Mounting accent tiles yourself

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T

Theep

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Aug 30, 2013
56
Tucson
I've decided NOT to pay the pool builder $600 to mount the accent tiles, but get a friend to help. They are 1" tiles that will be spaces as singles, 2x2 and 3x3 both on the steps and on the walls, about 1 sq feet total of title.

I was wondering if people had suggestions about what needed to be done, especially in regards to sealant, etc.

The tiles are thin (about 1/8") so we have to make a base to get their overall height to about 1/2". I assume normal mortar will work. Do you make it a square base, or have beveled edges, or can it be just a bunch wider (but that would cause the plaster to be thinner near those edges).

Then you do thin set. Do you use a special thin set? Does it need to be sealed?

What about grout? Do you do grout, or do you just let the paster go in between?

How far from the steps do the tiles need to be? I've heard that they need a full 3", but that seems like a lot

Any other suggestions?

Theep
 
Good tile setters make it look very easy. It's not hard but must be done carefully to make it look professional. Does your fiend have ANY experience with tiles? What surface are you attaching them to? Plaster? Fibreglass? etc.
 
Update.
I know this guy who does odd jobs and he really liked the idea of try this out. This is what we ended up doing.

The plaster is about 1/2" thick, so the tiles needed to be raised up. They were glass tiles and only about 1/8" thick.

He set a base of mortar that covered most of the needed distance. Then he put a layer of thin set on top of that. I thinks this step wasn't needed, but it didn't seem to hurt.

Then he really set them all well with, I think people call it "white". You mix this stuff in with the thin set, and it makes a very sticky glue. It is very sticky and doesn't move. In fact, it seemed that we could tap down the tiles to get them level if there was too much of this stuff, and it would bounce back. It wasn't like normal mortar that would squeeze out. I think it is White Latex Modified Thinset

Once that had all dried, then he had to trim the white down. You want it to be mostly vertical (the size of the tiles) with maybe getting a touch wider at the bottom.

Finally, he put in grout between the tiles. All in all, it turned out really nice.

This was done for the 2x2 and 3x3 tiles. I had a bunch of single tiles placed randomly on the floor, but the plaster people just placed them in the wet plaster.

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Looks great. We just completed a pool remodel but I wouldn't dare attempt putting accent tiles myself. You did a wonderful job and I love the coping, tile, accent, plaster combination. Really beautiful colors. Looking forward to seeing it with water.
 
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