Looks sharp!
Let's hear all the details (with pics please): as-was, cleaning, storage, prep, equipment, sequence, do's and don'ts, and any other bits of VCT wisdom you care to share.
I've got boxes (free) of Armstrong Stonetex waiting for me to use in one bay of my shop (about 290 sq. ft.), and I'm anxious to learn what to do and what to avoid.
The first thing I needed to do in prep. for floor was fill in the expansion joint running down the middle of my garage. I mixed up some Quikrete, a little extra thin so smoothing it to surface level would be easier. Used a 4 inch wide spackle knife to make sure it was level with slab, didn’t want a sunken line in tile running right down the middle. This was done weekend prior to laying tile so it would not add any moisture under tile.
It was necessary to pressure wash garage floor and scrub any oils, etc. that would affect glue sticking. Washed the floor a few days prior to laying tile. Running a Shopvac and making sure EVERY little piece of anything on the floor is removed Right before laying glue. It is amazing how little it takes to cause a small bump in tile once it settles.
Before glue, I laid out some tiles on floor across width of garage to make sure to get tile pattern centered. (My garage is 19 ft. wide so centering the pattern meant half tiles at both side edges). Also, to get that all important First tile perfect because all other tiles will follow first one. If it’s off…20 ft. later you’ll be inches ‘off-line’. Once lined up, I removed all but first centered starting point and drew around that tile with sharpie to mark it square. (You will see it through the glue, glue will sets clear when it’s ready to be tiled). Also I tiled starting at Front of garage at driveway, so it would be Full tiles in front and any cut tiles would be against back wall of garage.
Crawling on floor laying out glue with the trowel was probably the least fun task of the project. I used the larger trowel depth recommended on glue bucket label. It took every drop of two buckets to cover about 380 sq. ft. with this depth. Took several hours+ to turn clear and become nice and tacky. They say half hour for this, my garage took longer due to air/concrete temps. I imagine.
Glue stays tacky for days so there is not a super Pressure to get them down quick as possible. Laying tile went very fast, maybe 2 hours for full size pieces. Rented a 100 lb. linoleum roller for 12 bucks to run over tiles to “set” them. It was the second day I tackled the edge pieces, because it takes 3 times longer with measuring and cutting probably 60+/- pieces due to my particular pattern. Floor at 2 x2 pattern, edges are all 1 ½ x 2 the way it worked out. Renting a tile cutter would have sped this up a bit, I used straight edge and utility knife. Didn’t think it through on how many I’d be cutting.
