Aga Ranges Fired Earth - Manual (Page 5)

9
8
Cutting
Due to the thickness and make-up of the
majority of Fired Earth floor tiles, it is
recommended that either a diamond cutter
or an angle grinder is used to cut the tiles.
Water cooled diamond cutters are available
from tool hire shops.
Please wear suitable protective eyewear and
protective clothing when cutting tiles.
Porcelain tiles require high quality diamond
blades for cutting.
Drilling holes can be a difficult task without
the correct equipment. Fired Earth
Terracotta, Lubelska Bricks and Slate floor
tiles can be irregular or bowed and may
require a greater depth of adhesive in order
to ‘iron out’ potential irregularities in the
finished surface. Fired Earth Thickbed
Adhesive* is perfect for this purpose as it
can be used up to 25mm in depth.
Using a suitable notched trowel, spread an
area 1 square metre to a depth of
approximately 4mm. ‘Butter’ the back of
the tile with a further 2mm of adhesive and
place the tile in the starting position as
described in the Planning Steps 1 to 4.
When using Fired Earth Thickbed Adhesive*,
use a ‘large format’ trowel to apply the
correct bed of adhesive to the subfloor.
When laying thin, machine made glazed,
porcelain or quarry tiles to an even surface
it may be possible to fix the tiles directly
onto a thin bed of adhesive, without having
to ‘butter’ the back of the tile.
Stone or glass tiles are normally fixed with
white adhesive to prevent the colour of the
adhesive 'bleeding' through. Push the tile
home firmly with a slight twisting
movement. Place the next tile adjacent to
the first, allowing for the grout joint, and
so on over the prepared area.
All the tiles should be soundly bedded in
the adhesive without any space for air
underneath. Be careful not to allow any
adhesive onto the surface of the tiles. Any
surplus should be wiped away with a clean
damp sponge. Once a square metre area
has been tiled, another similar area should
be prepared and so on until you have
completed the floor with whole tiles. The
remaining perimeter area should now be
prepared and cut tiles laid. If you prefer
cuts can be fitted as the work progresses.
Check the floor level as work progresses
with a spirit level and a straight edge. Fixing
tiles into sand and cement should be
avoided because of the time required for the
tiles to dry out and the associated problem
of efflorescence.
recommend the use of the ARMEG® range
of porcelain drill bits and core drills.
When cutting or drilling the tile, the
surface may become wet and dirty. Wipe
the tile clean immediately after cutting.
Using a water cooled diamond cutter will
achieve the most accurate cut.
When using an angle grinder, mark the tile
where you wish to cut it, run the cutting
disc along the marked surface cutting the
tile to at least two thirds of its depth, then
the tile can be snapped. Rough edges and
chips should be smoothed and finished
with a sanding block or in severe cases, by
rubbing the tile edge with a broken piece of
another tile.
Roman Mosaic - Metal reinforcing bars are
used in the manufacture of border designs
and may cause excessive wear on cutting
equipment. Care should be taken to ensure
that the pattern is correctly matched,
particularly in the case of the basketweave
design. Small pieces of mosaic can become
detached during cutting and should be
glued back into place using an epoxy or
similar glue.
Sealing
Many Fired Earth tiles require sealing to
prevent stains from penetrating the body of
the tile. Please refer to our Product Selector
on pages 18 -23 for more details.
Before sealing commences it is imperative
that the tiles are completely clean and dry,
otherwise you may actually seal in dirt,
cement dust and moisture which can impair
the final appearance.
The process of sealing should be kept
meticulously clean and all materials
including brushes and cloths etc., should
be new and unused.
It is equally important that the sealer soaks
into the surface of the tile, disappears and
is not allowed to ‘spoil’ (i.e. the hardening of
excess sealer on the tile surface).
Terracotta and Encaustic tiles must be
individually sealed prior to fixing.
With other tiles requiring sealing the
process is performed in two stages. The
first seal is applied once the tiles are fixed
but before they are grouted. The second
seal is applied over the whole floor, once
the tiles have been grouted and have
completely dried.
All sealers take a few days to oxidise and
will not be fully effective during this time.
Therefore keep traffic across the floor to a
minimum for the first week.