🤔 How to select a trowel and does back buttering a tile really work?
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2019
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I have often been asked what trowel size should be used with a certain size tile, in this video i try to explain how to choose the correct notch size for the tile you want to install. The most important determining factor that will dictate the type of trowel that should be used is the size of the tile, however it is not a hard and fast rule. The shape of the tile, the pattern on the back of the tile, whether the tile is cupped and other factors might influence the trowel size selection. In general the larger the tile, the larger the notch size. There are also different shapes for the teeth or notch of the trowel, I also show how back buttering the tile can help improve coverage. Just to be clear, what does coverage actually mean? So when you spread your thinset mortar with a trowel, you are actually gauging out a quantity of mortar to a certain thickness, that then will be flattened when the tile is set to create a bond coat at the substrate to tile interface that should give a minimum amount of depth which will cover the entire surface of the tile, or a minimum area that is usually 80% for dry areas and 95% for wet areas, exposed areas or for natural stone. All tile installed by Sal DiBlasi, Elite-tile Company, in the Boston North Shore area. This video contains affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission if you click on the product link.
#tile #transformthetrade #howtotile #installingtile #howtoinstalltile #Schlutersystems
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Thanks for this video Sal. I have just laid a slate hearth for my wood burning stove here in the UK and this has helped me greatly. Much appreciated. Thanks again.
I always skim the wall and notch trowel the back of the tile ensuring full coverage. On a floor , I notch trowel the floor and skim the back of the tile. Another thing I do is step up the trowel size by an 1/8" of the recommended size. Your the best Sal
Learning so much from your channel. Thank you. Preparing to tile wood like tiles in house and not as nervous now from watching so many of your videos/tutorial.
Everything i have learned to do tile is from this channel. Thank you for taking the time to film edit and put time aside to pave the way in tiling fir others.
Thanks for watching!
He’s paving ways of more than one kind
Very clear and concise description Sal, with many options. Thanks.
This guy has the best tiling videos, thank you for everything you post. I like that you are very detail oriented, and very specific. I work in engineering, and this guy has the very specific mindset of not only explaining how, but why things are being done a certain way. Also always following manufacturers recommended instructions, as while many products are similar, they are not all the same. 👌
Not rocket science, just need to do things the proper way.
I’ve adopted your backbuttering 4 step center to corner technique and it goes great! I like just a skim on the tile, sort of like a “Primer” for the mortar to get a head start.
That is awesome!
Superb lessons thanks
Doing a complete remodel in my two bathrooms.... I have never tiled before and you are my all time favorite for advice and it is coming out perfect thanks to you.
If you ever get out to the Phoenix area i would treat you to the best steak dinner we could find.
Thank you so much for all your advice
Was in Phoenix a few years back, Love stake, might have to come just for that.😊
Thank You!
great info sal
Very helpful video on the concept and theory of trowel size along with the reasons behind back buttering. Taking into account the size of the tile, the construction of how the back of the tile looks etc.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Sal, I watched a lot of tiling videos and yours are by far the best. I really believe in your methods and you seem to have a good work ethic. Your videos helped me when I was tiling my kitchen floor, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
👍😊
Thanks Sal
😊👍
Sal that was a Super Tip I wish many years of continued success truly priceless information. GOD BLESS 🙏 BIG J CHICAGO
Thanks Sal, learned a lot from you. Your videos are the best .
Great video very clear n to the point
Thank you very much for sharing your skills and knowledge on the subject. Many of us are thankful to learn how to get the job done right!
You are very welcome
Great demo and help when trying to decide trowel size! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
You’re teaching style is so relatable and informative. Thank you for sharing. I can only imagine the years of experience it’s taken to perfect this.
Thanks, glad it helped
Real helpful information. I got my shower wall project coming up and am going with 12 x 24 Home Depot polished Carrera porcelain. I was not sure on trowel size but took 1/2 inch. I recall the back buttering from a long way back, but never knew about notching the back, that was a great idea if you did not have the bigger trowel. I like how you emphasized checking the coverage, prob most important step after properly mixing thinnest to manufactures directions.
