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stone wall cladding - Stone is a defining feature in a room and adds instant solidity, luxury and grandness whether you determine to cover all your walls with marble or just use it for a simple round basin. Although stone is an extremely tough material once installed, the self -builder should always take special care to see the delivery and installation process runs smoothly. Dirt from foot traffic or a careless knock from your power tool could lead to a pricey repair bill. Maintain the room clean and tidy, check larger items such as a stone bath, can fit via a door entrance (you may need to leave off architrave/frames allowing extra room). The weight of stonework does mean that it should be planned in at the home's design stage as load-bearing joists might need to be increased in proportions or even doubled approximately cope with the weight.

Preparing floors

A new concrete screed is the perfect base for stone floor tiles, as long as the concrete is fully cured. New concrete ought to be at least six weeks old and show no indications of remaining moisture. You may have to use a thin screed of self-leveling compound to even out any low spots. Again, leave the compound to completely cure before tiling.

In case you are 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 every one of the trade adhesive manufacturers have powder mixes meant for timber flooring. To get a restoration project, never attempt to tile directly onto old floorboards. Instead, create a new sub-base with 15mm exterior grade plywood, screwed down at 300mm centers with stainless screws. Stagger the board joints and adjust any uneven floorboards before starting work. Coat it's with thinned PVA to seal the wood.

Old cork and vinyl flooring should always be pulled up. Look into the floor beneath is dry, flat and strong enough to support the brand new stone tiling. If you're up against quarry or ceramic tiles, it's possible to tile directly on the surface as long as there are no signs of damp, cracking or movement. Prime the old tile surface to provide the adhesive a key' for bonding to make set out your new tiles so that the grout gaps aren't aligned with all the existing floor. The exceptions are shower or wet room walls that needs to be lined with a waterproof lining panel to provide the tile base.

Installing real stone tiles

The porous surface of many natural stone products ensures they are more vulnerable to staining than glazed tiles. Look at the manufacturer's instructions for precise laying instructions and try to seal the surfaces with the tiles, if recommended, before fixing it's too easy to spill adhesive on a tile and not notice. Open the tile packs and work from the 3 major packs to evenly distribute any color variation between packs.

Tiling the ground

With a little planning and careful setting out, dramatic stone flooring is really as easy as tiling a wall. There's usually less cutting around awkward shapes than with wall tiles and you are not fighting against gravity. Remove skirting boards and door thresholds before starting work. In the aiming stages, it's important to make sure the tiles look completely from the entrance to the room. Often walls are bowed or from true so check your measurements in a number of places along each wall. It costs slightly more but a powder mix rapid-setting adhesive is the best option for most floors. It's going to reach full strength after as little as 24 hours so the rest of the build isn't delayed.

Finally, plan in almost any movement joints required. They're 6/8mm wide and full of flexible filler that allows for movement and prevents tile damage. These joints are typically installed where flooring abuts walling, steps, columns or another hard objects on large floor areas as well as over structural movement joints. Floors under four meters between walls will not normally need movement joints.

STEP-BY-STEP

1 Find the mid-points of the two longest walls and snap a chalk line throughout the room between these points. Repeat for the 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 you possibly can, even if it means adjusting the grout line width slightly.

2 Lay tiles across the two lines to ascertain if they look right from the doorway. If any gaps in the walls are fewer than half a tile wide, shift the fishing line across to make much more of a gap. Also move the guide lines so that tiles around a dominant feature (e.g. a fire or French windows) are symmetrical and there are whole tiles at the doorway.

3 Spread about one square meter of tile adhesive/grout into one of many right angles made by the two crossing chalk lines. Scrap the notched fringe of the trowel across the mix to form ridges of the same thickness.

4 Lay the first few tiles along the edge of the longest center line. Gently press the tiles into position, making sure they also lineup with the other center line. Add plastic spacers at each and every corner to keep them the identical distance apart for grouting.

5 Work outwards from your middle of the room in anticipation of having laid all the whole tiles using one half of the floor. Use a spirit level to look for the tiles are at the identical level. Now move across to the other side of the longest center line and add the rest of the whole tiles. Leave to create for 24 hours.

6 Use the tile cutter to trim the advantage tiles to the right shape. Measure the space at each side in case the walls are uneven please remember to allow for the grouting gap. Always wear goggles and gloves when cutting tiles.

7 Leave the adhesive to set for at least 12 hours, then grout between your tiles with the adhesive/grout. Force the mix into the gaps using a squeegee, working from side to side or over 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 need, 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 comes with an area of 100cm) to give the quantity of tiles you need. Add Ten percent for cutting and wastage. Installation matches for ceramic tiles but you will need an electric tile cutter with a diamond wheel and also the capacity to tackle your chosen depth of tile. Most natural stone is easier to chop than ceramic. The excess weight of real stone also need to be considered use strong battens, a minimum of 50mm wide and screwed for the wall, to support the beds base line of tiles.

Use a saw tile to chop a tile to suit around an awkward shape such as a pipe or architrave. If you wish to cut a curve, to match around the side of your basin for example, produce a card template the identical size as the tile. Make cuts at around 10mm spacing along the curve edge and press web site into position. Trim the 10mm strips to fit exactly around the curve and transfer this shape to the tile. Remember to leave at least 2mm for grouting.

