Tile floors.
The most durable finishing material of all types of such materials is ceramic tiles. Its production uses such mineral raw materials as clay, kaolin, flux, quartz sand.
Tile floors are optimally suitable for bathrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. They not only have high strength, but also have excellent decorative properties of the color scheme of ceramic tiles consists of warm shades from beige and light pink to terrac.
Tiles are square, rectangular and multifaceted shape. Its texture is also heterogeneous – tiles can be smooth, corrugated, matte or glossy.
The mechanical features of the tiles correspond to the nature of ceramic products. It is hard, durable, resistant to blows, damage, the effects of chemicals, is easily cleaned of dirt and refractory.
The main disadvantages of the tile floors are their rigidity and high thermal conductivity, so it is undesirable to lay such a material in bedrooms and children’s rooms.
Before purchasing ceramic tiles, you need to calculate how many of it will be required for this or that room. This is done as follows: the area of the room to be coated with ceramic tiles is measured and is divided by the size of the tile to be purchased. Another 10-15% is added to the resulting number.
To lay ceramic tiles, specific skills are not required, you just need to adhere to some simple recommendations.
First of all, before proceeding to laying, you need to check the horizontal and moisture of the base. If necessary, a primer is applied to it and waterproofing is done. After the base is completely dry, the styling pattern is chosen. To do this, on a sheet of paper in a cell, where each cell is considered tile, with the help of painting, draw a diagram according to which the support lines of the cladding are determined. They are projected onto the floor, and, in accordance with the resulting direction, glue the tile.
Two ways to lay tile floors – diagonal and straight. With a direct laying method, the evenness of the pattern of the cladding is checked as follows: the floor is divided into four equal parts, pulling the cord from each corner. Rows of tiles should go in strict accordance with the directions of the cords.
In the diagonal method, additional reference lines are added to the drawing, which are drawn at an angle of 45 ° from the center of the room to the walls. For this, the cords stretch from the center of the two longest walls. They are fixed on nails driven in the center of the room and at the middle of the walls. In these areas, verification styling is done. If it meets all the requirements, the tile is glued. The flooring is from the point of intersection of the cords along the quarters of the floor.
Fix ceramic tile with cement glue or various mastics. On the packaging of adhesive compounds there are instructions for their use, which indicates how much water is needed to dissolve the mixture, what its consistency should be and what is the time for complete hardening. The instructions should follow exactly.
Tiles before laying, so that the material absorbs moisture and does not take its amount from the cement-red solution, you need to hold it in water. After that, the clutch of tiles with the base will be better.
If the tile floors are attached to the adhesive mixture, it is necessary to first apply to the base a primer layer. In the case when the base strongly absorbs moisture, the primer is applied several times.
In the event that ceramic tiles are applied to mastic, it is necessary that the layer of adhesive be the same thickness as the tile. The composition is applied to small areas. Within ten minutes, the tiles must be laid on these areas, otherwise the mastic will cool down and harden.
There must be a seam between the tiles. Usually its width is 2-3 mm, but if the room is subject to temperature changes, the width increases to 8-9 mm. The seam should be made as even as possible. This is facilitated by special crosses attached in the corners of the tiles. Crosses can be replaced with cardboard or plastic stripes.
For additional strengthening of the coating, tiles are tapped with wooden or rubber kiyanka. In the event that there is no such kiyanka, you can use a hammer or wooden bar, wrapped several times with dense material.