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Darkroom Floor--Laying Tile, any tips?

mgb74 said:
So when are you coming over to do mine?

And I bet your son (I assume your son) thought he was having a good time doing that.
Click to expand...

I could not get that thing out of his hands! He rolled and rolled and rolled. Then the next day he asked where the roller was, and was upset I had not bought it because he wanted to roll some more.
 
I had my sheet vinyl floor laid a long time ago. Even though I got stain-resistant material, it wasn't the high end stuff.

Guess what? Stains!

So, my advice to others, get the best you can.

I will say the color of the stains kind of go with the color of the sheet vinyl. Good choice on my part, I guess.
 
So I got some commercial VCT sealer and wax today. I also got a micropore mop as an applicator. It recommends 2 or 3 coats of the sealer. I have one coat down now and am waiting for it to dry.

The sealer indicates on the jug that it aids in preventing stains.
 
I put two coats of sealer down then covered it with a single coat of wax. It looks great without buffing. I'll see how long it holds up.
 
Adjust the initial row in the center so you cut off the same on both sides.

Always plan so you don`t have to put in a sliver somewhere to finish.
 
Getting ready to finish up the floor. This is the area where the 8x10 enlarger lives:
 
I rolled it out of the way and I'll do the tile under the enlarger first, then roll it back and do the rest of the floor.

 
I'm doing the floor adjacent to the darkroom floor and spent some time deciding on the best way to cover some expansion joints in the concrete. I came across this product and ordered it today. We will see how well it works. (Picture shows Schluter DILEX)
 
Basement floors can be tricky because of the moisture that often comes up through the floor. I had a basement darkroom where I used the 2 part epoxy paint, and after a while it peeled. I ended up covering the floor with rubber mats like these:
Grizzly floor mats The rubber mats worked well, although they didn't look as nice as the epoxy paint did before it started peeling.
 

I tried painting the floor in my last darkroom a cellar (basement) and in the end used similar mats (a UK brand) that I'd been using at work, helped to keep my feet warmer..

However I want to go one step further with my new darkroom which is an outbuilding with a concrete floor. I'll be insulting the walls so I'm thinking of using 25mm expanded polystyrene with a wooden floor on top. I've plenty of headroom although a roof joist needs removing to allow the De Vere 5108 to be used at the top of it's column, but I can afford to lose a couple of inches to have a warm insulated floor. (I'll be photographing the construction).

Ian
 

Yes, before placing tiles like these one needs to ensure moisture in the concrete is less than 90% and pH less than 9.
 
I like the idea with the garage paint. However if you bought the tile that would be good. I only have experiance with traditional tile work which I did in my darkroom. I ran up on the wall in back of my sink a splash board.

Todd
 
Update on this thread. I had to wait 3 weeks for the expansion strips to come in. In the mean time I tiled the rest of the floor, leaving space for the expansion strip. Once the strip came in I had to fill in the empty tile spaces. The tile that abuts the expansion strip had to have a perfectly straight and smooth cut.


 
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