Everyone has floors. This month we'll take a look at the parts of a floor. Before a floor is ever laid, the foundations of a house need to be built. Typically, a foundation (cementacion) is laid 40 cm lower than the rough floor. The 40 cm will be used for a dala or reinforced concrete beam that will hold the bottom of the house in place. After the dala is poured, a rough-grade floor will be laid. This is called a "firme".
The firme is usually a jal and cement mixture, especially on the second floor. It is usual for the walls to be erected before the firme is laid. This rough-grade floor is usually 2 to 3 cm lower than the finish grade. It is less expensive to use jal in the rough-grade and then use a sand and cement mixture for the finish grade. It is important to use river sand (arena del rio) as opposed to yellow sand (arena amarilla) for this step. River sand won't develop salitre later in the life of the floor, when the maid mops using gallons of water rather than wringing out a mop.
The finish floor must be level, unless it needs to have a grade to allow water to run away from the house as on an outside porch or terrace. There are a number of methods of making sure the finish grade is level, but rails of some sort are the only way of guaranteeing level. Without a level finish floor, tile cannot be laid properly.
Once the finish floor is laid, you can begin to lay tile. A lot could be said about the many ways of insuring that the tile lines up throughout the house. Here we will simply say that it is important. There are few things which are more disconcerting than walking into a bathroom and finding that the tile lines are askew from those in the rest of the house.
There are many, many types of floor tile. Some are slick, some are "rustico", and some are in between. In this discussion we will address only the common, Mexican tile which is known as "peron". Peron comes in several sizes but the most common are 30 and 40 sq. cm. The clay used for peron is not a high-glaze clay, and as a result, the tile is more or less soft. It will not really accept traffic.
For this reason it needs to be sealed with a special sealer (sellador). The sealer is called polyform and is expensive. It costs about $1000.00 pesos per gallon. Two coats need to be applied before the tile is laid, or it will be impossible to take the cement stains off. Another two coats need to be applied after the grout. You can purchase tile which has been sealed, but it will cost twice as much as the raw stuff.
Once the tile is laid it is time to grout. There are more colors of grout than there are stars in the heavens, I'm sure, but there is only one which is appropriate for your floor. The elimination process can be maddening. The color of the grout will change the color the floor appears to be. If the grout is too light or too dark it can overpower the floor to the point that the only thing visible is the grout. There are a number of pre mixed grouts and you can, more or less, let price be your guide as to which ones are better; the more expensive, the better. Some people prefer to use white cement mixed with concrete color for grout. There is some wisdom in this idea but the commercial grouts certainly do look better than the white cement approach.
When the grout is all in place it's time to put two more coats of sealer over the whole floor. After the sealer is applied, the floor is ready for furniture and care. Water is the mortal enemy of peron floors. The tile itself is very porous and will absorb water even with four coats of sealer. It is not a good idea to mop using lots of water. Some people will go so far as to treat a peron floor with diesel fuel every now and again. It gives the floor a terrific shine and it helps to repel water.
Mr. Worthington is a long-time resident of the area, builder and landscape architect. You can contact Mr. Worthington at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with questions or suggestions for future articles.
