Property Plus
Coimbatore
Factors crucial to stand on a strong floor
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Laying tiles needs training as any other activity in construction, writes M. Soundariya Preetha
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ADDS lustre: Designer tiles are the in-thing in luxury houses.
They come in different hues, forms and sizes. From interiors to staircase; garden to terrace, tiles now cover different parts of a house, mall or any building. Be it natural stones, ceramic, glazed, ornamental, designer or vitrified tiles, laying these plays an important role in construction.
In Germany a tile mason normally undergoes three-year apprenticeship to fine-tune his skills in this task. In India, the manufacturing companies provide guidance on how to lay tiles. Nitco Tiles Limited, for instance, has a technical support programme wherein training is provided at the site for projects of two lakh to three lakh sq.ft of flooring. If not trained well, the final product will not have the same effect as that of tiles displayed in the showrooms, says A. Ramakrish, its general manager. Developers such as Sobha have in-house training for their tile masons. The Coimbatore chapter of the Builders’ Association of India plans to start a training programme in four areas, one of which is tile-laying.
“Tools are now available for tile cutting and polishing. However, tile fixing remains manual and hence demands skill,” says G. Srinivasan, president of the association. Most of those who lay marbles or granites come from Rajasthan and they are trained. But, in recent years, the entire tile or marble-laying is given to a single agency in a project and so the same masons lay the tiles and marbles or granite. Hence, they need to be trained in both. An unskilled or inexperienced work on this front can lead to problems such as cracks, swelling or shade variations.
Le Studio Nitco opened by Nitco Tiles in Coimbatore.
Olaf Wagner, Quality, Safety Technology Director of Sobha Developers, explains some of the points to remember in tile-laying. There are different techniques and this demands high skills. In India, traditionally, thick bed mortar is used wherein the mortar bed is 10 t0 15 mm thick. This demands the right ratio for mix of sand and cement and pre-moistening of tiles. Thin bed mortar (up to six mm thickness) can be used. In this the mortar comes as ready mix to the project site with adhesives. One needs to ensure the surface is well aligned and laying is faster in this method.
Mr. Srinivasan emphasises allocation of adequate time for tile-laying after spreading the mortar. This ensures the evaporation of moisture from the mortar.
“Gaps between tiles are important,” they say. Mr. Wagner suggests two mm gap for wall tiles and three mm gap for floor tiles. This will avoid cracks at a later stage and also allows the tiles to adjust.
The joint alignment should be uniform. And, after laying, the entire spread of tiles should be appealing to the eye. One needs to measure, calculate and lay systematically. This will ensure that not many cut pieces are used. Alignment and joint filling also need attention, he says. Before laying the tiles, it is better to open the boxes and check for shades and sizes, cautions Mr. Srinivasan.
With new designs and trends, tile-laying has become a task of high skills and needs the attention of the customer too.
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Property Plus
Coimbatore
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