Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.

"Steve Barnes" wrote in message
om...
Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.

Be careful, have you seen what grease splattered slate looks like!

i'd go for something glazed or at least "cleanable"

Tony

enuff wrote:

"Steve Barnes" wrote in message
om...

Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.


Be careful, have you seen what grease splattered slate looks like!


go ver the slae in olive oil as sonn as its laid then.

Nice sheen...

You can seal slate perfectly adequately with lithofin. Ive splattered
tons of oil, paint, doggy do, kitten do and lord knows what else over
our slate floor, and it all washes off..



i'd go for something glazed or at least "cleanable"

Tony

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 00:46:09 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

enuff wrote:

"Steve Barnes" wrote in message
om...

Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.


Be careful, have you seen what grease splattered slate looks like!


go ver the slae in olive oil as sonn as its laid then.

Nice sheen...

You can seal slate perfectly adequately with lithofin. Ive splattered
tons of oil, paint, doggy do, kitten do and lord knows what else over
our slate floor, and it all washes off..

Yep. Agreed. You can use natural stones in a kitchen as long as
they are sealed with the correct, good quality sealers and treatments.
I used Lithofin products throughout and find them excellent.
I used tumbled marble tiles on the kitchen walls and they are also
fine for that application. The one thing that would not be advisable
would be to use marble for a worktop - it's too soft and is affected
by acids such as lemon juice.

Regarding slate tile sizing, you can get larger tiles than 30x30 if
you feel that that might help - for example my floors are 40x60 and
you can get 60x60.

I don't think you'll find edging tiles in the same sense as you do
with factory made products. Keep in mind that slate is a natural
material. The tiles will vary in thickness (unless you buy them
calibrated on both sides - machined flat - but that looks boring) and
in colour and appearance.

The normal way to fill small spaces and details is to simply cut
pieces of slate to fit, and also to carefully select a suitable type
and colour of grout - white is probably not a good plan.
For example, during my kitchen construction, I needed to have a
shallow plinth to take the AGA and raise it to the correct height
level with the granite worktops. The plinth is concrete and about
50mm high. It's finished by having a small upstand of the floor tiles
and blends perfectly. The same can be done for a wall.

Alternatively, you can mix in another type of tile - small marble
mosaics is one option around the edges or as a band a little way in
from an edge. Personally, I don't care for it because I feel that
slate is something that should just be seen as naturally as possible
without added fussy bits. For the same reason, I use a low sheen
sealant which has a colour enhancing property but does not make the
tiles look glossy. I hate glossy floors anyway, but with slate I
feel that it looks completely wrong. If you find a good slate
selection then there will often be fossils of various sizes and types
and these look very attractive .

I would suggest a) going and looking at some design ideas and b)
buying some samples and c) a small quantity of sealer.

I bought my slate and marble from Stonell (www.stonell.co.uk) and
found them very good on ideas and good quality materials.
There are a number of similar organisations.

I found it helpful to seal some pieces to get the right appearance and
then lay them in situ for a few days trying different layouts and
sizes.

It's certainly worth taking time and getting it right. I am not sure
that you can be definitive about layout. What looks right with one
stone may not with another.




i'd go for something glazed or at least "cleanable"

Tony





..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

The Natural Philosopher wrote in message ...
go ver the slae in olive oil as sonn as its laid then.

do what?!

Methinks you need a new kyebaord or soemhithng...
Diavd

I am not sure slate is a good material, at the very least you need to seal it. Cheep slate (ie not welsh) flakes apart, even the good stuff does in the end.

Rick


On 18 Jan 2004 08:05:01 -0800, (Steve Barnes) wrote:
Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 23:59:33 GMT, Rick Dipper
wrote:

I am not sure slate is a good material, at the very least you need to seal it. Cheep slate (ie not welsh) flakes apart, even the good stuff does in the end.

There are some very good slates that are not Welsh, and there are some
quite crappy Welsh and Cornish slates on the market. It's a question
of examining and comparing, paying a fair price and then installing it
correctly. This includes using correct adhesives, correct
preparation and correct finishing.

Hewn rather than calibrated slate may lose a few small flakes from the
surface soon after installation, but that stops quite quickly.




Rick


On 18 Jan 2004 08:05:01 -0800, (Steve Barnes) wrote:
Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Rick Dipper wrote:

I am not sure slate is a good material, at the very least you need to seal it. Cheep slate (ie not welsh) flakes apart, even the good stuff does in the end.



I only flakes if of very poor quailty or subject to frost shatter.

It's not a bad material, just expensive and as you say, needs sealing.



Rick


On 18 Jan 2004 08:05:01 -0800, (Steve Barnes) wrote:

Anyones views please on kitchen wall tiling. The natural slate tiles i
am to put up are 30 x 30mm with some areas of the kitchen (between
worktop and wall units) 55cm, therefore there is less than 2 tiles
height. Would it look better to have a row of whole tiles from the
worktop followed by a 3/4 tile on top up to the wall units or 2 rows
of equal height tiles or any other combination??? Secondly, i have yet
to see any suitable 'edging' for these slate tiles either on external
corners or where the end of a row does not meet a wall unit etc. Any
ideas please.