Smooth thinset in between lines and tesserae. Remove the adhesive and replace it with grout. Do not attempt this until three days have passed since the grout has dried. plastic bucket or plastic container for mixing. Check it for clumps even if you have just purchased a new bag. Dries clear. All rights reserved. We have a concrete mixing attachment that fits into our electric drill, and we use it for batches of 5 pounds or more. Workshops in Greece and Scotland. Required fields are marked *. Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. Thinset is used for outdoor mosaics, or mosaics which may come into contact with water, such as in a shower enclosure. It is the method I have learned through trial and error to compensate for my complete lack of palette knife skills. It is best to seal cement, brick, terra cotta and other porous surfaces before applying thinset. If you are sloppy in how you clean your fingers (gloved or ungloved), you will use up tons of rags. Do you adhere the tessarie first ? Good luck with your mosaicking. It can be applied directly from the bottle. Youre welcome! After reading your post I am anxious to finally get started learning how to do mosaics. Use this procedure to use only 3 rags: If the above instructions arent detailed enough, I have also written an expanded version of this technique in a blog article called How To Keep Your Hands Clean When Using Thinset Mortar. Your dark grey or black looks so nice and rich. It is always beneficial to score (rough up) smooth surfaces to give them a little tooth. That way I don't have to clean it up I can just toss it. My best thinset tip - I mix my thinset in an old sour cream container. Glass, marble, terra Cotta, wood, Formica, etc. It is a good practice to cover you work at the end of each session with a slightly damp towel and plastic, to keep the curing process going. In the bag it still has a shelf life and/or it may not have been properly handled prior to your purchase. Thinset is a cement-based adhesive you mix with water OR a liquid polymer additive for added flexibility and durability. I recommend Kilz, but it is always best to consult specifications for the product you are using. Im guessing that there is no grouting of the pieces involved in the end? Thinset is extremely sticky and meant to be spread with a trowel to mount large tiles or sheets of tile, but with a little care and planning, you can use it mount tile one piece at a time for detailed mosaic artwork similar to how glue is normally used in that mode of working. Just like taking a good photograph to start will save you time and frustration in post-production, touching up a smoothish surface is much easier than trying to fix an area riddled with bumps and ridges and lumps later on. What do you use to dye your thin set? I will demonstrate how mosaic sculptures are created and how to make an undulating substrate - using thinset and fiberglass mesh - that can be mosaic tiled. This is interesting, thank you for sharing. Read the manufactures instructions! Mix the mortar until it has the consistency of dough with no lumps. So is using grout just an artistic choice? I spread my thinset on the background, usually in stages (I find doing one side at a time works well for me). Thinset, grout, concrete, and other products that contain portland cement are mildly caustic and can dry out the skin very rapidly and cause irritation. I hope that helps. You can also visit the manufactures website to learn more. Website, Text and Images 2003-2022 J.E. We use Versabond brand, which we buy at Home Depot, and I suspect your local contractors are using the same or something more or less the same. Mist with a spray bottle to control dust. Mixing and applying thinset is easy to do, you just need to know how to obtain the right consistencies and then have the right tools for the mosaic project you are working on. Keep arecycled plastic yogurt tubin the bucket and use that to scoop out material. Yes, thats right Maggie. Avoid pouring the bag into the bucket, which would make a large dust cloud. When I weave my lines, I like the thinset to be smooth, especially where theres more open space. Scrape fingers off on the wadded newspaper in the garbage can. You will be asked to bring an assortment of found objects). There is only a tiny amount of water in a fine mist, and so you dont have to worry about it messing up your unused thinset or throwing off your measurements, but it is highly effective at getting the dust out of the air. Because it is permeable to water, dispersion adhesive cannot be used as a grout. Why? Before we start, a caveat: This is what works for me, but it is by no means the only (or best) way to do it. There are certainly other choices, but with this list you will have a solid base for making decisions as you go forward creating. Thinset is your best choice if your base is concrete, terra cotta, cement backer boards, Wedi board and most permanent installations. A 100% waterproof glue, White Gorilla Glue is safe for indoor and outdoor use as well as strong enough to withstand the weather. Although this is a chemical cure the rules above do not apply, as this is a reaction between the two parts of epoxy. Unused thinset in its powdered form must be stored in an airtight sealed container. Contemporary mosaics for interior and exterior spaces. Scoop a small amount of thinset into the tray and keep the rest of the thinset in the mixing