Author: Joe Moorman
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New Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile Assortments
Color family assortments of 12mm recycled glass mosaic tile are now available. The 12mm Elementile brand of tile is some of our most affordable tile. It also cuts into extremely small pieces with minimal glass dust, shards or scrap. Recycled glass mosaic tile by Elementile is now available in 12mm color assortments. It is our…
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Mosaic Stepping Stone Instructions
Mosaic stepping stones are great first projects, but they don’t have to be cheap and cheesy or dangerous. Keep in mind that if you totally cover the surface of the stone with large pieces of stained glass, it is likely to be slippery when wet. If you leave sharp edges of glass exposed, or allow…
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Mounting A Mosaic On Clear Adhesive Film
Clear contact paper can be used to temporarily mount a design of mosaic tile, but it really isn’t sticky enough to be as useful as it should be, and it is better to use the clear mosaic mounting tapes (films) that are specifically designed for that purpose. I have used clear contact paper for small…
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Mosaic Backsplash Instructions
There is ample information online about how to go get sheets of tile from a building material store and mount them over your sink and grout them, which is merely basic tiling. This article is more about how to make an original mosaic design and about some basic questions not covered in most of the instructions…
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Micromosaic
Micromosaic is merely mosaic which is made from small to extremely small pieces of tile. Note that there isn’t a formal definition of how small the pieces need to be in order for a mosaic to be classified as micromosaic, but some of the better Roman examples are small mosaic insets in brooches and rings…
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Mosaic Concrete Lawn Sculptures
There are two options for bases for making a mosaic sculpture for your lawn: Buy an unfinished concrete sculpture from a lawn and garden center or a store that specializes in concrete lawn sculpture. Make your own concrete sculpture using cement and chicken wire and pea gravel and similar reinforcing materials as discussed on various…
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Mosaic Gazing Spheres
Mosaic gazing spheres are popular outdoor mosaic projects, and they offer a few simple advantages over mosaic-covered concrete lawn ornaments: They are lighter in weight and can be relocated more easily. Also, the mosaic gazing sphere can be adjusted in height easily by changing the height of the display stand used to support them. These…
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Thinset On Plywood Mosaic Backer?
Thinset mortar can be used on a plywood mosaic backer provided the plywood has been sealed with a white PVA adhesive such as Weldbond. Otherwise, the plywood can suck the moisture out of the thinset before it has a chance to harden leaving it soft and crumbly. It is important to seal the plywood at…
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Broken Ceramic Tile Mosaics
People often email me asking where to get 4-inch glazed ceramic tile in a range of colors to break up with a hammer for making a mosaic. The simple answer is nowhere. Colorful bathroom tile has gone the way of the dodo, at least for now. (I explain why in the last section of this…
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How To Choose A Mosaic Background Color
The background in a work of mosaic art serves two purposes: contrast the colors of the figures in the foreground. suggest motion by arranging the tile in contours around figures. The first point is obvious, but the second is often overlooked even though it can make the difference between a great mosaic and a mediocre…
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Assessing Glass Mosaic Tile Health and Safety Concerns
Recently a customer emailed me asking if there was an ASTM-D4236 certification for one of our glass mosaic tile lines. ASTM-D4236 is the labeling and precautionary standards for chronic health hazards in art materials. There isn’t an ASTM-D4236 certification for any of our products to my knowledge. They are manufactured as building materials and not…
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Outdoor Mosaic Signs
In the last section of one of my previous posts, Custom Shapes For Mosaic Backers, I showed some pictures and instructions for how I used 3/4-inch expanded steel to make a backer for an outdoor mosaic. The expanded metal was welded together in 3 plies, some mounting bolts were welded to this, and then the…