Great tips Sal. I always back butter when installing floor tile.
Thank you very much! Excellent explanation. We really appreciate you clearing up this for everybody.
Glad it was helpful!
Good information I need..thank you
Excellent
Thank you
Excellent. TY Sal.
Great video and explanation Mr DiBlasi...the king of tiles.
You are a true craftsman.i appreciate you so much.
THANK YOU
I appreciate that!
You are the man Sal.
😊👍
Sal the tile boss! Helped me yrs ago when I first started setting. Great guy.
Thanks
Thank you sal...
Great information, thanks Sal!
You bet!
There are things a book can teach you and others that can't. The experience you have, the knowledge, and tricks no book can't teach that. I just subscribed cause I like to see masters explaining, and doing wonders.
Thanks for watching my video.
the master at work. I always go to Sal mainly because I can see the quality of work and his deep experience...
😊👍
Great font of knowledge on tiling. Thanks for taking the time. greetings from the UK
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great job Sal all 750 videos are very informative🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽
Actually 761 😜😊
Thank you for another great video. Your wealth of knowledge and experience, can't be duplicated.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for video. You show the good way
Istvan Balazs 👍
The best information ever!
Thanks, glad it helped
Excellent video
Good test my friend
Thanks Sal - very helpful as I’m looking to get better trowels and also learnt about trowel sizing 👍🏻
Glad it was helpful!
Glad I seen this before I start tilling , you a top bloke, kind regards from Yorkshire,
regards from Boston
Thanks for the lessons in trowel size and back buttering. I’m getting ready to tile a backsplash in my bathroom. 😁
Thanks for watching my video.
Thank you sir.
Welcome!
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Thanks Sal!
Glad you enjoyed it
This has solved a major problem I've had thanks so much
Thanks for watching my video.
Good info. Well demonstrated
Glad it was helpful!
So much awesome info here.
Glad you think so!
Very nice as always... love it. Learned a lot from you over the years... thanks for sharing the knowledge...
Glad to help
Best tile channel on CZcams, I like the bloke👍🏻
😊👍
excellent video, thank you
Glad you liked it!
Love your comments about "Back Butta"...lol
Love ya Sal.
Thanks Phil
I’ve back buttered the tiles in my kitchen and if anyone says back buttering doesn’t work , than it’s probably one of the lazier contractors.. literally can take any one 5 min of testing the theory in person to see that back buttering works , I heard some telling me BB wasn’t necessary n I had a feeling they weren’t correct about it, I ended up just doing it myself n I’m happy I did it because I ended up w a good install.. just dropped a metal pan pretty hard on them last night n no cracks. If it wasn’t BB it would of had weak points in it when exposed to impacts
That last hack was genius. Like i'm too lazy to go buy a larger trowel, but I"ll get my my lines deep enough by having lines on surface and back butter.
Thank you so much you are the best. Thanks for all details
You're very welcome!
Thank you sal
No worries
Hey Sal great job keep spreading knowledge!
Thanks, will do!
Magnifico tanks
잘보고 갑니다 ^^👍👍👍
Good video very informative
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks a lot sir.
😊👍
Yes.
Excellent video. I see now where my contractor messed up. Thanks.
Glad it helped
You're the greatest!
Thanks for watching my video.
Thanks 🌹
You're welcome 😊
Great video, great guy!
Thanks for watching!
Sal thx
Thanks for watching my video.
Exelent video! . Master .
Glad you liked it!
