Mosaic Tile for Concrete Steps

Stair Preperation

• Stair preparation is just as important with mosaic tiles as it is with normal square tiles. The vertical surfaces of the stairs need to be uniform across the face and the horizontal sections need to be flat so that the tiles do not have lippage (the condition of one tile being higher than another). All debris needs to be cleaned away from the surface with a floor scraper and then a broom.

Centering the Installation

• While layout is more challenging with traditional tiles, with sheet mosaic tiles on stairs you only need to worry about centering the installation. You can check the sheets against your center line and choose to either center a piece of mosaic tile on top of the center line, or run a grout joint down the center mark. Both choices are dependent on the size of the cut along the outer edges of the stairwell, with full tile or large cuts being the preference for a professional-looking installation.

Trowel-Notch Size

• The notches on your trowel must be the correct size to ensure sufficient coverage of thinset mortar for the mosaic tiles to adhere to. Too much thinset can be a bad thing and can create a mess that you have to spend hours cleaning up before you can grout. 1-inch and 2-inch mosaic tiles can be installed with a 1/8-inch notch trowel. Anything larger will cause excess thinset to ooze up through the grout joints when you install the tiles and press them into the mortar.

Grout Considerations

• Mosaic tiles are some of the more challenging to grout because the size of the grout joints combined with the notches in the thinset at the bottom of each joint can create air bubbles during the grouting process. It is important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter when mixing the grout to keep it at the right consistency, and force the grout into the joints from all angles to force excess air out of the joint so that only grout remains.