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[http://realstone.net.au/ stone wall cladding] - Stone is a defining feature in any room and adds instant solidity, luxury and grandness whether you decide to cover all your walls with marble or perhaps use it for a simple round basin. Although stone is definitely an tough material once installed, the self -builder should take special care to see the delivery and installation process runs smoothly. Dirt from traffic or a careless knock from the power tool could lead to a costly repair bill. Keep your room clean and tidy, check larger items for instance a stone bath, can fit by way of a door entrance (you may have to leave off architrave/frames to permit extra room). The weight of stonework does mean that it should be planned in in the home's design stage as load-bearing joists might need to be increased in proportions or even doubled as much as cope with the weight. Preparing floors A brand new concrete screed is the perfect base for stone ceramic tiles, as long as the concrete is fully cured. New concrete should be at least six weeks old and show no signs and symptoms of remaining moisture. You may need to use a thin screed of self-leveling compound to smooth out any low spots. Again, leave the compound to completely cure before tiling. If you're working on new flooring grade T&G chipboard panels, double check the edges are fixed at 300mm centers and tile to the surface with a flexible adhesive all of the trade adhesive manufacturers have powder mixes intended for timber flooring. For a restoration project, never try and tile directly onto old floorboards. Instead, develop a new sub-base with 15mm exterior grade plywood, screwed down at 300mm centers with stainless-steel screws. Stagger the board joints and adjust any uneven floorboards before beginning work. Coat the boards with thinned PVA to seal the wood. Old cork and vinyl floor covering should always be pulled up. Look into the floor beneath is dry, flat and robust enough to support the newest stone tiling. If you're confronted with quarry or ceramic tiles, it is possible to tile directly within the surface as long as there are no signs of damp, cracking or movement. Prime the existing tile surface to offer the adhesive a key' for bonding and make set out your new tiles so the grout gaps aren't aligned using the existing floor. The exceptions are shower or wet room walls that ought to be lined with a waterproof lining panel to offer the tile base. Installing [http://realstone.net.au/ real stone] tiles The porous the surface of many natural stone products ensures they are more vulnerable to staining than glazed tiles. Look into the manufacturer's instructions for precise laying instructions and constantly seal the surfaces from the tiles, if recommended, before fixing it's all too easy to spill adhesive on a tile and not notice. Open the tile packs and work from the 3 packs to evenly distribute any color variation between packs. Tiling a floor With a little planning and careful starting off, dramatic stone flooring is as easy as tiling a wall. There's usually less cutting around awkward shapes as compared to wall tiles and you're not fighting against gravity. Remove skirting boards and door thresholds before beginning work. In the starting off stages, it's important to make sure the tiles look completely from the entrance to the room. Often walls are bowed or away from true so check your measurements in several places along each wall. It costs slightly more but a powder mix rapid-setting adhesive is the greatest option for most floors. It's going to reach full strength within 24 hours so the rest of the build isn't delayed. Finally, plan in a movement joints required. These are 6/8mm wide and filled with flexible filler which allows for movement and prevents tile damage. These joints are usually installed where flooring abuts walling, steps, columns or other hard objects on large floor areas and also over structural movement joints. Floors lower than four meters between walls won't normally need movement joints. STEP-BY-STEP 1 Discover the mid-points of the two longest walls and snap a chalk line over the room between these points. Repeat for that shorter walls but adjust the line so that it passes from the center of the first line at right angles. Try to work with as many whole tiles as possible, even if it means adjusting the grout line width slightly. 2 Lay tiles along the two lines to ascertain if they look right from the doorway. If any gaps on the walls are fewer than half a tile wide, shift the line across to make much more of a gap. Also move the guide lines to ensure that tiles around a dominant feature (e.g. a fireplace or French windows) are symmetrical there are whole tiles in the doorway. 3 Spread about one square meter of tile adhesive/grout into among the right angles produced by the two crossing chalk lines. Scrap the notched fringe of the trowel across the mix to create ridges of the same thickness. 