Mosaic is not just a kind of masonry of small elements, but a way of expressing artistic creativity. This type of decoration occupies one of the most worthy places not only in art, but also in everyday life. Mosaic paintings are found in the interior of many apartments and houses. Having decided to decorate your home with facing material, you must first understand its diversity, properties, find out how to glue the mosaic to the floor, walls or ceiling. Without this knowledge, it is simply impossible to choose the appropriate product on your own, do the installation correctly with your own hands, or control the wizard.
Mosaic art originated in ancient times. The first mosaics were found during excavations of temples and palaces of the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia. Historians attribute these buildings to the second half of the 4th millennium BC. There are many finds dating back to ancient times, but the heyday of masonry fell on the era of the Byzantine Empire, where they began to use smaller processed stones.
More than one thousand years have passed since the appearance of the first prototypes, and mosaics are still a popular type of decoration. It is decorated with kitchens, bathrooms, bathrooms, other rooms. The construction market offers a wide range of mosaic tiles, with the help of which they create a unique interior, lay original patterns on the walls, floor, ceiling.
One of the main features of the tile can be called its dimensions. The size of individual elements is from 10 to 50 mm². Small blocks can be laid not only on flat surfaces, but also used for facing rounded shapes, for example, columns, convex, concave planes. The square shape of the chips is the most common, but there are also rectangular, round, diamond-shaped, other pixels.
In the manufacture of finished products, a wide variety of materials are used. On sale you can find ceramic, glass, stone, metal, smalt, mirror, and even wooden chips. The color palette of finished products is the most diverse. When choosing the most suitable shade, it is necessary to pay attention to the purpose of the room, the influence of color on the human psyche.
Types of mosaics - their advantages and disadvantages
Mosaic tiles have several significant advantages. It is distinguished by its excellent appearance, resistance to moisture, temperature changes, does not fade in the sun.With the right choice and installation, it will last more than one decade. Among the shortcomings can be identified the high cost of the product. Also, laying small elements, drawing panels takes a lot of time.
High performance, the ability to create original designs allow the use of mosaics in different rooms. With its help, you can decorate the floor and walls in the bathroom, shower, and even lining the pool. In the kitchen, most often it is used to design a kitchen apron, countertops. This material can be used to decorate niches, columns, decorate a fireplace, and other architectural elements.
As noted above, a wide variety of materials are used to produce mosaic tiles. Each of them has its own characteristic features. In order to understand the existing varieties, to have a complete understanding of the product in question, we dwell in more detail on the main types.
Glass
For the production of mosaics, fine-grained white sand is used. In the process of heating up to 14000C and more, it turns into a liquid glass mass, which is poured into standard forms ranging in size from 10 to 50 mm². Glass is several times stronger than usual, it can be transparent, colored, frosted, decorated with decor. To give it a certain shade, minerals are added to the liquid composition.
Separately, smalt can be distinguished. In fact, this is the same glass made by a special technology of smelting with the addition of metal oxides. There are several types of smalt: transparent, deaf or opal, sinewy and spotted, gold and silver. If the first three subspecies are obtained by adding dyes and damping substances to the composition, then the foil is used in the production of the latter.
Advantages of the plates:
durability;
easy care;
ecological purity of the material;
inertness to fungus and mold;
attractive design;
heat resistance;
impact resistance;
water resistance;
frost resistance.
Disadvantages:
high price;
difficult styling;
fragility;
slippery surface.
Mirror
Mosaic is a type of glass. There are options as fixed to the grid, and sold in bulk. To obtain a mirror effect, spraying or an amalgam (a reflective coating of silver and mercury) is applied to the back of the plates. Like ordinary glass, this type of tile has the same advantages, and also allows you to visually increase the room, fill it with light, hide the surface roughness.
Under the influence of moisture, alkalis, and other organic solvents, the mirror layer may fade, darken, which requires its additional protection. The coating can be damaged as a result of mechanical stresses, so the laying of the plates should be done by professionals. Particular attention must be paid to glue. It is recommended to choose anhydrous white formulations that do not shrink during the solidification process.