bucket. Modern mosaic artists prefer Weldbond as their go-to glue (especially for horizontal work done indoors). Is it safe to run gas fireplace all night. I hope you find it helpful, Helen. Keep in mind that we used a concrete dye and not acylic paint or some other source of pigment that might interfere with the adhesive additive. So often colored concrete dries a faded color. I will publish a new blog post at the end of this week about the basics of thin set so you can see what I mean. I am in the middle of making a new tutorial about the basics of using thin set and will fill you in with all the details but basically you follow the manufacturers directions on the packet and make a paste which you apply to your substrate and then push the tesserae one by one into the adhesive. If you are improvising your design as you go along, you may find that you use both techniques. As always, chat with me if you have questions before or after you buy. Rinse away any residue with enough water so that you dont leave a white limestone scum on the grass, which could kill it if conditions are dry. In all seriousness, you will notice that it takes some strength to mix up larger batches. I am so glad to have found this website! And dont think I only use the brush/blade end! In her hands mosaics move out of the decorative realm and into a hybrid world where art meets politics meets activism. Amei sua arte musiva!!!! When too much thinset accumulates on my brush, I rinse it, wring it out in my cloth, and keep going. Many thanks for this, Cem! See how she does it here in Heat (Each Decade Hotter Than The Last) where the central graph is separated by a perfectly balanced border of thinset: Thinset (or mortar) isnt an attractive word or in most peoples books the most appealing aspect of mosaics, but in this blog post about using thinset for mosaics, Julie shows us how this most mundane of substances can be used to create stunning effects. Once mixed with water it is safe to remove. We can use thinset for up to 4 or 5 hours this way. The detail photos are particularly illuminating. In addition, applying thinset can be done many ways and there are different tools you can use for different situations as well. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Read the bag! (Although improvised tools such as an old butter knife can be used for this work, the benefits of the palette knife become obvious in just a few minutes. With are so many adhesives, so many backing materials, and tesserae to choose from, choosing an adhesive can be very confusing. I am delighted to present a guest post (my first) by award winning Canadian mosaicist Julie Sperling about using thinset for mosaics. The key thing you need to know is that thin set IS adhesive. For detailed mosaic artwork where you are placing each tile by hand, you will probably want to mix 1 to 3 pounds at most. Never considered not using grout. Thanks for generously sharing your method Julie! It is the only adhesive you can use to really 'float' tiles. As I go forward in this section Weldbond is the product that I will be referring to and the one I recommend. It works, it's permanent, and if they can tile your kitchen floor and the sides of buildings with it, it will certainly work for anything you will make! Thanks for posting this lesson! Great to see the process. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Im guessing the thinset is colored? Bags leak. I lightly brush the thinset with my damp brush to smooth it out, taking care to keep my brush strokes going in the same direction. Many thanks Julie! How do you use the adhesive with the thinset ? It helps to control dust if all the mixing happens near the bottom of the bucket. Yes, it can 100 per cent be used outside. I have often wondered. Use the DIRTY rag if needed, but try to use as little as possible. For outdoor and wet mosaics, thinset is recommended instead of adhesives. Although you should wear a dust mask when scooping and mixing the thinset powder, it is best to control dust at the source by slow careful scoops and stirs and never pouring or dumping the powder. Your email address will not be published. Stunning. Alternatively, a measuring cup can be used for the water, with 1/2 cup being the equivalent of 4 ounces weight. Typically, they are only used to bond to difficult substrates or where extraordinary chemical resistance is needed and there are drawbacks. I have a few projects in mind that will work well I hope with the colours of rock that I have collected. Then we will create mosaics using found objects (shells, beads, wood, pebbles, jewelry, nuts and bolts, buttons, etc! Epoxy thinsets offer greater bond strength and chemical resistance than polymer modified cementitious thinset. I dont know where you are based but in the UK we call it tile adhesive (and I use BALs Turbo Set Flexible Tile Adhesive for Walls and Floors available from Topps Tiles) and in America it is called thin set. For outdoor mosaics, thinset mortar (a sticky concrete with added polymers) is a better adhesive choice than any other. Thanks so much. Browse each store by clicking the store tabs at the top of the site. HOWEVER, if you live some place with extreme cold or extreme wet, it never hurts to go to your local building material store and ask what contractors are using in your area before choosing a paint or a roofing material or a sealant or anything like that. Thanks. After the thinset is mixed, concrete dye can be blended into it if the thinset will be used for grouting and a custom color is desired. The thinset bag has mixing instructions on the label, but those were written for mixing the entire bag. Made from epoxy resins and a filler powder. