Quarry Tiles?
many years ago i remembered a quarry tile floor being laid by putting down the floor screed and then laying the tiles onto the wet screed then grouting them the next day,do they still do this or do they have to lay the screed wait for it to dry then lay the tiles with expensive adhesives that are on the market?,surely doing it this way only prolongs the job and costs more
I did it for 30 yr. like you say. But most of the pup’s today never learned to be a helper first , so all they know is glue it down. This is the best way to set Quarry tile. We would mix sand and cement to a consistancy of like you would build a sand castle. Shovel it down, pack it and then screed it. Then when finished with that I would start to lay the tile. I would dust the screeded floor with dry cement then lay tile. I used floor boards to kneel on. Had about 15 of them. They were about 12″ X 18″. When finished laying tile I would beat the tile with a beating block. Then when all was level I would mist the floor with water.. You have had to learn how much water to us . No too much . Then I would throw dry grout, sometimes sand and cement all around and sweep it in the joints. Then I would use mixed grout( grout with water added) and float the grout in the joints. Then when set al little I would dust an area with dry grout and rub the surface with burlap. When everything nice and smooth I would go bach to where I started and wet polish the floor. When dry in about an hour I would dry polish with a turkish towel. Man that was laying tile. It was there for ever. I did a state Job one time and the state made contractor tear down the finished building but leave the tile floor. Because it was so well done. You will have a hard time finding someone to do it this way. You must get an oldtimer. Also this way also your floor is perfectly level… Good luck Back then I charged $2 a sq. ft to just lay it.50 cents a ft. to float it. You bought the tile. 1980’s
They still do it the old way by inbeding the tile in a layer of mortar or thinset. This is done to stick the tile to the floor, and to level the tile as they aren’t all exactly the same thickness. The floor is never perfectly level either.
Your memory is good!
You are quite correct, the method of laying a screed and then the tiles is still used today and as you say this is the most cost effective.
If were going to lay quarry tile, after making sure the floor was in good shape for the tile, I would lay it in thin set mortar. Next day I would grout, as you remember.
depends on the situation
both methods are still used
in a new build they are layed on the screed
on an existing floor they would be fixed using tile adhesive