Laying quarry and terracotta tiles and installing flooring

Laying a quarry tile or ceramic tile floor

Method of laying quarry tiles and ceramic floor tiles

Gluing or fixing tiles to the floor requires that the floor is stable before you start. Any existing decay or weaknesses in the existing floor must be remedied before you begin. Usually for floor tiles I use the big sacks of floor glue that you mix with water before use. But when tiling on top of existing tiles I use premixed glue - more expensive, but with additives to make it more flexible and more 'sticky'.

If the concrete has already been tiled it may be possible to tile on top of these, if they are solidly attached to the floor below. You will need to thoroughly clean the existing floor tiles first, then paint on a solution of 'resine d'accrochage' (like PVA, this will make the surface less slippery so the glue can adhere better).

It is possible to fix tiles onto a wooden subfloor - I have done it myself here and not a tile has moved in five years. But the floor under the tiles needs to be rigidly screwed down to the joists. 22mm thick tongue and groove chipboard will be fine, with lots and lots of screws to hold it down. To be extra sure you can use a shop bought flexible-type glue to fix the tiles in place.

Note that it is not necessary to pour a concrete floor first if you are trying to lay a tile floor on an old earth floor, but a clean, dry, well aerated stable floor is vital. The  'traditional' approach is:

• remove the top few inches of earth if necessary (without undermining the foundations, of course)
• place a layer of insulation on the floor if required
• place a thin strip around the edge of the room which can be removed to leave an air gap after the floor has been placed
• add a few inches depth of small rocks or hardcore, and ensure it is well compressed (easiest with a machine)
• pour a chape (screed) about 10cm deep on the floor, made of a dryish mix of water and hydraulic lime
• the tiles can then be laid, using more lime mix as an adhesive

if you are using conventional glue: both the floor and the tiles should be dampened before you start laying tiles, to prevent the glue from drying too fast.   For heavy quarry tiles you should put a good layer of glue on the floor first, spread evenly witha large-toothed spreader, then the same on the back of the tile. Place the tiles gently on the floor at first, using spacers as required between them (5-8mm is usual depending on the tiles), then push them firmly into place - I usually use a spirit level or masons bar for doing this so that all the tiles remain evenly pressed into the glue.

 

A couple of other tiling hints:

• don't push tiles right up to the wall, you should use a thin flexible strip between the wall and the edge tiles to allow for slight movement, and to stop damp in the wall from crossing the floor
• don't start tiling unless the floor is completely level, because you'll never finish
• draw a straight line across the floor in the most important sight line - this is usually the line that you see as you enter the room or the one that leads to a window and catches the light. Start tiling with this line first
• don't tile yourself into a corner!
• use spacers religiously. These can be shop bought or strips of wood you have lying around, but if you don't check the spaces continuously you will suddenly reach a point where two rows of tiles are growing apart of moving together
• keep standing back and looking along the lines between the tiles, from low down. You should be able to see all the way along the 'trench' between two rows of tiles, however irregular each individual tile is
• don't walk on the tiles until you are completely sure the glue, lime whatever is completely dry. Yes it's tempting, I know, and you want to get on with the jointing, but you must wait

 

 

When jointing quarry tiles on the floor I use the same mix of lime and sand as for pointing a wall (see stonework) except that I sieve the sand first to remove the larger grit particles. It is worth giving the tiles a coat of linseed oil before doing this pointing, because it helps stop the lime from staining the tiles - any excess pointing on the surface of the tiles can then be wiped off easily before it sinks into the tiles.

To keep quarry tiles looking good I put several of coats of linseed oil, to make sure the tiles are well sealed.

An even better alternative is to use turpentine (‘terebenthine’) added one part to two parts linseed oil and also adding drying agent (‘siccatif’ in French, usually ink blue and in a small bottle). The tiles can also be waxed for further protection.

All these products are available cheaply in bricolage stores. There are more expensive but ready mixed and safer to use products widely available in bricolage stores. I prefer the 'home made' types because the linseed oil has a yellow colour which the more expensive products usually carefully remove - I find it adds an immediate 'aging' effect to the floor which is preferable.

 

If you want to do the tiling yourself but are not sure you can lay the screed/chape accurately enough first, most professional flooring companies will be able to do this for you. They can pour a liquid floor that is self-levelling and sets completely flat.

Other floor tiles

There is a bewildering array of floor tiles available. Many are in a convincing stone or quarry tile effect finish. Prices vary from as little as 5 euros per square metre to very expensive. They are easier to keep clean than quarry tiles.

The laying of the ceramic tiles should follow the same advice as above for quarry tiles. It will usually be much easier to lay these than laying quarry tiles because the tiles will be exactly square / rectangular and much less thick (typically 8 mm instead of 20mm), and of a regular thickness.

The main difference is in the pointing of the joints, which will usually use a pre-made pointing mixture (just add water) rather than a home made pointing mixture. the joints between floor tiles are usually 4 - 5 mm, rather more narrow than is possible with quarry tiles.

The ceramic tile floor will not usually need sealing after laying either, since the tiles are already finished with a non-absorbent surface.

The only word of caution with these tiles relates to their slipperiness. Tiles used in kitchens and bathrooms should not be highly shiny, smooth tiles because they will be dangerous. Many tiles come in 'anti-slip' versions because of this.