Thick Float

[DaTileJedi]

So i had a question about thick floating. I have floated many floors some quite large but still havent figured out a good way to prevent digging..like knees...feet...while setting wall tile or working on something else.
Any suggestions?:cool:

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[Shaughnn]

Have you tried a kneeling board yet? After letting a floated floor cure for a day or two, I'll sometimes lay out kraft paper runners to prevent "rubbing" the float loose. But normally, once I've steel troweled the deck mud and brought the fines up, I don't have a problem with knees or toes (and I'm sportin' size 12EE Redwings with toe caps).
Shaughnn

[DaTileJedi]

well sometime i dont have a day or two and i know thats part of the prob....but even when i do i still tend to get digging...and i do steel my floor.

[Shaughnn]

a couple of kneeling boards (2'x2' w/ rounded corners) thrown into the back of your truck on float day might be the trick then? I've seen guys haul in a sheet of masonite to stand on top of when the rush was on though, so whatever distributed your wieght and lets you get back to work the fastest is the best solution, I suppose. :D
Shaughnn

[DaTileJedi]

Koo! Ill give it a shot....guess i shoulda mentioned that some of these floors are about 600sq ft and then weve been doing 8 ft walls....so we are on it for a bit and i dont quite like floating after ive done my walls but have done it....maybe theres a better way:D

[Shaughnn]

Eight foot walls, huh? If you aren't pitching to drains too severely, you could try the following trick. Get yourself a couple of newspapers and seperate them into sections of about 10 pages each. Fold them each over into halves and place each "pad" of newspaper under the corner of a sheet of plywood or several layers of hardibacker. You can then set up a ladder on top of the sheet material if you need to and just re-dress the float underneath when it's time to float on top of it.
Did it once in a pinch and didn't have a problem. Hope it works for you?
Shaughnn

[John Bridge]

I either sweep or have a shop vac handy. After laying the floor out in grids, pull from one side of the room to the other, sweep, pull again. I think knees boards slow you down. :)

[Shaughnn]

John,
I try to work around kneeling boards too but Jared's delemna seems to require them if he wants to work on top of large "fresh flosts", doesn't it?
Shaughnn

[John Bridge]

Of course, it does. It's just that I know how much you like to argue, so I figured I'd accommodated you. :D

[Shaughnn]

Argue!?! I'm not argueing!!! :dance: :dance:
Shaughnn

[Ron]

Jared,I stay off the mud until the next day.If I do have to walk on it I lay down some poly and 3/4" plywood to distribute the weight.I'm afraid that any traffic on fresh mud will cause the mesh to cut the mud and compromise the uniformity of the mortar bed.