Slate tile questions

[johnlennon]

So I am planning on tiling my main floor of my house (450 sq ft-ish) and I was wondering if there is such thing as "low grade/bad" slate tile. I found some 12x12 for 1.95 sq/ft but I was warned by a supplier at another company to watch out for shitty Slate. I just dont want it chipping and falling apart down the road. I was under the impression it was all the same?

I know it is hard to work with but I have some experience tiling and I think if I take it slow I should be fine.

As for a Wet saw's, has anyone had any experience with the ghetto 100$ ones you find at cdn tire & Home depot? I know it would be nice to have the moving blade VS moving a tile but the price difference is huge. Any input is appreciated, Thanks.

[blitz]

Slate isn't just hard to work with, slate is fucking horrible to work with. No way I would try to DIY, especially on such a large space.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

In terms of wet saws, when my dad renovated his house he used a fairly cheap Home Depot one, it got the job done no problem. He did one full size bathroom, one huge ensuite bathroom, and one very large laundry/storage/mudroom in slate but he changed the blade often from what I saw.

[CapnCrunch]

I've done lots of DIY slate with a geto $79 wet saw I got a home depot years ago. Slate isn't any harder to work with than most other tile.

The cheaper stuff usually has a lot of variable in the tile thickness which makes levelling your floor a pain in the ass. Not only are the tiles different thicknesses, but often a single tile is thicker on one edge than the other.

I've had slate in all of my homes over the past 10 years, I've never ran into durability issues and I usually buy the cheap $1.99 per tile stuff that pops up at Rona or Home Depot.

[timdog]

Originally posted by blitz
Slate isn't just hard to work with, slate is fucking horrible to work with. No way I would try to DIY, especially on such a large space.

this

[johnlennon]

Originally posted by blitz
Slate isn't just hard to work with, slate is fucking horrible to work with. No way I would try to DIY, especially on such a large space.

Difficult how? lol or is it just that you are bad at tiling and you were using Slate during that time so you think Slate is horrible? :dunno:

[johnlennon]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
I've done lots of DIY slate with a geto $79 wet saw I got a home depot years ago. Slate isn't any harder to work with than most other tile.

The cheaper stuff usually has a lot of variable in the tile thickness which makes levelling your floor a pain in the ass. Not only are the tiles different thicknesses, but often a single tile is thicker on one edge than the other.

I've had slate in all of my homes over the past 10 years, I've never ran into durability issues and I usually buy the cheap $1.99 per tile stuff that pops up at Rona or Home Depot.

You are right actually.. I haven't tiled in a while but I do remember the width of them always being different. I think I could still do it :D

[syscal]

TIPS

Open all boxes (if there are any) and arrange ALL slate by approximate thickness. Set aside all broken, cracked through, and warped pieces.

Use 1/2" x 1/2" notch trowel unless you bought guaged slate. If you bought guaged slate go with 3/8" x 1/4" trowel.

Buy the proper thin-set and mix it thinner than you'd think. A little runny. Slate will suck out the moisture and you want it to dry slowly. Too runny and it will be too weak...package should show mix ratio.

Cover the subfloor with thinset using the flat side of the trowel first, then run thinset with the proper side.

Use a rubber mallet on each corner of the piece to set them.

If the tile is not level with the tile next to it, pull it up with a margin trowel and put thinset on the bottom of that portion of the tile (back butter).

Keep a grout sponge and bucket of water with you at all times. Wash off any thinset while it's still wet.

Use a 1/4" margin trowel to keep your grout lines clear.

Saw doesn't matter as long as it's wet. Clean the water reservoir when the water starts to thicken. Changing blades often is a sign of buying inadequate blades. A 4" blade will wear faster.

ummmmmmmm.....

Pencil wears off with the water, you can use a wax pencil, but masking tape is good for holding lines that need cut accuracy.

When grouting, make a big mess of it (not a thick mess, but run grout over the entire tile and not just the lines).

Let the grout thicken, but don't let it sit too long because you don't want to be chiselling away grout all day.

When washing, on the first pass make a mess of it. Don't rinse the sponge much at all and don't clean the water until done.

Wait for a bit of a haze to hit the slate and then wash diagonally to the grout lines, vibrating(?) the sponge a bit while pressing firmly. One short 2' pass, then turn the sponge over and hit the space next to the line you just cleared. Rinse sponge. Don't let the same side of the sponge hit the floor without being rinsed completely first.

Repeat.

Let it dry, all you should see are some hazy lines here and there, probably next to where the sponge was. Repeat the process but with a very well squeezed sponge.

Come back the next day and wipe down with a cloth. Wait two weeks and seal.

I dunno, this is what I did for the most part. Some of what I tried to describe you have to go by feel...which only comes with experience or someone teaching you. The three guys I learned from had great careers as tile setters and I felt they were three of the better ones, though maybe a little old school.

Hope it helps a bit. I'll give you any advise I can, though I'm sure other people on here have different ideas of how to do this as well.

[blitz]

Originally posted by johnlennon


Difficult how? lol or is it just that you are bad at tiling and you were using Slate during that time so you think Slate is horrible? :dunno:

Go fuck yourself :poosie:

Enjoy your uneven tile.

