Service Description
How to have a modern bathroom
Many ladies would like to have a modern bathroom. But to create such a space, a true professional is needed to be acquainted with the new European trends in the field.
Though the subject is quite well known, I would like, in this article, to systematize the knowledge, practical experience and novelties.
Therefore, I will present the working steps for plating a bath, as follows:
-Preparing the support surfaces
– The waterproofing insulation of the support
– The assembling and grouting the plates.
The first steps
If you have a free room for arranging a new bathroom, or if you want to make another room in the bathroom, you have to start with a detailed inventory. Based on this inventory, and not starting from the building project, you can start designing the bathroom.
The project should take into consideration the location of the sanitary items, taking into account the technical recommendations regarding to the distances, the leakage inclination, etc. You also have to keep in mind the position and dimensions of the lighting, socket and switch elements. Such a project is usually carried out by an architect, an interior designer or a potter, after the ones who will use the bathroom were having been consulted in advance. This is an important stage of work and, if it is done correctly, the future customer complaints or eventual changes during the plating works can be avoided.
The support surfaces are essential
The guarantor of the quality and durability of the plating is the correctly prepared support. Even the most expensive tiles, placed on an inadequate support, can come off or crack. This thing is particularly important for the flooring tiles which, unlike the faience, are subject to more intense use.
Types of support surfaces
The support surfaces can be divided into several criteria. The main criterion is based on age, for example the time elapsed since their execution. In this way, we distinguish new support surfaces – in newly built or refurbished buildings – and old support surfaces – in the existing, used buildings. In the case of new surfaces, there is a question of maturing the support, namely of the time that must pass from the flooring and wall finishing to the time when the plates are installed.
This period depends on several factors:
– The type of the material used
– The thickness of the material
– The environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.)
To get strengthen, the plaster or cement-based screeds require 7 days for every inch of thickness. After another criterion, the surfaces can be divided into two categories: traditional –for example the concrete, masonry, cement or plaster, and the cement-based flooring (concrete, screed). The second category refers to the difficult support surfaces, called critical. This we includethe old ceramic tiles, the supports made of wooden material (including OSB boards) as well as the plasterboards panels.
Requirements for the walls and flooring support in the bathrooms:
The prepared surfaces in a suitable way must be:
-solid and stable
-dried
-non-cracked
-cleaned
-flat
I will brief analyze any of the above characteristics
Solid and stable. The strength of the floor to the compressive must be at least 12 MPa. The plaster must have a total adhesion to the walls and not ring as emptiness if you beat on it. It is not allowed that the support layers bend or creep under the pressure.
Dry. The maximum admissible moisture for the walls and floors is shown below:
Type of the surface vs. humidity
Concrete, cement screed, cement plaster: Max. 3%
Plaster plaster: Max. 1%
Non-cracked. If the support is cracked, it must be repaired. The remedy will take into account the type of the cracks – stabilized or active. The stabilized cracks should be enlarged and mechanically deepened and then closed with the cement mortar. The active cracks are additionally reinforced either with steel bars (crosswise placed on the cracks) or with special nets.
Cleaned. On the support surfaces there must be no paint or adhesives, loose or weakly bonded pieces to the support, other impurities (dust, etc.). The non-adhering parts are removed with the chisel and the hammer, the paint is cleaned with the wire brush and the dust is wiped off with a cloth.
Flat. The deviations that are too high to vertical or horizontal can prevent or make difficult the plating work. It is possible to check the flatness of the surfaces by means of a 2 m long ruler. It is not allowed to have deviations greater than 3 mm on the length of the ruler, up to 3 points. The maximum allowable deviations – over the entire height of the wall – should not exceed 4 mm. On the horizontal surfaces (floors) the maximum permissible deviation is 5 mm along the length of the ruler (2 m).
The priming
An extraordinary importance is the choice of primer. On the absorbent supports are used traditional priming emulsions that penetrate into the support and reduce the absorption. On the smooth surfaces, such as concrete, OSB boards or old ceramic tiles, the so-called adhesive primer is used, which does not penetrate into the substrate, but creates a layer of adhesion. In both situations, the use of the primer allows the uniformity of the support characteristics on all the surface.
The waterproofing insulation under the tiles
The next step is waterproofing the support. It is used a liquid waterproofing insulation. Usually it is applied with a brush or roller, in areas where there is the possibility of reaching the water and within a distance of 0.5 m around them. In practice, these places are the shower cabin, bathtub and sink. In many European countries the entire floor of the bathrooms is waterproofing insulated to avoid the risk of flooding your neighbor from the lower floor. At the corners between the walls and between the walls and the floor, the sealing strips are used which will ensure a perfect sealing in case of appearing in these places the expansion cracks during the operation of the bath.
The adhesive for tiles
The choice of adhesive and working method must be based on the recommendations and information provided by the manufacturer.
