Loading a Caulk Gun to Make Tile Mosaics

Series Summary

Creating mosaics is an art that has been practiced for thousands of years. Mosaic work started in a more crude form but was developed until artists made pieces that looked like paintings. These mosaics from the past have been found on floors as well as on walls and ceilings. Now you can see mosaic tile work ranging from the simple to the intricate. Generally, the creation of such pieces is left to an artisan however it can be done without having the expertise. Our mosaic tile expert in this video series will show you how to make you very own mosaic tile masterpieces. To get started, a list of supplies and materials will be given so you can get started on your project. Also learn how to layout and design your mosaic by color and using the “3-5-7”rule. She will thoroughly go through each step, showing how to use each tool so that you can make your own mosaic tile design.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Faith Schexnayder and I’m here at Flat Fork Studio and I’m here to show you a very simple way to make tile mosaics. This particular portion is on how to adhere tiles to your surface. We’re going to start with the caulk gun and how to load the caulk gun. There are different types of caulk guns that you might want to use for your project. This is a pretty basic caulk gun, but they do make others that actually have a little stick that’s on a pivot that you can pivot out and when you pivot it out that gives you something to pierce your caulk to let the material come out. So we’re just going to start with demonstrating how to load a caulk gun. First you pick up your gun. There’s a little lever right here that you press and that releases this rod that you then pull out- and I usually like to point my little rod up. And then you choose your material that you’re going to use to adhere the tiles to your surface. I like to use liquid nails. I do a lot of exterior products so I like to use the heavy duty liquid nails construction and remodeling adhesive. Another thing that you’ll need for this is a pair of nippers or razor blades or a pair of scissors in which to cut the tip off. There’s some lines here that show you on the caulk gun that show you how high up you want to clip your plastic piece here. So I’m just going to clip that off. And you clip it at a diagonal so that when it flows out, it flows really nicely when you clip it at a diagonal. So then you’re just going to take your caulk gun here- make sure your gun is pulled back- insert it and turn it around so that your little diagonal cut here is face down and you prime it by clipping it a little bit, squeezing the trigger "