Granite floors do it yourself

Some premises are presented to floor coverings of some rooms. In these cases, not the beauty of the interior plays a large role, but such qualities as a service life, wear resistance and ease of operation. So, the material that has all the characteristics possesses is natural granite. It has high strength, practicality, durability.

Product specifications

Granite does not lose its appearance under the influence of time, sun rays, moisture. It is able to endure sharp and frequent temperature fluctuations. Unlike granite, ceramic tile has a smaller service life. Therefore, it is granite that can be considered one of the best materials for the floor finish.

True, it's not everywhere to apply it. So, it is most suitable for the floor of the kitchen, living room, bathroom in large homes, verandas, porch, garage, garden-park gazebo or pool. Today, it is often possible to meet floors from granite in the subway and shopping centers.

Granite distinctive features:

1. Reliability and durability.
2. The price of one square meter of granite today ranges from 35 to 200 dollars, and the cost of the same amount of tiles is 8-60 dollars.
3. One square meter of granite with a thickness of 20 millimeters weighs 53 kilograms, and the same number of ceramic tiles is only 15 kilograms.
4. Granite is a natural stone, and its drawing, color and graininess can be different, which is achieved naturally. And the ceramic tile is a facing material created artificially.
5. The floor tile granite can have a different length, thickness and width. This should be considered when laying. High-quality ceramic tile always has the same size. Therefore, it is easier to work with it.
6. Since the granite tile is a natural material, the assortment of its shades and color is limited. Ceramic tile, created by artificially, on the contrary, has an abundance of drawings and colors.
7. Pressure stoneware service life is almost unlimited, in contrast to ceramic tiles, which serves no more than 60 years.
8. Granite has high strength and a small percentage of wear - only about 0.1 millimeters abridges per year. And for this this floor for the year must pass at least one million people. Under the same conditions, the ceramic tile for the year is ottern from 0.15 to 0.40 millimeters.
9. The strength of the granite tile is 552.7-604.6 kg / cm2, and the ceramic tile is 280-435 kg / cm2.

How to choose ceramic granite for floor

Granite is a rock formation, which is mined at a depth of several kilometers in underground mines. The raw material looks like huge fragments, from which huge blocks of rectangular shape are peeling. Then these blocks are cut to granite slabs a length of 1.5 meters, a width of 0.35-1.25 meters and a thickness of 20-35 millimeters. They are laid out on the shop windows in stores.

Often, by mistake, granite is called Gabbro and Labradotir. These natural stones are similar to properties and appearance with granite. But Labradotir due to some minerals included in its composition, poorly tolerates the environment. For this reason, it is not used for exterior decoration. Gabbro has a monophonic black color and polished surface. Therefore, it is used to design the interior and the manufacture of monuments.

Granite must be able to choose. For this, some moments should be taken into account. Here are the most important of them:

1. In different places, granite has a unique natural color. Therefore, in two different careers, the material of one shade is not possible.
2. Granite tile is usually cut to order in a special workshop. Most often, the tiles are 600 for 600 and 300 per 600 thickness of 20-30 millimeters. Special machines are required for cutting granite sluck. Therefore, the material will not work independently.
3. Important moment: The greater the size of the tile, the more beautiful the floor will look at the end, but this in turn complicates its laying. There are two reasons for that:

• large weight, because of which it can easily break in half;
• more difficult to withstand level.

It is still known that the thickness of the selected granite tile should depend on the loads on the floor and on the characteristics of the room itself.

When choosing granite, it is also worth remembering that there are three types of stone processing:

1. Polished.
2. Roscheny.
3. Hem treated.

Specifications:

• Polished tile has a mirror surface. This type of processing is considered the most beautiful and at the same time very slippery. At the same time it is easiest to scratch it.
• The slugged granite tile has a surface on which a natural drawing is visible, but unlike polished does not glit.
• The heat-treated tile was subject to a high-temperature gas stream. After that, it becomes rough and has no shine.

All parameters that were listed above are to some extent affect the cost of this tile. When choosing, it is worth asked about the field of the sample you like and in sufficient whether it is available in the store's warehouse. It will be more expensive than rare varieties of granite for the floor. The price for one square meter of slab also depends on its thickness and square. The thicket will be the tile, the more expensive it will be.

The average prices for granite tiles range from $ 35 to 200 per square meter. Dear samples can cost up to 500 dollars. Attentiveness and caution when choosing will help you not get caught in deception of unfair sellers. Indeed, sometimes they give simple granite, mined in the careers of Russia, for rare and expensive Italian. Polished material usually has a higher price than heat treated.

Of course, the granite tile is better suited for floor cladding than ceramic. The floor of the granite will serve noticeably longer and can withstand heavy loads. True, when cladding the floor we need to consider the size, weight and color of the material. If all this is accounted for, then your spent efforts are necessarily crowned with success. Granite tile requires a completely different approach when working with it, but it is worth it.

Required tool for working with granite

In order to make the floor from granite, you need a special construction tool. After all, this material is very durable. Therefore, it will not work with the help of stoveturis. For work, for example, you need a Bulgarian or ESM. It should be powerful enough. It will also require a disk for cutting stone. With the help of the grinder, some cuts along the granite tiles will be performed. However, good quality when cutting the usm is difficult to achieve.

