Laying ceramic flooring is necessarily accompanied by filling joints. When laying with joints, it is advisable to use crosses and wedges or otherwise called - limiters. They take care of the alignment of the joint and do not allow a difference in size. Grouting, in addition to the practical purpose - to prevent water, liquids, dirt from entering the joints and protects the tiles themselves and the tile adhesive from destruction, also has an aesthetic purpose - to make the flooring look more pleasant. And this is difficult to achieve without crosses and wedges.
The grout seals the grooves between the tiles, thus strengthening them and protecting the surface layer from cracking. When laying the tiles, a certain distance is left between them to absorb linear expansion and protect the tile from cracking. For this purpose, joint stoppers, or crosspieces of various sizes from 1 mm to 10 mm, are used.
In addition to cross-pieces and joint wedges, in the Fixings product group you will also find wall and column fixers, mounting perforated tapes, tile levelers, column fixers for concrete and many more.
The items in the product group are high-quality production of proven brands in the industry such as SIRI, RUBI, VESTAL and others.
TIPS FOR GROUTING TILES
If you have never laid tiles before, you might be interested in understanding how the size of the joint is determined and, accordingly, the size of the cross or wedge. The size is determined by the size of the tiles. The sum of the joints per 1 meter of flooring should be 10 mm in total.
To be as helpful as possible, we will also explain how to grout after using the stoppers, when the tiles are already fixed.
After the glue has dried, proceed to laying the joints. The grout is left for 5-6 minutes for the elements in it to react, stir again and proceed to filling the joints. With a rubber trowel, the grout is applied until the grooves are filled, then with a clean trowel or rubber spatula, the excess mixture is scraped from the joints with diagonal movements. Cleaning is done with a damp cloth about 5-10 minutes after the joint has dried. It is mandatory to clean the joints before grouting. In wet rooms, silicone joints are sometimes applied. In new buildings, when they are still being laid, the inner corners are grouted with silicone so that the tiles do not crack during the laying process. The silicone is applied with a gun to the joints, and the formation of the joints with a template or, most often, by hand is immediately started. Prepare soapy water, dip your finger in it to prevent the silicone from sticking to it, and remove the excess silicone. The silicone is applied to a completely clean and dry joint, otherwise it will not stick and seal the joints.