Stone
Stone is a unique natural material that has an original coloring, pattern, pattern. There are several classifications of stone tiles, but the most popular is based on the breed:
Precious and semi-precious. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, spinel, others. They are rarely used, mainly for decorating vases, caskets, and other small items.
Ornamental. Serpentine, malachite, jasper, agate, other species with bright shades and a characteristic pattern.
Finishing. Marble, granite, basalt. The most popular breeds have an affordable price.
Simple (savage). Pebbles, sandstone, tuff.
Artificial. It is based on porcelain stoneware produced under the action of high temperatures of the press powder.
Among the main advantages of the material, its durability can be distinguished, therefore, the laid out panel will serve for more than a decade. The stone is not afraid of deformation, resistant to abrasion, withstands mechanical stress, and is unpretentious in maintenance.It is characterized by a variety of shapes, shades. But, despite all its advantages, the cells have a fairly large weight and high cost.
Ceramic or tiled
Among the huge variety of materials used in decoration, mosaic is one of the most practical and common. Using small particles you can create whole pictures. In fact, this is the same ceramic tile, but in a reduced form. Small plates completely retain all the properties of the tile, respectively, have almost identical characteristics and operational features.
The main advantages of this material include:
High strength. Mosaic ceramic tiles are resistant to abrasion, not afraid of loads, mechanical damage. Unlike ordinary tiles, when hit by the surface of heavy objects it does not crack.
Low slippage. Due to the large number of seams, it does not slip even when moisture enters the surface.
Attractive appearance. It is characterized by a wide range of color shades, a variety of sizes and shapes.
Resistance to moisture, temperature changes.
Heat resistance.
Simple cleaning. It is enough to periodically do a wet cleaning of the surface with a sponge.
Among the disadvantages, a higher cost can be distinguished in comparison with a standard tile. Mosaic is more demanding on the plane on which it is laid, it requires careful preparation. For grouting, much more grouting is used. The time for laying small items increases significantly.
Choosing glue for mosaic tiles
Laying mosaics is easy to do with your own hands. Regardless of the installation location and the selected technology, high-quality preparation of the base, the correct selection of the adhesive composition are necessary. You can put the mosaic on any glue suitable for tile. But when choosing a certain type of mixture, one must take into account the state of the surface and its features.For gluing mosaic elements, the following materials are most often used:
Cement glue. It has the lowest price compared to other formulations. Manufacturers produce white or gray mixtures, packaged in bags of 20-30 kg. The composition includes cement, sand, gypsum, alabaster, fillers and plasticizers. Cement glue is diluted with water or liquid latex, used for application on brick, concrete masonry.
The dispersion composition. Sold ready-made at banks. The composition includes water, mineral components, acrylic additives. Pasty mass is more expensive than cement, but the convenience of its application compensates for this drawback. It takes 30 minutes to solidify completely. During this time, you can adjust the position of the mosaic tiles. The rest of the mixture can be stored for a long time in sealed packaging.
Two-component adhesive. The composition of high-strength mass includes epoxy resin and hardener. The material is suitable for gluing mosaics to smooth surfaces (marble, glass, plastic, metal). Wall mosaics using two-component mixtures are carried out in the bathroom, pool, kitchen, shower.
Styling technology
You can stick the mosaic on your own only on a pre-aligned base. To hide irregularities, putty is used with the use of a reinforcing mesh or a paper layer. Only a professional can cope with the laying out of an artistic ornament. Calculating the correct distance between small parts is very difficult. For installation masters, it is better to use a special mosaic canvas with a pre-fixed pattern during installation.
Calculation of the amount of glue and mosaic
With self-repair, many novice craftsmen buy tile glue without preliminary estimates of its quantity. As a result, the material has to be purchased or discarded. The consumption of glue depends on several factors - its type, size of mosaic elements, styling techniques, skills of the master.
To find out how much glue is required per 1 m2, you can use several counting methods. The easiest is to use an automatic calculator. In certain fields it is necessary to enter the characteristics of materials, their quantity and wait for the results to be displayed on the screen. Despite the ease of use and efficiency, the method is not reliable, since the calculations will be approximate.