4 Lay the initial tiles along the edge of the longest center line. Gently press the tiles into place, making sure they also line up with the other center line. Add plastic spacers each and every corner to keep them the identical distance apart for grouting. 5 Work outwards from the middle of the room in anticipation of having laid all the whole tiles on a single half of the floor. Use a spirit level to check the tiles are at exactly the same level. Now move across towards the other side of the longest center line and add the rest of the whole tiles. Leave to set for 24 hours. 6 Utilize the tile cutter to trim the advantage tiles to the right shape. Look at the space at both ends in case the walls are uneven and remember to allow for the grouting gap. Always wear goggles and gloves when cutting tiles. 7 Leave the adhesive setting for at least 12 hours, then grout between your tiles with the adhesive/grout. Force a combination into the gaps using a squeegee, working from side to side or more and down the tiles. 8 For wide joint lines, operate a piece of hosepipe over the grouting surface. Wipe off any grout in the tiles with a damp sponge, before it sets hard. Wall tiling Stone tiles add a touch of luxury to your rooms. There's no special trick to locating out how many tiles you will require, just measure the height and width from the area and multiply these together to offer the area to be tiled. Divide this figure by the area of a single tile (e.g. a 10x10cm tile posseses an area of 100cm) to give the number of tiles you need. Add Ten percent for cutting and wastage. Installation matches for ceramic tiles however, you will need an electric tile cutter having a diamond wheel and the capacity to tackle your best depth of tile. Easiest stone is easier to chop than ceramic. The extra weight of real stone also need to be considered use strong battens, no less than 50mm wide and screwed towards the wall, to support the base line of tiles. Work with a saw tile to cut a tile to match around an awkward shape such as a pipe or architrave. If you want to cut a curve, to match around the side of a basin for example, create a card template exactly the same size as the tile. Make cuts about 10mm spacing along the curve edge and press the template into position. Trim the 10mm strips to match exactly around the curve and transfer this contour around the tile. Be sure you leave at least 2mm for grouting. STEP-BY-STEP 1 In order to avoid lots of cut tiles or perhaps an unbalanced look, make-up a tile gauge (a batten using the tile dimensions and grout spaces marked across the edge) to plan the positions of the tiles so that the tops with the last row of tiles under any window will be exactly flush with all the ledge. You may find you will have to cut the bottom row of tiles. 2 Screw a batten towards the wall along the line you've got marked. Check with a spirit level that it is horizontal. Fix an additional upright batten along the left side of the area to be tiled. Again, work with a spirit level to ensure it's vertical. 3 Spread the adhesive/grout over about 50 % a square meter of the wall, starting within the corner made by the two battens. Use the notched side from the spreader to form even ribbons of adhesive. This is especially important for heavy stone tiles. As a rule of thumb, 6mm notched spreaders can be used for walls and 10mm versions for floors. 4 Begin to tile, pressing the tiles gently to the wall and sliding into position unless you see adhesive squeeze out round the sides. Press spacers into each corner and hold a spirit level across the tiles to see if they form a set surface. Continue to tile, taking care of about a square meter at any given time until you've fixed every one of the whole tiles. Clean off adhesive from your tile surface as you work. 5 Next, lay tiles along the sides and front from the window reveal so that they cover the edges of the wall tiles. Wipe off any adhesive before it has dried with a damp sponge. 6 Leave the splashback to dry fully before taking out the timber battens. Now cut the tiles to fit into any gaps in the bottom of the splashback and at leading and sides from the window reveal. Fix set up. 7 When all of the tiles are fixed, leave to dry. Force more adhesive/grout into the gaps between the tiles using a squeegee. Wipe off all the excess grout with a damp sponge, rinsed out regularly in clean water. When the surface is dry, polish having a dry cloth. 