[syscal]

Missed one - snap a chalkline grid 2 x 2 tiles in size (allow for grout line). Slate is not square and eyeballing it = huge fail. I'd snap a center line, then lay two rows, snap another line off the completed row, repeat.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by syscal
TIPS

Open all boxes (if there are any) and arrange ALL slate by approximate thickness. Set aside all broken, cracked through, and warped pieces.

Use 1/2" x 1/2" notch trowel unless you bought guaged slate. If you bought guaged slate go with 3/8" x 1/4" trowel.

Buy the proper thin-set and mix it thinner than you'd think. A little runny. Slate will suck out the moisture and you want it to dry slowly. Too runny and it will be too weak...package should show mix ratio.

Cover the subfloor with thinset using the flat side of the trowel first, then run thinset with the proper side.

Use a rubber mallet on each corner of the piece to set them.

If the tile is not level with the tile next to it, pull it up with a margin trowel and put thinset on the bottom of that portion of the tile (back butter).

Keep a grout sponge and bucket of water with you at all times. Wash off any thinset while it's still wet.

Use a 1/4" margin trowel to keep your grout lines clear.

Saw doesn't matter as long as it's wet. Clean the water reservoir when the water starts to thicken. Changing blades often is a sign of buying inadequate blades. A 4" blade will wear faster.

ummmmmmmm.....

Pencil wears off with the water, you can use a wax pencil, but masking tape is good for holding lines that need cut accuracy.

When grouting, make a big mess of it (not a thick mess, but run grout over the entire tile and not just the lines).

Let the grout thicken, but don't let it sit too long because you don't want to be chiselling away grout all day.

When washing, on the first pass make a mess of it. Don't rinse the sponge much at all and don't clean the water until done.

Wait for a bit of a haze to hit the slate and then wash diagonally to the grout lines, vibrating(?) the sponge a bit while pressing firmly. One short 2' pass, then turn the sponge over and hit the space next to the line you just cleared. Rinse sponge. Don't let the same side of the sponge hit the floor without being rinsed completely first.

Repeat.

Let it dry, all you should see are some hazy lines here and there, probably next to where the sponge was. Repeat the process but with a very well squeezed sponge.

Come back the next day and wipe down with a cloth. Wait two weeks and seal.

I dunno, this is what I did for the most part. Some of what I tried to describe you have to go by feel...which only comes with experience or someone teaching you. The three guys I learned from had great careers as tile setters and I felt they were three of the better ones, though maybe a little old school.

Hope it helps a bit. I'll give you any advise I can, though I'm sure other people on here have different ideas of how to do this as well.



If I can just make a couple of suggestions; Do NOT make your thinset runny. You want to be able to "hold up" the thinner pieces of slate. If the thinset is runny, it will sag. Mix it to a soft peanut butter consistency. It should hold it's notches, they should not flatten out on their own. If you find "lippage" in a couple of corners when alongside another piece...sometimes all you need to do is pull the tile up, rotate it a quarter turn and try that...sometimes a couple of turns. You'll find it will fit better on one of those turns.

Also, give yourself big joints. Most slate is 11 3/4", and people think "a 1/4" joint gives me a nice 12" to work with....make your joints at least 3/8th's. The narrower your joints, the worst the lippage will be. Bad lippage is the first sign of a DIY slate job. Your "box size" will be around 24 3/8" and not 24"

And don't kid yourself...slate is a pain in the ass to lay. That's why the labour rate is $10-12/sq ft twice that of tile. And grouting it is even worse. But have fun!!

:rofl: How'd I do?:


http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h313/Dave_n_Heather/Flooring%20progress%20Pics/pict2181.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h313/Dave_n_Heather/Flooring%20progress%20Pics/PICT2185.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h313/Dave_n_Heather/Flooring%20progress%20Pics/PICT2196.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h313/Dave_n_Heather/Flooring%20progress%20Pics/PICT2204.jpg

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h313/Dave_n_Heather/Flooring%20progress%20Pics/PICT2207.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o312/CalgaryDave/House/pic-3149.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o312/CalgaryDave/House/PICT2463.jpg

[syscal]

hehe, I figured we'd hear from you. Nice job btw, I still have nightmares of working with wire heating, especially on a slate job.

I think runny was the wrong term as well. I'd typically run the trowel through the mud and if the lines held for a few seconds and didn't completely fill back in after then the mix was good.

I did tile repair for the first 1.5 years or so of my tile career, you can tell when it was mixed too thick or too thin. Both could mean lose tiles, but thick is hard and thin turns to powder.

I've done about 6000' of slate/quartzite in our houses since I quit tile and went into IT. When we moved into the house we're in now I told my wife enough is enough! Porcelain all the way now. I strongly dislike working with slate. Porcelain tile was created by the gods. We've been using this 12x24 with a travertine pattern to it in our current house. No two tiles look the same, it's a dream to work with and clean, and looks damn good. It actually looks pretty natural too.

Slate looks awesome, but I hated living on it.

I'll post some pics when I can find them.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


And grouting it is even worse. But have fun!!



I totally forgot how awful grouting slate is lol. I think it's by far the worst part of working with slate.