Floor tiling in Thailand

[superal]

I have had some floor tiling done in my place and am not too impressed on the method of laying the tiles which is to lay them on a bed of sand/cement strong mix which is about 40mm thick and tap each tile to it is level . Seems to be a slow laborious task .  Dont know about the rest of the world but in the UK after the concrete oversight is laid a few days later a 40-50mm grit screed is laid on top . The screed is flat & true . After the drying out of the screed the floor tiles are then laid on a bed of combed adhesive .  Progress is fast compared with the Thai method and I reckon a quarter of the time taken by the Thai way . Now I can only think that there is not any grit to be had , to form a screed , as I have never seen any in Thailand , unless you know better ?

[bankruatsteve]

Adhesive can be found (not sure what you call grit), but unless you plan to DIY it's very doubtful you would find somebody to do it that way.  Like painting, there seems to be Tiling 101 and not likely to convince them a different method.

[sometimewoodworker]

47 minutes ago, superal said:

I have had some floor tiling done in my place and am not too impressed on the method of laying the tiles which is to lay them on a bed of sand/cement strong mix which is about 40mm thick and tap each tile to it is level . Seems to be a slow laborious task . 

It is slow, our house was completely tiled using the thinset method.

[Pogust]

It's a self levelling liquid cement based "filler" That is commonly used in Europe. But Thai do as they always have. If you want them to change method you have to show them yourself first. Even then they usually revert back to their old way when you turn your back on them....

 

I guess the old traditional way they use laying floor tiles is cheaper too when labour is cheap here compared to western countries. We did it this way in Europe 40 years ago.

[steve187]

in the UK traditionally a sharp sand and cement screed was put down to a finished level, then that was tiled with a thin bed adhesive, such as weber, dunlop, ardex etc.

 

here they use the method as in the op, its the way most places are tiled here, and the Thai's ( well some) are good at it, they build any falls into the tiling as they go.

[superal]

2 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

Adhesive can be found (not sure what you call grit), but unless you plan to DIY it's very doubtful you would find somebody to do it that way.  Like painting, there seems to be Tiling 101 and not likely to convince them a different method.

Grit is a type of course sand that has a substance to cure with cement to form a solid floor to a finish that is flat & true . Can then have floor coverings laid directly on top . The Thai tiling method is 50 years behind that of Europe etc I think  . Took 2 weeks to tile my kitchen floor ( 100 square meters ) . Reckon it could have been done in 3 - 4 days with same amount of labour .     Have to say that our main Thai builder is second to none at all of his multi skills and totally reliable . He would earn good money in the UK once he got up to date with modern methods .

[fredob43]

I have been in the tiling game in the UK for years. Please let me assure you The Thais do it their way because it works for them. Using a thin layer of screed to adhere the Tiles here is not always the best way due to the heat. Thin one would dry out quicker. It also enables them to get the floor level.

 

Right time it takes yes it's not quick but Rome wasn't built in a day. Added to that they charge peanuts. Just compare what they charge around 500bt a day to the UK prices of around 150 Pounds a day.  More than likely + Vat at 20%.

 

I have just had some tiling done at my place took my Thai man 3 days as it was a real bugger to do. Lots of cuts. If I had done it using the UK method would have taken me 1.5 days As it needed self levelling first I would have quoted 2 days work 300 pounds I was charged 1.500bt Gave him 2.000bt Give me the Thai way every time. Just wait a bit of extra time as long as they do it correctly you'll be fine. Think yourself lucky as your Quid's in. Spend the monies you saved on a beer and chill out. 

[eyecatcher]

Its rare to see a tiled floor on concrete in the uk, and generally limited to commercial premises.

 

As for slow, well consider the fact that concrete slabs take a month per inch to fully dry out there, you have a long wait before its ready for floor tiling.

In a house it would never happen.