application techniques - mosaic

mosaic basic application instructions

Step One - put the tiles on.

Glue the tiles on. Make sure they are evenly spaced about 3mm apart ..

Glue the tiles on with a tile adhesive that is suitable for the surface that you are gluing the tiles onto.
DO NOT EVER MOSAIC onto a flexible material such as plastic!!!!
Onto bricks, terracotta pots, paths: ceramacrete is a tile glue that mixes up with water, this is the cheapest one. When mosaicing other sorts of materials, you might need to buy different tile adhesive that's suitable.
leave to dry for one day or more.

Step Two - put the grout on
MIx up the grout according to the instructions on the packet, it should be thicker than toothpaste.
Wear gloves. Put it on and wipe off the excess grout with your glove. Then wipe the grout off in a circular motion with a well wrung out sponge. Rinse your sponge in a bucket of water, squeezing the sponge to remove all of the grout, then wring it out and repeat the process of wiping off the tiles. YOu will need to repeat this process until you have removed all of the grout from the surface. Right at the end you can buff the tiles with a dry cloth. When you buff with a dry cloth, you need to wear a mask and safety glasses and it is preferable to be outside.

You can buy grout in little packets, or you can use mortar mix or sand and cement as grout.

Wash up in water outside on the lawn or in the garden. do not dispose of grout water in the sink or near an outside drain.

BEST DISPOSAL OF GROUTING WATER
leave the leftover grout and the sediment in the bottom of the bucket overnight.  the next day the water and sediment will  have separated. Pour out the water into the garden and then knock the sediment out into the bin.