INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE

It would be a pity to lay zellige without understanding and respect to their specific characteristics and origin, spoiling all the sophistication of their appearance.

Laying zellige is simple, but it has several specifics that should be observed.

1. Open several boxes and pick/shuffle tiles from them randomly for different color tones.

2. Soak the tiles for 2 hours (optional) and wet the wall with a sponge to reduce the absorbency of the materials and the drying speed of the adhesive. The wall should be clean and completely levelled.

3. Apply standard ceramic tile adhesive: one layer to the wall and the other to the back of the tile.

4. Lay the tiles by hand, one at a time, without joints or with a very thin joint (wedge spacer).

5. Cut the zellige with a tile cutter or do a wet cutting with a diamond cutter.

6. Use a thin cement grout (white or light gray) and clean the tiles and joints with a sponge and dry cloth as soon as possible.

7. Zellige placed on an adhesive sheet – a transparent adhesive sheet is placed on the glazed side of the tile. It is used for small sizes and complex patterns.

Important notes:

• Soaking the tiles in clean water and wetting the wall with a sponge at the beginning is suitable to reduce the absorption (optimal drying of the glue).
• Joints should be very small (1 mm) or none at all, so that the subtle color variations stand out. A neutral color of the grout, white or light gray, is recommended.
• There is no need to worry too much about perfect regularity and connection of joints, the overall harmony is important.
• Before grouting, we recommend wetting the zellige surface, e.g. with a sponge, to prevent the grout getting caught in the irregularities of the surface.
• When grouting, it is preferable to proceed in smaller sections to avoid drying and the formation of a thin veil on the surface, which is then more difficult to clean than with ordinary tiles.