How to appropriately lay your flooring slate

One can hardly choose a better supplier of flooring slate than The Natural Slate Company, not only given the extensive range of colours and types of slate floor tiles that we offer, or even the competitive prices, but also the assistance that we can provide with the fixing and laying of your final floor. Our dedicated technical page goes into more detail, but below are some important pointers for ensuring that your floor looks as impressive and presentable as possible.

The process starts with the right floor preparation, those with concrete floors needing to ensure that their floor is completely cured and dry prior to the laying of the slate. A minimum of four weeks will need to be left for fresh concrete to dry prior to tiling, and the floor would also ideally be perfectly smooth.

Before laying flooring slate tiles on timber floors or floorboards, meanwhile, adequate ventilation between floors will need to be ensured, and the floor will also need to be covered with boarding (plywood or chipboard) that is moisture resistant grade and at least 12mm thick. You will also be required to completely remove any 'loose' floor coverings, like vinyl.

Read our technical page for more information on the general tiling of your floor with slate, including the importance of commencing tiling in the corner of your room furthest from the door. You are also advised to cut the slates with a wet tile cutter with a diamond blade. When the time comes to lay the slate tiles, it's a good idea to lay out several on the floor prior to fixing, so that you achieve a random mix rather than patches of colours.

With natural slate tiles also being hand-split, there will almost inevitably be variations in thickness. Laying a level floor therefore depends on first finding and laying the thickest slates, followed by the use of the adhesive to bed up all of the thinner tiles to ensure consistency of height. The reverse side of the tile, which is likely to be rougher with chisel or grinding marks, is always the one that should be laid on the adhesive, rather than the smoother, "better" side.

Nor should you fix the flooring slate tiles without thoroughly cleaning/washing them and allowing them to completely dry. As the slates are being laid, you should ensure that each one is 'fully bedded' in the adhesive, and once they have been laid, you will need to wait for the adhesive to fully set, not walking on the tiles for at least 24 hours.

Enquire now about the ideal flooring slate for your own home, workplace or organisation from The Natural Slate Company.

Editor’s Note: The Natural Slate Company (http://www.theslatecompany.net) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.