I’m tiling my tub surround and walls (lower half) in bathroom. What is recomended trowel for wall tiles? I’m using Acryl Pro mastic and have heard a “V” notched trowel is for wall tiles and “square notch” trowel is for floors or walls using thinset. Is there a correct trowel for walls and floors? Also I have some accent tiles that have a small diamond tile inserted in the middle of the larger rectangle tile and is held in place with a paper type mesh on the backside. Does that mesh remain on the tile with the diamond insert and treated as one whole tile or does the mesh come off? It seems to be glued on pretty good so I’m assuming it stays on and the whole tile is placed as if it were a regular tile.
Ron
Replies
I'd reconsider using mastic in a tub surround.... personally I'd reconsider anything made by Custom.
Edited 1/25/2004 6:58:57 PM ET by GEOB21
Thats a little vague, Why do you say this? I'm interested. Also do you have any advice for the questions I posted?
The trowel to use should be specified on the container of adhesive or thinset. It varies somewhat, though, with a coarser notch being used for large uneven tiles, like Mexican pavers, and a finer trowel for smaller, precisely made tiles, like 2 x 2 porcelain. By the way, the trowel should be held about 45° to the wall, so the notches and ridges are shorter than if you held the trowel 90° to the wall.
The paper backing is supposed to stay in place. You can tear a tile off the backing anytime you want, say, to change the accent tile to another color, but it's made to stay in place to maintain the spacing between tiles. Paper is the oldest backing. Some manufacturers use fiberglass mesh, some use little dabs of rubber adhesive between tiles. All are designed to stay in place.
Thanks guys. I have a friend who does tile (family bussiness for many years) and he says he uses mastic in tub surrounds all the time- no problem. What is the disadvantage to using thinset in wet area?
Take dry thinset and dry mastic and throw it in a bucket of water.
Let sit for 24 hours.
Report back on your discoveries.
Doing a job and doing a good job is entirely different.
__________________________________________________________________If you were arrested for being a quality builder would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Thinset for wet areas and the mesh stays.