Often, the tile used for a decorative band is thinner than the tile that surrounds it. As with glue, thinset can be used in either of two ways: It can be spread on a small area on which tiles are then placed, or it can be applied to the back of each tile individually. Then trowel more thinset into the channel using your plastic notch trowel and install the mosaic tile. If the tile making up the decorative band is large, you can simply apply an extra-thick layer of thin-set under it and press it in until it’s flush with the thicker tile. Gradually add the thin-set powder, mixing it thoroughly. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer), Do Not Sell My Personal Information – CA Residents. (Although improvised tools such as an old butter knife can be used for this work, the benefits of the palette knife become obvious in just a few minutes. Website, Text and Images © 2003-2018 J.E. Glass tile installed on a kitchen backsplash using a high polymer content thinset suitable for glass tile. Flattening will prevent the ridges and air pockets from showing through transparent glass tile. Before you begin tiling, check the surface with a straightedge. Thinset is extremely sticky and meant to be spread with a trowel to mount large tiles or sheets of tile, but with a little care and planning, you can use it mount tile one piece at a time for detailed mosaic artwork similar to how glue is normally used in that mode of working. Place a piece of plywood on top and gently press the sheets into the mortar. Once the thinset has cured, we flip the mosaic. For found-object mosaic, we sometimes use a grouting bag fitted with a Wilton brand cake icing nipple. You can use that same ratio of 1 part water to 4 parts thinset to mix up tiny batches of thinset, such as 1 ounce of water plus 4 ounces of thinset. A tradeoff to skimming is that the notch ridges would have strengthened the thinset's bond. When used to tile walls it’s strength allows you to set tile, and if you’re good with eyeballing, you can set tile without the use of spacers. Cut the mesh between the rows with a sharp utility knife. (Keying or burning in allows the tile mortar to bond better with the substrate by increasing your bond to the pores or texture of the substrate. Alternatively, a measuring cup can be used for the water, with 1/2 cup being the equivalent of 4 ounces weight. The built-up thin-set base ensures that the surface of the mosaic band will be perfectly flush with the surrounding tile. You can use any kind of tile on the gazing ball, creating a pattern or a design on the ball. Our latest shed is also a pavilion—and you can build it, too! The slot in the bed of most tile saws is so wide that small mosaic tiles will fall in, making them difficult to cut. Then place your mosaic sheet into the bed of thinset and push it back and forth into the thinset, again, just like you would if you were installing it. Thinset (or mortar) isn’t an attractive word or in most people’s books the most appealing aspect of mosaics, but in this blog post about using thinset for mosaics, Julie shows us how this most mundane of substances can be used to create stunning effects. Make sure you clean up outside and do not pour unused thinset down drains. Glass tile is installed on a bathroom shower using a high polymer content thin-set recommended for glass mosaic tile. Keep in mind that you can create a lot of dust after the water is added to the powder by stirring to rapidly. (A good test is to cement a few rocks together, wait about 6 days, and then bust them apart with a hammer and look for crumbly material or a lack of adhesion.) On some fired tiles, the tile will soak the water form the mortar extremely quickly. The bigger the gap, the more rows you’ll have to spread to make an inconspicuous cheat. We sell Thinset Mortar in 2lb containers. To compensate, press the tile sheets into the thinset very firmly. It's important to have something like the thinset on the ball so that the tiles don't fall off when it gets wet from sitting outside. Keep the bucket covered and use the putty knife or margin trowel to scrap the sides of the bucket so that all the thinset is in a blob and doesn’t dry out. Give yourself plenty of time to grout! To make sure mosaic tile is fully embedded and the faces of all the tiles are flush with the rest, it’s important to tamp them with a block after setting the sheets in the thin-set. Traditional versions are cement-based powders that are mixed with water prior to application. The glass tile in this video is a mosaic tile and is not transparent. Scoop a small amount of thinset into the tray and keep the rest of the thinset in the mixing bucket. plastic bucket or plastic container for mixing. Flattening will prevent the ridges and air pockets from showing through transparent glass tile. Even if you take all the standard precautions, you’re bound to get an occasional bit of thin-set oozing out between tiles, especially if they’re really thin like these glass mosaics. The grouting bag with nipple allows us to dispense the thinset in a very controlled way as if from a bottle of glue. To avoid this, before the application of thinset, I “pregrout” my mosaics by applying on top of the mosaic a mix of thinset and grout on top of the tesserae. The solution is to place a thin scrap of plywood under the sheet of mosaic tile as you cut it. There is only a tiny amount of water in a fine mist, and so you don’t have to worry about it messing up your unused thinset or throwing off your measurements, but it is highly effective at getting the dust out of the air. spread thinset and set tiles. Wear a dust mask and do this outside. Since thinset tile mortar has … For a small area, you could use glass tile mortar (which is suitable for glass, thin marble, and porcelain tiles). Try to dispose of most of your unused thinset as solid waste. He is also an avid DIYer at home. for the thin-set. APPLYING ADHESIVE: Apply a good quality latex-modified thinset approved for use with glass or vitreous/porcelain tile. Go ahead and buy a 5-gallon bucket with a snap on lid and keep your material in there. Thinset mortar is a type of cement used for the adherence of tiles and flooring to substrate, or subfloor materials. All rights reserved. The thinset bag has mixing instructions on the label, but those were written for mixing the entire bag. Fill in the Tile Field Continue setting more tile sheets within the tile field, from side to side. If the mortar starts to harden while you work-either on the surface or in the bucket-discard it and mix a new batch. This page explains how to mix and use thinset mortar for detailed work with glass mosaic tile and other tesserae for outdoor and wet mosaics where PVA adhesives such as Weldbond should be avoided. If you are sloppy in how you clean your fingers (gloved or ungloved), you will use up tons of rags. Thinset is a bonding mortar, which means it is a portland cement (the same as used in concrete) with polymers added to make it sticky and extra strong. Thinset Mortar comes in 25-pound bags. An aluminum ice scoop or a large steel kitchen spoon can be used to scoop out the thinset powder, but you can also use a recycled plastic container (such as used for cottage cheese or yogurt) and just store this improvised scoop in your bucket of thinset. 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