Tiling advice
Our products are precious and delicate; we advise you to hire a professional layer to perform a correct tiling and achieve a flawless result.
If you have any question or doubt, please contact our customer service at info@lifetile.it.
In order to avoid damages to the surface it is extremely important to handle tiles with care and avoid contacts with any dirty or abrasive material; to limit the risk of abrasion we advise you to take and lay tiles one by one.
To achieve an optimal result we advise you to take tiles from different boxes, mixing them during the laying.
Screed/Plaster
Make the plaster or screed using cement mortar and let it cure until reaching a residual humidity level less than 2% (approximately one week for every centimer of thickness).
A floor screed must be at least 5 cm thick and must respect existing joints.
Before the installation it is required to control the compliance of the screed; it must be plain, consistent, dry and clean; correct any irregularity.
Installation over an existing floor
If you're going to perform a new installation over an existing floor, verify that existing tiles are firmly fixed to the substrate and clean the floor with a 10%-15% solution of caustic soda diluted with water, then rinse accurately.
Tiling
Tiles must be laid by following the "floating and buttering" method which consists of spreading a white adhesive on both the substrate and the back of each tile (2-3 millimeters). This method guarantees a "full bed" laying, avoiding the formation of empty cavities that may compromise adhesion.
To achieve the best result when laying mosaics, apply the white adhesive on the substrate using a 4 millimeters toothed spreader and cover the surface uniformly. Then, lay mosaics on the fresh adhesive within its open time, to ensure that a superficial film doesn't form (the open time should be stated on the adhesive data sheet). Press with care to obtain a proper adhesion.
Tiles must be laid with joints of at least 1 millimeter and must be placed over existing movement joints in the substrate. The tile size and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the material may lead to choose a larger joint width.
Recommended products
The products we recommend to perform a proper tiling are Kerakoll H40 TENAX white or Mapei ADESILEX P10, single-component professional adhesives with high resistance and deformability, resistant to water and frost.
The adhesive product should have the following characteristics:
- Color: white
- Pot-life: > 4 h
- Open time: > 30 min UEAtc/DIN/EN
- Adjustability time: > 30 min DIN
- Set to light foot traffic: 24 - 48 h
- Vertical slip: 0 mm UEAtc/DIN/EN
- Ready for grouting on walls: 3 - 6 h
- Ready for grouting on floors: 24 - 48 h
- Ready for use: 7 - 14 giorni
- Flexibility: > 5 mm UEAtc/EN
(Values measured at 23 °C / 50% R.H.)
Grouting advice
Before grouting joints, remove all the dust in the environment; to avoid damages to the tiles' surface we recommend the use of extra fine growt powder free of strong acids and bases.
Grouting tile joints should be done when the adhesive has partially cured, using professional grout powder mixed with clean water by following the product specifix mixing instructions.
Grout cleaning must be performed within the time specified on the product data sheet by using a sponge and clean water.
Cleaning
When tiling has been completed, clean the tiles using a dry cloth to polish and dry the surface.