One of the most ancient ways to decorate housing is a mosaic. It was used even in ancient Egypt, India and China 3 thousand years before the Nativity of Christ. This art was born among the Sumerian peoples and since then has been significantly transformed, the masters of each era added their own options for the performance of technology and offered original materials to create drawings. Today, the mosaic is very relevant and is successfully used to decorate housing.
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The main varieties of mosaics
The basic mosaic technique involves the creation of drawings from various materials of different colors, shapes and textures, in practice are used:
- stone,
- glass,
- tile,
- clay,
- combined.
The stone mosaic appeared the very first. To create it, small multi -colored pebbles were collected from which made portraits of kings or landscapes of the area. This option is the most durable, since the stone does not lose color, is not subject to any influences and is practically not destroyed from time. Nevertheless, the drawing will look beautiful only if you look at it from afar. The seams and all kinds of irregularities will be visible near. They use it either for external work, or in rooms with an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 100 square meters. m.
The glass mosaic originated in Christian temples when the priests began to decorate the windows of churches with stained glass windows. This type of decoration is quite painstaking and invested efforts often do not justify the result. Therefore, it is used extremely rarely and mainly as additional elements.
With the advent of the tile, a new stage began in the history of the development of mosaics. The tile made it possible to create the most beautiful and almost seamless panels, which are only a little inferior in operational characteristics of the stone. Today, this is the most popular way.
Claying scums served as a cheaper tile analogue. The usual burned clay was painted and collected paintings by analogy with tiles. The main drawback was that the paint quickly began to lose color, and the material itself crack. This option was completely abandoned.
Combined mosaic arose in India. The first paintings were a combination of ordinary and precious stones. Europeans surprised by luxury began to create such panels in their homeland, but instead of rubies, emeralds and sapphires, colored glass or crystal was used. From a visual point of view, the differences from jewelry are minimal.
Ceramic mosaic tiles
Since this option is the most popular and practical, let's talk about its features. The building materials market offers the following varieties of tiles:
- a blank with dimensions of 10x10 or 15x15 cm,
- separate elements with dimensions of 2x2 cm or 3x3 cm,
- full -fledged paintings, with blanks of different sizes.
Most often, on racks of construction stores there are preparations for mosaic. They consist of the base and upper coating, which is made in the form of small multi -colored tiles. In fact, this material is not suitable for creating a real mosaic, therefore it is most often used in pools. The walls are quite beautiful and unusual, in addition, there are some types of tiles that allow you to create patterns, but nothing more.
The trimmed variety of such blanks is a glass mosaic tile. There are combined options when tiles are combined with glass and completely glass products. With their help, tiled compositions are decorated. Using only this material is a very expensive pleasure. Most often used to decorate walls in the bathroom.
The real tile of the mosaic consists of small individual tiles. They are represented in a very wide range of colors and allow you to create real masterpieces of painting. The smaller the size of the tile, the higher the quality of the pattern itself. It is worth noting that the work is extremely painstaking and will take more than one week (on average one square meter takes 2-3 hours).
As in the previous case, there are separate glass tiles on sale. A special hardened, shock -resistant glass is used, due to which it is not afraid of mechanical damage.
A simpler option is ready -made paintings. They combine the speed of installation of blanks and the beauty of individual elements. On the domestic market, the direction is new, so the distribution is bad. On the other hand, some private companies provide customs mosaic services to order. This will allow you to choose exactly the image that you want to see at home.
DIY tile mosaic
These species have their own specifics of installation, so it is worthwhile to carefully dwell on each of them. In addition, the choice of tile glue primarily depends on the conditions in which the mosaic will be operated.
The technology of installation of blanks is the simplest, so let's start with it. First of all, you need to draw up a plan:
- determine where the mosaic will be placed,
- choose a performance option,
- calculate the surface area,
- calculate the amount of glue,
- calculate the amount of grout,
- prepare the necessary tool.
Such a mosaic is suitable for decorating the walls of the bathroom, a working apron in the kitchen or bowls of the pools. In addition, a trace for a street shower is made from it.
There may be several options for execution:
- pattern,
- multi -colored mosaic,
- mosaic with deco elements.
In order for the pattern to be visible, an area of \u200b\u200bat least 2 square meters is necessary. m, therefore, patterned mosaic is most often used for pools. In the bathroom, use is possible, but only in a large room, since otherwise the pattern will be difficult to dock.
A multi -colored mosaic is an ideal solution for a kitchen apron. She is easily washed, does not collect dirt in the seams and looks quite spectacular. On the scale of the entire wall, such a solution will look poor and will not make a proper impression, this explains the limitations of the use of this variety of mosaics.
For the bathroom, mosaic with deco (glass inserts) is more often used. They look advantageous on the wall and emphasize the unique style of the room. The only drawback, like any glass product, accumulate salt deposits of steam and water on the surface. However, they are easily washed with standard chem. means.
The calculation of the area is made according to the standard formula: multiply the height by length. At the same time, 0.5-1 kV is plused to the resulting result. m. It is done so that in case of breakdown or damage to the tiles, do not buy, besides, if you have to cut, the consumption increases significantly.
