Jon Weaver wrote:

My conservatory gets finished this week, and I wanted to lay some
floor tiles ASAP.

I was under the impression that I could do this straight away, but I
have just read the 'Topps Tiles' brochure which says that a new
concrete floor should be left 6 weeks.
[snip]

I'm jumping in a bit late, but here goes.
Topps' advice presumably applies if you use tile adhesive, but why are you
using tile adhesive? Mortar is a bit fiddly on vertical surfaces but is a
doddle on horizontal surfaces. If you tile with mortar, then a. you
want the
concrete to be damp and b. you should also soak the tiles in water
If the base concrete has been set a long time, you need to spray
it with PVA before tiling with mortar to get a satisfactory bond, but
you're actually about to get a new screed which would be ideal for
tiling after a day.

In theory you could just float mortar onto the floor and bed the tiles
in it*,
but the usual (traditional) advice is to 'butter' the individual tiles.
I guess that this minimises air bubbles under the tiles.

* Well that's not really any different to just bedding the tiles into the
fresh screed. Somebody on this ng must have tried that?

Pros: mortar is a LOT cheaper than 'tile adhesive'
Cons: you may need a jack hammer if you ever want to remove the tiles!

How quickly can I lay ceramic tiles onto this 'screed' layer? I would
understand leaving it for a few weeks if laying laminate, but didn't
think that tiles would be a problem.

I was hoping to start as soon as next weekend but should I wait a
while?

If I need to wait, is there anything that I can do to speed up the
'drying' process (i.e a de-humidifier)?

If I should wait, but choose not too. What are the implications of
this?

Any info would be appreciated

Jon