Tile Setting-Nostalgic About Old Mud Slabs
By Sandro Vivolo

Here is a method of installing tiles that is very old-fashioned learned from my grand father and then from my father back in Italy almost 35 years ago when I started with them setting tiles over slabs of mad.

I was attracted buy the magnificence of the ceramic and since then I wanted to discover every ploy possible to learn.
This method was the only way to go at the times without any mastic or tin set available like now days.

They use to laid a thick slab of mud (5-10 inches) made with a mix of water, sand and mortar cement, In 1-6-1 part or to form a like hard crumbly mud consistency.
After levelling the whole area walking on it still wet with special shoes it was the time of a sprinkle of dry mortar cement and then laid the tiles all at once cuts and field pieces one next to the other with no spacers.

After covering a large part (almost 250 square feet) in one shoot, than was the time of beaten the tiles with a machine and in some cases where the machine could not reach with a mallet.
This step was fallow buy wetting the whole area with a water hose and then sprinkle a dray sand on it follow buy a sprinkle of water again.

Final step was to squeegee the wet sand around the grout lines and to wipe off with a broom the access. Finish: very primitive but very effective.
No cement slab at the time no tin set or grout mix to fill the joints. No wasting time.

Although now days it is not suggested to laid tiles very close to each other allowing a space of a list 1/8 of an inch from each other this was an effective techniques that allowed floors to stay in places for more than 20 years.

And it is still in use in Europe now days especially in multilevel residential new constructions.

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