# 1x1 glass tile ??'s



## vaultf600 (Apr 6, 2007)

HI ALL, love the info on this site. this is officially my noob post. I'm laying 1x1 glass tile in a surround as an accent and was told by the flooring place that the tile was bought at to use Omni Grip, which i'm not a big fan of and know that its very difficult to get out of the spaces after setting and there was a lot in there!! Expecially after I "buttered" the back of the tiles and used a 3/16 trowel as the instructions indicated. I called the number on my bucket of omni to see if there was a way to easily remove the extra so i could get grout in and they told me that i shouldn't be using it in a wet area at all!!!!! so i went online and starting look and sure enough plenty of people say not to so i tore it off before it was set all the way. now what should i use??? white sanded grout with some kind of additive? or white thinset and grout later or some kind of mastic (which i read can absorb water after its been set) ? sounds like the easiest way is with the using the grout and additives but what all are they and i'm in alaska where lowes and hd are the major suppliers unfortiantly. any help would be great


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## JazMan (Feb 16, 2007)

Glass tiles must be installed with a premium modified white thinset. It must say on the bag that it's good for glass. In most cases after trowelling with proper notched trowel, you would go back with the flat side to flatten the ridges to eliminate shadowing. It can be a real pain. Then you grout when all is dried.

Jaz ...........LABICER booth #2932 Coverings '07


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## MattCoops (Apr 7, 2006)

can't use mastic on wet area

you can use Versabond thin-set for your glass tile
make sure you get 100% coverage and flatten out any shadows as noted in post above

are you using the glass just for clips, or a dot pattern?

you could have your tiles installed with desired cuts using a good modified thinset
then clean out your grout lines

then install the glass while grouting
grout will hold the glass, it is a cement byproduct


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## vaultf600 (Apr 6, 2007)

the glass is being used as an accent a couple lines of 4 and a couple lines of 5 wide going around the shower surroud. i had put up some ledgers to get the glass lines perfectly square and then butt up most of the factory tile edges to that to have a nice clean line when its done. so a good modified thinset is the ticket. how about the idea of using sanded grout and then adding some additive to it making it one step? does it make it hell to get that cleaned up and then touching up the grout after the paper is pulled off?


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## MattCoops (Apr 7, 2006)

when the glass is paper-mounted I mix up whatever color grout I'm using and thin-set at the same time. Just enough of both that I will use in 20 mins time.

Take a margin float and run grout across the back of the sheet of glass tile, forcing the grout in all the joints, til its filled, then wipe the access grout off the back of the tiles
Now you have a sheet ready for install. And the thinset won't push through the grout lines cus your grout is caked in there.

Then use a v-notch trowel to rake thinset on your surface.
Set your glass tile.
Use a clean grout float to gently "beat in" the tile, nice and uniform. This pushes out any bubbles or shadows.

Now to get the paper off. (the fun part)
Dampen a sponge and moisten the paper.
Don't drench it. But keep dabbing and moistening it.
Try peeling a corner, if it wants to stay stuck, dampen more.
When you have the paper damp enough it will come off all on one peel from corner.

Ensure your lines line up.
Continue.


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## vaultf600 (Apr 6, 2007)

thanks a lot for the replies!! sounds like i was doing everything right except the adding grout before actually setting the tile ...brilliant! monday will be much better then last friday. thanks again


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## karma_carpentry (Aug 7, 2005)

I jus did a wall of 1" glass tile. I used Flexbond thinset, and mixed it very thick and used it fast (within 15 minutes). I used 1/8" square notch trowel, and set the bottom tiles on a ledger, and the ones above upon them. The thinset was thick enough to hold them in place when I nudged them up and around to even the spacing. These are mesh-backed tiles. I found no need to pre-grout them, as the thinset didn't squeeze out much. As for adhesion, I figured the thinset would grab the mesh because it's got tooth, and the tiles are pretty well adhered to the mesh.


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## MattCoops (Apr 7, 2006)

you only need to pre-grout the face-mounted glass

mesh is a lot easier


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