8 To make a flexible waterproof seal new tiles plus a worktop, run a bead of waterproof sealant round the bottom of the tiles. TIPS If you're tiling around an acrylic bath, half fill with water to create the rim flex to the maximum extent before filling the gap with a bathroom sealant. Make screw holes for bathroom accessories using a masonry drill bit. To avoid the bit slipping and damaging the outer lining, stick some masking tape within the area to be drilled. Buy every one of the tiles you will need previously if possible to avoid any differences between batches. If you wish to form a pattern, draw a plan of the room on graph paper to make certain the pattern will look in proportion and symmetrical. To tile a room that has to be used everyday, tile one half of the area at a time so you can still walk across the bare floor as the tile adhesive sets. If you discover you are working slowly and the adhesive is beginning to create, only spread around half a square meter at a time. It's essential the adhesive remains wet when the tiles are now being fixed. Fireplaces Stone Fireplaces are a defining feature to get a lounge or dining area, making the perfect frame to a wood, coal or gas fire. Of course, any chimney linings should be pre-installed in your self-build project as well as the surround really does come at the final stages from the project. Most companies give you a design and install service that's definitely worth the money for such large and expensive objects. Otherwise, look at builder is happy to take on the job. It may need extra lifting equipment but the installation process isn't complicated. It is possible to choose anything from the clean lines of your contemporary fireplace to a reproduction Regency style or contact an architectural salvage yard for a genuine period piece. Most yards will even undertake restoration focus on stone and marble fireplaces. Baths and basins Baths, basins and washstands can be either stone resin or solid stone. There's a wide range of colors provided by off-whites to reds, browns and blacks. Bear in mind the loading on the suspended floor baths can weigh from 200 to 500kg or even more. As well as the luxury of a solid stone basin, some of the modern designs can be breathtaking, with open wave forms, travertine mosaic and deceptively thin slab designs. Worktops Granite is the most popular of the natural stonework surfaces. It's easy to clean and contrasts well with lighter wood carcases. Marble and limestone look great but are softer and will scratch or stain. When you plan your kitchen, make sure the runs of floor cabinets can withstands weights as much as 90kgs per square meter average for any 30mm solid granite top. You may also specify 40mm tops, produced from two 20mm layers with a ply central insert to reduce the weight. Your kitchen supplier may need to alter the design and add extra support around sink cut-outs and appliances. The suppliers will also need a clear work space so all sinks and hobs should be removed and kept away from the work area. If you can, don't install the wall sockets until following the worktop is fitted this can avoid any accidental damage as the stone is slid into place over the units. With regards to the shape and size of each component part, the suppliers might point to extra joints in solid granite worktops because the grain structure can be very vulnerable to cracking if there's any stress over longer lengths or around narrow cut-out areas. Don't forget to order matching granite up-stands for your walls. These are around 100m high with polished surfaces and edges. Color-matched silicone sealant can be used for the jointing. As with sanitary items, composite quartzite can help to eliminate the price of the kitchen but nevertheless give some of the solidity and feel of a real stone. In addition, it has the advantage of grain consistency plus a wide range of solid reds, blues, greens and much more neutral tones. Cleaning and maintenance [http://realstone.net.au/ stone wall] - Keep a copy from the care and maintenance instructions provided with your stonework as sealants and care procedures vary. Granite surfaces including worktops don't need too much specialist cleaning because the surface doesn't absorb stains just as as a softer travertine stone. Wipe up any spills as soon as possible, especially liquids for example acidic juices and alcohol. Fine grit is the big enemy of stone flooring as ground in particles cause striations than eventually dull the top. Use a mop, soft brush or vacuum to collect up the dirt. A neutral pH detergent and hot water will remove grease as well as other light stains but make sure the floor is dried having a soft cloth to stop a film build of residues. Stone should just have resealing every 3-5 years or so and some products won't ever need resealing. After installing any gemstone, it's essential to clean up any mortar/adhesive residue straight away as the resin-based adhesives bond' the stone surface and therefore are extremely difficult to clean up when cured. For kitchen and bathroom installations, avoid using any wax or soap cleaners not less than the first six weeks. Otherwise, the stone pores can become clogged and restrict the evaporation from your mortar/adhesive.

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