I’m just about done with my bathroom renovation. Me and my adult children did everything, except the plumbing. The demo revealed all sorts of problems, from missing, cut, and bellied floor joists, to hidden splice boxes in the wall, etc. We discovered chopped up wall studs, everything was out of square, nothing plumb or level. It was a nightmare, and for a while. I considered hiring contractors to get me out of this mess. I do have some experience and knowledge, my father was a GC and I often gave him a hand, especially on big jobs. My kids have helped me around the house over the years, but never been involved with a project like this. Anyway, it’s been a while since I last tiled or was involved in any significant construction project, and deep down wondered if I could pull this off. I’ve watched a ton of your videos, as well as videos from others. My father is no longer around (I miss that man every single day) so I have never body to ask or talk to, but thankfully there is CZcams. It helped me make learn, decisions, or confirm what I was thinking. Because of people like you and others who take the time to do this for the benefit of others, you guys are leaving a legacy and I just think that’s a great thing, so thank you for your help. The only thing I did differently from your instruction, was where I placed the cement board. Otherwise, I used many of your techniques and even purchased a diamond miller off your Amazon store for my grinder, and man did that thing come in handy. I never knew they existed until one of your videos. Even if I never use it again after this project, it is well worth the price.
Great story, thanks for watching my videos.
Thanks Sal, you covered everything I needed for a small job I need to do which also involves re-grouting.
Have you done a re-grouting video? I couldn't find one on your channel.
Anything 12x12 or bigger I use 1/2x1/2 trowel and back butter . It should give u 100% and help with uneven flooring or any low spots
Thanks for this video, Sal. Extremely thorough and scientific.
Glad it was helpful!
You make back buttering look easy. Ive tried this and its very messy. Thanks for the videos Sal, your a huge help.
When you have been doing it for 35 years, you kind of get the hang of it.
Water has surface tension, and all thinset is water based. Having thinset on both mating surfaces essentially eliminates the tendency of the water to resist wetting a dry surface
You is a teacher ceramice
Sal is a pro, tile is no easy job. There’s lots of things you must know first before becoming an installer. It’s not just mixing thin set and putting tile.
Thanks for the cool instruction on coverage! Do you have a video on self leveling compounds? Thanks
Working on something if it pans out.
6mil. 10 mil. In england and it goes up sal obvious . nice video .again
Recently tiled my shower and was so focused on the placement of all the accent tiles and the metal trim frame, I forgot to back butter the tiles. I pulled one off to see the % of contact, it was well under 10%. Not even close to the 95% goal. Totally my fault so I pulled it all down. I followed the glass accent tiles precisely, a bond coat with 3/16 v ridges. When I pulled one of those sheets off, I found very little contact. So I pulled down the accent tiles and metal, cleaned everything and called it a day. Mixed a new batch of Schluter All Set (great stuff), used a 1/4 notch trowel on the wall. Back buttered everything this time (even the accent tiles). Coverage was 95 or better. Wife and I spent hours cleaning out the excess thinset around all the accent tiles. However, those tiles are on the wall to stay.
Hello , your thoughts on wedge leveling spacers. I make sure the walls and floor are level ,plus constantly use my level as I work .Really enjoy your work .
I am in the process of my first tiling attempt and happened to stumble across your channel and glad I did... excellent tutorials and I will be watching many of them. At the moment, I am planning to install 4"x12" flat subway tiles and currently have a 1/4 x 1/4 trowel and wonder it it will require back buttering or not? Since I have approximately 180 tiles to install I would prefer not to back butter each, but will do what is best. Maybe I should step up to a 1/4 x 3/8 trowel which could possibly eliminate back buttering. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to help us DIY'er do a better job at tilting.
Thanks, glad it helped
Thank you sir!! I bought you a cup of coffee..enjoy,,,Dave C
Awesome! Thank you!
Super
Super
Hey Sal, i'm a new subscriber and doing a tile diy project. Can I lay wall ledger tile directly on stucco wall?
Any suggestions for a large 8"x80" wood look plank tile? About 1/4" thick and smooth underside. Trying to decide between 1/2", 3/4" or Euro style. Tile manufacturer is not responsive.
