Tile Trowel Selection - Best Bets

Remember to choose your size of trowel based on the specifications you get from your adhesive manufacturer. The Coach talks you through it.

Proper mortar coverage holds tile installations together – literally – and trowel selection is an essential step toward achieving perfect installations. Inadequate coverage, on the other hand, results in reduced bond strengths,and creates issues with broken tile due to lack of support on floors, or freeze/thaw and efflorescence concerns on exterior applications. Follow these guidelines to choose the trowel that will make your next job a success.

The bigger the tile, the bigger the trowel: In general, larger tiles require larger trowels. To install 12” x 12” and larger tiles with a medium bed mortar, the NTCA recommends a U-notch trowel between 3/8” x 3/4” x 9/16” and 25/64” x 3/4” x 19/32”. As tile sizes increase, a larger trowel – like a 1/2” x 1/2” x 1/2” square notch or 3/4” x 9/16” x 3/8” U-notch may be necessary.
Shape selection: V-notch trowels spread less mortar than square-notch trowels of comparable sizes. For this reason, V-notch trowels should be used with tiles ranging from mosaic to 6-inches in size.
Square and U-notch trowels should be used with larger tiles. Euro-notch trowels have notches of different shapes and depths. They are designed to create a zipper effect between the substrate and tile and maximize coverage. They can be used with a variety of tile types and are particularly effective with natural stone and large format tile installations.
Mortar TrowelLocation matters: For interior installations, proper coverage is 80%. Coverage requirements increase to 95% in wet areas and exteriors. Use a larger trowel where more coverage is required.

[rmhutchins]

I enjoyed your video. It was very helpful. Thank you!

[dave]

very nice, couldn't be any simpler., do the same trowel sizes apply if using thin set???