This code provides detailed instructions for the installation, finishing, and upkeep of cement concrete flooring tiles, including varieties such as terrazzo, chequered, and precast tiles. It serves as a crucial reference for professionals working on floors, walls, staircases, and external pavements, ensuring the durability, quality, and visual appeal of cement concrete tile applications.
Overview
This code provides detailed instructions for the installation, finishing, and upkeep of cement concrete flooring tiles, including varieties such as terrazzo, chequered, and precast tiles. It serves as a crucial reference for professionals working on floors, walls, staircases, and external pavements, ensuring the durability, quality, and visual appeal of cement concrete tile applications.
Audience
Contents
Structure
This section outlines the extent of the code, covering specifications for various cement concrete flooring tiles including their materials, installation processes, finishing touches, and workmanship quality. Important factors to consider include the surfaces to be tiled, subfloor conditions, tile dimensions and types, finishing methods such as grinding and polishing, treatment of tiles, accommodation for embedded services, and types of bedding and jointing. It also references related standards for materials like sand, different types of Portland cement, blast furnace slag cement, building lime, and terrazzo flooring practices. Test outcomes should be rounded off following IS 2:1960 to maintain consistency with prescribed precisions.
Defines the terminology related to tiles including plain cement tiles, colored cement tiles, terrazzo tiles, chequered, embossed, non-slip tiles, and precast staircase elements such as treads and risers. The section also reiterates the vital information needed for planning and execution like floor and wall areas, sub-floor characteristics, tile type and size, polishing and grinding methods, finishing treatments, services passing through surfaces, and bedding and jointing types. It includes references to supporting standards for materials and rounding off numerical values.
Specifies the quality and types of materials required including sand for masonry mortars, ordinary and special Portland cements, blast furnace slag cement, building limes, and water quality standards emphasizing cleanliness and prohibition of seawater. It defines the tile types covered and outlines requirements for proper storage and protection from moisture and contamination to maintain material integrity before installation.
Details the types of tiles covered and their specifications such as size ranges and thickness for plain cement, terrazzo, and non-slip tiles. It discusses subfloor considerations, finishing methods, and bedding and jointing practices including typical mortar mixes and joint widths. It also mentions permissible tolerances for tile laying and finishing, referring to manufacturer and IS annexures for precise values.
Highlights the importance of collecting detailed project information such as area dimensions, substrate details, tile characteristics, finishing methods, and services coordination. Emphasizes seamless communication among tile installers and other trades to avoid conflicts and ensure quality. Stresses reference to related IS codes and the preparation of a comprehensive time schedule to facilitate smooth workflow.
Focuses on preparing a detailed timeline that accounts for preliminary operations including installation of embedded services, adequate curing periods for concrete subfloors based on cement type, and coordination among trades. It outlines typical curing durations and recommends scheduling grinding, polishing, and finishing stages appropriately to achieve optimal results.
Describes the essential facilities and support the owner must provide to enable efficient tile laying including proper scheduling, coordination, and sharing of all necessary information such as area coverage, subfloor details, tile specifications, and finishing treatments. Stresses the importance of ensuring availability of materials and adherence to related IS standards.
Covers key preparatory activities such as verifying subfloor condition, applying damp-proof membranes where necessary, scheduling preliminary operations, and ensuring readiness of services. It underscores the need for clean, dry, and level substrates and proper moisture barriers to prevent dampness affecting the tile work.
Specifies mortar mix ratios for cement and lime mortars used in bedding tiles, emphasizing proper volumetric mixing, gradual water addition, and achieving uniform consistency without lumps. It includes recommended proportions and preparation steps to ensure durability and effective bonding.
Details the step-by-step process for laying tiles including timing for bedding mortar hardening, application of neat cement slurry, spreading slurry for limited tile batches, careful placement and tapping of tiles to ensure levelness and straight joints, and maintaining typical joint widths. Reiterates the importance of planning based on area, subfloor, tile type, and finishing requirements.
