Mosaic Tile Sheets

[lou33]

Does anyone know how easy they are to lay as flooring? Pros and cons?

Anyone?

no sorry did a bathroom cabinet if that helps?

i thought it would be a piece of pish as it looks like it would be doesnt it! anyway i got all bothered about the grout drying out and not being able to be shifted and it made the whole thing a bit of a nighmare - good for awkward corners though - am not sure how it would work as flooring and whether it would come out al uneven or not.

so the laying is a piece of pish - the grouting is Kak
HTH!!!

i used them instead of skirting board and it was quite easy don`t know about floors sorry

Thanks anyway gals. Got to do something now as I ripped up the putrid "peach with a hefty dash of manky" carpet tiles we inherited. Underneath is pretty foul too but at least we can put something nice on it. Just couldn't bear the thought of what previous owners may have deposited in them over the years, eurgh.

Custardo, did you ever find any local support groups for the deaf and hard of hearing btw?

lou33, they are really difficult to lay properly. I am an architect and specify glass mosaic tiles in bathrooms all the time. I have only just found a tiler here in London who can actually do them properly. And I've had supposedly mosaic expert tilers doing them both in california, new york and england.
However, when they are done right they look awesome.

Argh Sofiaames don't say that! Tell me you don't mean the ones attached in sheets (300mmx300mm)?! Please?

Lou33 are you living in my house? We also have peach and manky carpet which hasn't quite been ripped up yet. I also love mosaic and would love to use it somewhere in the house but just don't know where.

need to board over the floorboards with plywood - and in a bathroom should really be marine ply - and then need to find a good tiler to do it. the only decent tiler I managed to find came from a recommendation from a tile shop. they had some very well installed displays and I asked for the name of the guy who had done them! I'm sure sofiaames is right about being very difficult to do properly, but if she is anything like my architect sister she is aiming for a level of perfection that us mere mortals wouldn't even appreciate! I'm sure if you find a decent tiler they should do a good enough job and it will look lovely...

Er so I shouldn't do it myself then? Sighs...adds another few hundred quid to the bill.

Its already £150 for an area of 3m!

Sorry lou33. Wiltshirelass is right. I probably am expecting too much perfection. And she is right about laying them on marine ply. Also, if you are using the glass ones, don't forget that they are slightly see through, so they will show the color of the adhesive you use. Also, DONT use white grout. Use a light grey. With mosaic tiles you have so much grout that it starts looking dirty really quickly. The grey is much better on that front. Where are you? If you are in London (or even if you are not), Tower Ceramics in Camden have the best prices on glass mosaic tiles.

Call me boring but I would have thought a mosaic tiled floor would be a b**r to keep clean - all that grouting!

We have them on our bathroom floor and walls and they do look lovely (got them from Edgar Udney, fab swimming pool tile supplier in Balham S London, cheapest available and swanky looking glass in swimming pool blue mix). But I wouldn't lay them myself as they can be very tricky to lay (they are in large squares backed with brown paper that is wiped off after they are affixed to the wall/floor. You do need to use light grey grout and no, ours don't look dirty at all after two years. HOWEVER, the individual tiles do lift very easily - my ds's chubby little feet in particular seem to act like a vacuum and literally pull them off the floor so we get through a lot of
Araldite sticking them back on. Not sure I'd do it again, but on the other hand it does look good when the walls are the same tile.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have been told that I don't need marine ply because we are laying onto a concrete floor, not floorboards, and the ply is because floorboards move so can disrupt the tiles. They are not glass ones Sofia, just pure ceramic, so seeing underneath won't be a problem, but the light grey grouting is a good idea, thanks to both of you. I'm going to paint the walls first, which should take all of 30 mins as most of the bathroom is tiled, then have a serious think from there.

oh that's good, concrete is much better than floorboards and ply, less movement. the ceramic mosaics are also harder wearing, smoother underfoot etc. sounds lovely!

Oooh thanks, am feeling a bit more confident to do it now!

You will need to be sure the concrete floor is level I think. You can put down a self leveling compound (it's kind of like cement) to ensure this is he case.

lou how wonderful of you to remember! there is one in brighton, am afraid thats too far for me to travel to take one child to a youth club. she has jumped in the bath with the hearing aids on and she broke the battery cover - after such a good level of support by the professionals i think we both feel a bit let down but em is coping well

thankyou

Soups, thanks, already got that covered.

Custardo don't forget you can get me to mail my mate anytime, she is a teacher with profoundly deaf teenagers. She will be able to answer any questions, or point you in the right place I should think. Good to hear she is coping though, but what about you?