The choice of glue depends on the operational features, for bathtubs and pools you need moisture -resistant, the usual one is suitable for the kitchen. The consumption of adhesive mixtures depends on many factors. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carefully study the instructions and determine on it how much bags will be needed. The same thing is with grouting. When choosing it, it should be remembered that it should be tone lighter than tiles. Otherwise, the grout will stand out very much.
From the tool you will need:
- spatula,
- dishes for the solution,
- crosses,
- dry rag.
If there are no questions with the rest, then the rag is used to wipe the tile, if the hive accidentally hit it. After drying, it will be extremely difficult to remove it without damage to the tiles.
After the preparatory work is completed, they go to the installation. Laying mosaic tiles is no different from the usual tile:
- the wall is treated with a primer to improve adhesion,
- the solution of glue is bred according to the instructions,
- apply the mixture to the tile and attach the lower row,
- after the installation of two neighboring tiles, the distance between them is adjustable using crosses,
- they are installed above and below,
- after installing each tile, check the slope by level.
Advice: Some experts recommend that the first row is installed not in width, but in height. He will serve as a guide and set the angle relative to the floor. This opinion is erroneous, since the features of the wall and the masonry process do not allow you to set a static landmark and require constant correction, in all other cases, the wall will be a curve either in relation to the floor or in relation to other walls. Given that glue freezes 16-36 hours, the level is checked by each meter of masonry.
Another important point is the corners. As a rule, special bushings are used to decorate them. They are of two types:
- monolithic,
- overhead.
The overhead bushings are freely inserted into the angles of adjacence and fixed with grout. Monolithic bushings are mounted even before the masonry of the tile. The tile is installed on top of a special stubborn plate. This method is more reliable, since the sleeve does not fall out, even if there is a grout.
After all the rows of tiles are laid, it is allowed to settled (at least a day, better than 72 hours). The next step is the grout. The work is performed according to the following scheme:
- dilute the mixture in a small bowl (it dries quickly, so you do not need to do large portions),
- gently apply the mixture to the seams between the tiles with a spatula,
- pushing your finger into the gap and iron.
In order not to get your hands, use a wet rag.
Advice: The grout dries for 5-15 minutes, but a layer about a millimeter freezes in just a minute, its complete hardening occurs in half an hour, after which it is extremely problematic to remove the grout from the tile. Therefore, after you spill the first portion, immediately clean the tile from the grout with a wet rag. When finish with one wall, let it stand for 10-20 minutes, then stand well with a dry rag, and only after that wash the wall on the finish.
All of the above is true and in relation to ready-made peasants. The only thing that should be added is that these compositions are decorative and decorate the walls in the halls or dining rooms, sometimes ceilings. First of all, connected with the price. As a central element of the image of the room, such a mosaic must be additionally selected. To do this, use either bright glass edging, or fresco, or decorative stone.
Installation of individual mosaic tiles
Mosaic tiles, a photo of which is presented below, is a very complex technology. It will require hard work and a lot of time. But the result will exceed all expectations.
The most important thing is the surface. It is almost impossible to play the level on elements with dimensions of 2x2 cm, so the work begins with the preparation of the walls. Two options:
- plaster,
- drywall.
Classical plaster is the pleasure of expensive, moreover, if the wall is not even even, then the work will have to be done in two or even three stages (at a time a layer of plaster is allowed up to 1 cm).
Drywall installed on glue significantly saves time and money. There is no difference in operational characteristics.
After the wall is leveled, it should be treated with a protective primer, with the addition of anti -inflade agents. This must be done without fail, since a real mosaic is very afraid of mold. It is advisable to primer once once for three days. Both plaster and gypsum, absorb the soil unevenly, and in order for the mosaic to serve for a long time, you need to prepare the base as well as possible.
During this time, you should think in detail the composition and draw it on paper. In order to calculate the necessary materials. It is most convenient to do all the mathematics through special programs, the worst option is Microsoft Excel.
The installation procedure itself is carried out as follows:
- a mosaic layout is installed in a convenient place,
- glue is bred (apply it to the tiles with the most thin layer),
- starting from one of the corners, the first tile is glued.
Unlike blanks, in the case of individual elements, the seams are not allowed, so you need to install the tile as close as possible to each other. In addition, the mosaic is laid out not in the rows, but progressively, at first the first stone, then on the sides of it, then on the sides of the three previous ones, etc. This approach allows in practice to adjust any inaccuracies without global redustr of the picture.
Firms manufacturers of mosaic tiles
Since the basis of mosaic tiles is much thinner than other tiled products, it is quite fragile. Nevertheless, modern technological innovations allow you to compensate for this drawback. The highest quality firms that have these technologies should include:
- Architeza,
- Glass mosaic,
- Piranesi,
- Kerama-Marazzi,
- Honey,
- B-mos,
- OCRE PEBBLE,
- VILA MIX.
The first four companies offer VIP quality products (appropriate price). The assortment presents the richest selection of materials and options. When buying these products, you can be sure of its uniqueness and originality, since with all the variety of the model range it is quite limited.
The second four companies specialize in the production of goods for a wide range of consumers. Tiles in several price formats are represented. Although the quality is not inferior in quality to the grans, model solutions are much less interesting and put on stream.
It should be added that the minimum price for a high -quality mosaic is 1000 rubles per square meter. m.
