I’ve got a little craft project I want to do, which is basically a small mosaic. I figured that I could get the tiles I need at the hardware store, but wasn’t sure if that was the best option. I figured that the ones designed for kitchen and bathroom walls might be too pricey, since I only need mine to look nice, not actually be functional (such as water/grease proof, relatively tough, etc…)
Do craft stores typically have cheaper tiles? Is there a nice place online I can get them? I also need related supplies, like something to glue them to, and a good glue to glue them with. I plan on basically gluing whatever the tiles are glued to onto a piece of wood (or maybe just something like MDF, since it’s cheap and I only need it for the rigidity,) and then hanging that on my wall. Hopefully it won’t end up being that heavy. I can always just place the screws at the studs, but it would look nicer with just four screw holes at the corners, so if I can get away with just using drywall anchors in them that would be grand (since I want to center it on the wall, I don’t want to have to line up one edge with a stud, since odds are one won’t be close enough to center.)
Will the mosaic be out of broken tile or cut pieces like in the mosaic sheets in Kalhoun’s link*? Do you plan to grout it? I’ve seen mortar used rather than glue to secure the tiles.
*very cool; now I am dreaming of mosaic crafting which wasn’t previously on the list :eek:
I’ll be using full pieces. Basically, I’m replicating a old Nintendo game character. Since the original image is super pixelated, it works perfectly for small tiles. I’m ordering them ‘a la carte’, since I’m not sure if it’s easy to cut single ones out of the sheet, and besides, there isn’t any large area of one single color that I’m planning, so it seems easier to get them single. I shouldn’t need to grout it, since it’s not actually being used for any functionality, just wall art. I guess I could if I find the gaps between the pieces looks bad with whatever material I have beneath them, but so far I’m just planning on using some kind of glue.
I get a lot of tiles at the recycle yard. If your city doesn’t have one, most junk yards will do. The kind that collect things taken out of remodeled buildings, like bathtubs and sinks.
The only place we could find individual tiles was at ColorTile - but I can’t figure out if there is one in Vermont. The bathroom tiles came in some pretty cool colors. Seems like they cost about twenty five to sevety five cents a piece.
Definitely lay out your mosaic before using glue, mortar, or mastic. This will show you if you will have a problem with imperfections which could be fixed with a grout joint. Tiles are very frequently imperfect and one of the functions of grout is to hide that fact. Even if you use a 1/16" joint, you can hide a multitude of problems. There are a very wide variety of grout colors available and there’s a pretty good chance you can find one that fits your mosaic. You definitely want a non-sanded grout as any joints you have will be too small for a sanded.
As for adhesive, don’t bother with mortar. You’ll have to buy it in huge quantities. You can use a premixed mastic. Mastic is designed for tiles and is used mostly for wall installs. I’ve also had customers report very good results using Liquid Nails for repairing wall tile installs. So, I imagine it would work well for your application.
The link given above will probably be your best bet. Even though I have access to very large amounts of tile, some of which are specifically mosaic tile, they are extremely expensive to special order. And, most can’t be ordered by piece. You’d have to get at least 1SF of each color.
That’s cool! I’m used to seeing them attached to mesh for use in backsplashes, etc., but it’s good they come loose for your application. Sounds like fun!
You might consider using Sculpey clay to make your own tiles. You can use any color and make them any size you want. Just roll it out flat and lay a piece of graph paper over it. Put pinpricks through the corners of whatever size square you want. Cut them apart & bake. Once they’re baked they can be polished up, too.