After the design of the facing material is determined, you can begin to calculate its quantity. If the mosaic elements are square, you can use a simple formula. First you need to measure the area of the working surface. Then determine the area of one tile element. Now we divide the size of the base by the size of one part and get the required number of units.
Calculation of the mixture for laying is carried out taking into account the type of facing material. For a light tile, a layer thickness of 2-10 mm is sufficient. Heavier ceramics are best mounted on a mixture laid in a layer of 15-20 mm. This indicator can be increased if laying is carried out on a surface with significant irregularities.
If the recommended thickness of the adhesive solution is overestimated, the mixture will dry for a long time. With vertical cladding, all or part of the elements can move.
Necessary tools and materials
The mosaic is initially glued to a special module in the form of a grid or a sheet of paper. The foldable web will then be easily transferred to any surface. It can be cut with scissors or a knife, give any shape. The following materials and tools will be required for laying mosaic parts:
Primer. To finish the bathroom or kitchen you will need a waterproof agent;
Glue for a special type of mosaic and surface;
Grout for joints;
Toothed spatula for applying adhesive mass;
Plate for leveling the surface;
Rubber paddle for grouting;
Sanding sand;
Any rags for removing supplies.
Wall preparation
Most often found in the form of a cement-sand screed. Less often, the laying area is finished with plastic or drywall. Regardless of the option chosen, thorough wall preparation is required. The surface should be flat, without potholes and cracks.
In the process of preparation, it is necessary to clean the walls of dust and dirt. Then the walls are washed and a primer is applied. If they are sheathed with drywall, it is necessary to repair the seams and hide the caps of the screws. When the grip coating has dried, styling can begin.
Glue and mosaic application
To keep the mosaic module on a vertical surface, it is important to bring the adhesive to the desired consistency. The mixture is applied with a simple spatula according to the type of putty, from the corner. When the surface is ready for several paintings, it should once again go through a toothed plate. The direction of the strokes in this case does not matter. The excess solution is transferred to an adjacent section of the wall.
There are two types of mosaic backing - paper backing and mesh. Each is fundamentally different by the method of sticker elements. In the first case, the parts are leaned against the adhesive mixture, and the paper remains outside. In the second - the grid, together with the fixed mosaic, is laid on the glue.
Grouting - Finishing
Insufficient grouting can easily spoil the appearance of the mosaic. To prevent this from happening, before applying the color or white mixture, it is necessary to clean the tiled surface from dust, remove glue streaks from the seams.
Grout for joints can have a cement or epoxy base. When choosing should be guided by individual factors. Consideration should be given to the operating conditions of the mosaic, probable physical exertion, chemical, thermal effects. The depth and width of the seam should also be considered. The grout should be matched to the tone of the mosaic or be a little darker.
You can overwrite the seams only after the glued mosaic has completely dried. A minimum of 24 hours must pass.If this rule is not observed, spots may appear on the treated area.
Conclusion
Mosaic tiling is ideal for rooms with high humidity. An unusual, effective solution will decorate any interior. Due to the variety of colors, materials and textures, this type of finish becomes universal. Mosaic is easy to stick on any type of surface, even on convex and curved. After watching a video tutorial or photo, even a novice master can cope with the work step by step.
Mosaic is not just a kind of masonry of small elements, but a way of expressing artistic creativity. This type of decoration occupies one of the most worthy places not only in art, but also in everyday life. Mosaic paintings are found in the interior of many apartments and houses. Having decided to decorate your home with facing material, you must first understand its diversity, properties, find out how to glue the mosaic to the floor, walls or ceiling. Without this knowledge, it is simply impossible to choose the appropriate product on your own, do the installation correctly with your own hands, or control the wizard.
Content
Product Features
Mosaic art originated in ancient times. The first mosaics were found during excavations of temples and palaces of the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia. Historians attribute these buildings to the second half of the 4th millennium BC. There are many finds dating back to ancient times, but the heyday of masonry fell on the era of the Byzantine Empire, where they began to use smaller processed stones.
