How To Install Mosaic Tile On Floor

Practise you know how to correctly install drinking glass tile? Afterward all, it's beautiful and on tendency which commonly means that customers volition ask you nigh it for kitchen backsplashes, bathrooms, and showers. As you might imagine, this stunning product, when installed correctly, provides years of enjoyment.

At the same time, if you - as an installer - oasis't done your homework, you'll wish you had never heard of it!

Hither's what goes into doing your homework for installing glass tile.

5 Steps on How To Install Drinking glass Tile

Step 1 - What type of glass tile is being used?

A critical aspect to a successful glass tile installation is to understand what type of drinking glass tile is being considered, both in terms of how it'southward made and its size.

How it's made

Not all glass tiles are made the same way, to the same specifications, nor can they be used in all of the same applications. Some are made in boutique shops where the unique nature of each tile is what'southward important. Others are made according to consistent manufacturing processes. Yous'll observe, though, iii categories of glass tile:

• Cast glass tile with inherent folds, bubbling and creases
• Fused drinking glass tile which is contradistinct using a estrus process to create a variety of colors and patterns
• Low-temperature coated glass tile which receives its character from the production that is bonded to the back of the tile

Each of these three categories carries different requirements as to how and where it is to be used. Each has unlike internal stress points based on how it was made.

In add-on, some glass tiles come up with specific types of bankroll that may not be compatible with wet environments. That may not be an event for a kitchen backsplash; information technology will exist an issue in a shower.

Before offset the installation process, determine the suitability of the tile for its intended end use and if it meets the requirements of ANSI 137.2.

What size is information technology

We've discussed in previous articles how the installer needs to pay attention to the tile size and the installation materials required for larger-sized tile.

This holds for glass tile, as well. ANSI 137.2 defines a big-format drinking glass tile as 1 with dimensions greater than three inches by three inches which requires specific materials.

>> See Installing Large Format Glass Tile in a Shower: ten Steps to Follow

Stride ii - What volition y'all use to bond the glass tile to the substrate?

Ceramic and porcelain tile tin can usually be adhered to a properly prepared substrate with a proficient quality A118.4 latex modified Portland cement mortar.  Glass tile, however, is non in the "one size fits all category."

For instance, if a highly latex modified mortar is used to install a depression-temperature coated glass tile in which the mortar has a stronger bond than does the coating to the back of the glass, the blanket may go distorted and look like crumpled aluminum foil.

Because glass has a smooth surface, it requires a bond strength greater than four hundred psi.

To be certain that this doesn't happen, e'er contact the manufacturer of the glass tile, the visitor selling the glass, and the mortar manufacturer. Always obtain the installation requirements in writing as to what should exist done and used.

Expect to employ a premium high-performance thin gear up mortar which has a college polymer content to achieve a strong chemical bond peculiarly if the tiles are large format tile.

Glass Tile is Frequently Transparent

Dissimilar traditional ceramic tile, glass tile is oft transparent or translucent which requires specific mortars. Using whatever kind of poor installation techniques - will be visible.

• Consider the color of the thin set mortar
• Consider the proper thin set installation technique

>> See How to Avoid Visible Trowel Ridges Through Translucent Glass Tile

In the commencement video below, you'll discover the following technique:

• Clean the substrate
• Apply the mortar using the appropriate notch in straight lines
• Prime the flat edge of the trowel with a small amount of mortar
• One thousand nock down the mortar ridges
• Back butter the clear glass tile with a thin film of well-nigh a sixteenth of an inch
• Place the tile into the flattened mortar and beat out it in using a beating block and a mallet or grout float to eliminate any voids

Stride 3 - Is the substrate properly prepared?

Surface training for whatever kind of tile installation is critical. Again, this is particularly true for glass tile.

The substrate must exist fully prepared and clean before installing the tile. Ensure that yous take no deflection that might bear on glass. Glass is delicate and needs additional back up to resist bang-up.

Don't forget to include movement adaptation or expansion joints.

Failures in glass often result from due east xpansion due to exposure to heat from sunlight or from steam/hot h2o. Expansion joints help mitigate these failures.