Sal, how about a video on how to measure and cut miters. Specifically around niches and windows with bullnose 3x13 tile. With the bullnose inside the niche versus the wall.
Next time I have one of those I will
I thought a lot about this video as I was tiling a kitchen with 12x24's, and I noticed sometimes the angle of the trowel changes, like when you reach far ahead. the notches are only correct when the trowel is close to 90 degrees, but when I reached far, it was like 45, meaning the ridges and notches were half as tall as they should have been.
Notched trowels are designed to be used at a 45 degree angle.
@@SalDiBlasi this is one bit of information that I haven't found on any video. It makes sense, and if you need a little more thinset on an area then you can turn it up to 90 degrees without switching to another trowl.
Thank you Sal, I have learned so much from all your videos. I also am a patreon supporter. I just can’t believe that some guys will take the time to make such snarky, sarcastic comments. Just stop it, you sound really ignorant.
Thanks for being a Patron, Trolls are everywhere, just a fact of life online.
Great Video Sal - You hear lots of people saying use the correct trowel for proper coverage but you are the only one who explains it! a different point...does that subway tile have the little spacer nubs molded into the tile? I am having a hard time finding it down here in Delaware/Mid Atlantic. Any place you suggest I try to locate? Thanks!!!
Those type of tiles used to be very common, today they seem to have disappeared.
@@SalDiBlasi Guess I gotta get A LOT of spacers!!! :)
What trowel size you recommend for a 9x11 hexagon porcelain tile? 1/4 with back butter or 1/4x3/8? your videos are awesome!
1/4 x 3/8
always better with butter! but it increases my DIY mess factor by 200% 😂
Great help albeit I've laid most of my conservatory tiles already so now very worried there isn't enough coverage and thin set support. The tiles have been down for a week so removing is a big job now. Do I risk keeping them and finish the perimeter cut tiles or relay the lot (buy the packs of tiles again and start over..? My wife is going to kill me if I suggest the latter as I've taken too long as it is!
I should have used a levelling system too (lippage - 600 x 300 cheap ceramics with some curvature). Could'nt be worse. Are there recovery options?
Not doing it correctly does not guarantee a failure, but does increase the odds, doing it correctly does ensure success. I would play the waiting game at this point, it may be just fine.
I went with 1/2x1/2 on my 6x24 floor planks n seems im getting 95-100 coverage without back buttering. Leveling clips also👍
Great.👍
very good video except for the closed captioning. It makes me wonder how it could misunderstand what you're saying so often. It's funny you should look at the closed captioning. But back to the video. Great information and very helpful. Thanks so much.
You need merch. T-shirts that say "BACK BUTTERING IS NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER!"
😊👍
What size trowel would you recommend for 24"x48" tile? 3/4 u notch or 1/2x1/2 with notching on substrate and tile? As always appreciate the work you put in to teach us! Thanks!
1/2 on both surfaces
@@SalDiBlasi thank you!
Great video, Sal. I'm getting ready to install 6"x36" porcelain tiles on shower wall. Walls are pretty flat. I'm going to back butter the tile. But will a 1/4" trowel with back buttering be sufficient?
The tile will be laid vertically- 36" vertical. There's a little bowing at about the half way point in the tile, meaning there's a slight 3/16" gap between the wall board and the back of the tile. Or shouid I go up to a 3/8" trowel? As I go up the wall, there's not as much between the back of the tile and the wall board, pretty much flat against each other. Thank you.
Use a 1/2" trowel and a leveling system to deal with lippage, be sure to back butter every tile.
Great video I wanted to know when you wet shim how long do you wait until you put the screws in
If you use a quick set mortar, after an hour or so, if you use a regular mortar usually 4 or 5 hours
Thanks a lot sal I just love Saturday
Sal... For natural stone marble. Flat on back. Should you use a small trowel to back butter? And on a concrete floor what size trowel to use?
Size trowel depends on the size of your tile. Set a few tiles, lift and check for coverage, make adjustments as needed.