Slate wall and Basalt floor

[akewt]

Hello all

I have a few quieries about some tiles i have.

First off I have a some slate tiles 300x600 for my bathroom walls.
Q. Will the weight be ok on plastered wall and marine ply?
Q. Whats the minimum gap, I've read 2-3mm but I wanted to go for 1mm. Is this too small?
Q. Will the grout stain the tile?
Q. Whats best adhesive to use

Also I have some sweet basalt tiles for my kitchen floor. these are 300x300-900mm Random.
Q. Is it worth putting underfloor heating down if the electric matts dont last long?
Q. Whats minimum gap for these too?
Q. Whats best adhesive to use? Floorboard with 6mm ply top


If you can answer any or all of my questions please do. much apreciated!

Regards

[/b]

 

[akewt]

another quick one.

what is the best tanking solution for the plywood and plater walls? havent the foggiest which product to get. can you get it from B&Q etc.

 

[Jasonb]

Q. Will the weight be ok on plastered wall and marine ply?

Depends how thick they are, skimmed plaster will only take 32kg/m2, if they are thicker than 12mm you will be over the limit, Ply is not ideal for walls, a tilebacker board will be better.

Q. Whats the minimum gap, I've read 2-3mm but I wanted to go for 1mm. Is this too small?
depends on the tile, very heavily riven or poorly callibrated stone will need a large gap, maybe upto 12mm.

Q. Will the grout stain the tile?
Yes, slate needs to be sealed before & after tiling, use an impregnator to keep the matt look or an intensifier if you like them looking wet & glossy

Q. Whats best adhesive to use

As you have ply or a backer board then something like BAL single part flexible

Also I have some sweet basalt tiles for my kitchen floor. these are 300x300-900mm Random.

Q. Is it worth putting underfloor heating down if the electric matts dont last long?
I've put down matts that are now 10yrs old and still going strong, they take the chill off the stome but are expensive to run if its the only form of room heating


Q. Whats minimum gap for these too?

As Above

Q. Whats best adhesive to use? Floorboard with 6mm ply top

6mm is way too thin for natural stone particularly large format, 12mm absolute minimum if the joists are decent, otherwise 18mm. Rapidset flexi adhesive and flexi grout.

Tanking

I use the BAl WP1 system but I don't use ply in wet (or any) areas, tanked or not.

Jason

 

[akewt]

Hi, thanks for your answers.

The slate is 9mm thick and very well calibrated, pretty much same thickness throughout. Maybe i should use backerboard then. whats the best stuff? will i need to fill the shower pipe hole and around the shower mixer etc with sealant or tank the whole area? the ply is WPB btw

the basalt is 15mm thick and is completely smooth. the supplier assures me thay will be fine on my first floor. i bloomin hope so!!!

cheers!