Replies

1. 
   Scooter1 | Jun 19, 2003 07:01pm | #1

   Yes but.......

   Thinset is not very comfortable on the tootsies.

   Thinset doesn't have as much sand as grout and it is more difficult to seal

   Thinset, having less sand, is less durable and more likely to wear away.

   Thinset has two colors, grey and white. They will fade and change colors over time, and white turns into a light grey (picks up dirt) and grey gets a tad darker.

   What I do when this happens is this:

   First, mosiacs are a pain to lay, and often you just can't use the quarter inch trowel that the thinset bag recommends. Try using a an eighth inch trowel or a "V" trowel. Mosiacs are thin, about 3/16", and the quarter inch trowel spreads out about an eight, depending on the acuteness of the angle to have the trowel. Higher angle, more thinset, lower angle less thinset, right?

   Second, when this happens, don't try to fix it right away. Just let it ooze out, and curse. If you pull up the sheet and try to wipe it away, you'll spread thinset all over the place, including you, the tile sheet and everywhere else.

   Third, wait a couple of hours and using a slab of plywood to rest your knees/body on, try to scrape the thinset out of the grout lines with a steel punch, sized to the same size as the grout lines. Sixteenth inch grout lines? Use a sixteenth inch punch. Scrape the punch along the grout lines while the thinset is still curing and get it out while it is semi-hard.

   Fourth, the next day, get a Dremel tool with a grout remover bit, again sized to you grout lines, and wearing saftey glasses, grind out the thinset. It will still be fairly soft. If you have Parkinson's or the DT's, this is not for you. That Dremel can ruin a porceline mosiac tile in about 2 seconds, so watch yourself.

   You only need to remove about one half the tile thickness for the grout to "stick", although two thirds is better.

   Regards,

   Boris

   "Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934

2. 
   djohan | Jun 19, 2003 08:15pm | #2

   Boris pretty well hit the nail on the head.  A few years ago I tiled a shower with the stuff and it drove me nuts.  The trowel with the smallest notch is what you will have to use.  I can tell you from having done it, that if the mastic or thin set oozed up through the tile, you might as well peel the stuff off and grind down the substrate and start over.  Having to use a dremmel tool or something else to dig the mastic out of the grout lines is very tedious. 

   Good luck.