Installing Tile Medallions or Murals
I've been sharing a little about my experience with the design and installation of waterjet medallions at the church I belong to.
After the waterjet company cut all those pieces of porcelain tile according to my designs, creating five large, complex jigsaw puzzles, they carefully placed the pieces on cardboard and shrink-wrapped them. The rep for the company in charge of our floor replacement project personally drove these precious pieces of tile in the back of his pickup truck 3-1/2 hours from the waterjet company to our church. The parts and pieces were then laid out on the floor for installation to begin.
This was a new experience for the crew - they had not had to deal with a custom medallion installation before. Typically, floor medallions are purchased in a ready-to-install format, attached to a sheet of mesh like mosaic tile is, to be laid in one or just a few sections, not one tile at a time.
Our installer had picked up some of this mesh, along with some spray adhesive, thinking to attach the sections of tile onto the mesh before putting them in place. However, it soon became clear that this would be more difficult than just laying each piece individually in the thin-set.
It is helpful to have a thin-set that allows a little bit longer working time. The installer had to pay attention not only to putting the puzzle together correctly, but also dealing with tiles that were varied in thickness, and in making sure the spacing (which was tight) was consistent.
In the end, they turned out great, and we were happy with the waterjet medallion installations.