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'kylonpowell_com-banner-1','ezslot_11',109,'0','0'])};if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-kylonpowell_com-banner-1-0')};Base objects for a mosaic can be made from sturdy materials such as metal, wood, terra cotta, or concrete. My mosaics will be hung outside in my garden. Parabens!!! You have to pour the water in gently and stir slowly at first to avoid creating dust before the powder is wetted. Only mix as much thinset as you can use in one two hour work session. Incredibly strong adhesion to a wide range of materials including wood and many other types of plastics such as Lexan. CLICK HERE!! You can scratch them up with a sharp object or sand with a coarse grade of sandpaper. This section will help guide you in your selection of what to sticks to what. Note that these gloves are much thinner and offer much more dexterity than the thick grouting gloves. Sometimes the thinset dries shiny and smooth.I dont particularly care for this look, so I will take a slightly thinner mix of thinset at the very end (when Im cleaning up the background) and just dab it into the small spaces, being very careful not to get any on the tesserae. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Thanks so much.. Thats nice to hear, Aileen. My best advice is to read the product label, experiment a bit and find what works for you always keeping in mind the longevity of your final work. If the tesserae stick well with just thin set, what is the function of grout? Im glad you found the tutorial helpful Julies work is truly amazing. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. These materials will wick (draw) the moisture out of the thinset to quickly and weaken it. If you dont fix it now, youll have major issues in six months. Buckets with lids dont. I enjoy working with it and highly recommend you give it a try too; but always be safe and wear goggles and dust masks and gloves. You can break the plastic handle off your wifes favorite spoon or bend a thin piece of pipe in a hurry if the batch is large enough. Mosaics in the history of art (or not as the case may be). The secrets of using thinset for mosaics by Julie Sperling. No matter how you handle the thinset, you will occasionally get some on your fingers. thinset mortar in 2.25-pound convenience packs, How To Keep Your Hands Clean When Using Thinset Mortar. This is concrete not cookie dough! (A good test is to cement a few rocks together, wait about 6 days, and then bust them apart with a hammer and look for crumbly material or a lack of adhesion.) If youre working on a larger area or a flat surface, use a sponge to apply sealer to the grout. Because of its formulation, Clear E6000 should not be exposed to direct sunlight. Slide the bag into the bucket and shake it until the bag fits into the bucket. Thanks for your generosity in sharing this. Make sure you clean up outside and do not pour unused thinset down drains. We now sell thinset mortar in 2.25-pound convenience packs for small projects. Just make sure that the tile adhesive/thinset mortar that you buy is suitable for outdoors. Once mixed I place the thinset in a sandwich size Ziploc bag. This is particularly important when working with glass mosaic tile, which is non-porous and difficult to bond securely. The cure is complete once it has turned clear. Non-Toxic, safe for children and fume free. Thinset is very sticky, and if it has set for more than a few minutes, it will likely take more than a squirt nozzle to remove it. Such a beautiful ancient and durable art form that can add real beauty to a home. You can then nip off the corner and apply it to your surface like using a cake decorating bag, just spread with a palette knife. In other words, with a bin of tiles and a bucket of thinset mortar, you will become downright dangerous. What kind of addisive did you use? As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thinset Mortar comes in 25-pound bags. Because Im not really great at using a palette knife and because fixing it later doesnt particularly bug me. Try to dispose of most of your unused thinset as solid waste. I hope that helps! You know them as Elmer's, Tacky Glue, etc. Bonds to most anything. For larger batches, we mix in a 5-gallon bucket so that we can mix vigorously without slinging out any material. Thinset comes in two colors, white and gray. I find that a flat headed brush is key. It helps demystify things a little. Location: My home studio in the northwest valley, Albuquerque, near 4th and Griegos. Its name, thinset, came about because it is designed to adhere well in a thin layer, which is perfect for mosaics. Premixed thinset This a ready to use no mix, no-mess alternative to traditional thinset mortars and a great choice for interior artwork where no water is present. Receive the latest news, exclusive deals, and more when you sign up for email. There are many brands of PVA glues. For Versabond thinset, we add 1/2 cup or 4 oz of water per 1 pound of dry thinset powder. Mist the thinset sparingly if you see it drying. For further info about Weldbond that are not answered here, see the manufacturers