When you are choosing the adhesive, you will consider:
-the place where the tiles are placed (interior, exterior, floor, wall)
– thesupport features (type, flatness, stability)
-thetype of tiles (sandstone, tile, terracotta, clinker, mosaic, stone)
-the features and dimensions of the tiles
-theconditions of use (underfloor heating, critical supports – ceramic tiles, OSB or plasterboard)
On each adhesive package are described the characteristics of the adhesive contained. Thus, the cement-based adhesives are marked with the letter “C”.
The other symbols have the following meanings:
1 – Adhesives with normal adhesion
2 – Adhesives with improved adhesion
F – Fast-strengthening adhesives
T – low-glide adhesives
E – extended open time adhesives
S1 – deformable adhesives (flexible)
S2 – very deformable (flexible) adhesives
What adhesive we choose?
In the bathrooms can be used both Class C1 of adhesives and Class C2 of adhesives. The normal supports or the tiles such as the sandstone, faience and clinker do not require any special adhesives. For these, Class C1 of adhesives are used. It is recommended to use Class C2 adhesives on the critical supports that can be deformed (for example the plasterboard panels) or for placing the large tiles. In the case of the water-absorbing high degree tiles (marble, glazed flooring tiles), it is recommended to use the white cement adhesives. In this way you will avoid staining of the tiles, which is possible with the use of gray cement adhesives. For installing the tiles on the hallways, on the access stairs or inhabited rooms, it is recommended to use adhesives with the “F” symbol (which are strengthened within a few hours). On the walls, it is advisable to use “T” low-sliding adhesives and extended open time “E” type so that you can install the tiles from top to down. So you will have full, uncut tiles in the top row, most visible.
Tiles arrangement ways
The ceramic tiles can be arranged in 5 different ways, as listed below.
Combinations can also be made.
– The simple arrangement (classic)
-The interleaved arrangement (staggered or brick)
-The arrangement in rhomb (in small-square)
-The mixed arrangement
– The modular arrangement
How to place the tiles:
The simple arrangement
The joints between the tiles meet in right angles. It is the perfect solution for a bathroom with regular dimensions and straight corners. Cutting tile losses are minimized.
The interleaved arrangement
In this arrangement, the joints between the tiles are staggered by one-third of the length of the tile. It is a common solution when rectangular tiles are used.
The arrangement in rhomb
In this arrangement, the joints intersect at a right angle and form an angle of 450 with the walls. It is ideal for bathrooms with irregular shapes, especially for long and narrow ones.
The mixed arrangement
This arrangement is achieved by combining at least two types of tiles. It achieves the staggered effect in both directions.
The modular arrangement
It is used in the bathrooms with large plating surfaces. The arrangement is created with different types of tiles and it is repeated for several times, regularly, over all of the plated surface.
The grouting of the joints
It is the last step in the installation of the ceramic tiles. The operation consists of filling the joints between the tiles, previously cleaned, with the grout paste, using a rubber spatula. This way a colorful addition to the ceramic tile arrangement is obtained. The grout also fulfills the function of compensating for deformations caused by variations in temperature (underfloor heating) or humidity. It also gives us the opportunity to correct the small dimensional differences between tiles.
There are two types of grout on the market:
- Cement-based grout
- Epoxy grout
The Cement-base grouts used in bathrooms are usually those in the CG2 class – grouts with improved mechanical characteristics.
Additionally, they can also have the following features:
A – Increased abrasion resistance
W – Low water absorption
We can also find cement-based grouts that contain ingredients that give a glowing effect.
An interesting solution is the epoxy grout, based on reactive resins, consisting of 2 components:
– The first component contains a binder (epoxy resin), fillers and additives; what is presented as a thick paste;
– The second component is a strengthening agent; it is a liquid product and has the role of activating the chemical reactions that cause the adhesion.
The grouts based on the reactive resins are more expensive than the cement-based ones but they have superior technical characteristics – they are more stable, have a much higher mechanical strength, very high dirt resistance and chemical agents but practicallythey have zero absorption of water. Thus, it creates the first barrier to moisture and excludes the mold formation in joints. That is why they began to be used in bathrooms, especially in showers.
Choosing the grouts
When you are choosing a grout for your bathroom, you need to take into account several factors such as:
-The type of the grout (based on cement or epoxy)
-The color (preferably close to the color of the tiles, otherwise the effect of “screen” appears)
– The size of the joints recommended by the manufacturer. If we use narrow joint grout to fill the large joints, the grout will crack.Also, if we use a large joint grout for narrow joints.
– The granulation (fineness) of the grout– with a thin grout a smoother surface is get that is not dirty quickly and has a more pleasant appearance than a large granulation grout.
The grouting
For grouting, you must first take into account the manufacturer’s instructions. Use suitable tools such as a rubber spatula, a high absorbing sponge and a hard sponge to wash the epoxy grout. It is recommended to use small amounts of water to clean the cement based grout, otherwise it may discolor (it is not important for the epoxy grout).
The reception of the work
It is the last step of the bathroom potter’s work. The execution of the job is confirmed in accordance with the project initially set up and approved by the side (potter, customer, designer). In addition, it is checked by sounding, the adhesion of the tiles to the support (when hammering, it is not allowed to sound empty). The reception is finalized by paying for the work.
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