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Polymer clay tiles for flooring


Rebecca

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I am assembling my clay tiles on a piece of card stock before laying it into my house and you can see from the photo the card stock is warping. Will this lay flat when I eventually glue it onto the floor and does anyone have any suggestions as to what glue would be best to glue the card stock to the floor? I was going to use quick grip. Should I grout it before or after the floor has been glued down? Do you think my approach is all wrong and should I start over using something thinner than card stock so I can avoid the warping or is this just to be expected? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Tile Floor.jpg

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I gave up on cardstock for this reason. Now I just glue them directly to the floor or on thin veneer and slide the finished floor under the baseboard if I need it to be removable due to tapewire access. Any water based glue will warp card stock. Quick grip is great but if the card is warped you have to apply it to 100% of the card stock and quick grip doesn't spread that easily. 

Nice tiles by the way.

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I wouldn't think you want something thinner, but rather, thicker, to keep it from warping as much. I've used several things as a base - including those pvc signs you can buy - "for sale" etc. I recently used heavy poster board - Pacon Heavy poster board (hobby lobby) for the tiles I glued down for my kitchen. Not sure which glue I used to apply, but it was probably "Ultimate" glue. 

I did grout it outside the house, but it was a challenge to then lift and carry to the house to place in. It may have loosened or cracked some of the grout but it looks good. 

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The warping is to be expected; put stacked large, heavy books on it so it will dry FLAT.  Contact/ rubber cement is good for sticking floors down, but you want to coat the floor and the back of your card both and lay your floor carefully when both surfaces are dry.  I would grout once the floor is down & dry.

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Thank you all for your input. I did end up putting something heavy over the tiles when I was finished and it did lay flat so I was able to grout it and it looks good; however, after all that work, I decided I didn't like the design with my existing paint and wallpaper, so I'm starting all over with something different. So glad I didn't glue them down to the floor. I guess it was a good learning experience. I like the pvc sign suggestion.

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I make the tiles from Polymer clay. I am making a new set because I wasn't completely happy with the previous ones. The color just wasn't right for the room. While I am making my new batch I will try to document the process I use and hopefully I can pull something together for a tutorial.

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