specifications available at. Thank you! Ive heard that others recommend BAL Blue Star Fibre Enhanced Tile Adhesive which comes in tubs and is ready mixed. I try not to put it on too thick (because then it just squishes around when I try to smooth it with my brush) or too thin (because then the roughness of the substrate comes through). The use of glass tile can also enliven your outdoor area. We have assembled a collection of Mosaic Technique Videos that will give you the knowledge to ultimately do almost anything you can think of with thinset - regardless of your current skill level. . To increase its UV resistance, it can be painted over after being coated with E6000. Shop WitsEnd Mosaic, Smalti.com , Make it Mosaics and Mosaic Smalti all at the same time using our convenient shared shopping cart and secure checkout process. Yes, the thinset is coloured and yes Julie works in small batches laying her tesserae into the fresh adhesive and doesnt grout at the end because the thinset acts as a grout by coming up between the individual tesserae and holding them in place. No one (probably least of all Julie) could precisely explain the process by which she interweaves her materials with the subject matter to create works of art but Julies work is impressive on many levels, including its sheer technical virtuosity. The scraping power of the trowel comes in handy during clean up too. This process creates a better bond when using most types of adhesives. Great when bonding transparent and semi-transparent materials such as glass to glass. Its a pause, a space, a frame, it allows her to open the work up to infinite suggestions, to make emphases, to change direction and to add permutations and explorations both on and beyond the canvas. Using a wide range of tesserae and found objects from the traditional (smalti and limestone) to the unusual (grafiiti paint layers) and the bizarre (flue damper), Julie explores the subject of climate change and our human response to it through mosaics which make your heart sing and your thoughts linger. They are mixed from two parts and must be mixed in precisely correct proportions to set properly, they are more difficult to work with and have a shorter pot life. For larger projects, it is common to use a 3/8 notch trowel to produce a 3/16th inch thick coating of thinset still a thin layer, just spread over a larger surface. For either technique, a painters palette knife is the ideal tool for handling the thinset. Great explanations Julie. Youll want to make sure its sturdy enough to support the mosaics weight. (Versabond thinset is sold in white and gray.) I hope that helps! What is the best glue for outdoor mosaics? Too much or too little water can affect the quality of the cure of the product. There are craft and home improvement stores that sell the materials needed to make mosaics. This technique can also be used for flat tile. Continued success. Hello Andrea. The nitril gloves we sell are ideal for this purpose because they are latex-free and powder free and are more durable than the latex medical examination gloves we used to sell. I will describe methods used to create outdoor mosaic wall murals and table tops with thinset. The substraight will begin to deteriorate as a result of the water entering it. Can this method be used for outside mosaics? (Chemical cure). Below you will find a list of the most often used adhesives in mosaics. What happens if you use tile adhesive instead of grout? Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Save my name, email, and site URL in my browser for next time I post a comment. Stir slowly until the powder is wetted, and make use of your spray bottle as needed. Also, you need to test your dye with your thinset to make sure that it doesnt affect the bond strength or hardness. Great pics and explanation! If left in the open bag it will absorb moisture from the air and begin to cure. High temperatures and low humidity will speed the curing process. It really all boils down to working as neatly as you can from the start to save yourself the headaches later on, making sure your brush isnt too wet, and being patient. Scraping with a trowel is the best way to remove the crust of thinset that forms on buckets and stirrers. Commissions welcome. Take care to mix all the way to the bottom of the bucket and scrape the edges to make sure that no powder, lumps or clumps remain. Keep in mind this is only a guide. Non-Modified This means that no polymers are added and most manufacture will recommend that that you use an admix in place of all or part of the water for higher bonding strength and flexibility. I have just written a new blog post about the basics of the thin set method which talks about the substrates too: http://helenmilesmosaics.org/blog/tile-adhesive-method/. When using to adhere glass to glass the lack of exposure to air will lengthen the dry time and the larger the pieces that you are gluing the longer it will take to cure clear. Keep the bucket covered and use the putty knife or margin trowel to scrap the sides of the bucket so that all the thinset is in a blob and doesnt dry out. Many confuse the two and they are totally different. Polyurethane is one of the most long-lasting wood glues on the market today. As long as water drains off the concrete and any cracks are stable and level (no one side of the crack should be higher than the other), you can tile an existing concrete patio or walkway.