Glass mosaic in the interior of the bathroom, is it possible to lay the mosaic yourself
Mosaic is used as a finishing material for baths, pools, steam cabins, for other rooms in which the owners want to create a special style, bright, glamorous, original. Such decoration attracts with the opportunity to create unusual shapes, so when planning repairs in an apartment, you should definitely pay attention to the option of wall decoration with glass mosaic.
Content:
- How to prepare the foundation
- What glue should be used
- How to lay paper-based mosaics video
- How to lay a mosaic on a grid
- Overwrite the seams video
- How to cut glass mosaic
- Care Rules video
How to prepare the base for laying glass mosaic
Of course, having decided to decorate the interior of their bathroom in such an original way, the owners will ask themselves: can you put the mosaic on your own, or you will have to turn to professionals for help. So, the technology itself is not very complicated, but in order to get a high-quality result, you will have to study the recommendations of specialists.
The first step is to prepare a quality foundation. To do this, it is necessary to eliminate all irregularities and roughness, cracks on the surface, in case of a loose surface it should be puttied and primed. Especially carefully you need to prepare the surface for a glass mosaic - the base in this case should be absolutely smooth and monophonic, its slightest flaws will be visible through the transparent fragments. The surface is ground, cleaned of dust, dried. The temperature in the room where the work will be performed should be in the range from +3 to +30 degrees C.
Next, the prepared surface should be marked, namely, apply vertical and horizontal lines, while a plumb line, level and ruler should be used. These lines will subsequently determine the accuracy of the arrangement of the matrices.
What glue should be used
The glue for glass mosaic needs to be used special:
- its characteristics should allow use in the room in which the mosaic will be glued, if in the bathroom, then in conditions of high humidity and temperature extremes
- the adhesive composition should have good adhesion to the base material: ceramics, cement, wood, metal.
Adhesives for which glass mosaic styling is traditionally performed are available in two shades - white and gray, there are also colored adhesives made on an epoxy basis, but before buying them, you should check how a fragment of your mosaic looks based on this color.
It is important that when applying glue, the trowel teeth do not leave traces of movement on its surface. You need to apply so much glue so that the entire surface of the mosaic is completely moistened with it, saving in this case is not recommended. For greater convenience, you can use a spatula with thin teeth.
Do not forget to remove the paper base in a timely manner and check the quality of gluing of each of the matrices. The slightest missed mistake can ruin the appearance of the entire wall.
How to lay paper-based mosaics
- Finishing sheets are laid on glue with a paper base up.
- To spread the glue evenly, iron the sheet several times with a rubber spatula, metal is not recommended.
- If the distance between the sheets is maintained precisely, then the seams will look beautiful and even.
- After stacking each subsequent sector, you should return to the previous one and moisten the surface of the paper, thereby contributing to its peeling.
- All operations should be done very carefully - the glue will not have time to harden for such a period of time.
- Remove the paper starting from the top corner diagonally to the opposite.
- It is recommended to immediately remove excess glue and even out the seams if necessary, after a while it will not be possible to do this.
- Similarly stack all sectors of the mosaic. It takes 24 hours to dry the glue.
How to lay a mosaic on a grid
Glass mosaic on the grid is glued in a slightly different way. The segments to be glued should be pressed so hard that the net drowns completely and evenly in the adhesive solution. You also need to monitor the uniformity of the seams between the segments.
Overwrite the seams
This procedure can be performed no earlier than in a day - during this time the glue will have time to thoroughly dry. Before performing work, you should carefully read the instructions for the trowel material you purchased.
Grout for glass mosaic is applied only after the final removal of glue from the surface with a moistened sponge. Remove residual grout with a rubber trowel. It takes about half an hour to dry the grout. After drying, the color of the seams will become a little darker.
How to cut glass mosaic
To cut a glass mosaic, you can use: a knife or scissors, with their help you can cut strips of their mesh or paper, tongs, with which you can cut segments, a special cutting machine equipped with a diamond blade, the cut can be made on mosaic sheets. Previously, a cut line should be applied, the cut must be done very slowly, if you try to make it at a time, you can split the coating.
Care Rules
To care for the mosaic does not need any special and expensive tools. You can use the most common, made on an acid basis.
After surface treatment, it must be rinsed with clean water. It is not necessary to apply special efforts when cleaning - excessive pressing can lead to the destruction of the grout layer. When cleaning, it is best to move diagonally.