STEP-BY-STEP

1 To avoid lots of cut tiles or even an unbalanced look, make up a tile gauge (a batten with the tile dimensions and grout spaces marked over the edge) to plan the positions from 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 need to cut the bottom row of tiles.

2 Screw a batten for the wall along the line you have marked. Check with a spirit level that it is horizontal. Fix a second upright batten along the left side with the area to be tiled. Again, work with a spirit level to make certain it's vertical.

3 Spread the adhesive/grout over about half a square meter from the wall, starting inside the corner made by the 2 battens. Use the notched side of the spreader to form even ribbons of adhesive. This is particularly important for heavy stone tiles. As a rule of thumb, 6mm notched spreaders are used for walls and 10mm versions for floors.

4 Begin to tile, pressing the tiles gently on the wall and sliding into position unless you see adhesive squeeze out across the sides. Press spacers into each corner and hold a spirit level throughout the tiles to see if they form an appartment surface. Continue to tile, working on about a square meter at any given time until you've fixed all the whole tiles. Clean off adhesive from the tile surface while you work.

5 Next, lay tiles along the sides and front with the window reveal so 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 detaching the timber battens. Now cut the tiles to match into any gaps in the bottom of the splashback and at the 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 water that is clean. When the surface is dry, polish having a dry cloth.

8 To form a flexible waterproof seal new tiles plus a worktop, run a bead of waterproof sealant around the bottom of the tiles.

TIPS

If you're tiling around an acrylic bath, half fill with water to make the rim flex to its maximum extent before filling the space with a bathroom sealant.

Make screw holes for bathroom accessories using a masonry drill bit. To avoid the bit slipping and damaging the top, stick some masking tape on the area to be drilled.

Buy all the tiles you will need at once if possible to avoid any differences between batches.

In order to form a pattern, draw a strategy of the room on graph paper to make sure the pattern will look in proportion and symmetrical.

To tile an area that has to be used everyday, tile one half of the area at any given time so you can still walk across the bare floor even though the tile adhesive sets. If you discover you are working slowly and the adhesive is beginning setting, only spread around half a square meter at the same time. It's essential the adhesive continues to be wet when the tiles are now being fixed.

Fireplaces

Stone Fireplaces really are a defining feature to get a lounge or living area, making the perfect frame with a wood, coal or gas fire. Of course, any chimney linings ought to be pre-installed in your self-build project and the surround really does come in the final stages with the project. Most companies offer a design and install service that's well worth the money for such large and dear objects. Otherwise, look at builder is happy to defend myself against the job. It may need extra lifting equipment however the installation process isn't complicated. You are able to choose anything from the clean lines of a contemporary fireplace to some reproduction Regency style or make contact with an architectural salvage yard to get a genuine period piece. Most yards may also undertake restoration work on stone and marble fireplaces.

Baths and basins

Baths, basins and washstands may be either stone resin or solid stone. There's a wide range of colors provided by off-whites to reds, browns and blacks. Remember the loading on a suspended floor baths can weigh from 200 to 500kg or even more.

As well as the luxury of the solid stone basin, a number of the modern designs may also 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 not hard to clean and contrasts well with lighter wood carcases. Marble and limestone look good but are softer and can scratch or stain. When you plan your kitchen, ensure the runs of floor cabinets can withstands weights up to 90kgs per square meter average to get a 30mm solid granite top. You may also specify 40mm tops, produced from two 20mm layers having a ply central insert to lessen 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 workshop so all sinks and hobs needs to be removed and kept away from the work area. If you're able to, don't install the wall sockets until following your worktop is fitted this will avoid any accidental damage as the stone is slid into place over the units. With respect to the shape and size of each element, the suppliers may suggest extra joints in solid granite worktops since the grain structure can be quite vulnerable to cracking if there's any stress over longer lengths or around narrow cut-out areas. Make sure you order matching granite up-stands

for the walls. These are around 100m high with polished surfaces and edges. Color-matched silicone sealant is used for the jointing. As with sanitary items, composite quartzite is able to reduce the price of the kitchen but still give some of the solidity and feel of a real stone. In addition, it has the advantage of grain consistency and a wide range of solid reds, blues, greens and more neutral tones.

Maintenance and cleaning

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 since the surface doesn't absorb stains in the same way as a softer travertine stone.

Wipe up any spills as soon as possible, especially liquids for example acidic juices and alcohol. Fine grit will be the big enemy of stone flooring as ground in particles cause striations than eventually dull the surface. Use a mop, soft brush or vacuum to gather up the dirt. A neutral pH detergent and warm water will remove grease along with other light stains but guarantee the floor is dried having a soft cloth to stop a film build of residues.

Stone should only need resealing every 3-5 years or so and some products will never need resealing. After installing any gemstone, it's essential to clean up any mortar/adhesive residue right away as the resin-based adhesives bond' the stone surface and are extremely difficult to clean up when cured. For kitchen and bathroom installations, avoid using any wax or soap cleaners for at least the first six weeks. Otherwise, the stone pores will end up clogged and restrict the evaporation from the mortar/adhesive.