![]() ![]() I'm gonna turn this up so it's almost perfectly vertical like this, got a few pine needles in here and I'm going to sort of rake this across the mortar we just put down. Now, now we take the trowel, and we use the notched side. We use the straight side of the trowel to distribute the mortar in one small area, taking it right up to the edge. And I don't know what we're gonna do with all these trowels. So when you're about to do a tiling job, be sure you pick the right trowel. The larger, and the more irregular the tile, the larger the notches. The general rule here is the smaller the tile, the smaller the notches. That's because you have to match the trowel to the tiling job you're doing. Now you notice the notches are all different sizes. While these, with notches in them, are used to apply mortar under tile. This one, for example, is used to distribute and smooth stucco and concrete and plaster. Well, what do you say we talk trowels? Now you know, not all trowels are created equal. You know, there's a whole world of trowels out there. Now you know how we're gonna put this on? ![]() Once it's mixed, it will need to slake for about 10 minutes before we use it. I use a mixer attached to a drill to stir the mortar. To two gallons of acrylic, we add one bag of mortar which Joan pours in gradually. This is an acrylic fortifier, in place of the water. We could mix this up with water, but to get a stronger and a more pliable bond, we're going to use this. Our next step is to mix some exterior grade thin set mortar. If it wasn't a perfect rectangle, we'd probably want to start in the middle, because our grout lines could get really nutty after a while. That's important because it means we can start here in this corner and sort of work that way. Now what we've just established here is that this is a perfect 90 degree angle right here and that we have a perfect rectangle. So Joan, put it right along the edge of the patio there and I'll do the same here. Remember these, high school geometry class? Only I bet you never had one as large as this one. You know, I'll - you're never gonna really even notice that. Okay, since people and or are usually from that side down, I'd rather that looks the full tile down there and have -Īnd cut it on this end, I agree. We could cut half of it, three quarters of an inch off here and three quarters of an inch down here. We could cut an inch and a half off this end tile, or we could split the difference. It's about an inch and a half over down there. Well, I don't want to tighten up these joints in here, because I want them to be consistent half inch. Next, we lay a row of tile across the width of the patio, leaving approximately a half inch between each one. We're gonna have to leave a half an inch for our joint. ![]() So let's just see how this would lay out if we started with a full tile right there and then we went across this way. What I'd like to do is to make one of the tile joints fall right on this expansion joint. And you know what, over here we have an expansion joint right here. We want to make sure that when we put these down for real that we don't end up with some little narrow strips on the side. To figure out how many tiles will go across and what the space will be.īecause you don't want to end up with a little piece or too much cutting. Now you've done a lot of research, you went to the clinic and everything, what's next? If there is algae on here, this will kind of break it up.įinally we rinse off the patio with water and begin moving our tiles over to the worksite. We let it sit for about 10 minutes, then give it a good scrubbing. This concrete wash will dissolve any longstanding dirt or algae on the patio. We're gonna attach this to your garden hose.Īnd it will do this job very quickly so. So let's get some stuff and do that first, all right? Just to make sure we get a good bond between the mortar and this existing concrete slab, I want to start out by cleaning this. There's a little bit of dirt on here though. Seriously, there's always more than one way to do a job.ĭid they talk to you about cleaning the patio? If I've ever seen a patio that was ready for Saltillo tile, this is it. Now Joan is determined to do this job herself, so I'm going to teach her how, on a small patio in another part of the yard. She'd like to create the perfect setting for it, by covering the patio with Mexican style Saltillo tile. Joan and her late husband purchased this beautiful fountain on a trip to Mexico. She wants some help with a patio and I think I can lend her a hand. I'm headed to Lafayette, California for a visit with Joan Lee. Well, this is gonna be a bit of a long trip, but I think it's gonna be worth it. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |