Natural stone tiles be they marble, limestone, slate, or granite can add the finishing touches to a room. They are distinctive and each stone has a slightly different appearance. They are an excellent choice for kitchen counter tops, vanity tops, and even flooring. So how do you install natural tone tiles.
Besides your stone tiles you will need a cement backer board, a pry bar, hammer, jam saw, tape measure, chalk line, carpenter's square, grooved trowel, mastic, seam tape, putty knife, tile nipper, grout, sponge, towels, and water bucket, and the correct stone sealant. You should also have safety glasses and gloves.
Take the room measurements so you know how much tile you'll need. Add 10 to 15 percent to cover tiles that break. Cut your cement backer boards to fit the area.
Remove any door thresholds, baseboards, or shoe molding. Use your hammer and or pry bar to loosen and remove. Remove anything that's going to be in your way like the stove. Don't forget to put on your goggles and cloves which you should be using through the entire project.
Stack the cement back and a tile to find out what the new height of the floor is going to be. Then use your jam saw to cut the door jams to fit the new tile height.
Measure 5 feet down one wall, tap a nail in at that mark. Then measure 5 feet further down the wall and mark with another nail. Keeping the chalk line crossed over the mark give it a pop.
Use your trowel to apply mastic to the back of the backer board, then lay the board aligning it to your chalk line. Attach the backer board to the floor with screws using your drill. Repeat the process with the next backer board. Leaver about 1/8” gap between the boards.
Once the backer board is installed you'll need to cover the seams with joint tape. Load your putty knife with mastic and spread it over the tape smoothing it on the seems. Use your putty knife to remove any excess. Let mastic dry according to directions.
Sweep to remove any debris. Pop your chalk lines the same as you did for your backer board but working from the opposite wall. You can use your carpenters square to double check your lines.
Make sure the tiles are dust free and have plenty of spacers handy. Start on the crosshairs. Spread the mastic in a small section on the back board. Even it out nicely then lay the first tile where the chalk line intersects. Repeat the processor until all tiles in the quadrant are down. Use your plastic spacers to ensure they are evenly spread. Start your next quadrant and continue until the entire floor is down.
Now you need to wipe away the excess mastic that has seeped through. Cut your tiles to fill the wall edge with your wet saw or tile nippers.
Once the mastic starts to set you need to remove the spacers. Let set overnight. Now you need to do your grout work. You can use whatever color of grout you like. Place the grout onto the tile then spread it over the surface with your rubber grout float. Let set for five minutes then wipe up the excess.
Once the grout is completely dry you can wipe the tiles down with a damp sponge. Now take a buffing cloth and buff up the floor. Dust the area again, and once again wipe down with a damp cloth.
Now you need to let the stone tiles cure for 7 days. After the 7 days it's time to but the sealant on them. This is where people often get confused and use the wrong type of sealant. You must use sealant that is designed for natural stone.
Natural stone tiles have a sealant applied to protect them and make them shine. Because of the makeup of stone tiles they require a special sealant that does not destroy the natural composition of the stone but rather enhances it.
Once you've placed the sealant over the entire floor let it dry. You may choose to apply a secondary coat if you wish. Be sure to follow the directions supplied by the manufacturer.
That's it you're done. Now all that's left to do is enjoy that beautiful unique stone floor or counter.
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