Porcelain floor tiles in Batumi: base, layout, inspection

The base for porcelain floor tiles: strength, moisture, flatness

We lay porcelain floor tiles in Batumi only on screed that has been checked. A 60×60 or 60×120 tile is rigid: on a bump it rocks, over a dip it bridges a void, and over time the tile above that void cracks from an impact. We tap the screed over its whole area and measure it with a moisture meter. If the screed has yet to be poured, the layer thickness, joints and curing are covered on the page about floor screed in an apartment.

We check flatness with a two-metre straightedge and take the levels of every room with a laser level. With a gap of up to 2 mm we lay on primer, level differences of up to a centimetre we cover with a thin self-levelling layer, and areas that sound hollow we break out and pour again.

We apply flexible adhesive twice, to the base and to the back of the tile, as on walls, and on the floor we add one more check: in each room we lift the first tile and look at the adhesive print. The adhesive should cover almost the whole back, with no empty corners. We accept the batch, cut and mitre the tiles in the same way as described on the page about laying porcelain tiles on walls, and where ordinary ceramic tiles are enough for a floor is explained in our comparison of ceramic and porcelain tiles.

Floor height and the joint with laminate, wood and SPC vinyl

A 9–10 mm tile on a 5–8 mm bed of adhesive raises the floor 1.4–1.8 cm above the screed. Click SPC vinyl with underlay takes 5–6 mm, laminate with underlay about a centimetre, glued engineered wood almost as much as porcelain tiles, and an underfloor heating mat adds a few more millimetres. If the screed is all at one level, you get a step where the hallway tiles meet the laminate or vinyl.

We don't hide a step like that with extra adhesive under the tiles: a bed thicker than a centimetre settles unevenly, and the tile by the doorway sinks. If the screed has already been poured, we adjust the height on the neighbouring side: we pour a self-levelling layer under the vinyl or laminate, and where the screed under the tiles is higher than planned, we grind off the bumps. A level difference that can't be removed we show you on the layout before laying starts.

One layout for the whole apartment

When porcelain tiles run from the hallway into the corridor and the kitchen, we draw one layout for all the rooms. We mark a common line through the doorways with a laser, and the corridor joints carry on into the kitchen without a shift. If the rows start afresh in each room, two grids meet in the doorway.

The walls of an apartment are almost never parallel. We align the rows to the wall you see first, and the taper that builds up towards the opposite wall we hide under a wardrobe or the kitchen plinth. On the same layout we mark the underfloor heating zones and the movement joints, so that each joint runs along a line of tiles.

We lay 60×120 tiles with an offset of no more than a third of their length. After firing, a long tile is slightly bowed, and its middle is a fraction of a millimetre higher than its edges. With a half offset, the middle of one tile falls at the edge of its neighbour, and you get lippage that a tile levelling system removes only partly. We lay a half offset only if the range's data sheet expressly allows it.

Gaps, movement joints and underfloor heating under tiles

Around the perimeter of the room we leave a 5–8 mm gap and fill it with neither adhesive nor grout. We cut movement joints in doorways, over joints in the screed, along the edge of the heated zone and in rooms longer than 8 m, and fill them with flexible sealant in the grout colour.

Under 60×60 tiles we lay the underfloor heating mat straight into the adhesive. Under 60×120 we first cover the cable with a thin self-levelling layer, so that the long tile rests on a flat plane rather than on the cable runs. How we choose the mat and the thermostat, and when we test the cable, is described on the page about underfloor heating in an apartment. We usually cut the skirting from the same porcelain tiles in strips 7–8 cm high, with 45° mitres on external corners.

What we check after the floor is laid

Besides the usual tiling checks with a straightedge for lippage and joints, on a floor we check the things that come to light once you are living in the apartment:

• the levels in each room match the calculation, and there is no step where the tiles meet other floor coverings;
• we tap the tiles over the whole area, especially where the fridge, the island and the wardrobe will stand;
• the doors open over the new floor without scraping, and the front door doesn't catch on the tiles;
• the gap at the walls and the movement joints are clean before the skirting and sealant cover them;
• the underfloor heating cable reading after laying is recorded in the certificate.

Until the end of the renovation we cover the floor with cardboard: sand under the feet of a stepladder scratches even matt tiles.

How much laying porcelain floor tiles costs in Batumi

Laying porcelain floor tiles costs from 75 ₾ per m² for a straight 60×60 layout and goes up to 96 ₾ in small rooms with 60×120 tiles and boxing. The tiles and adhesive are not included in this price: porcelain tiles usually cost 115–190 ₾ per m², and you can buy them yourself or we can, as a separate line in the estimate.

Laying a floor most often also involves a self-levelling layer, 14–18 ₾ per m² in labour, grouting, 24–36 ₾ per m², and mitre cutting the skirting at 45°, 100–130 ₾ per linear metre. In a bathroom and on a balcony, a liquid waterproofing membrane in two coats goes under the tiles, 30–42 ₾ per m². Tiles larger than 60×120 are laid with their own technique, and large-format tiling costs from 140 ₾ per m².

The final cost is set after measuring up and agreeing the estimate: only on site can we see how many tiles will go to cutting and whether the screed needs correcting. We fix the price of each stage in the contract.