Laying quarries in white cement?

[88v8]

6" quarries, red n black, pre-loved as they say. Varying thicknesses, can't make it too easy now can we..........
Chequerboard, as already around the sitting room border.

Going on a concrete slab, dpm, self-levelling, not very Period but heyho there it is.

Would like to achieve a vaguely 'lime' look but without the lime.
Thinking to lay and point in white cement & building sand, the joints just under quarter inch, bedding mix 3:1, pointing mix 2:1.

Any thoughts?

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

I wasn't expecting such a thread from you Ivor!!!

Why are you going to have 1/4 inch gaps beween? I think that tiles like this look much better laid edge to edge with no gaps at all, or at least the minimum gap that irregularities will allow. Then grout with pure cement slurry. From a couple of books that I have, this is what was done around 1900, and worked well in my front hall and in a fireplace. If they are different thicknesses, you will have to bed them in in small sections on a really stiff mix.

I laid 9" quarries in my kitchen badding them in individually as the thicknesses varied so much. The grout was from one of the lime suppliers and the aggregate was like talc and I made it quite runny to get in all the thin gaps. However I stained it black with cement dye as I didn't want the joints to stand out too much! If you must have 1/4 inch gaps then I don't suppose it matters too much about aggregate. There is an argument for pointing with a weak mix maybe with some hydrated lime in there so that the pointing is softer than the tiles, so that if movement occurs the pointing cracks and not the tile.

 

[Flyfisher]

Not sure what you mean by wanting a 'vaguely lime' look but unless you want a fairly bright white finish then I'd be very wary about using white cement. I laid and grouted our kitchen pamments using lime but the colour was predominantly determined by the sand, so whatever you decide some experimentation will be advisable if you have a definite colour in mind.

I would mention the benefits of using lime in terms of reclaiming the tiles in the future, but as a seasoned PPUKer you'll already know that of course :wink:

 

[88v8]

Alas, the room in question was rebuilt for the PO in the 90s, concrete slab, dpm, and as may be expected it is making an adjacent original wall somewhat damp. Fortunately, the wall is so thick that none of the damp manifests inside the house. The cavity wall of the 1990s room was built with one skin on the footing and the other on the slab, so replacing the slab is not going to happen.
That being the case any introduction of lime would be a nod to cosmetics.
A builder is doing the tiling, and white cement offers a quick setting time for the bedding whilst being visually unobtrusive if it gets in the joints. However, I guess we could use lime for the pointing, and I just ordered a bag of 3.5.

We laid the all-red 8" quarries in the dining room with very small gaps. They were a right pain to grout, I used NHL and silver sand, but even now after 5 years dropouts keep appearing.
The wider joints I'm using here are a nod to the adjacent sitting room where we made the joints wider so as to enhance perimeter breathability, and the white grouting in conjunction with the black 'n red chequerboard became a feature of its own.

Future reclaiming. Ha! None of us likes to think that our work may one day be demolished. In a thousand years the work I'm doing now will be a place of cultural pilgrimage second only to the site of the former capital, flooded in 2245 BC.

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

I think silver sand might be too coarse for tiles laid edge to edge. The grout I used had aggregate like talc, and in the hearth and hall I used pure cement slurry, so it could be mixed sloppy enough to fill all the gaps and then be wiped off.

 

[88v8]

Laid in white cement and soft sand. Bed, around half an inch. Spacing, variable as the tiles are differing sizes, but just under a quarter.

Then pointed with NHL3.5 and silver sand.

Contrary to my normal practice - ha!, hark at me, as if I did this every day - he made the mix quite sloppy, put it in with a spatula, the merit being that the grout fills the whole depth of the tile, instead of just sitting around the top as I observed on the reclaimed quarries I've been cleaning.
And instead of bashing it with a churn brush, he kept smoothing it off with a small sponge.
Drying now, it does that have look of lime, as to the durability, time will tell.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

You know the rules . . . . Pictures or it didn't happen :wink:

 

[paulc]

he made the mix quite sloppy, put it in with a spatula, [...]And instead of bashing it with a churn brush, he kept smoothing it off with a small sponge.

The last bit of grouting I did (in fact, the only grouting I've done), I used an icing bag to inject the grout in to the joints - For the small area I was doing, it worked a treat. Also used a small sponge to clean off the excess, and a larger one when the grout had dried a bit.

 

[Nannynags]

I used an icing bag to inject the grout in to the joints - For the small area I was doing,

I like the idea of using an icing bag. I have several tiles that have been fitted incorrectly, unfortunately by someone that was paid to do it, and the grout is always popping out. This would solve the problem, in the short term anyway, of pulling the whole lot up again. Would like to actually finish lime plastering before I have to redo work already done. Thank you for the ideas :idea:

 

[Zebra]

You know the rules . . . . Pictures or it didn't happen :wink:

:lol: