WHY YOUR TILE FLOORING WILL FAIL AND HOW TO ENSURE SUCCESS
Failure. It’s going to happen. But you don’t want it to happen when constructing your home. This DIY post comes from one of our own experiences with tile failure. Cracked, pulling up and anything else you can think of – if it could’ve gone wrong, it went wrong. We don’t want this to happen to you.Get more news about Thin Porcelain Tile,you can vist our website!
FOLLOW DIRECTIONS
The most important step to avoiding tile failure in any way is to follow all manufacturer directions. Like baking a cake, you wouldn’t skimp on flour or baking soda, so don’t skimp on any steps when it comes to mixing thin set mortar. Read and follow all the directions for your thin set and always use the proper trowel. Be mindful of the thin set needed for the type of subfloor and tile you are laying. Surfaces such as gypsum take a different thin set than OSB, for example. Following these guidelines alone can protect you from cracking tiles in the future.
Before you start spreading thin set, remember to wet your subfloor (substrate) if using plywood or OSB so moisture from the thin set isn’t absorbed by the subfloor. The thin set will dry out if this happens. If your subfloor is a different material, like concrete, be sure it is clean of dust and debris before coating it with thin set. Thin set mortar will not adhere properly to dirty floors.
KEEP IT 100
Thin set mortar creates bonding and support of the tile to the subfloor. The industry standard for mortar coverage on tile is 80%. On exterior or wet areas, coverage jumps to 95%. It’s always recommended to shoot for 100% coverage. This will prevent damage to the tile including cracking and pulling up from the subfloor.
TILE WARP IS REAL
Tile manufacturers are allowed a certain tolerance for unevenness in their product. From tile to tile, there will be slight differences in curving of the tile. Therefore, back buttering each large format tile (coating the back of the tile with mortar using the flat side of the trowel) is critical. It will even out gaps created by the tile curvature.
Tiles may also have an uneven back. Filling in those gaps with thin set will further ensure the necessary 85% mortar coverage. Even if you have a smooth back, porous stone will soak in wet thin set. Back buttering satiates the surface, creating a stronger bond once its laid on the subfloor. Tile may also have excess kiln release or dust on the back. Placing an un-back buttered tile directly down may be cause for bond breaking if laid directly on the mortared subfloor.
Once your thin set is down and combed with parallel ridges, place the tile perpendicular to the ridges and move it back and forth to collapse them. Again, this creates more coverage on the backside of your tile to give you better bonding power. Periodically pull a tile up it to check your coverage. If you’re doing all the right moves and still not seeing enough coverage, go a size up in your trowel.