"simon beer" wrote in message
...



Any body ever laid slate floor tiles?
I've laid slate on concrete before, but I did it the wrong way! I'm telling
you so you don't try it that way. I laid them on a bed of concrete, and
had the idea that for full strength they should be totally in contact with
the concrete below. To this end, I laid each slab on a more or less flat
bed of concrete. That's a hard way to do it since all slates are of
different
thicknesses, so to get them to the right level, the only answer is to shimmy
them around so that excess cement exudes from the gaps between slates.
Cement doesn't exude very well, and if you squeeze enough of the
water out of it it locks solid and shimmying no longer has any effect. Then
you lift the slate and start again! If I did it again I would use the finer
and
stickier cement grout you can buy, and use a 5 dab pattern under each
slate, so it can be manouevred into position easily - it leaves airspaces
under the slates so when you drop something on them they sound a little
hollow, but so what! Always start with the thickest slate first, and shuffle
the slates if from different batches.
To be really safe examine each slate for warping/curvature, size
and
squareness before use ( I found the odd rogue got through ). Cut the slates
at the edges to fit with a diamond wheel flat-bed cutter ( £30 - £50 if you
haven't got one ). Don't know how to lay slate on a wooden floor though.
hth

Andy