lower horizontal row along the same wall. Facing should start from the verybottom or edge of the bath. You need to move up, laying row after row. In those places where you started the installation, a wooden lath is glued around the perimeter of the room, which will act as a support for the material.
After the glue has dried, the slats can be removed. When installing tiles from the bath, the bath itself can serve as a support, for this it should be moved away and the rail fixed at the mark. In order for the tiles to be laid evenly, it is necessary to draw control lines on the wall with a marker, which will serve as landmarks.
When tiling walls and floors, the solution must be applied to small areas that do not exceed 0.5 m2, because the composition quickly loses its properties, so it must be used almost immediately. Application is carried out with a smooth surface of the spatula, and then the dosage of the mixture can be controlled with a serrated edge.
If the mortar dries out before the cladding is installed, it should be removed and a new coat of mortar applied. The tile is laid in place, it needs to be corrected and tapped on the surface with a wooden mallet. The position of the finish should be checked with a spirit level.
The same distance in the horizontal and vertical planes must be maintained between the tiles, this rule can be observed with plastic crosses that are inserted into the joints between the stacked tiles. The joint width between adjacent elements is usually 3 mm.
For reference
If you plan to carry out wall cladding in compliance with a diagonal pattern, then the work will be somewhatmore difficult, and material consumption may increase. However, externally, such a surface will look more attractive.
Material quantity calculation
Before tiling the floor with ceramic tiles, it is necessary to determine how much material is required. To do this, you need to calculate the quadrature of the surface for cladding and estimate the number of products to be cut. It all depends on the complexity of the floor and walls, as well as the presence of obstacles, corners, pipe outlets and protrusions in the wall.
On top of the calculated number of square meters, you need to take an additional volume of tiles. To determine the amount of material, it is necessary to calculate the area to be trimmed, and then the area of \u200b\u200bone tile. The first value is divided by the second, which will give the number of products.
Preparing the floor surface
If you decide to use ceramic tiles for interior cladding and floors, you need to prepare the surface. It must be strong and even. You should not rely on the fact that the irregularities on the wall and floor can be blocked using a solution. You can achieve a high-quality result only when the material is laid on a thin layer of adhesive.
Before laying, a screed should be formed on the floor, and a layer of waterproofing should be laid in the bathroom and bathroom. The screed may be dry orwet. But it is better to mount the tiles on a concrete base, which is arranged using the wet method. If tiling the floor with adhesive tiles involves the initial dismantling of the old coating, then the surface will need to be additionally leveled with cement mortar.
For wall tiling, you should get rid of the old coating and apply plaster, reinforcing the base with construction mesh. It is better to carry out these works using beacons. Putty must be abandoned, because it allows you to get a perfectly smooth surface, which impairs the adhesion of the adhesive composition. The technology of facing floors with ceramic tiles provides for the dismantling of skirting boards, thresholds and platbands on the doorway. The surface should be cleaned of dirt and dust, then coated with a primer. If there is a desire to save money or you are confident in the reliability of the old tile layer, then you can replace the tile without getting rid of the old cladding. However, this practice is only suitable for extreme cases.
Preparation of tools
Flooring with ceramic tiles is carried out after preparing all the necessary tools. To carry out work, you need to take care of the availability:
- trowels;
- trowel;
- rubber spatula;
- notched trowel;
- small and medium levels;
- rubber mallet;
- plummet;
- solution containers.
In those places where a solid tile will not lie down, it must be cut. In the course of which nodo without a tile cutter, which can be electric or mechanical. It is important to take care of the presence of wire cutters or pliers, sandpaper, a large needle file and an angle grinder.
Floor lining
Tiling the floor looks somewhat simpler, because the finished surface will be smaller. When finishing, the installation of wooden slats is not required, as well as other auxiliary elements, because the material will be laid on a concrete surface, which must first be leveled and cleaned. Tiles must be laid from the threshold, heading towards the far wall.
Work methodology
After tiling the floor, leave the surface for the adhesive solution to harden for a day, then you can proceed to the final stage. The tile joints are cleaned of glue and filled with grout of a suitable color. The application of this mixture is carried out with a rubber spatula. As soon as the grout dries, the excess can be removed with a sponge previously moistened with clean water. After the seams have dried, the finished surface is wiped first with a hard sponge, and then with a soft rag.
Hatch for lining
The floor hatch for tiling must meet certain requirements. One of them is the rigidity of the components to deformations. They must be resistant to damage and provide sufficient strength for mounting tiles. Another condition is the geometry of the structure. If from the design plane are seendeviations, then after the completion of the laying of tiles, the dignity of the floor coverings will be crossed out.
Recommendations on the arrangement of the hatch
The floor cover must withstand the stress of walking and moving furniture, have sound and heat insulation properties to neutralize temperature differences. If you plan to use tile cement glue to finish such a hatch, then the outer surface of the cover should be reinforced with a steel mesh, the diameter of which is 5 mm. It is welded into a frame by a semiautomatic device. Reinforcing is not necessary if the tile will be laid with a reactive resin compound.
Conclusion
After considering the types of tiles for flooring, you can choose the most suitable solution for yourself. Perhaps you do not plan to allocate too much money for repairs, then you can even choose unglazed tiles. The more modest the decorative properties, the lower the cost of finishing. This must be taken into account when choosing a material. But the technology of tiling the floor remains unchanged.
