How long before parking on porcelain tile floor

[wesalexleft]

Quick question...going to put down porcelain in the garage with Kerabond/Keralastic mortar. How long after setting the tiles before a car could be parked on it? I plan on tiling a bit at a time so as not to lose much functionality in the garage, and then after the tiles have all been set, coming back to grout, but how long do you think the tiles should set before pulling the car in? I wouldnt want the wife's pride and joy to sit outside too long.

thanks,

 

[mayday0017]

I would say 24-36 hours, but I would also like to point out groute is an important part in the strength of tile... you could tile a 2 car garage in a day by yourself no problem honestly... assuming you have room to move everything out

 

[bdamico]

don't plan on getting it all done in one day

 

[Jack Olsen]

I parked on mine in 24 hours. But I was using the basic (concrete-like) thin set.

But I would not park on it before it's grouted. The grout is there for a reason, like mayday017 says. I'd also think the hassle of mixing thinset and/or cleaning all your tools repeatedly is going to get old in a hurry.

I don't know how big your shop is or how complicated the tiling is, but I would bite the bullet, do it all, and then offer to wash the wife's car for her when you're done. It's pretty quick work once you're setting the things.

 

[wesalexleft]

Thanks. For me it was not wanting to pull everything out all at once. I could easily do half, let it set, and then move everything over to the other side to finish. I was more thinking that if it takes a week for concrete to set up to 90% strength it may take just as long for mortar considering the weight of an auto. I think I could get it completely tiled in two days, and then another for grout.

 

[slickgt1]

I too was moving stuff around the garage as I mudjob/tiled. I didn't have time to wait the full 24 hours, or less. So when the tile wouldn't move. I would just throw a sheet of masonite down, and walk all over it. Even moved my shelves around.

After grout, I had no choice, I had to wait it out because I used Epoxy. It leaves a film over the tile, so you don't want to walk on it at all. Unless you want construction boot holograms in it.