Last week, the author posted an article on the WeChat public account of China Ceramics Network titled "Does tiles need to be sprinkled and maintained after they are laid?" The Douyin comment section is exploding with noise! "Article.
You may not have read this article. The author once again introduces his identity - a planning lion from the marketing department of a certain ceramic tile brand, but he knows little about ceramic tile paving.
The purpose of writing this article is to use the platform of China Ceramics Network to find out whether it is necessary to sprinkle water after the ceramic tiles are laid. Unexpectedly, the old problem has not been solved, and a new problem has arisen.
In "Does tiles need to be sprinkled and maintained after they are laid?" The Douyin comment section is exploding with noise! "In the article, the author quoted a passage found on the Internet that seemed very reasonable:
Sprinkling water protects the cement sand under the tiles so that they can fully bond with the tiles. Nowadays, the dry tile laying method is used, that is, there is only a layer of wet cement under the tiles, and the base layer below is made of dry ash of cement sand. This method is very popular now because it can avoid the occurrence of tiles. Empty drum. The previous method of laying ceramic tiles was the wet laying method, which made the cement and sand very wet, and then laid the ceramic tiles directly on this surface. The result was that the ceramic tiles were easy to hollow out and were difficult to avoid.
Unexpectedly, someone said this in the comment area of this article:
When laying tiles, "you must use wet laying. If you use dry laying for home decoration, you will regret it." "The only advantage of the dry laying method is that it is fast, but it will definitely be empty in the future." The dry paving method is "only suitable for engineering decoration and cannot be used in home decoration." It is generally used in the exhibition halls of ceramic tile company headquarters or terminal stores; the wet paving method rarely causes hollowing, but it will be slower to lay, so it is suitable For home decoration.
After reading the message from this very experienced fan, although the author thinks it makes sense, I am actually even more confused. Why is this? Because the views in the message are completely different from the author’s previous understanding.
I remember that many years ago, the author once wrote a popular science article for my brand about whether it is better to lay dry tiles or wet tiles. Of course, the author who has no experience in laying ceramic tiles can only piece together an article by borrowing some "experience" from the Internet. It is similar to many similar articles that can be found online. The main content of that article is as follows:
1.What is wet laying method?
That is to mix cement and sand in a certain ratio (1:5), add a little more water, and mix evenly into a soft and wet cement mortar, and then apply a layer of plain cement on the back of the tiles and stick it directly on the flat surface. Just apply cement mortar.
Advantages: simple operation, cheap construction price, thin thickness, saving space (ground thickness).
Disadvantages: Because there is too much moisture in the wet paving, when it solidifies, the water vapor evaporates easily to produce bubbles, which can easily cause hollowing.
Suitable for: laying wall tiles (interior wall tiles) or small-sized floor tiles, such as kitchens, bathrooms, etc.
2. What is dry laying method?
Firstly, water the clean foundation surface to moisten it; then mix the dry cement with a cement mortar ratio of 1:3, place the tiles on the mortar and vibrate it with a rubber hammer; finally, remove the floor tiles and pour cement slurry, press firmly and flatten.
Advantages: The ground is flat and not easily deformed. It can effectively avoid bubbles, hollows and other phenomena during the laying process of floor tiles.
Disadvantages: complex operation, high technical content, and high cost. The precautions are that when paving, you must pay attention to keeping the ground moist, and you must pour enough water.
Suitable for: paving large-size ceramic tiles on the floor, such as living rooms and bedrooms.
3. What is the difference between dry paving and wet paving?
From the perspective of flatness: Tiles laid with dry laying method are flatter than those laid with wet laying method. Dry-laid tiles will not slide easily once they are adjusted; while wet-laid tiles are likely to be moved after the tiles are adjusted due to excessive moisture in the mortar.
From the perspective of hollowing phenomenon: dry paving mortar has less internal moisture and is less prone to hollowing; the opposite is true for wet paving.
From the perspective of base layer requirements: before tiles are laid, the dry laying method has higher requirements for the base layer than the wet laying method. Because dry laying method is used to lay ceramic tiles, if the mortar has little moisture and the base layer is not fully moist, a large amount of water in the mortar will be absorbed, causing the mortar to be weakly bonded to the base layer, affecting the final paving effect.
From the perspective of floor thickness: the dry laying method is used to lay ceramic tiles, and the mortar thickness is relatively large (3-4cm); the wet laying method is to directly apply cement behind the ceramic tiles, and then lay it directly on the ground, which can reduce the thickness of the ground. Don't underestimate this thickness. In fact, it is similar to the experience of suspended ceilings and no suspended ceilings.
Obviously, the author’s point of view——Of course, the views of many bricklayers may be more accurate, and they are more inclined to the dry laying method.
However, in the past few days, the author has checked many articles written by bricks and mortar experts on the Internet, and concluded one point:
Wall tiles can only be laid wet; floor tiles can be laid dry or wet, but especially large-sized floor tiles are best laid dry. Dry paving method can improve work efficiency more than wet paving method. Can dry laying method reduce hollowing rate better than wet laying method? That's not necessarily the case. It depends on the skill of the operator. If the ground base is uneven, the wet paving method will easily lead to uneven mortar thickness during inlaying.
There are many fake tile makers on the Internet, and there are also many real tile makers among the fans of China Ceramics Network’s WeChat official account, so the author has little confidence in my little experience in tile laying. However, I still hope that everyone will contribute more and provide insights in the message area.
Finally, I would like to appeal to the industry:
I hope that all ceramic tile brands will not be out of touch with market demand, work hard and meticulously to provide good services to consumers, and cooperate with those dealers who are struggling on the front line and truly understand ceramic tile paving and those who really know how to pave ceramic tiles. Decorators join hands to create more original content about ceramic tile paving and spread it widely. We cannot just let people like me, who can only talk on paper, plagiarize similar content online. This is unconvincing and cannot stand the test of practice.
(Author: Brother Buzhuan)
