Im considering putting tile in a garage - workshop. but I have some ??
A couple things Im being told locally is that I would want to put a liquid isolation rubber membrane between tile and floor, also to use porcelain tile where the color goes completely through. use epoxy grout and flexible thinset, also porcelain is supposed to be better for heat and no heat in a cold climate. I would like to keep this affordable and if I do all this stuff its going to get real pricey. Is this really the only proper way to do this ?
I will try to hit several of your questions through out the thread. I have been a tile contractor for about 15 years. I currently do not do that as my profession but flooring is a passion for me. I have been all over the country learning about it. You will get a lot of opinions on what you should do, there isn't always "ONE" way to tile a floor. Every method has good's and bad's. You have to decide which route you want to take and what kind of risk you want to assume.
Liquid membranes are great, sure they add cost but for many reasons they are worth it. If I were doing my own garage I would use one. Will your floor fail because you didn't use one, probably not. I think they are good insurance. You wouldn't be using it for waterproofing reasons so you wouldn't need one of the "premium" ones.
Tile type Porcelain and ceramic are actually very similar. Porcelain is typically more impact resistant. I see a lot of talk about PEI IV and PEI V. I think there is a lot of misunderstanding on what that means. It is a measure of how durable the
finish/glaze is. Basically this tells you how resistant a tile is to having its glaze scratched and worn away. It means NOTHING when talking about impact or compression damage (heavy stuff). A through body porcelain doesn't have a glaze so it should be a PEI V. A through body will hide damage better than any glazed tile but durability wise you wouldn't see a lot of difference especially if the glaze color is similar to the body color. Welding splatter is very hot and as you found can be hot enough to damage the surface, this is because it can be hotter than what the porcelain was actually cooked at. So, basically it is melting the tile. I would think that from the height of a typical welding table to the floor the splatter would cool enough to not do too much damage to porcelain tile.
Thinset You could write a book on thinset. Kerabond/Keralastic is an ultra premium thinset. If you were in a garage where you would have wet car dripping on the floor at night and it was cold enough to freeze that water I would say go for the K/K. If you won't be seing those conditions you may not need it. I have had great results with Customs Building Products "Flexbond". It is a polymer modified thinset with enough modifiers that it is more flexible than other thinsets. It is more affordable than K/K and depending on your needs may be more than adequate.
Expansion joints Yes you need them, especially in an outdoor setting. If you have control joints in your concrete, that is where you want/need them. ANSI and the TCNA call for movement joints every 8-12 feet in exterior applications, I have pushed those limits a little and felt okay but it sometimes keeps me up at nights
. Joints should be filled with a flexible sealant (colored caulk, although some urethane grouts are pretty flexible), or a commercially produced product designed for the joints. Do a google search for "Tile Tenting" and you will see why you need expansion joints.
Grout Lets look at this in a simple way. Cement grout is just like (well basically) the cement in your garage now. What happens if you don't seal it? What happens if you do seal it? Cement grout is extremely durable, it will pick up stains, just like your driveway does. Sealing helps prevent the stains and/or make it easier to clean them up later. Most sealers can't fully protect from acids and oils (though most do a pretty good job protecting against oils). The more you pay for a sealer the better it is. Basically there are two types of sealers, Impregnating and Topical. Impregnating carries something into the pores to try and fill them up so "stains" can't enter in. Topical sealers cover the grout so nothing gets into the pores. Topical sealers are the best at preventing stains but they typically change the "look" of the grout, kind of like putting a clear coat on the grout. Generally, the more expensive the grout sealer is the better it is. Topical sealers are generally less expensive. I typically do not like topical sealers but in a garage I would very much consider one because I think it would do a better job keeping stuff out of the grout. I have become very fond of Laticrete Permacolor grout for most all installations. It is kevlar enhanced, cures quick, has great color consistency, some built in stain resistance, sanded and can be used down to 1/16" joints. No other sanded cement based grout comes close in my opinion. (Miracle, Aqua mix, and Dupont all make great sealers) (I will echo Miracle 511 is a quality sealer) Again, the more you pay the better it is when talking sealers!
Grout Continued-Epoxy/Urethane Epoxy-Fantastic stain resistance. More work to put in and costs more initially. You don't have to seal it so after you start adding years and years of sealer in it does make sense. Typically, they are more flexible. However, epoxy doesn't like heat. The removal method is a heat gun and a putty knife. Weld will melt right through it. Laticrete spectralock pro epoxy grout is very easy to work with, almost as easy to use as cement grout but the technique is different and there is a little more rush to the process. (to dispel a previous comment, if the floor is sticky after is cause it wasn't cleaned thoroughly and epoxy was left on the surface)
Urethane grout-very easy to work with but does require a different technique than cement and epoxy grout. Flexible, dries quick, easy to use. Not sure on how it handles heat though.
Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions. I love to talk tile. I could bore you to death for hours!