>> Encounter Why Do You Need Expansion Joints When Installing Tile?

Pace 4 - What grout will y'all apply for your glass tile installation?

When it comes to the grout selection, exist sure to check  the manufacturer'southward directions and recommendations relating to exposure to water and whether the grout volition scratch the surface of the tile.

Make up one's mind the best products to apply for cleaning grout haze off of the glass surface.

Step 5 - Exist aware of these watch outs

1. Moisture trapped between the glass and the substrate

as seen in the attached photo.

In this example, the clear colored glass tile allows the trapped moisture to shows through as a different shade.  This i failed due to its inconsistent advent and had to be replaced - twice.

2. Pay attention to the tile backing

The blazon of backing on the tile may react differently to the mortar you cull.

• Metallic or painted backings can react with cement-based thin set mortars in wet environments causing them to loosen the bail between the  mortar and the glass tile.
• Some glass mosaic tiles are mesh-mounted using adhesives that are water-sensitive. These adhesives tin intermission down when moisture causing a bond failure.

iii. Never employ mastic

We have to say it: Don't ever apply mastic. The second video below reinforces this point.

Acme 5 Tips for Installing Glass Tile

In the video below titled "Top 5 Tips for Installing Glass Tile," Mike Micalizzi , Manager of Technical Services for Custom Edifice P roducts makes several valuable points.

How To Install Glass Tile Kitchen Backsplash

In this adjacent video,Sal DiBlasi, Elite-Tile Company, in the Boston North Shore expanse, demonstrates how he installed glass tile on a kitchen backsplash. Note how he implements many of the recommendations detailed in a higher place.

Thin Set Mortar

He uses a high polymer content thin set suitable for glass tile that is neither a mosaic tile nor transparent.

This glass tile is a large format 2"x8" that has an opaque white blistering so the color of the tile is not dependent on the colour of sparse attack the tile back. Withal, information technology's still necessary to use a white thin set that is suitable for this purpose. He uses the same color thin prepare across the entire projection to ensure color consistency in a projection that may crave multiple bags of product.

No Mastic

Note that Sal reminds united states of america non to use mastic ever for whatever kind of drinking glass tile, nor a lower or junior form of thin gear up.

Using a lower quality thinset can cause variation in colour and shading of the glass tile, and also result in tiles not adhering to the mortar.

The Trowel

This particular tile required (per the manufacturer) the utilize of a 3/16" 5-notched trowel.

Tile Cuts

He set this drinking glass tile in a running bail pattern with some exposed edges of the drinking glass tile at the cease of the counter acme. Those that hadn't been cut he set in identify "every bit is."

Merely Sal had to polish the cut edges to judge the factory edge which achieved a pleasant consistent finished edge.

Unsanded Grout

He allowed the tile to ready at the very least over night earlier grouting and used a white unsanded grout mixed with a grout additive to attain a highly stain resistant grout.

Some glass tiles volition be scratched if a sanded grout is used, as was the case with this glass tile which is why he chose an unsanded grout with a narrow 1/sixteen" grout joint between tiles.

Expansion Joints are a Must

Because glass tile is discipline to greater move due to expansion and wrinkle than a typical ceramic tile, a soft joint is necessary at all changes of airplane and where the tile meets a dissimilar material.

E'er refer to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Handbook for more specific recommendations.

What Would You Add together to These How-to Steps for Installing Glass Tile?

Mike Micalizzi says information technology all-time:

"Glass tile installations are a thing of beauty and when prepare properly with the correct materials they'll final a lifetime. Don't cut corners on surface prep or installation; do your homework, know what you're working with and use the right materials."

Be enlightened of the issues that surround glass.  When asked to install glass tile that is unfamiliar to you, exercise your homework, ask questions and become answers in writing before doing the job.  This will keep the failure monster out of your wallet.

If you're an installer who sets all tile products correctly, consider learning more about the Certified Tile Installer program.

Thanks for reading.

Topics: Ask Scott, Installing Tile TIps

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Source: https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/blog/how-to-install-glass-tile-correctly

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