How to Install Quarry Tiles in Concrete
Quarry tiles are made of clay, and you don't actually set quarry tiles in concrete. Quarry tiles are set in mortar on any floor, including a concrete slab. Cement is an ingredient in both mortar and concrete, but concrete is much stronger and more durable than mortar. Indentations that look like quarry tiles in a concrete slabs are made with a "quarry tile concrete stencil." When the stencil is pushed into wet concrete dyed red the result can be very realistic. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Child's inflatable swimming pool
- Water
- Portland cement
- Fine sand
- Board
- Plastic ruler
- Tile spacers
- Needle nose pliers
- Straight edge
- Tile scriber or tile nipper
Instructions
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Lay out all the tiles on the surface you intend to cover to get a feel for the job before you set the tiles in cement. Leave about 1/4 in. space around all the tiles.
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Blow up a child's inflatable swimming pool. Fill the pool with water and submerse the quarry tiles in the pool. Soaking the tiles will prevent them from drying out your mortar too quickly.
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3
Pour one 50-lb. bag of Portland cement and 150 lb. of fine sand into a wheelbarrow.
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Add about one gal. of water to the dry ingredients and mix the mortar with a shovel. Continue to add water until the mixture sticks together when you squeeze it in your hand.
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Working from one corner, complete a 3-ft.-square area at one time. Dump one shovel load of mortar into the middle of the area. Spread the mortar to cover the whole area using a board.
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Measure the depth of the mortar with a plastic ruler. You want the mortar to be about 1/2-in. thick. Add more mortar or spread out the mortar as needed.
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Dust the surface of the mortar with Portland cement. Push the tiles into the mortar
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Space the tiles with 1/4-in. tile spacers. Tile spacers are cross shapes of plastic. Four tiles butt against the four right angles of each spacer. Remove spacers after laying by pulling them out of the mortar with needle-nose pliers.
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Check the position of the tiles with a straight edge to ensure that tiles are horizontally and vertically aligned.
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Check the level of the tiles with the straight edge. Push down tiles that are higher than the rest.
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Cut tiles, when needed, to the correct dimensions using either a tile scriber or a tile nipper. Nippers take small bites from tile. Scribers score tiles so they can be cleanly broken like glass.
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References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
