Durastone Installation

Preparation

• 1

  Make sure you are wearing rubber gloves, eye protection and a dust mask when preparing wooden surfaces by sanding as well as when using chemicals to prepare and clean concrete or existing tile. Keep them on at all times as tile adhesive and tile dust are also skin, eye and respiratory irritants.

• 2

  Remove all moldings and baseboards at the bottom edges of the walls of the room or area in which you are installing Durastone. Remove any appliances that rest on the floor and are not permanently installed. Keep children and pets away from your work area.

• 3

  Remove any paint from concrete sub-flooring with an appropriate liquid paint remover and wash away all remover and old paint residue. Clean all concrete surfaces thoroughly with a concrete cleaning solution or muriatic acid according to the directions on the product label. Fill any holes and level any imperfections in the surface with a Portland cement-based underlayment or filling compound according to manufacturer's directions. Allow the surface to dry thoroughly before applying tile.

• 4

  Cover single-layer wood floors with a 1/4-inch or greater plywood underlayment so that the overall thickness of the floor is at least 1 inch. Cover stripwood floors with at least a 3/8-inch thick underlayment. Install the underlayment using adhesive, nails or both according to manufacturer recommendations. Sand the underlayment with a power sander or sanding block and fill any holes in the plywood or gaps between sheets that are 1/32-inch deep or greater.

• 5

  Strip all wax and polish from existing linoleum or vinyl tile with a liquid wax stripper as recommended by the product manufacturer. Wash the chemical residue off thoroughly with a clean mop or pressure washer and make sure the floor covering is smooth and not cushioned before preparing to lay Durastone over it. Remove the covering and prepare the sub-floor under it according to Step 1 or 2 if it is cushioned, overly thick or cannot be cleaned.

• 6

  Level any ceramic tile that covers a surface on which you plan to lay Durastone with regular tile grout. Allow the grout to dry thoroughly according to the recommendations on the product label.

• 7

  Mark the center of the floor at each end of the room slated for installation with a grease pencil or permanent marker. There should be four marks, two lengthwise and two widthwise. Snap a chalk line across the length of the room between the two lengthwise marks to determine the center point of the room.

• 8

  Lay a carpenter's square or measure a 3-foot wide by 4-foot long triangle with a 5-foot diagonal (hypotenuse) to determine where to snap a perpendicular line along the center width of the room to create quadrants.

• 9

  Snap the perpendicular chalk line at the point you determine to be the center and place one row of tiles along the center and perpendicular chalk lines in any quadrant. Measure the distance between the last whole tile and the wall at which the tiles end on both sides of the row. Snap a new end line 8 inches away from either original chalk line if there is less than half a tile's distance between the last tile and the wall.

Installation

• 10

  Spread a thin, even layer of Congoleum DS100 Duraset adhesive across one-half of the surface to be tiled, and continue a few inches beyond the one-half mark chalk line. Wait between 45 and 60 minutes or until the adhesive has dried to a tack and appears clear rather than light blue.

• 11

  Press your gloved finger onto the adhesive and verify that no adhesive sticks to your glove. Wait a few more minutes and test again if there is any residue on your glove as this signifies the adhesive is not sufficiently dry for laying tile. Proceed to Step 3 once you are certain the adhesive has dried to a proper tack.

• 12

  Carefully lay and firmly press each tile into the adhesive, starting from the intersection of the chalk lines in the first quadrant and lining up each tile squarely with the one before it so that there is no gap between tiles. Do not slide the tiles when laying them.

• 13

  Cover the second half of the room with adhesive as per Step 1 before you cut and lay the last row of tiles.

• 14

  Place one loose tile over each of the last tiles you installed and position the tiles so that they are completely flush against the wall. Mark each piece of tile with a pencil at the point that it overlaps the tile under it.

• 15

  Place the marked tile on a hard surface or on the plate of a tile cutter. Score each tile along the pencil line using a carpenter's square as a guide to make sure you are cutting straight, or align the cutter blade with the mark and hold it tightly before drawing the blade across the tile. Break off the tile at the score mark if you are unable to cut it.

• 16

  Make a template of cardboard or heavy paper to replicate the shape of tile you need to cover around door trim or other irregularly shaped areas. Trace the pattern of each template onto as many pieces of tile as you need of that shape and then cut along the traced lines with a utility knife or coping saw.

• 17

  Install the last row of tile with the cut edge facing the wall.

• 18

  Repeat Steps 3 through 7 for the remaining half of the room after the adhesive is dry as per Step 2.

• 19

  Roll the entire Durastone floor with a 100-pound to-150-pound, three-section steel linoleum roller, making sure to roll across tile joints in both directions. Replace all base moldings and appliances. The floor can now be walked on.

• 20

  Clean all tools and adhesive residue with mineral spirits. Wait 48 hours before washing the floor.