More than one thousand years have passed since the appearance of the first prototypes, and mosaics are still a popular type of decoration. It is decorated with kitchens, bathrooms, bathrooms, other rooms. The construction market offers a wide range of mosaic tiles, with the help of which they create a unique interior, lay original patterns on the walls, floor, ceiling.
One of the main features of the tile can be called its dimensions. The size of individual elements is from 10 to 50 mm². Small blocks can be laid not only on flat surfaces, but also used for facing rounded shapes, for example, columns, convex, concave planes. The square shape of the chips is the most common, but there are also rectangular, round, diamond-shaped, other pixels.
In the manufacture of finished products, a wide variety of materials are used. On sale you can find ceramic, glass, stone, metal, smalt, mirror, and even wooden chips. The color palette of finished products is the most diverse. When choosing the most suitable shade, it is necessary to pay attention to the purpose of the room, the influence of color on the human psyche.
Types of mosaics - their advantages and disadvantages
Mosaic tiles have several significant advantages. It is distinguished by its excellent appearance, resistance to moisture, temperature changes, does not fade in the sun.With the right choice and installation, it will last more than one decade. Among the shortcomings can be identified the high cost of the product. Also, laying small elements, drawing panels takes a lot of time.
High performance, the ability to create original designs allow the use of mosaics in different rooms. With its help, you can decorate the floor and walls in the bathroom, shower, and even lining the pool. In the kitchen, most often it is used to design a kitchen apron, countertops. This material can be used to decorate niches, columns, decorate a fireplace, and other architectural elements.
As noted above, a wide variety of materials are used to produce mosaic tiles. Each of them has its own characteristic features. In order to understand the existing varieties, to have a complete understanding of the product in question, we dwell in more detail on the main types.
Glass
For the production of mosaics, fine-grained white sand is used. In the process of heating up to 14000C and more, it turns into a liquid glass mass, which is poured into standard forms ranging in size from 10 to 50 mm². Glass is several times stronger than usual, it can be transparent, colored, frosted, decorated with decor. To give it a certain shade, minerals are added to the liquid composition.
Separately, smalt can be distinguished. In fact, this is the same glass made by a special technology of smelting with the addition of metal oxides. There are several types of smalt: transparent, deaf or opal, sinewy and spotted, gold and silver. If the first three subspecies are obtained by adding dyes and damping substances to the composition, then the foil is used in the production of the latter.
Advantages of the plates:
Disadvantages:
Mirror
Mosaic is a type of glass. There are options as fixed to the grid, and sold in bulk. To obtain a mirror effect, spraying or an amalgam (a reflective coating of silver and mercury) is applied to the back of the plates. Like ordinary glass, this type of tile has the same advantages, and also allows you to visually increase the room, fill it with light, hide the surface roughness.
Under the influence of moisture, alkalis, and other organic solvents, the mirror layer may fade, darken, which requires its additional protection. The coating can be damaged as a result of mechanical stresses, so the laying of the plates should be done by professionals. Particular attention must be paid to glue. It is recommended to choose anhydrous white formulations that do not shrink during the solidification process.
Stone
Stone is a unique natural material that has an original coloring, pattern, pattern. There are several classifications of stone tiles, but the most popular is based on the breed:
Among the main advantages of the material, its durability can be distinguished, therefore, the laid out panel will serve for more than a decade. The stone is not afraid of deformation, resistant to abrasion, withstands mechanical stress, and is unpretentious in maintenance.It is characterized by a variety of shapes, shades. But, despite all its advantages, the cells have a fairly large weight and high cost.
Ceramic or tiled
Among the huge variety of materials used in decoration, mosaic is one of the most practical and common. Using small particles you can create whole pictures. In fact, this is the same ceramic tile, but in a reduced form. Small plates completely retain all the properties of the tile, respectively, have almost identical characteristics and operational features.
The main advantages of this material include:
Among the disadvantages, a higher cost can be distinguished in comparison with a standard tile. Mosaic is more demanding on the plane on which it is laid, it requires careful preparation. For grouting, much more grouting is used. The time for laying small items increases significantly.
