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INSTALLING MOSAICS

Permanent Installations
Free-Hanging Installations
Weight Loads


Permanent Installations

The traditional installation technique is to mortar the mosaic directly onto a masonry wall, floor or sculptural form. The trick here is to ensure that the surface is stable enough to support a mosaic. Walls in particular must have a block or cement core and be covered with a scratch coat of mortar. The mosaic is then applied like any tile product.

The mosaic is adhered to a mesh backing in the studio.  Then it is mortared to the wall in sections.

Floors are laid in a similar manner, except that the mosaic is "set negatively," to render the surface smooth. When built for a negative setting, the mosaic is fabricated upside-down and flipped during installation. This process ensures that all the irregularities of the materials are buried in the mortar bed.



Free-Hanging Installations:
Autonomous pieces can free-hang like large paintings. A steel bracket is attached to the back of the mosaic, and a corresponding bracket is attached to the wall.

The inset picture at left shows the support bracket on the back of the mosaic.

Arrows point to the receiving channel on the wall-mounted bracket. In this example the wall was curved, necessitating a large bracket. The inset shows the completed artwork hanging on the wall.



Weight Loads of Mosaics

Mosaics can be fabricated using numerous types of materials: Glass smalti, stone, marble, tile, and metal. The backing material may be mesh (installed similarly to tile), or wood (free-hanging panels). Because of this wide variation, it is impossible to give a standard weight for mosaics. For estimation purposes, 5-6 lbs per square foot without the backing material is adequate.