In addition to the Bulgarian to work, the following tools will be needed:

1. Building level.
2. Trowel.
3. Rubber spatula.
4. Rubber cizyanka.
5. Mixer for construction work.
6. Little threads.
7. Bucket.
8. Slices tile for lighthouses.
9. To calculate the laying of granite slabs, you will need a long ruler, roulette and a large square.

Nuances of working with granite

1. Granite tile is placed not as ceramic. Therefore, before proceeding to the flooring, you need to know several rules for working with this material.
2. Granite is stacked online, and not with seams, like a ceramic tile.
3. Before starting work on laying, you need to align the floor, for this you need to make it a screed.
4. No need to forget that the granite tile may have different thickness. To have the opportunity to press the protruding parts, you should use a thick layer of glue or solution.
5. This material can be of different size. Therefore, it is impossible to put such a tile diagonally or seam in the seam. It is best to carry out the laying in the dispersion and at the same time abide by the drawing.
6. Tile can be sliced \u200b\u200bfrom different slabs. Therefore, it differs in shade. To solve this problem, the following should be remembered:

• in no case do not lay the tile behind the tile of one package;
• you still need to put all the material from all packages before starting work to reveal the tiles of different color or possible marriage;
• if there are defects on some tiles, then they are best put in inconspicuous areas. The material without defects should be put in chaotic order to evenly distribute the tiles of different colors on the floor. So they will rush less in the eye.

Preparation of the surface

Granite tile is much thicker than ceramic. Therefore, before laying, be sure to measure the height of the threshold. For granite requires at least 40-50 millimeters. In addition, be sure to remove garbage and dust from the floor. You can cover it with a primer.

Calculations for laying and cutting

The tile of granite is usually lined with one of the end walls, from left to right. At the same time, it is important to know from which tile to start: either with an integer, or from half or from one third. It all depends on the area of \u200b\u200bthe room and the size of the material. In any case, you need to use the way "in the dispersion".

Floor calculation

1. When performing a screed and installation of doors, you need to leave the level of 40 millimeters. To determine the floor level, you should set the beacons at the corners. As they can use levels for long distances.
2. From each beacon you need to pull around the perimeter and the diagonal of the thread facilities.
3. Often you can see that some angles have no level. With the deviation of the angle of the room, no more than 60 millimeters can be added to these places even more solution. If the level on some kind of plot, on the contrary, is higher than you need, then we can put granite on glue, and not per solution.
4. In addition to the corners, you also need to check the quality of the floor along all beacons.

Laying granite on the floor

In total, there are three types of laying of granite tiles:

1. Per solution.
2. On glue.
3. On the equipped metal frame.

On the floor, this material is usually stacked at the first or second method. On the vertical surfaces of the tile is lined up on a metal frame. Different solutions have a different price. The cheapest option is a portland cement, diluted with water with haired lime and sand (mostly river). The glue will cost more than the solution. At the same time, its consumption will be more.

Technology of work:

1. It is important to properly put the first row of tiles. Because it is to it that the other material will be boring. For the first and last row, the beacons will be directly the tiles themselves. To do this, the thread from the left and right corner is tied to two tiles, which were laid at the beginning and end of without a solution.
2. The solution must be applied to the floor with a trowel. Then the tile is stacked on it, after which she is tired by rubber Cyans, after the beacon threads.
3. It is important that there are no emptiness under the tiles. For this you need to carefully follow. The rest of the material is stacked in the same way. It will remain planted for a solution only the first and last tile, which, for now, play the role of beacons. Take the thread from them and then put them on the solution.
4. When installing the next row, you also need to first install the lighthouse plates and tie the threads to them. In order not to knock down the drawing, it is important to remember, from which plate you started the previous row. There are few beacons for checking masonry even. Therefore, it is necessary to control it with a level.
5. In the same way, the masonry of the remaining rows of tiles should be completed. If a defect will appear on the tile or some error will occur, then it will be possible to replace it and replace it only during the day. In the future it will be impossible to do.
6. Each time you go to a new row, you need to wash the tiles from the solution with a damp cloth. You should not be afraid to pour too much water between tiles. Masonka is only good.
7. With horizontal masonry there are no restrictions. If you wish, you can lay the entire surface of the floor at once. Only after work will need to wait about two days before it can be walking.
8. Almost always, after drying between the plates, gaps are formed, which should be lined with grouting under the color of the stone. Select it follows depending on the characteristics of the room. It happens moisture-resistant, frost-resistant and especially durable.

Finishing finish

In order to give granite after laying an attractive appearance, you can use paste with silicone or liquid wax. It is possible to do, both with the help of a polishing machine, and manually with the help of felt or felt.

Granite in its strength is not inferior to any building material. It is so practical that if it is necessary, you can easily put a new one in place. Over time, such a tile does not lose its appearance, its high-quality characteristics also do not suffer. A weak place in the masonry is a solution that can collapse over time. Therefore, often granite slabs are removed and cleaned from the old solution and laid on a new one. In this, it completely pays off all the costs of its acquisition and laying.

Granite floors - Photo