How neatly and thoughfully you place your tiles is the most important aspect to a well laid mosaic. Here’s some tips on how to lay mosaic tiles:-
 | Your glue has to be sticky or it won’t work. Don’t try to work with glue that has started “skinning” – just remove it and use some more. You’ll want to err to the side of generous when using this cement based adhesive – think about maximizing how much glue contact there is with both the tile & the board. |
 | The glue you’re using performs better when there’s a “bed” of glue (at least a millimeter or two) between the tile & the backing board. Resist the temptation to push your tiles hard to the board – try to simply “float” them in the glue with a gentle tap to ensure good contact. Clean off any glue that pushes through the gaps, or onto the face of the tiles as you go. Cleaning up dried glue can be a nightmare, and may affect the final look of your work. |
 | One option is to lay each tile individually as you cut them. You’ll need to apply glue to back of the tile and place it on the board as you go. This method works fine – just make sure you cover the back of the tile with glue well. |
 | To lay smashed tile into a specific area, bead glue in a pattern which leaves no large gaps as shown. Always bead the edges in first, in a slightly larger bead than the fill – this ensures the tiles around the edge have plenty of glue. |
 | Lay tiles around the edge of the section first, following the shape closely, and nipping contours on the tiles to get a well defined edge. Then you can simply lay tiles into the centre to complete the section. |
 | The thickness of your grout lines (the space between the tiles) doesn’t really matter, but I recommend keeping the groutlines consistent and preferably fairly even. The one rule is – no touching – the tiles should never touch each other – there has to be some room for grout. Here’s a photo with some tiles laid out almost perfectly vs pretty roughly. |
 | If you have to leave your project for a time, and some of your glue hardens, it’s essential to remove the dags with a chisel or palette knife as shown, before continuing to lay tiles. Leaving them in place will make it hard to lay tiles nearby, and inevitably results in sharp edges of tile sticking out on your work. If possible, do this before the glue sets too hard. |
