Laying floor Tiles, why no screed?

[STD Warehouse]

Back home when the contractor tiled my floor they:

 

• Poured self-levelling screed first, producing a flat, smooth, level surface
• Tiled with 2-5mm of tile adhesive to lay the tiles onto the screed.

 

The level screed made and easy job of installing level tiles and only the tile alignment was the main concern, they laid the tiles pretty quickly because of this. I can see this is possible in Thailand using this self levelling screed ( https://www.th.weber/en/weberfloor-1145 ) and this tile adhesive (  https://www.homepro.co.th/p/1107125 )

 

Here in Thailand they seem to:

 

• Not use screed 
• use an expensive tile adhesive https://www.homepro.co.th/p/107503 putting about 2cm of this stuff down and laying the tiles on top

 

The result seems to be:

 

• Lower quality of level finish -> They struggle to get the tiles level with so much tile adhesive under each tile
• Lower quality of alignment -> again because they also have to concentrate on the levelling
• Increased work time -> It takes them a long time as often have to adjust and re-adjust this fat wedge of tile adhesive

 

So why is it so often done this way in Thailand?

 

And

 

I would like to attempt to try the screed method, but is there some underlying reason why in Thailand this is not done? Hot humid climate?

[stubuzz]

 

1 hour ago, STD Warehouse said:

I would like to attempt to try the screed method, but is there some underlying reason why in Thailand this is not done? Hot humid climate?

The screed is expensive.

[sometimewoodworker]

40 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

 

The screed is expensive.

And there is a level of skill required that if you haven’t done it before means you will probably not do a perfect job. So people who have practice at that are like Thai Electrictions, there are really good ones but you will never find them on local job sites.

[bankruatsteve]

I have never seen adhesive used in Thailand.  Just cement - or maybe a special cement.  I have always used an 'expert' and no issues 20 years later.

[ETatBKK]

screeding is a critical skill, not all workers manage it (some will idle). after screeding need sometimes to wait before laying the tiling (another idle in the work site).

after screeding, Thai workers do have enough knowledge and equipment to check the levelling never. they check the smoothness by eyes, not the leveling.

 

last year I re-tile my living room with huge 80x160cm tiles, each weight 25kg. the workers put a thin cement on the base, but not levelled. I saw how they work, and I was sweating. two tiles went wrong.

[OneMoreFarang]

I will probably hire people for a condominium renovation later this year or next year. Currently I watch a lot of YouTube videos how to do things. I don't really plan to do much by myself. But I want to know how to do things right. Because especially with the tiles floor if anybody does it wrong it is a lot of work and expensive to do it again.

 

Here is what I learned from the YouTube videos (and not from Thais):

- the floor should be leveled before installing tiles

- modern workers use a laser level device. You should get one for yourself to check the work of the workers and/or tell them up front what you expect.

- self leveling is not as easy as some manufacturers want to make you think. Watch this video

 

In general I watch a lot of videos from Jeff on his channel Home RenoVision DIY. It seems he knows what he is talking about. This one is about tiling and there are many more good videos on his channel.

DIY Tile Floor with Peygran Tile Levelling System Review Unboxing - YouTube

 

I read somewhere else, I think in this forum, that it makes sense to ask the tile supplier for professionals who are skilled at installing them. Maybe that is a little more expensive but probably a lot cheaper than doing it twice.

 

[clivebaxter]

Tried to get a tiler last year to use those spacing leveling pegs and use the right sort of trowel that bites into the adhesive to give it room to spread out and not come up through the spaces. He used ordinary cement, ordinary trowel and a bit of string, the result was not absolutely awful, but not that good either, Thai standard.