Thinset For Marble Subway Tile

Thinset tile mortar has a smooth slippery consistency similar to mud.

Thinset for marble subway tile.

The general rule is any wall tile with a 1 to 2 size can be styled as a subway tile. Tile set by the thinset method is adhered to the substrate with a thin layer of thinset cement. Using a u notched trowel and embedding the tile into the thinset leaves you with a bed of thinset beneath the tile a little over 1 3 the size of the trowel teeth. Unmodified thinset is composed of portland cement sand and water retention agents.

Creating this surface can take time and effort but no matter how perfect the surface is choosing the proper adhesive is just as important. Installing marble tile successfully requires a surface that s strong steady and level enough not to interfere with the tile placement. Traditionally subway tile is 3 x 6 inches. Thinset is a mortar that is made of portland cement silica sand and moisture retaining agents.

Additionally thinset comes in either unmodified or modified versions. 2 x 4 4 x 8 6 x 12. If you attempt to set wall tiles using thinset without spacers you ll end up with a bunch of tiles that have slid into each other before the thinset has had time to set resulting in a giant mess. Sometimes tiles that are not 1 2 but still have a smaller rectangular shape are considered subway tile as well like a 4.

So a 3 8 u notched trowel leaves a 1 8 bed of thinset beneath the installed tile. This type of cement is designed to adhere well in a thin layer typically not greater than 3 16th thick. For example a 3 8 notch trowel will produce a 3. When used to tile walls it s strength allows you to set tile and if you re good with eyeballing you can set tile without the use of spacers.

For marble tiles the adhesive of choice is often a cement based thinset. Find thinset mortar subway tile at lowe s today. In the case of marble tile choosing the right thinset can be essential to ensuring that your tile looks beautiful and remains in good condition for many years to come. Often the choice of thinset color simply comes down to the grout color selection.

The terms thinset cement thinset mortar dryset mortar and drybond mortar are synonymous. It is applied to the substrate with a notched trowel. Thinset tile mortar. Thinset mortar is your default tile mortar for most indoor and outdoor applications.

A 3 8 x 3 8 trowel will leave a 3 16 bed of thinset beneath the tile. For instance if you are installing granite tiles and have selected a gray toned grout color gray thinset is a good choice for installation.