Describes the multi-stage grinding and polishing process for terrazzo and other tile types involving sequential use of carborundum stones of varying grit sizes, thorough cleaning, grouting of pinholes with matching shade grout, moist curing, application of oxalic acid for sheen, and optional wax polishing. It also notes that initial coarse grinding may be omitted for plain and colored cement tiles.
Provides instructions specifically for laying rough tiles including timing after bedding mortar curing, use of neat cement slurry, spreading over limited tile counts, gentle tapping with wooden mallets, maintaining narrow and straight joints, and precautions to avoid disturbing the bedding during installation.
Specifies permissible deviations in floor flatness and tile laying including up to 15 mm deviation for large open areas and 3 mm over any 3 m length for localized sections. It emphasizes adherence to rounding conventions and checking tolerances against manufacturers’ guidelines to ensure quality and uniformity.
Outlines the sequence and finishing requirements for skirting, dado, and staircase tiles. Skirting is fixed after floor tiles, while dado walls remain unplastered before tile fixing. All these elements should be ground and polished similarly to floor tiles. Permissible deviations align with overall floor tolerance.
Focuses on rounding off numerical results per IS 2-1960, gathering detailed planning data, and ensuring the finished floor surface is smooth, even, and lustrous with correctly aligned joints. Notes that initial efflorescence is normal and fades with cleaning, and minor color variations in materials are acceptable. Stresses using clean water free of contaminants for all mixing and cleaning.
Defines the owner's responsibility for maintenance after final polishing and requires the tile installer to provide comprehensive care instructions. Maintenance includes regular cleaning with clean water and mild detergents, avoidance of harsh chemicals and seawater, periodic inspections for damage, and re-polishing or sealing as recommended to ensure longevity.
Frequently Asked
The standard applies to cement concrete flooring tiles conforming to IS 1237-1959, encompassing precast tiles made from specified cement, aggregates, and water combinations. These include various sizes and finishes suitable for flooring, wall cladding, and staircase applications. While IS 1443 does not define tile types directly, it mandates adherence to IS 1237 specifications, which classify tiles by dimensions, thickness, and durability.
Recommended bedding mortars include cement mortar mixed in the ratio of 1 part Portland cement to 6 parts coarse sand by volume, with just enough water to achieve workability while minimizing shrinkage. Lime mortars with specified mixes are also acceptable. The mortar bed thickness should range between 10 mm and 30 mm with a rough surface to aid adhesion. Tiles are laid over neat cement slurry spread on the hardened mortar bed, maintaining joint widths of approximately 1.5 mm.
To prevent moisture penetration through the sub-floor, the surface should be leveled to a true plane and kept 35 to 50 mm below the finished floor level. A continuous impervious damp-proof membrane such as bituminous felt or polyethylene must be installed over the sub-floor. Additionally, side walls should be waterproofed up to at least 15 cm above the sub-floor level. During subsequent work, the floor must be protected from damage and contamination.
Before tiling, all finished surface level points must be marked. For large tiled floors, the central area should be raised approximately 10 mm higher than the edges to avoid optical depressions. Grinding of tiles fixed rough should begin only after at least 14 days of curing, using carborundum stones of 36 to 48 grit. Although exact numeric tolerances for tile laying are not explicitly stated, emphasis is on maintaining flatness, levelness, and joint alignment through controlled procedures.
Grinding should commence after a minimum 14-day curing period. The first grinding uses carborundum stones of 48 to 60 grit to level the surface and expose pinholes. After cleaning, grout matching the tile shade is applied and kept moist for one week. The second grinding uses 120 grit stones followed by re-grouting. Final grinding employs finer 220 to 350 grit stones with abundant water to smooth the surface. Polishing involves applying oxalic acid powder with hessian bobs to achieve sheen, followed by washing and drying with linen. Optionally, mechanical wax polishing can be done, with excess wax removed using sawdust to prevent slipperiness.
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