Choosing glue for mosaic tiles
Laying mosaics is easy to do with your own hands. Regardless of the installation location and the selected technology, high-quality preparation of the base, the correct selection of the adhesive composition are necessary. You can put the mosaic on any glue suitable for tile. But when choosing a certain type of mixture, one must take into account the state of the surface and its features.For gluing mosaic elements, the following materials are most often used:
Styling technology
You can stick the mosaic on your own only on a pre-aligned base. To hide irregularities, putty is used with the use of a reinforcing mesh or a paper layer. Only a professional can cope with the laying out of an artistic ornament. Calculating the correct distance between small parts is very difficult. For installation masters, it is better to use a special mosaic canvas with a pre-fixed pattern during installation.
Calculation of the amount of glue and mosaic
With self-repair, many novice craftsmen buy tile glue without preliminary estimates of its quantity. As a result, the material has to be purchased or discarded. The consumption of glue depends on several factors - its type, size of mosaic elements, styling techniques, skills of the master.
To find out how much glue is required per 1 m2, you can use several counting methods. The easiest is to use an automatic calculator. In certain fields it is necessary to enter the characteristics of materials, their quantity and wait for the results to be displayed on the screen. Despite the ease of use and efficiency, the method is not reliable, since the calculations will be approximate.
After the design of the facing material is determined, you can begin to calculate its quantity. If the mosaic elements are square, you can use a simple formula. First you need to measure the area of the working surface. Then determine the area of one tile element. Now we divide the size of the base by the size of one part and get the required number of units.
Calculation of the mixture for laying is carried out taking into account the type of facing material. For a light tile, a layer thickness of 2-10 mm is sufficient. Heavier ceramics are best mounted on a mixture laid in a layer of 15-20 mm. This indicator can be increased if laying is carried out on a surface with significant irregularities.
Necessary tools and materials
The mosaic is initially glued to a special module in the form of a grid or a sheet of paper. The foldable web will then be easily transferred to any surface. It can be cut with scissors or a knife, give any shape. The following materials and tools will be required for laying mosaic parts:
Wall preparation
Most often found in the form of a cement-sand screed. Less often, the laying area is finished with plastic or drywall. Regardless of the option chosen, thorough wall preparation is required. The surface should be flat, without potholes and cracks.
In the process of preparation, it is necessary to clean the walls of dust and dirt. Then the walls are washed and a primer is applied. If they are sheathed with drywall, it is necessary to repair the seams and hide the caps of the screws. When the grip coating has dried, styling can begin.
Glue and mosaic application
To keep the mosaic module on a vertical surface, it is important to bring the adhesive to the desired consistency. The mixture is applied with a simple spatula according to the type of putty, from the corner. When the surface is ready for several paintings, it should once again go through a toothed plate. The direction of the strokes in this case does not matter. The excess solution is transferred to an adjacent section of the wall.
There are two types of mosaic backing - paper backing and mesh. Each is fundamentally different by the method of sticker elements. In the first case, the parts are leaned against the adhesive mixture, and the paper remains outside. In the second - the grid, together with the fixed mosaic, is laid on the glue.
Grouting - Finishing
Insufficient grouting can easily spoil the appearance of the mosaic. To prevent this from happening, before applying the color or white mixture, it is necessary to clean the tiled surface from dust, remove glue streaks from the seams.
Grout for joints can have a cement or epoxy base. When choosing should be guided by individual factors. Consideration should be given to the operating conditions of the mosaic, probable physical exertion, chemical, thermal effects. The depth and width of the seam should also be considered. The grout should be matched to the tone of the mosaic or be a little darker.
Conclusion
Mosaic tiling is ideal for rooms with high humidity. An unusual, effective solution will decorate any interior. Due to the variety of colors, materials and textures, this type of finish becomes universal. Mosaic is easy to stick on any type of surface, even on convex and curved. After watching a video tutorial or photo, even a novice master can cope with the work step by step.