Hello

I am putting in a brand new full bath where there had been just a half bath.. I am done the roughing in and the framing, cementboard, sheetrock, etc. - and I have a question about the tile installation.

For the floor, I chose an older style of tile that is the white octagon/hexagon shaped one inch tiles, which comes in one square foot sheets with mesh backing. The installation will be over half inch durock cement-board. I am just not sure about what type of adhesive I should choose given the relatively thin tiles and narrow grout joints. Fo all the other tile work I have done, I troweled on thin-set mortar and set the tiles with no problems.. but I am concerned that the thin set won't comb out smoothly with the trowel recommended for this smaller tile - I have heard that I should use a one-eighth inch notch, not the quarter inch one used for larger tiles with large joints... would it be safer to use a mastic rather than thin set? And how about the trowel notches - any recommendations for size or how much pressure I should apply when bedding the tiles?

I just want to make sure I don't have a huge mess with the adhesive pushing up between the tiles - causing lots of cleanup

Thanks

Pete

You need modified thinset. It is more elastic and will trowel out just great.

Modified thin set - thanks... do you mean the premixed stuff in a tub that has additives, or do you mean the traditional bag of powder that is mixed with water?

PE

Phil, I do lots of small jobs and go with the 5 gal buckets. It keeps fairly long if sealed so I may get another job done without going to the store. Home centers sell 1 and 5 gal buckets of tile adhesive that should also work for you. You can't walk on ceramic for a day but its easy to use.

Question... where did you find the sheets of hex tile? The only one I can find is marble, too expensive, so I'm looking for a more reasonably priced alternative, ceramic, etc. thanks

A real tile setter would never use mastic or any pre-mixed adhesive on floors or areas that will get damp or wet. Use real thin set ONLY. It ONLY comes in powder form in a bag. You don't want "handyman" quality in your home.

Jaz