DuraStone Tile: Your Installation Guide

If you are not yet familiar with Durastone then you have to know it by now that this is a brand for tiles that are usually manufactured to form a 16” by 16” and that they are specifically made to resemble the look of a marble or some types of natural stones. If you wish to sore it, you can possibly do this with the use of a utility knife. You can also snap it by simply following the tile’s cut line, or you may simply cut it with the use of a cutting saw that is specifically made for cutting tiles.

Now if you wish to use more than a box of tiles then there is a need for you to check the codes that are usually found outside the box as this will ensure you that you will be using the right color match all throughout the specific surface which you want to cover. It is also highly recommended that you need to do an intermixing procedure of all the contents of the box as this will identify the differences in colors which is a very important thing during your installation.

Another thing that you need to consider is the kind of surface (underlayment and subflooring). Take note if the surface can accept Durastone or not; this is a very important thing to consider as this will prevent you from buying Durastone tiles that will never be used because the surface where you need to lay them does not accept your Dusrastone tiles.

If you have subflooring that is wooden then you have to see to it first that they should be free from any kinds of movements or sorts of imperfections. You also need to ensure that there is an eighteen inches gap for air below or underneath the subfloor.

For floors that are single-layered, there is a need for you to incorporate an underlayment so that you will be able to achieve a thickness that is ideally one inch. If you are incorporating underlayment, you have to make sure that it is fastened with ring shank nails that measure about 1 ¼ inches long or you may want to fasten it with divergent staples. For joints that come with sand underlayment, there is a need for you to fill and level certain gaps that are wider than 1/32 inches.

Another thing that you also need to do first is to rehearse the tiles; this simply means that you have to lay some tiles for trial purposes to ensure that there will never be a row that comes with less than half of a tile. Take note that the seams should not go over any seams of the subflooring. Mark the center of one wall across the other; this will help you come up with an equally divided quadrants.

With the use of a notch trowel, you can apply the Durastone adhesive evenly on the other half of a room. Make sure not to overdo or underdo the application of adhesives to get rid of adhesion problems and the problem of adhesives squeezing in between tiles.

Ones the adhesives are applied allow it to dry for quite some time. Usually, tack dry adhesive is blue to clear in appearance and that it does not stick to your finger when tested. Never use electric fans to dry adhesives.

Start laying Durastone tiles in the middle and lay the row through the side of the walls; in doing the other rows, you have to follow the same procedure until you have covered all the areas with adhesives. Cut parts of the tiles should face the walls when you reached the ends of rows. Make use of a hundred pound roller to ensure even adhesion of the tiles on the floor. Allow the floor to dry up for a few days for any kind of cleaning procedure is done. Lastly, seams should be sealed with floor sealers.