Cutting tiles

We are making a pond in the garden, Thai style and Thai ideas.

The inner side will be lined with black ribbed non reflective tiles, I wonder if smooth, hence reflective tiles won't be nicer.

Anyway, the things need to be cut with a cutting machine and I will have to buy one, renting one is presumably out of the question.

But I am not sure if such a cutting apparatus will be able to cut ribbed tiles or just only smooth tiles.

Anybody knows or has experience ??

Thanks for your input, P.

Angle grinders are used for cutting curved shapes in tiles, they should be able to cut through most surfaces. If you're cutting straight lines I would use a tile cutter, I've seen these for sale in Global and Tool Pro.

Personally I'd use a pool liner rather than tiles because you may have problems with leaking later unless you waterproof it properly.

Hi Lee, thanks for your reply. I think I am looking for a cutter type, only the 'bumps'in the tiles worry me.

About leakage, the tiles will be cemented on the side and on the floor with cement mixed with waterproofing liquid.
I don't know how effective this is, but adding some water every week seems no problem. I expect opr certainly hope the pond won't be empty in one night.

Peterplay,,,,, reconsider the liner idea before starting the project,,,,,,, cement and tiles will become a maintenance nightmare in the future. ,, Also, if considering fish, frogs etc. be aware that ordinary cement/concrete will be toxic and kill them. just mho,, good luck,,LL

LongLee, if you do have a minute to spare, could you elaborate on the nightmare scenario a bit more ?

About fish, I heard this before, but I also know of people with a cement pond with healthy fish for years... so that's a reality apparently as well.

Peterplay,,,, Sorry, I should have been more descriptive,,,,, The caution was from years of listening to people complain about the problems they had encountered with small concrete pools and fountains, whether tiles were used or not, and the resulting eventual conversion to a liner. And I guess the crux lies in the expertise of the installers. I personally wouldn't go with an installer or contractor that didn't have that as his only business. As so many others have expressed on this and other forums, TIT and warrantys and guarantee don't mean didley,,,, so buyer beware!
I would advise personally checking with the owners of 3 different ponds the contractors had done in the type you want before jumping in.......

I would also prefer the look of a well done pool/pond with tile but the cost and trouble are to be reckoned with.

The problems with fish die off from standard concrete/cement are also based on "general contractors" thinking they have the expertise when they don't and leaching occurs, killing the fish. The lime component leaches out causing very high alkalinity, burning/killing all pond life. Just do a simple intenet search to answer your questions re concrete/cement danger to fish etc.

Best of luck in whatever type you decide,,,,,LL

Longlee, thanks for your answer, I now am afraid That I am not going to be the deciding factor in the way the work is executed.. I am told that cement is from experience not a problem and if tiles are a problem we are going to find out, "don't always listen to what other people say" ...
And, the pond is being build by ourself, so no contractors or guarantee.

I will post about the pond after a longer period, tell you about the succes or failure.

Anyway, we are floating away from my original question about the cutter and the shininess of the tiles. Maybe somebody
has experience with it. Or maybe somebody knows if rent is possible.

100mm angle grinder will do the job with a smooth diamond blade, not a tooth type diamond blade, use a RCD/ ELCB with the tool, we use a water bottle with a fine hose to keep the tile wet and cool the diamond blade, helps to keep the dust down as well, cut from the back of the tile, so the blade comes up from the bottom of the tile, gives a smooth edge to the finish surface of the tile, other wise you will have chipped edge.

A wet saw is the best to use has an in built water supply and a slide tasble, last price I saw one for was a cheepo b3500, as I will be doing my whole house , I will eventually buy a wet saw, a good steady hand and a slow trckle of water with a grinder will do the job, as the grinder will come in handy for other work

The smooth diamond blade will cut any tile

Kally

Master builder

Make sure you don't dry cut the tile with a grinder. It will leave a ragged edge. I ran into this problem when my house was built. One of the workers had a tile cutter, the kind where you score the tile then break it. Used correctly it leaves a very clean cut. It also doesn't create any debris or dust being thrown from the grinding wheel.

Peterplay wrote:We are making a pond in the garden, Thai style and Thai ideas.

The inner side will be lined with black ribbed non reflective tiles, I wonder if smooth, hence reflective tiles won't be nicer.

Anyway, the things need to be cut with a cutting machine and I will have to buy one, renting one is presumably out of the question.

But I am not sure if such a cutting apparatus will be able to cut ribbed tiles or just only smooth tiles.

Anybody knows or has experience ??

Thanks for your input, P.

Make sure you have installed a drain system in the bottom with an outlet pipe.
Construct the pond based on maintnance required. Any tile suface will soon be covered with alge ect. Concrete is used in many of these applications. Actually it is in fact a grout. Concrete contains aggregates of a size that doesnt allow the correct finish to be applied to the top surfaces. Grout is simply sand, cement & water.
The grout must be placed properly to obtain a hard, durable surface. This means it must be placed using as little water as possible yet be workable. There are additives sold to reduce the need for water. These look like dark water & are used in very small amounts. Probably hard to find in Udon but you could buy them from a concrete plant.
If its not feasable to do that just add the water in small amounts as you mix the grout. Have enough material & manpower to do the entire placement in one hour. Once the grout is placed in rough form sprinkle a small amount of water on the surface & begin to seal it with a steel or magnizium trowel. A pool trowel is best. It has rounded corners. Working the surface causes sub surface water to migrate to the upper surfaces. Watch the surface for color & texture. It should appear to be dull not wet as you seal it. Keep the trowel edge slightly up as you work. This produces a hard close grained surface.
Even if you used tile it would have to be set on a grouted surface constructed to accept it. The tile is then set in " thin set" type grout. Any rough sufaced tile will soon be covered in the alge ect & will prove to be difficult to clean.
I built or had a pond built for my MIL that lives outside of Udon. It is made from grout. The fish & plants do fine in it. It is emptyed & cleaned every once in awhile to keep it fresh due to the weather as expected.
There may be some merit to the notion of lime in cement products. Concrete & grout also contain sands & rocks. Those elements always have a cetian percentage of natural salts. These leach out over time & can cause harm to plants or fish. However cleaning the pond helps wash this out while the clean water allows for some of this leached salt to be diminished. Over time the lime & salts are minimised.
We lost some fish at first but I thought it was more from my MIL not using the water aireation system properly so the oxygen levels fell. Water is pumped though a statue I placed near the pond so it sprays into the pond. It was all new to her so I think it just took time to learn how it all works. We just talked to her & after 3 years she has no problems with the pond or the fish ect.

Well, I think I need to study all the advice
I originally "just wanted to build a pool" but obviously there is more to it.

You mentioned algae on a rough surface, I would expect that as well, but I have two small pools where no algae develop to my big surprise. However a smooth surface seems a better idea.
And yes, the floor has an angle towards an outlet.

I'll give you feetback after the pool has sort of stabilized itself, I am very curious myself as well how it develops.

Thanks for all your input